The Star Caster Read Free Page A

existence? He didn’t even say goodbye to me. Oh well, I guess he’s not that different than the others.
    I lean my head down; my forehead rests on my arms so that my eyes are bathed in complete darkness. I’m so tired, but it’s impossible to sleep here. This is absolutely ridiculous. Safe? Nothing is safe when barbed wire is involved. I sigh, frustrated, and allow the tears to fall, warm and quick, down my face. I’m so happy that I’m alone right now. This loneliness is best at times like this, times when you’re too weak to keep it together.
    The stress of this, of this whole mess, collides and forms one huge problem. I cry over how I got myself into this, how I’m stuck like this, and how Sterren is simultaneously intriguing and annoying me. There’s nothing I can do to get myself out of this mess, and this hopeless feeling, combined with my other reasons for crying, drives me crazy. I spend the next half-hour crying like this. The only reason I stop is because there are no more tears to shed.
    Footsteps rouse me from my sniffling. I sit up, knowing that I won’t let myself look weak in front of whoever is coming to taunt me. I wipe the tears from my face, hoping that the dim light doesn’t draw attention to my puffy eyes and red cheeks.
    “It’s just me,” Sterren states as he walks into the light. He looks around and behind him as he walks toward me, and I raise an eyebrow at him. “Technically, I’m not allowed to do this,” he adds as he gets closer, and I can see why. Sterren is carrying a blanket, along with cheese and crackers. I’m hoping the cheese and crackers are for me, but lose my hope when Sterren lays the blanket across the dirty floor.
    “What are you doing?” I ask him.
    “I need to keep you awake until they come to retrieve you,” Sterren answers.
    “Oh,” I say simply. Well that’s unexpected, and I can’t seem to grasp the idea that Sterren is staying until I see him recline, his hands resting on the blanket. “Why are you doing this?” I ask after he relaxes. I hope that he isn’t here to trick me into trusting him and instantly pull my defenses back up. I shouldn’t have let them slip in his presence in the first place.
    Sterren opens the crackers and the pre-sliced cheese. I watch as he makes himself a cheese and cracker sandwich and sticks it in his mouth. Then, he makes another, this one with two pieces of cheese in the middle. I stare at the food, jealous and a little angry. He swallows the first one, then sticks the second in his mouth. My jaw nearly drops open in shock. Wow, he’s rude and inconsiderate.
    I lower my head until my forehead is resting against my knees. I open my eyes and look into the dark cave I’ve created and trace the hem of my jeans as I bite my lip. Maybe Sterren wouldn’t look so comfortable working with these crazy kidnappers if he was a little nicer, a little bit more like a gentlemen.
    “Here,” Sterren whispers. I look up to find that he’s holding out a cheese and cracker sandwich, his fingers waiting carefully on the other side of the barbed wire.
    “Why are you doing this?” I ask him.
    “You’re hungry,” he says matter-of-factly. He waves the sandwich and I reach forward. The cheese is still pretty cold, the cracker is rough and salty, and my stomach growls, even though I attempt to contain my hunger. I don’t want Sterren to feel like he owes me some food.
    “Thank you,” I mumble in response.
    Sterren nods, sensing my discomfort with the situation, and I silently thank him for letting it go. He hands me another cheese and cracker sandwich, and even though I ask him not to, he hands me a third and fourth cracker.
    Afterwards, Sterren leans back on his blanket. His long legs are extended in front o f him and he rests on his elbows; his light blue shirt hangs loosely on the sides, tighter near his chest now, and I can see his lean muscles more closely. Sterren leans his head back, stretching his neck, and the material of