Nectar (Nectar 1)

Kyla slowly sat back on the bed.

“I’ll take the next week to organize things and then as soon as her period stops, we’ll go,” Tristan looked to the camera, “How long are your periods?”

“5-6 days, usually, when I’m on the pill. Not on the pill, I don’t know.”

He looked to Sam, “Let’s get back to the party. Go down and wait in the car. I’ll be there right behind you. Kyla, we’re going to wrap things up and then I’ll be back.”

“Okay. Thank you, Sam,” Kyla said through the intercom.

Sam gave her a little salute and then disappeared from her view. Tristan followed him downstairs.

Kyla waited. Tristan was gone at least fifteen minutes. He’d seemed in control while Sam was there. Would that continue to be the case?

His phone rang several more times during that time with different names and numbers coming up, including two more calls from Dawn.

She heard his voice call her name over the computer so she hit the intercom button.

“Hi.”

“There’s a console for the camera on the computer. You can play with the settings to leave the intercom open. Then you won’t have to keep pushing the button. Listen, I’ll put some stuff in the closet near the door for you, including the key and the suitcase from the house so you’ve got some clothes. I want you holding the key. I’m going to put it there now and I’m leaving the apartment before you open that door to get it. I’ll be gone at least a few hours to wrap up the event. Just get the bag and go back inside and shut the door and hit the red button again. We’ll have to do this every time I need to send in something.”

“Okay,” she said. She felt like there was a lump in her throat, “But you said you can get through locks.”

“That only started after meeting you. It’s barriers I can remove or add but I need to be panicked or really focus for it to happen. I’m calm,” he said softly. Tristan disappeared from view for a moment and then she saw a picture-in-picture box appear on the screen with a view of inside of the closet. It must be motion activated. He put the big suitcase and a grocery bag on the floor. She watched him take a key off his key ring and put it into the grocery bag. Then he leaned his forehead against the wall beside the camera.

“I’m so sorry.” He sounded so sad.

“I know,” she choked out but had forgotten to hit the intercom button so she hit the button and repeated herself, “I know.” Then she fiddled with the settings to keep the intercom open.

He stayed put for a moment, staring at the camera and it felt to Kyla like he was looking right at her.

“Gotta go.”

“Wait. Your phone?” she said.

He shook his head, “It’s okay. I’ll take your phone in case you need to reach me. Your number is programmed in mine.”

“Okay. You missed a bunch of calls.”

“Doesn’t matter. I have no time to return calls anyway. I love you. I’ll be back soon. We will fix this.” He gave the camera a determined look and then disappeared from the closet. She saw him reappear on the larger portion of the screen to take her phone from her clutch purse, and then he disappeared from view. She started to fiddle with the settings for the software program and saw that there was a view of downstairs as well. She clicked it and saw Tristan exit the apartment. There were a variety of options to manually or automatically broadcast through all intercoms. She left all camera views open in a tiled format on the screen.

She hit the green button on the ceiling and the door clicked unlocked. She heard a text message ding. Kyla glanced back at the screen to see that the areas were all clear and then stepped out into the closet. She dragged the suitcase and the plastic bag in and hit the red button again. There was another ding, signifying the system’s engagement.

Inside the plastic bag were about half a dozen chocolate bars, a box of chocolate chip cookies, and a 2 liter bottle of Grape Fanta. She smiled a little. Was that an attempt at an apology? Creature comforts for captivity? There was also a box of super absorbent tampons and overnight extra absorbent maxi pads as well as PMS pain reliever and ibuprofen. Kyla found a pair of underwear, yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a towel from the suitcase and got into the bathroom and took a quick shower. She’d already started to bleed heavier.She dressed and got into bed and turned the light out. This windowless room was about 8x9 and would be home for the next week. Thinking about that made her a little claustrophobic for a split second but that feeling didn’t linger. She would just have to think of it as a safe cocoon. She wished that it was a safe place for her and Tristan. The Tristan who made her feel safe, of course; not the angry monster Tristan, and certainly not the cold gray Tristan.