TAMED

Ignorance Is Bliss

Ares woke up before anyone else, his leg was sore as hell but he'd felt worse. He sat up from his bed, and noticed the scene around him. Levi was passed out at a small table with a cup of coffee which had long turned cold. Dr. Loren was sound asleep on the opposite bed, fully clothed and still wearing her shoes. Finally, a stranger rested on the floor, firmly snuggling a pillow. The room was silent other than the light blowing of the heater vents.

The Hound slowly stood to his feet, wincing at the sudden pain which caught him by surprise. He stood there silently, unsure of what to do. The sun outside shined through the closed blinds, leaving sharp slivers of light streaking across the floor. The teens stomach grumbled loudly as he peaked out the window.

Forty five minutes went by as the Hound paced and found odd little things to entertain himself. He boredly counted ceiling tiles, watched the water drip from the bathroom sink, and played with a stray, downy, pillow feather which floated above the heater vent. Finally he became too hungry, his body craved something to eat and he needed to answer its call. Silent as a mouse, Ares stuffed one of Levi's handguns into his pocket, as well as some cash. The man had left everything in a drawer, but it hadn't been difficult to find.

Another moment or so later, and the killer walked out the door, closing it behind him without a sound.

....

"Where the hell did he go!?" Levi panicked as he made his way up the street. How stupid had they been? Leaving the kid completely unrestrained all night long. They didn't even know when he'd left. All they knew was that Levi had been the last to fall asleep, which had been sometim around 4am. So it had to have happened between then and 10am sometime, when they'd woken up to find him gone.

The man walked up the sidewalk as he looked around. He couldn't yell, it would draw attention, but he did have the clicker. He clicked it now and then and just hoped that the kid heard it and came back to him. The boy was wearing his collar but he was too far for the receiver to pick up on it, so that idea had been a bust too.

"...damn it..." The man huffed. " Just don't kill anyone Ares..."

....
The missing Hound was seated at some tables outside a restaurant. He waited there...and waited...and waited. Now and then he raised his nose to absorb the delicious scents of food from tables around him. He'd been there for about half an hour when a waiter suddenly walked up to him.

"I am so sorry, we are very short handed today and so there's only me and one other person waiting tables, and she's inside dealing with a situation." Realizing he was rambling he started again. "My name is Vince, Can I get you started with a drink?"

The waiter was a young man, perhaps twenty years old. He had sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes which matched the blue sky above. He was taller than Ares by a couple of inches, had an athletic, lean build, and a friendly disposition.

The Hound nodded but didn't say a word.

Vince smiled sheepishly.

"Erm...what would you like?" He asked, holding his order sheet and pen in waiting.

Ares blinked and looked down, then pointed to a table near him. The waiter followed his gesture and looked on at the beer bottle the customer had beside him.

The blonde man nodded.

"Right, okay. I will need to see your ID first if that's fine?"

Ares looked down but then pointed to his earring. The only identification he knew of. The man before him took on a more sympathetic expression and apologized.

"Ah, I understand. I'm sorry." He said with a brief nod. He pulled out his own ID and showed Ares. "This...do you happen to have an ID on you?"

Ares shook his head in frustration and growled just a bit. Vince looked to the left and sighed.