Cruel Love

A woman woke up in a dark room lit only by a lantern hanging from one of the wooden pillars-the smell of damp earth after the rain filled her senses. The sounds of night insects rang in her ears, one after another. The woman felt her chest, her heart racing at the thought of where she was.

"Was I kidnapped? Am I being kept in a hut in a haunted forest?"

The girl tried to move her hand. Pain. Her hand felt stiff.

"Am I a captive of a perverted mountain demon who needs warmth? No! This can't be happening. I must leave this place immediately," Briana muttered. She stumbled down the ancient-looking wooden bed.

The door handle moved just as Briana was about to leave the bed. The cold hit the soles of her feet to the bone. She could not move and remained rooted to the spot as she stared at the door with her breath ragged.

"God, please save me!"

The door opened wide. A grown man appeared behind it. Briana gulped harshly. The man looked terrible. Very horrible. It didn't seem like a demon. The figure was a mountain man who was confidently topless. He was only wearing cargo pants that hung down to his hips. That made Briana swallow again.

He was a man with a tall and large body. He had a pair of cold and sharp eyes. His hair was not too long. It was about to the nape of his neck, and there were scratch marks on the left side of his face.

Briana couldn't stop being scared, even though the man hadn't done anything terrible to her. Maybe not yet. She was counting down.

God forbid that should happen, Briana thought.

"Are you awake?" The man's voice was deep and hoarse. At first glance, it sounded like the growl of a rare desert lion. Briana's whole body broke out in cold sweat. The young woman's eyes kept looking at him, more precisely, watching his movements.

Briana would kick his ass if that big, muscular body took even one step toward her. Briana would do anything if that stranger dared to do anything indecent to her.

But the opposite happened; when the man came forward, Briana could do nothing but tremble in her seat.

He stepped closer and closer until finally, a tiny shriek escaped Briana's lips: "Don't!"

Suddenly the man's steps stopped. "What's wrong?" he asked, not understanding.

With difficulty, Briana's lips said, "Don't come any closer!"

"Miss, calm down; I don't want to hurt you," he said.

He tried to be gentler, but Briana couldn't believe it. What criminal would confess when he wanted to harm?

Briana wouldn't be fooled so easily. "I don't believe it," she said with gathering courage. "If you come any closer, I'll kill you!"

The man's jaw hardened. His eyes seemed to darken, and he looked at Annie more sharply. The man was beginning to look dangerous and sadistic.

"Killing you? What's in it for me? You idiot!"

"Who are you, and how did you kidnap me?"

"Kidnapped you?"

"Yes! You kidnapped me!" squealed Briana.

"Okay." The man's answer was short. He stayed where he stood with his arms crossed and scanning Briana's body from head to toe.

"Who are you?" asked Briana.

"Sean. Just call me Sean."

He looked wary and indifferent. The man looked at the woman in front of him right in the eyes, which looked cold and calm.

Those deep eyes made Briana forget her other questions and get lost in those dark black eyes. Suddenly Briana saw that smile. A smile at the corners of those sexy lips resembled a wolfish grin. He did not look perverted. He looked more like a cannibalistic figure capable of swallowing alive.

"I came to check on you. You've been unconscious for ten days."

"Three days? Have I been unconscious for three days? How could this happen?" Briana shook her head quickly. She didn't believe that ridiculous story. Because other than a slight dizziness in her head, she felt fine. "No! No way. You're just making it up."

"Miss!" The stranger looked annoyed. "You can check the bandages on your head yourself. There's also a broken bone in your hand. Don't you realize that?"

Briana gasped. She immediately tried to move both hands. Sure enough, her left hand felt very sore and painful. Briana saw that some leaf and oil concoction covered the sad part of her left elbow. Meanwhile, her right hand, which was fine, moved to feel the bandage around her head. The man was right, Briana thought. Briana was a bandage wrapped tightly around her head.

"Argh! What's with these foul-smelling leaves and oil?" Briana winced, holding back nausea as she kissed her elbow.

