Caged (Book One)

Chapter Two

He's so different. Aiden gave her a cold stare as she looked him over. What could she say? She was so sure he was dead. Aiden suddenly reached behind him and unsheathed a long knife. Kristine quickly jumped back,

    "Aiden, what are you doing?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

    "Ha, what the fuck does it look like? I'm here to kill you." Aiden spoke with such a dark tone, it scared Kristine a lot.

    "Aiden, wait. I'm so sorry." She quickly backed away. Aiden laughed, it was sarcastic and scary.

    "Kristine! What's the hold up!?" A voice called out. Kristine cried out in relief,

        "Phil!! In here!" She screamed for him. Aiden rolled his eyes, spun his knife, and sheathed it back. Philip quickly sprinted in,  towards Kristine.

    "Who are you?!" He demanded as he stood in front of Kristine protectively.

    "Aww, you've got a new man?" Aiden gave them a crooked smile. Philip quickly reached for his sword,

    "Leave! Now!" Philip demanded. Aiden gave him a dull stare.

        "Or what?" He sneered. Kristine narrowed her eyes at him.

    "Are you also behind the robberies?" She crossed her arms. Aiden gave her a look.

        "What? No, I would never go out of my way for something so childish." Aiden told her. Even Philip looked slightly surprised by that.

"I'm out." Aiden mumbled as he headed for the door.

"Wait, you never answered me! Who are you?" Philip

demanded again. Aiden chuckled. He only craned his neck back at them,

    "Why don't you ask her?" With that, Aiden left.

    Kristine breathed a sigh of relief once she heard the door slam shut. Philip also relaxed more. Neither of them said anything, just silence. Kristine slowly turned around to go to her bedroom.

    "So, who is he?" Philip asked. Kristine stopped, and bit her lip.

        "Um, can we talk about that after dinner?" She looked back at him. Philip gave her a stern look,

    "No. We are talking about this now." Kristine nervously tucked her hair behind her ear.

    "I don't feel comfortable-"

        "He broke into your room, and was clearly about to hurt you! Who is he, Kris?!" Philip snapped, making her jump.

    "He," Kristine looked around, and started to twiddle her hands. Thinking of what to say to him.

        "He was in the dungeon with me." She answered quietly. Philip blinked at her.

    "The dungeon? The one you were beaten and imprisoned? You said it was just you." He pointed out. Kristine nodded, and hugged herself.

    "I thought he was dead." She told him. Philip sighed, he walked over and wrapped his arms around her.

    "I'm sorry." He whispered. She hugged him back tightly. She knew Aiden would come back. He was determined to end her now.

    "Let's go to dinner now. We still need to discuss the plan tomorrow." Philip mentioned. Kristine nodded and let go of him.

    "I'm just gonna change real quick." She told him. He nodded and walked out of the room. Kristine took a deep breath then went to her room.

~~~~~

    After changing, Kristine made sure to take more than just one knife with her. Aiden could attack her anytime. She decided to take her sword and another knife with her. Philip waited patiently for her. He smiled at her and held her hand as they left the building. It was starting to get dark out, but they were both very well trained in combat.

    Once they reached the place, Daniel suddenly ran up to them. He bent over, panting from running. He lifted a finger at them, signaling to give him a second to recover. Kristine raised a brow as he stood straight.

    "What's the matter, Daniel? Don't worry we aren't gonna let you get hurt tomorrow." Philip assured him. Daniel quickly shook his head.

    "That's not it. We need to meet now. Eveleen says it's urgent!" Daniel rushed out. Kristine nervously gripped onto Philip more. What could she want now?

    "Ok, let's get there." Philip tugged Kristine with him as he followed Daniel. None of them said a word, Daniel's heavy breathing prevented the silence. They reached the building and rushed in. Together, they went to the right door and knocked. Yvonne let them in and slammed the door shut just as Philip stepped through.

    "That was surprisingly pretty quick. Thanks, Daniel." Eveleen thanked him with a bored look. He nodded and collapsed into a chair.

    "So, what was urgent?" Kristine asked. Eveleen crossed her arm before speaking quickly,

    "I have a different objective for you three. Don't worry, I got others covering the stake out."

        "What is it?" Philip asked.

    "I assume you guys are aware of The Hidden Souls?" Eveleen asked, and they all nodded.

    "The swords for hire? What could we have with them? They are their own society." Kristine pointed out. Eveleen gave her a glare before sighing.

    "Yes, but you are going to need their help with this assignment."

        "And that is?" Daniel asked.

    "We just discovered someone on the council went missing. We only know that they are at least a 3 day walk from here. Your task is to go save them." Eveleen told them.

    "Wait, who?" Philip asked.

        "Eric Rukin. Remember him? He's the one who is going to be vice leader."

    "Ok, but why would we need someone from The Hidden Souls to help?" Kristine asked.

        "Because the people that took Eric are The Skeletons!" Eveleen snapped.

    "Fuuuck." Daniel sighed.

    "A group of bandits?" Philip questioned mostly himself. Kristine shrugged it off, sure they were pretty dangerous.

    "So who is going to help us?" She asked. Eveleen raised a brow,

    "I'm surprised you haven't noticed who has been sitting in the corner behind you." As soon as she said that, a chuckle came from behind them. Kristine jumped as she turned around.

    "Whoa." Daniel let out as he stood up.

    The figure was so well hidden, he could blend in with the wall. They stood up and pulled their hood back, and Kristine tensed up.

    "Aiden." She growled.

        "Oh, you already know each other? That's new." Eveleen spoke.

    "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was going to kill Kristine earlier!" Philip snapped. Eveleen waved it off,

        "Don't worry. He'll behave. Won't you, Aiden?" She tilted her head with a smirk. Aiden nodded.

    "Yeah, you have nothing to worry about." He winked.

    "Hey, at least it's not a boring stake out." Daniel smiled. Philip protectively grabbed Kristine's shoulder.

        "See you guys tomorrow." Aiden waved off as he went for the door. Yvonne did her usual thing, opening the door slowly then slamming it shut once Aiden left. Kristine relaxed along with Philip.