Chapter 29: I am where?
Ziesha

Ziesha had overslept. Beams of sunlight shone through the curtains, forcing her to shut her eyes tighter. Smiling now, she stretched her arms and legs. What an amazing dream, they should come more often in her sleep. She reached for her cellphone from her headboard, the usual morning habit but only found a lampshade in its place. What?

Reality hit. Her eyes flew open. She was not in her bed and this was not her room. Or her house! Ziesha jumped out of the bed, and then was forced to sit back down when dizziness threatened to consume her. Her head hurt like crazy. What the hell was going on?

Trying to calm down her nerves, she gathered enough oxygen in her lungs before attempting to make another move. Her mouth was bitter, tasted sour as if she needed to throw up. She could not tell if it was hunger or the headache.

Waiting for the world to slowly return to its original non-spinning form, she got off the bed trying as much as possible to not make a sound. Where was she? What happened last night? She tried to do a rewind of the night's activities, searching for something-anything-that could have led to her waking up in a completely different atmosphere. This wasn't just not her home, she was not even near home.

Walking slowly towards the door, Ziesha studied the place around her. Okay, number one-this so did not look like something a kidnapper would keep her in. Come on, if she had to be kidnapped, she always pictured herself in some dark dungeon where she would be tied to a chair and even worse, starved for days. She wasn't even been watched. Unless this place was a no-escape zone. What if they were surrounded by water and the only way to leave was to swim...with an ocean full of sharks.

Now she was imagining way too unrealistic. Ziesha stopped her thoughts.

Number two, she noted as she stepped out of the room-there was not a single soul around. This place was dead; no movements, sounds, nothing. Number three-this place was huge like ten-people-could-live-here huge. What was this place? Clearly not a dungeon or a cannibal's nest.

She made her way down the passage, passing a lot of closed doors on the way and ended up in the kitchen. She sucked in a deep breath. Now she was beginning to freak out. The table was set for two and one of the plates of food had already been half-eaten. She was not alone. Well duh, but whoever was responsible for her getting here was somewhere really near. Next to the kitchen near, maybe.

Ziesha was immediately on alert duty, listening for any sounds around her. Hah! There it was. A noise, footsteps approaching.

Reacting quick and with panic, she grabbed the knife from the kitchen counter and hid behind the wall to the entrance of the kitchen. She waited. The footsteps got louder together with the pounding of her heartbeat in her chest.

I'm gonna kill this piece of shit, her inner voice screamed, you got this. Yeah she did....