"It's medicine."

"You're a healer? A shaman?" asked Briana. "Oh, my God! Where am I right now?" Briana grabbed her hair in frustration.

Briana was back in a panic attack. She was confused. She was currently in a wooden house that was only lit by lanterns. It seemed like this place was home to a creature from the world of fairies. Alternatively, Sean was an immortal: a vampire or a werewolf.

"What the hell is going on?" muttered Briana.

"I'll explain everything. But before that, you need to eat. There is someone who will bring you food."

Briana's eyebrows shot up. "I don't need food!" she screamed.

Sean, who was about to turn around, aborted his footsteps. He was rooted to where he stood, looking intently at Briana.

"Be a little polite, Missy! I understand you're still shocked and confused, but I don't like people screaming in my house."

Sean was stern. His voice was like a lion's roar. What came out of his mouth silenced Briana instantly. She fell to the floor, staring.

After making Briana's guts shrink like mice before a cat, Sean left the room without saying a word. Another attack of pain throbbed in Briana's head. She went back to war with her mind after the man left.

Briana looked up at the wooden ceiling of the house and pouted. She might have been a little rude to accuse Sean of being her kidnapper, but clearly the forest was not her favorite place to vacation. If this was a vacation.

Briana sighed, stretching out her caramelized arms. She continued to look up even though the dizziness in her head did not go away. In fact, the pain was getting worse.

"What exactly is happening to me? Why can't I remember what happened before? Oh, God!" Briana murmured again.

Thirty minutes later, the man returned with an adult woman. Beautiful woman. The woman smiled broadly at Briana and said a very friendly hello. "Hi, how are you?"

Surprised, Briana frowned at the two. "Do I know you?"

The woman shook her head. "No, you don't. I was the doctor who treated you during your unconsciousness. I'm Sarah Grant. Just call me Sarah."

Sarah came over and sat on the edge of the bed, where Briana was cornered like a mouse. Sarah was a fabulous, mature woman. She had an oval face and high cheekbones. Sarah took tools from her bag to examine Briana as she asked, "What are you feeling right now?"

"I feel dizzy, and my hands hurt," Briana said honestly.

"You had a bump on the head, and your left arm bone is slightly displaced. But don't worry; you'll be fine soon," Sarah said with a smile.

She examined Briana while Sean stood by the door, looking intently at his noisy guest. Who else but Briana?

Briana felt that Sean's gaze was very impolite. It was like stripping her naked. Of course, it's not polite to look at a girl blatantly like that.

"It doesn't seem to be anything serious. Your condition is stable and good," Sarah said. She finished examining her patient's body parts. "Once you're better, I'll ask Sean to take you to the hospital in town. You'll need to have a thoracic scan to make sure no fatal injuries have occurred to your head. Brain girdle, for example."

"Why am I being taken to the hospital now?" asked Briana. The question made the strange human named Sean untangle his hands on both sides of his body.

"Um, actually, it's because..."

"Sarah, let her rest and eat."

Sarah quickly put her tools into her bag. The woman left without giving Briana a definite answer.

"Hi! Who are you guys? You're not a bunch of ghosts or creatures, are you?" Briana shouted.

The door to the room closed. However, it soon opened again. This time an old woman appeared with a tray in her hand.

"I brought some porridge for you, Miss."

Briana didn't need porridge. Instead, she got up and bumped into the tray the old woman was carrying. The sound of the bowl and glass against the wooden floor was loud. The girl continued toward the door. She was about to reach for the door handle when she faintly heard a woman's voice. Sarah's voice.

"You should have taken that girl to the hospital first."

"I couldn't," Sean said.

"Ck! Don't let obsession get the better of you!"

"What are you talking about? You're talking about me, right?" There were horns and tongues of fire above Briana's head when the woman managed to open the door to the room where she was admitted.

***

The debate about why Sean didn't take Briana to the hospital didn't continue because he left-gone like a gust of wind coming down from the top of a mountain. The cold wind then wanders to a place Briana can't reach.

