The Ballerina & The Devil

Fourteen. His Safe Haven

Aidan parked his motorcycle and cut the engine, putting down the kickstand. I hopped off and had to throw my arms out to steady myself due to my wobbly feet.

A hand gripped my arm, and I looked up to see Aidan holding onto me as he stood up.

"Thanks."

"You good?" He asked.

"I'm more than good," I unstrapped the helmet. "That was amazing. It rides great!"

He grinned, pulling off my headgear. "It does. I could tell you liked it because you were bouncing around back there like a little kid on crack. You do know that isn't advised when on a vehicle that tends to move with the body, right?"

"I was excited," I said defensively. "And we were fine, weren't we?"

"Because I stopped three times to tell you to stop it."

"Well," I thought for a moment then shook my head. "We lived," I turned away to examine where we were and recognized the road instantly. My throat dried. "What are we doing here?"

"Don't freak out," he set the helmet down on the bike. "We're not going near the place you crashed."

"Okay, so then what are we doing here?" I inched back.

He took my hand and pulled me with him as he made his way into the woodsy area that surrounded the entire length of the narrow road.

"We're just going to a place," he said lightly.

"A place? That doesn't sound shady at all," I struggled to keep up with his long strides. "You know I do have pepper spray. Just saying."

"What do you think I'm going to do? Drag you into the middle of the woods and slice you open like a pig?"

My eyes narrowed. "Well, I never said that, but the fact that you would even bring it up would have any sane person wonder."

"Any sane person doesn't jump on the back of a motorcycle owned by a guy they know nothing about, and then proceed to follow him into the middle of the woods," Aidan pointed out, sounding a little ticked off.

This guy and his mood swings. He went from being happy as could be, or happy as he could be, to irritated as hell. It was like he was constantly on his monthly cycle.

"You know you're a little too trusting in people," he said, still sounding annoyed.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked, tripping over a large branch.

Aidan steadied me, stopping me from face planting into the ground before wrapping an arm around my waist, so I was pressed to his side.

"Yes, that's a bad thing," he huffed, continuing to guide me through the Hell that was Mother Nature. "What if I'm a serial killer?"

"But you're not a serial killer."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because a serial killer wouldn't pose that type of question, silly," I paused, pursing my lips. "Then again, serial killers are sociopathic and sociopaths like playing mind games, so maybe you would pose that question....do you like playing mind games, Aidan?"

He slowly shook his head. "Wow you are....a very interesting person."

"Hmm my mom says that a lot," I allowed Aidan to help me climb over a log. "But the truth to the matter is, I'm not anything special, so if you were to kill me I doubt it would make that much of an impact."

"Why do I seriously doubt that," Aidan's hold tightened on me. "And just so you know, if I wanted you dead I would have left you to fall off that ledge with your car."