"Please tell me where you're taking me"

I have been trying to figure it out the whole time we've been in the car, but it doesn't help that I don't know LA that well. And even if I did, my orientation skills are awful. I get lost in the supermarket on a regular basis, I'm not even joking.

"I'm not telling you, but I can promise you that it'll be worth it" he promised, still fully concentrated on the road ahead.

We've been driving for about 20 minutes now, and I was getting impatient. I hated not knowing something, which also explains why I'm not a big fan of surprises.

"You better not be driving me to some deserted place where you can kill me with no witnesses present" I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Damn it you figured it out" he joked, tapping his fingers to the beat of the song that was playing on the radio. I didn't recognise it but it did sound good.

"So you're not going to tell me? Not even going to give me a clue?" I turned to face him and gave him the best puppy eyes I could muster. He only peeked a quick glance at my face, due to the fact that he was still driving, but I could tell he wanted to look at me for longer.

"Don't give me that look or we're going to crash darling" he said, trying to use a stern voice, however I found it quite cute.

"I have no idea what you mean Casanova" I gave him a cheeky wink and turned my head to look out of the window of my passenger seat.

The road was flying past, the trees and grass turning into a green blur as we drove past it. I noticed that we were now driving through a more secluded area with less houses and more greenery. I don't think I've been in this part of the city before, I'm not even sure if this is the city anymore.

"Okay we're nearly there, but can you close your eyes for me and keep them closed until I tell you to open them?" Cyrus pleaded, as thecae was slowing down, indicating that we were in fact close to our destination.

"Do I have to?" I whined like a little baby who had their lollipop taken away from them.

"Yes you do darling. And to make sure that you won't see anything, there's a shirt on the back seat that you can use to cover your face" he chuckled at that, clearly enjoying my impatience.

I turned in my seat and saw a red and black checkered shirt lying on one of the seats. I grabbed it and put it over my head, which successfully blocked my vision.

Not long after I felt the car come to a stop as he turned off the engine. All of a sudden, I felt fingers touching me face, examining the shirt that was covering my eyesight.

"See I knew you would try and cheat your way out of this" he mumbled whilst grabbing two ends of the shirt on my head and tied them together, making it tighter and impossible for me to peek through like I planned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" the smile hasn't left my lips, although I was a bit annoyed that he found the loophole I was depending on.

"Sure you don't" he said and soon after I heard a car door close, my guess being that he just left the car. A few seconds later, the door on my side opened and he put him hand into mine, pulling me slightly.

I followed his lead and started to get up and out of the car. I was starting to feel a little bit nervous. I have no idea where I am and I am currently blindfolded. I hardly know the person I'm here with, and yet I'm trusting him to blindfold me and lead me somewhere unknown to me. If there was an emergency, I have now realised that my phone is back in the car, since I placed it on seat as we were driving earlier.

What is wrong with me? Why am I trusting this person who I've met a few weeks ago and spent about 3 full days with him? For all I know, he could be a murderer or a rapist or he could be doing business with human traffickers. And here I am, offering myself to him on a silver platter.

As the thoughts are swirling through my mind, I am starting to realise that I am one of those girls in romance novels that are always too trusting and too careless with strangers as they're looking for the love of their life.

Yep, I definitely need to get away from here as soon as possible.

"Okay, just stand here. Oh just a little to the side... there we go. Are you ready?" came the question and I didn't know what to say. Was I ready for this stranger to just do whatever it is he planned to do? Was I ready to fight or will I take the option of flight?

No matter what will happen within the next few seconds, I will not let anything bad happen to me. If I will need to, I will fight like never before, and if I have the chance, I will run away from this place and person as fast as I possibly can before getting help.

I will not go down without a fight.

____________________________________

"Wait hold on. You're telling me that you actually thought I was part of some human trafficking deal?! Haha and that you were the prized possession I was bringing for the next auction? Hahahaha" Cyrus was struggling to say the words without laughing in-between.

So yes, as it turns out, I was overthinking everything a little bit. Cyrus wasn't a rapist, or a murderer or even part of human trafficking. That is, as far as I know.

He brought me to the edge of LA, where the skyline could be seen as the sun was setting beautifully beneath the horizon, and the sky was being painted into all different shades of orange and pink. You could see the city lights shining through and lighting up its surroundings, creating a soft golden glow. It really was a beautiful sight.

"Okay you can stop making fun of me now" I chuckled along with him, seeing the scenario I painted from his perspective. I mean, I still don't know him that well, and for all I know he could be a murderer of puppies, but isn't that what you have to go through with everyone?

You meet a stranger and if all goes well, they can become the most important person in your life. So I guess what I'm saying is that Cyrus is receiving that chance from me right now. To get to know me and for me to get to know him. I'll just have to see how this goes.

"Okay I'll stop" he said, grabbing another grape from the plastic box.

We were lucky that he was a guy who ate a lot and brought a massive lunch for his classes this morning. He brought so much that we managed to have a sandwich each, shared some chocolate bars and now we're sharing the box of grapes.

"You see where I was coming from though right? I don't even know what you study, or your full name or where you're from" I said, chewing on the green grape, enjoying the taste.

"Okay then, I study music, my full name is Cyrus Anvari and I'm from Portland, although my family has roots in Asia" he answered my questions easily.

"What made you study music?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. It wasn't a typical topic to study, unless you had a grand plan for your career or you were very passionate about it.

