Page 100 of Plaything

“Twelve.” I could hear the sharpness in Dad’s voice, but I couldn’t bring myself to care as the world clouded around me. “I really must insist—”

“She’s mature for her age; I’m sure you’ve heard that before from your other business partners,” the man continued.

“You’re here to discuss business, nothing else,” Dad snapped.

“This is a sixteen-million-dollar opportunity I’m offering you, Charles.” A large shape moved; I could only assume the other man was standing out of a chair. “You’re a smart man. In exchange for my cooperation in this merger, I just want ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes to do what, exactly?”

I heard nothing for a long time as I gently swayed back and forth, walking absently around the room.

“She’s asleep. Look at her; she won’t remember any of this. And you’d gain millions,” the man said.

“She’s a child.”

“You know what, you’re wasting my time. I have other businesses waiting for my call. Good evening, Charles.”

“Wait.”

Another long silence allowed Dad’s voice to echo in my mind.

“Five minutes.” Dad agreed. “And you can’t touch her.” He sounded strange. He usually sounded mean, but now he sounded like he stubbed his toe really hard.

The man chuckled, his voice echoing like an evil villain. “I’m not going to touch her, Charles; you misunderstood me,” he assured. “I just want to talk to her.”

“I’m going downstairs to get more drinks,” Dad said. “It shouldn’t take me longer than five minutes. If a single hair is out of place on her head, I’ll—”

“I’ll take scotch.”

It was quiet again for a long time, and I heard a jacket zipper. “I should count myself lucky that your father’s as greedy as he is,” the man stated. “You’re such a pretty girl,” he said, his voice sounding breathy like he was running.

My eyes tried to focus on him, but I saw only a blurry figure shaking something. “You’re going to be a heartbreaker when you’re older,” he said.

More time passed as I tried to find the door again. I couldn’t remember what I came in here for or why I was in this part of the house.

The man made a noise before I heard a jacket zip again. The blurry man walked past me and threw a piece of paper, I think, into a bin. “Many of your dad’s business partners will be intrigued to know of your sleepwalking,” he chuckled.

The door opened, and I walked towards it. “Odette,” Dad called, but it didn’t feel like he was speaking to me. “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.”

“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon, Odette!” The man chuckled.

“This door is staying locked. We had a deal; that’s all this was.” Dad said. “I trust that you’ll keep this to yourself.”

“Of course.”

Freezing cold touched my foot, and I snapped my eyes open with a gasp. My heart was racing, the horrible dream making my entire body fill with bile.

I blinked a few times, quickly realizing I was in the woods. I hadn’t sleepwalked in years, and I really hated myself for breaking that streak. “Crap...” I looked around, trying to recognize something. The mansion was nowhere in sight, nor was there any path or source of light besides the quickly fading sun.

My feet were bare, and I’d stepped in a puddle of freezing slush. It was winter, and I was dressed in a skirt and a sheer top. My phone wasn’t on me; nothing was. I was lost.

I began walking aimlessly in the direction I hoped the house was. “Hello?” I called, hoping someone would hear me. Maybe I was near a street? Had I gone out the front door or the back door? How long had I walked? How long had I been asleep? Were any of my professors home yet? Why would my mind make up something so horrible?

Feeling sick to my stomach, I tried desperately not to think of the dream, knowing that was all it was. My wide eyes wandered in every direction, trying to find something familiar.

The sun was setting fast; the giant trees around me made everything darker. Fear crept up my neck as I thought of being alone in the dark. “Dominic!” I called. “Niko! Wyatt! Aiden!”

I wandered unsystematically in the rain for what I thought was twenty minutes before beginning to panic. In the past, I always knew where I was when I woke from a night terror. I’d never woken up in the middle of nowhere with no sign or general direction to get me back home.

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