Finally, Briana only found solitude accompanied by the old woman who always cared for her food and drink. She was a blue-eyed old woman with wide hips named Nancy. Fortunately, Nancy was very patient.

"So, Sean doesn't live here?"

"Yes, he does. This is his retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city. He only comes here occasionally on weekends. That's when he's not bothered by work."

Busy? What does that mountain man have to do? Briana sneered.

"Miss ...."

"Is he bothered by my arrival?" asked Briana as she adjusted the sagging sleeves of her nightgown. The gray nightgown looked oversized on her thin body.

"That's not true, Miss. Don't think that way. Mr. Sean is cold, but he is kind. Very kind and responsible. The proof is that he helped you."

"So, why did he leave me here injured? He didn't come back for more than a week." Briana snorted. She hadn't miscalculated. It had been a week since Sean had come. "Why wasn't I taken to the hospital?" Briana repeated.

"He probably has a lot of work to do," Nancy said in defense of her employer as she sliced radishes for soup. "I'll ask him where he is now. He's not in just one place. There are many places."

"Is he a nomadic human?" asked Briana, more like a taunt. "Some kind of amoeba that can divide itself?"

"Miss, you're so cynical."

"Sorry, I was just joking." Briana knew it was too much. "Who are you going to ask? I mean, where Sean is."

"Of course, Miss Sarah."

Briana nodded. "What is the relationship between the two of them?"

"Who do you mean, Miss? Mr. Sean and Miss Sarah?"

"Well, who else, if not her? Doctor Sarah."

A smile appeared on Nancy's thick, lipstick-polished lips that were the color of red radish.

Was the old woman laughing at her? Was the question funny? "Why are you laughing?"

"Miss, are you starting to miss Mr. Sean?"

Briana glared, "No! Why would I miss that creepy human? He's like a demon when he smiles."

Nancy laughed broadly. Her shoulders seemed to shake to hear the protests of the young girl in front of her.

Briana wasn't exaggerating about Sean being like the devil. Sean was quite the handsome devil. However, Briana was reluctant to say so outright.

The girl remembered the way Sean looked at her. His eyes seemed as dark as the night that shaded the stars. Also, the man smiled with a wolf-like grin, even though that smile looked terrible. However, Briana often imagined it just before going to bed.

It was a good thing that Sean and his horrible smile didn't enter her dreams because Briana had been having strange dreams. Terrible dreams.

The dream was...

The dreams...

Fire is everywhere. Flames engulfed a house without anyone trying to put it out. The sounds of horrific screams rang out. Howls of pain rang out from inside the house. Black smoke blurred Briana's vision. Then there was nothing else she could remember. The dream came again and again. However, it was unfortunate that she could not remember the horrific events.

"So you had a nightmare?"

Briana nodded. All this time, she had been unconscious. However, after a week of consciousness, strange dreams began to come to disturb her sleep. "It was a strange dream. I don't know where the place is."

"Are you able to tell me your name now?"

"Name?" Briana scratched her brown hair. "My name is Briana Clooney. I am a final-year student at a high school in New York."

"New York?" asked Nancy as if surprised.

"Yes." Briana grimaced. "What's wrong with New York? Well, I'm a city girl. Not used to the noise of birds and insects. Sorry!"

"It's not that. You, seriously?" The old woman's face looked incredulous at what Briana was saying.

"Of course. I don't remember how I got to this place. A wooden house in the forest with the sounds of wild animals and horrible insects. A house by a lake, but I didn't forget my name."

"I don't mean that, Miss. Oh, Briana. What a lovely name you have." Nancy was still a little confused. Of course, that made Briana suspicious.

"What's wrong, Nancy? What are you trying to hide?"

"Are you still in high school? You don't look like a teenager. I mean, at least you've graduated from a college or university."