"I've always loved it, you know? No matter what mood I was in or what was happening in my life, music was always there to help me get through it. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's my passion and I want to pursue it no matter what" he explained, and I listened carefully to every word coming from his mouth.

Observing him, I can imagine him on stage with a guitar and a microphone stand in front of him, singing his heart out whilst thousands of girls are screaming his name. He's got the looks and the personality of a musician. I wonder if he has the talent though.

"What instruments do you play?" I ask eagerly. I swear every girl loves a guy who can play an instrument. Tell me I'm wrong.

"I sing and I play the guitar and the drums. You know, thinking about it know, I can totally see you as my groupie" he laughed lightly, obviously because of the image in his head.

"I totally would! Already can't wait to throw my bra on stage" I joked, punching him slightly on the shoulder.

"You can just give it to me now if you don't want to wait?"

"You're so cheeky, you know that?" I asked, giggling and feeling a slight blush coming to my cheeks.

I sighed and turned my face towards the skyline, only now realising that the beautiful shades of the sunset have disappeared and the colours of dusk took its place. The city lights were now more prominent and created a calm atmosphere.

"Okay let me take you home, tease" he patted me on my lower back and stood up, offering me his hand to help me up.

I gladly took his offer and he hoisted me up, making me stand on my own two feet.

Only now I noticed that it was quite cold out, so without thinking about it I put the shirt I used as a blindfold on, to warm myself up. It gave me a slight relief but not for long, as I continued to feel the cold air touching my skin.

Luckily the car wasn't far away from where we were sitting when watching the skyline, so I picked up the pace to get there faster.

Once inside, I buckled the seat belt across my body and gripped my phone in my hand which has been in the car the whole time we were here. After checking through the messages, I realised that I forgot to let Dylan know where I was and who I was with.

"Shit I need to call Dylan!" I exclaimed and started looking for his number in my phone.

"Why? What's wrong?" Cyrus asked as he started the car and we started making our way back to the city.

"I forgot to tell him not to wait for me! Shit! He gets really worried you know? I'm going to be in so much trouble with him!" I panicked, still looking through my phone for his number.

"Hey, hey Amber, calm down. I texted him when we got here and told him you were with me. It's fine, he knows" his hand was on my shoulder as he was peeking at me from underneath my chin, since my head was facing down from panicking.

I hated the idea that Dylan might be worried about me, especially since he's been so nice to me ever since I came here. He took me under his wing, and I really didn't want to let him down.

"You did? Really?" I asked to make sure I wasn't imagining things.

"I did. I'm sure, yes. Everything is fine so just take a deep breath for me okay?" he instructed me.

Only now did I notice that we pulled to the side of the road. This must have happened whilst I was panicking. Huh I'm not very observant lately.

"Okay, thank you Cyrus, honestly. I'll text him now then to let him know we're on our way back" I nodded at him, letting him know that I'm okay and that he can start driving again.

I quickly sent the text to Dylan and then leaned back in my seat, taking a few calming breaths. I really got worked up over this, which confused me a little bit. I never really cared about people, or the idea that they might be worrying about me. But then again, my mother never really worried about me, at least not the one I wanted her to.

Looking down at my hands, I noticed they were shaking slightly and it definitely wasn't because of my panicking that happened a few minutes ago.

No, this was my body's way of telling me that it was craving heroin. I've seen it enough times to know.

Cyrus detected my silence and took a quick peek at my face and then followed my gaze to my hands. Yes, they were still shaking.

"Are you cold? Do you want me to turn the heater on?" Cyrus suggested, obviously misreading the sign and wanting to help.

"Oh...umm.... yes please, if you could" dammit I should've said it's because of my panic moment, not because I was cold.

We're in LA and it's still summer, how can I possibly be cold? Stupid!

The drive seemed to be shorted this time around and after a few more minutes, we were parked outside my house. The porch lights were on, meaning that someone came into the house not long ago. Hopefully no one is waiting for me, I just have to get upstairs as soon as possible.

"So we're here. Hey I had fun today" Cyrus said, turning towards me and looking directly into my green eyes.

His chocolate ones were beautiful, with slight wrinkles as he showed off his giant, happy smile.

"Yeah, me too. Thank you for the distraction today, I really needed that" I replied, trying to contain the shake in my hands, as to not make it noticeable.

"My pleasure. We should definitely... hey you're still shaking. You're still cold?" he asked, worry seeping into his voice.

"No I'm fine, honestly. Anyways, I should go. I'll see you around Casanova" I gave him the best smile I could manage, and got out of the car.

I saw that he wanted me to stay a little longer, I felt like he wanted to say more, but I didn't give him that chance.

I rushed inside my house and went straight upstairs and to my room. Luckily, all the lights downstairs were turned off, meaning that no one was waiting for my arrival.

I closed the door of my bedroom behind me and leaned against it, slowly sliding down until I hit the floor, with my knees tucked closely to my chest. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, thinking before committing to my next actions.

But my body had different ideas, as I suddenly stood up and walked up the stairs to the attic that was attached to my bedroom.

It didn't take me long to find my hidden stash underneath one of the loose floorboards I found on my second day here.

I unpacked everything I needed and before I knew it, the needle was inserted into my arm.

My relief was here, and with it was my freedom.

Thank you for reading this chapter!

What do you think of Amber so far? And of Cyrus?

Please vote and comment, give me your honest opinions :)

Until next time xxx