Notes

Shock flared in Anahita's eyes as he wiped her face with the cool cloth, but soon the emotion dispersed and left her serene.

"What happened.." She spoke soft and sotto as the cloth was removed. Anahita's eyes followed the young man in front of her as he submerged the cloth again and wrung it back out. "Who are you.." Sitting up on the bed Anahita looked at the man sitting on an aged stool. He was smiling at her and her initial reaction was to smile back.

Her eyes suddenly went wide and she averted her gaze around her surroundings. "Where am I!" She turned her head to the man sitting on the stool and crawled closer to him. "Where did you take me!?"

"I don't understand what you are saying." His voice was deep and soothing to her ears.

"Where is my little brother, he is fifteen and is about up to my shoulders, and he has dark brown curly hair that reaches up to his brows and his skin is the same colo-."

"I don't understand what you are saying."

Anahita looked down at the sheets confused, she put the puzzle pieces together and discovered that he was speaking Persian and it took a moment for her to process the words, she thought then where is she if she's not at home? The last thing she remembers was diving into the whirlpool to save Jeremiah, and waking up in the middle of a desert-like area.

The man raised his hands and lightly grabbed her shoulders breaking her away from her thoughts. He leaned forward, his lips grazing her forehead and kissed her. "Calm down."

Anahita shuddered and scooted in a panic over the pillows. "You don't just kiss girls you find in the middle of nowhere!" She yelled in Persian, she took the covers and pulled it up to her forehead wiping away his kiss. He tilted his head back and laughed heartily. It was deep sounding. Mellow. Calming. Like a deep river washing over a path of stones.

The man then stood off the stool and walked over to a door in the room. Anahita watched closely and noticed him reaching out for something. The man reached for a fitting attire for her to wear and threw it on the bed. "Put that on and meet me outside." he then left leaving her alone. How could he just leave me here?

A sigh escaped her lips and she looked at the dress. Reaching for it, she layered it against her chest smoothing it down with her hand to see if it were a good fit. It was solid black with short sleeves, there were small rips on the ends and some of the fabric had been torn. Anahita snooped around the room. There were three brown tables at every corner. The walls were a faded red and there were light patterns colored in a gold shimmery paint like substance. She tilted her head down and saw her feet, there were cuts in between her toes. It must have been because of walking on the sand all day yesterday.

Walking over to one of the tables there was a vanity, taking a brush, she brushed through her long locks and pulled the dress over her head. Once finished, she walked outside. There were steps that led to a great opening, and there were plants surrounding the door which she thought would lead her to him.

She used her right hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Taking her first step out, she felt thin briefs of wind gust her hair back. Connecting both her right and left hand to create a bigger shield from the sun she was able to get a better view of the horizon. "Wow.." She said in awe. As she latched onto the ledge, and stretched her arms wide like a bird taking its first flight. "It's so beautiful!" she yelled hearing her voice echo throughout the desert skies.

"What is it you are doing?" The same recognizable voice spoke. Anahita turned away from the landscape and raised her chin high by the overwhelming view. A palace? she shook her head. A palace cannot be made of sand. Pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind she looked up to the man talking down to her. "Who are you! And where am I?"

He stood right in front of her, only inches apart with a serious expression on his face. "I am Octavian, Leader of the Desert Manes. And isn't it I who should be asking the questions? For you are the one who crossed paths with my terrain."

Anahita scoffed, "Me! Don't you mean YOU, you're the one who violated my personal bubble by even coming near me! You kidnapper!" she jabbed his chest with her finger. Octavian stepped forward then leaned down a little frowning. "I know not of your whereabouts, but you should be thankful that I took you in. If I had left you out there any longer, you would have died from heatstroke or better yet, starvation."

She hadn't thought about it that way. It was only natural for her to be concerned about her whereabouts and her brother.

Stepping back, she looked over her shoulder at the horizon ahead of her. Octavian followed her gaze and then turned back to look at her. "Where do you come from?" He asked.

It took her a second to think about it. As she thought more and took a closer look at her surroundings and the clothes that she and Octavian were wearing, she choked from the shock. This whole time she had believed that she was still at the beach, but this place looked nothing like it.

She breathed in and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Maryland," she replied.

"Merrylain?"

"No," she repeated slowly. "Mary-land." Shaking her head she walked towards the door and stopped. "That's not the point! The point is, my family and I were on vacation and went to New jersey for the spring but I ended up here when I was drowning."

Looking up to meet Octavian's confused gaze, his left brow was arched and he was biting his bottom lip. "Where am I?" She asked again.

"Persia."