"Oh, God. Did something bad come out of my face? Wrinkles or fangs that suddenly grew and pierced my nose?" Briana quickly went to the closet in the corner of the room where she was sleeping. The mirror there was wide enough to see the reflection of her face, which frightened Nancy.

Nancy followed Briana's quick steps into the room. What appeared in the mirror was a woman with brown hair. It was light brown at the base and darker at the ends. The hair was slightly curled and looked tangled.

"That's me?"

"Of course, it's you. It wasn't Queen Ravenna who asked the mirror, Who was the most beautiful woman?"

Briana looked at her face in the mirror. With some hesitation, she fingered her complete lips. The eyes were blue like sapphires. When Briana blinks, the figure in the mirror also blinks. Now, she traced her body wearing a long gray nightgown that wrapped her body like a mummy.

"In that mirror, I look quite beautiful. But at the same time, I look old. Perhaps?"

"What?" asked Nancy.

"I'm in a wormhole-or a time trex machine. I'm in the future. Oh, it's so horrible that the future is like this."

"It's 2024."

"2024?"

"Yes."

"Who is the president of America? Surely not Rambo? My dad loves Rocky movies." Briana tried to joke, but when she saw Nancy's silence, she didn't laugh.

Nancy didn't continue chopping radishes. Instead, she went upstairs. There was a transmitter and a telephone that could be used to contact Sean. The young woman was fully conscious. Although she looked healthy, Briana seemed to have lost her memory. Nancy had to report to Sean as soon as possible about the girl's condition.

"Nancy!" called Briana. "Can I come upstairs with you?"

"No need, Briana. I'll be right down," Nancy said.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before Nancy came down from the second floor of the wooden house. She stomped down the stairs until the creaking of the wood could be heard against the weight of her large body.

"Mr. Sean is at the front."

"There's no sound of a car approaching," Briana argued.

Nancy just smiled. "Did you hear the motor engine?"

There was the roar of a diesel motor approaching. Briana immediately turned her head towards the main door. During her time in the log house, she had never explored the house room by room. She opened the window and found the lake. However, because her head was still dizzy, Briana lay down all day like a paralyzed person.

"The sound of the engine. Like a speedboat," Briana said, uncertain.

Briana stepped closer to the door. She opened the wooden door to find Sean tying the chain to the speedboat.

"What is this place, exactly?" Briana immediately welcomed Sean's arrival with a question.

"Are you well?"

"I've been fine since a week ago." replied Briana unkindly. "When are you going to take me to the hospital?"

The man was silent. Instead, he reached for the sack of kitchen items. However, at the doorway, Sean turned to Briana.

"By the way, you haven't introduced yourself yet. What's your name?" Sean asked casually. Not intimidating as usual.

"Briana," she replied as she tugged at the sleeve that had fallen back off her shoulder.

Sean's friendly gaze darkened. That strange look returned. "Nice name," he said.

"I've been beautiful since birth."

Sean raised the corners of his lips. "All right. Now you can tell us your family name, the address where you lived before, or something that will help us find them."

"My name is Briana Clooney." Briana glanced at Sean, who was staring at her intently, and then her eyes shifted to Nancy, who had a friendly smile. "You can come to my school in New York. Well, I'm a city girl. So that you know!"

"New York?"

"Why is that?" Briana didn't like the look in Sean's eyes, which were sharp as a hunter's arrow. Did Sean not believe where she was coming from?

"Do you remember the cell phone number of one of your relatives that I can call?"

Briana shook her head. She had forgotten today's date. And worst of all, she lost in 2024. How could that be?

"I don't remember anything except my school. Roslyn High School is a top-ranked public school in Roslyn Heights, New York. Don't you know?"

"I didn't know," Sean replied. He seriously didn't know about school rankings.

"Oh, all right. But I can't be careless. According to my teacher, we students aren't allowed to give our addresses to anyone. Especially strangers."

Sean raised his eyebrows. "You're too old for a schoolgirl."

"I don't know what you mean, Mr. Woodsman!" growled Briana.