Find me

Chapter 69

Alice

It's been a month since we got to know about that eagle man, Jake Dawson. He and his daughter are still mysterious to me. Something is odd about him but I don't know what. I want to know him more. What happened to his wife? Where is his daughter now? I want to know about them.
Luke is still not talking to me like he used to do before. He's still angry with me, I guess. But he helped me with training. Alessandra taught me about fighting weapons. I've been practising with almost every possible weapon she has. I learned how to use the bow and arrow, and pike. Pikes were long (sometimes seven or eight feet) and thick spears with pointed heads. Used in a phalanx formation, they were impenetrable to enemy cavalry. Pikes were used in some form from the time of Alexander the Great through the 1700s.
Then I learned about a knightly sword. The straight, double-edged blade is used to kill the enemy in one go. And I will practise it till I'll become a master of this sword. Luke taught me about the triple dagger. The name says it all. A spring-loaded, three-blade knife used by fencers in the Middle Ages. Press a button and the two extra blades fly out, to devastating effect in close combat. And he showed me how to use it, and how will this give a deadly impact on your enemy.
My gaze drifted toward the door as it click open. Luke walks in. He's been out this whole afternoon. But I don't know where. He talks less, and after completing the practice session, he leaves and doesn't come back before the sunset. He's acting weird since our argument. I hate that. Even though he lives with me I'm still missing him. The old Tylor Luke, the funny, flirty version of him. I'm missing the way he talked to me, cracked jokes, bringing me to laugh. The sorrow overwhelmed me whenever I think about all of these.
"Hey, you are back," I say, trying to start the conversation.
He just pass me a tight smile and went into the room. He did this all the time. Just smile and walk off.
I roll my eyes in frustration and follow him into the room. He was leaning on the chair, reading a book. I walk closer, "Are you okay?".
He turned to watch me, "Yeah". And then back to work, turning the page, he starts reading again. I stand there, waiting for him to say something or ask something. But his focus is all over that stupid book.
Pinching my lips together, I stomp my foot and then sit on the edge of the bed, crossing my legs, I stare at him. But he didn't bother to even flinch. The more he avoids me the more I get attracted to him.
Yes, attracted. I love watching him when he cooks, when he helped people around here, when he laughs with them, when he sleeps, when he exercises early in the morning, shirtless.
I blink and notice that it rises goosebumps on my hand. Crap.
He cares. He doesn't express his concerns very eloquently, of course, but I know his intentions are in the right place. It's nice to have someone looking out for me and giving a damn about what I do. And I hate to admit it, but I like the way he makes me feel. The way his eyes look at me like I'm the only thing in the world.
He indeed brought up so many emotions inside me. Right now, I can't characterise them. But the only thing which I understand till now is that I love being with him. He's kind, caring and helpful. I forget that he is Malign. The ruthless monsters who killed people. He is nothing like them.
"Do you have anything more to say?" he asked, watching me from the corner of his eyes.
I sit straight, alarmed at his sudden question, "Not exactly".
He pivoted his gaze back to the pages while replying, "Okay".
That's it? No more questions? Come on, ask me something like why am I sitting here staring at you, why do I not leave?
A bout of frustration churns inside me. I rush to him, snatching his book from his hand, I run.
"What the.....?" He growls, stepping toward me, "Give it back, Alice".
A playful smile stretched to the corner of my lips, "No. Enough of your reading". I hate to admit but I'm loving the way he maintains his hard look just to scare me, which I don't. Because I know this isn't the real him.
He pushes his leg, trying to catch me but I veer around, hiding it behind my back, "Come on, I'm not in the mood to play" he says, sounding frustrated. "Give it back".
He is about to grab my hand when I slide my leg, spinning around, I run back into the hall, "Want this?" I ask, showing him his book, "Then come and get it".
Luke made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat as he charged toward me, "Don't challenge me".
I run across the table, covering myself, "Why not?" I question, laughing. He's standing opposite me, as he takes one step forward I take one step back, "Let's see who will win". I know who will win. He can catch me in a matter of seconds. But still, I like challenging him. At least he will talk to me.
He throws his hand to grab me but I jump backwards, and he holds nothing but air. "Too slow," I say, smirking.
I run back into the room,
And he follows me too. "If I'll catch you, you'll be dead".
I laugh.
I'm standing across the bed, panting. I watch as he race toward me, blocking my way.
He arches his eyebrow, giving me a knowing look that he won. "As I told you, I'm going to kill you," he says. And this is when he grins, closing his distance.
And I'm moving back, still holding his book, "Game isn't over yet" I challenge him.
He scuffs, "I don't think so".
I dodge a little and am about to flee, but he grabs me from my waist, pulling me backwards. He's so fast.
I hit on the shelves behind me, "Ouch" I hissed.
He chuckles, as he grabs both of my hands, raising them against the shelves, "Game over, little princess". He's amused by himself. He leans closer to my face, as he whispers "No one beat me".

