Firecracker (On Hold)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Justin's P.O.V.

She's finally succumbed to sleep. It's now.... 6pm. We've been sitting in here for 6 hours, mostly in silence. I've figured out a few things since we've been in here though. Nothing that she's told me, just things I have observed. She doesn't want to sleep with me in the room. I think she doesn't feel safe enough to do that. I don't know how she survived on the streets then. If she doesn't feel safe to sleep with other people around, then she must never sleep.

So, when she goes through the team rosters, she's trying to keep herself awake. I have to admit, that's quite a skill. To remember all those names. I watch Ariya closely as she sleeps. Her eyes are moving quickly behind her eyelids, suggesting she's dreaming. She starts fighting against her restraints. I'm pretty sure she's fighting against someone and maybe there's some panic there as well. I wonder what she's dreaming. I know she's a fighter, so maybe she's reliving one of her fights. I know I have remembered things from my time in combat in my sleep. I wouldn't be surprised if that is what's happening.

I continue to watch her carefully and it's probably about 40 minutes before her head snaps up and she tries to get free from her shackles. I almost feel bad for putting her through this. She can't get her hands free and she seems to panic for a moment before recognition flashes across her face. She growls again. It's almost primal and that sound reveals more than any words could right now.

I don't want to bring too much attention to the fact that I saw her dreaming, so I simply say, “Hey, you ok?”

She pulls at her restraints and says, “Having a ball, can't you tell?”

“I was actually being genuine, but if you're going to be like that then I won't bother asking.”

“Good.”

We're thrown into silence again, so I try to see if I can get some answers out of her.

“Do you always dream like that?”

She says nothing and gives nothing away, so I'm not sure what the answer to that one is. I wait another hour, but she's not giving in, so I stand up and say, “Well, I can see you've decided to make this even more difficult, so I'll leave you to your thoughts. I'll be back to check on you in the morning. The barn is all locked up, so you won't be able to escape. Just in case you get any funny ideas.”

She doesn't even acknowledge me as I slip out of the barn. I wait outside the door to see if she does or says anything, but she just sits there. If it were me, the first thing I'd do is try to find a way out. Maybe she's lulling me into a false sense of security so I let my guard down. Maybe she's thinking of a plan before she actually tries anything. Or maybe she's just resigned herself to the way things are and she's saving her energy to throw up her defenses. Ariya Flynn is unlike anyone I've ever met, so it's not easy to guess what she's thinking. As much trouble as she is, she makes life interesting and I do really like her spark. The more I see of her, the more I liken her to a firecracker. Maybe not the love song version Josh Turner talks about in his song, but definitely like a stick of dynamite.

The guys are just sitting down to dinner when I walk into the house. Lou smiles at me and says, “I made you a plate.”

“Thanks Lou. Was everything ok today?”

“Yes sir. We got through all the jobs you set for us.”

“Good. Mike, how's the young stock?”

This leads us to a conversation about the young horses. He also tells me someone had cut down part of our fence, like they were either using it to cut through or testing to see if we'd notice.