Jesus.
I shake, sucking in short, shallow breaths as my heart races and my blood runs hot under my skin. I'm trying hard to release myself from his grip, but he tightened it more. I can feel his hot breathing on my face. My breathing stopped.
He meets my eyes, his chest moving up and down in shallow breaths. His lips are parted, and there are a hundred different emotions in his eyes. But I recognise the same ones I'm having. Turmoil, attraction and need.
I'm loving the way his eyes gape at me, love his closeness. I've never felt this way before. I feel... I feel safe around him. I like everything about him.
He blinked, removing his grip from me. He moves backwards, releasing space between us.
I drop my gaze too. Did I make him uncomfortable? A hot flush stained my cheeks. Feeling embarrassed, I jerked back. My arms hit the shelves again, this time harder than before. And piles of books fell at once.
He hurries, covering me, "Are you okay?".
I nodded 'Yes'.
We both quickly start grabbing them from the floor, arranging them again in their places. These books seem old and dusty. It's like no one has read them for years.
I grab another one from the floor. And this doesn't look like a book. It's a rustic brown leather cover with deckle-edged vintage paper that looks and feels like a historic artefact.
I flip it open and saw cursive handwriting all over the pages.
"What's this?" Luke asked.
Still watching it, I answered, "A diary maybe?", that was more like a question.
He leans closer, getting it's a clear view, "Well...I think it's someone's journal" he corrects me.
"A journal? Maybe it's Alessandra's" I say, closing it, "I don't think it's a good idea to read someone's private documentary".
"No, wait" he stops me. "This looks very old and it's like... It's like no one used it in a decade".
I raise my brows, "So?" I questioned.
"Maybe it's your mother's," he says.
I freeze. He has a point. Maybe this belongs to my mother. She used to live here with Alessandra. Maybe he's right.
I glanced up at him, confused.
"Come on, take a look. If it's found out to be Alessandra's then close it right away" he told me.
I nodded.
"Take your time. I'll be right there" he assure me and went out of the room, leaving me alone to deal with this.
I'm curious but at the same time, I'm nervous too. Maybe this will help me. Maybe this will give me another lead or something.
I took a long deep breath and opened this once again,
10 July 1993
Dear love,
Finally, I'm 23 now, old enough to make my own decision. But unfortunately, I can't make choices on my own. I have to take care of my family. I need to find some work. I need to earn for them. Father is getting old. He needs a hand who helps him in everything. I know, he's acting like he is still young and can do every work easily. But deep down he knows, he's getting weak. So, I decided to quit my dreams and start working for my family. We are not financially strong. We live in this small village. Our house is not big enough for five. Yet, we manage to adjust. And we are happy because we are together. And together we are strong. We are Dawson. My father is Michael Dawson head of our family. My mother, the sweetest beautiful woman of my life, Isabel Dawson. My brother, that crazy little boy who never listen to me, Jacob Dawson, four year younger than me. And my lovely gorgeous little sister, Aurora Dawson, the youngest amongst us.
And here I am Jake Dawson.