Torn Apart - Hunter angst - TOH

The Tholomule house - Chapter 27

The kind woman came back with a small glass of warm water. Hands trembling, I reminded myself.
Don't drop it, Don't drop it!
Slowly, Miss Tholomule handed me the cup, which I gripped safely in my palms.
"So, Golden Guard dear-"
I quickly interrupted,
"Hunter."
"Oh, apologies! Anyways, Hunter dear.. What in the boiling isles happened?"
As much as I wanted to tell her everything, my lips wouldn't move. My body felt like a statue except from my shaking hands, which just kept shaking.
"Do you not want to talk about it?"
In the end, I let out a small head shake.
"That's fine! Mabye you could just nod or shake your head?"
I smiled warmly at Miss Tholomule, nodding my head.

•

"Your wanted posters are everywhere.. Did you escape?"
I stared at her in shame, gently nodding my head.
"Oh, really? Could I ask why?"
I looked down to the floor, clenching my glass.
"Sorry, that wasn't a Yes or No question, was it-"
"Belos.."
"Huh-"
Her eyes filled with confusion, she looked into my direction, where I was tightly squeezing my cup. I just, hated him. I hated him so much. He ruined everything. Wait, no. He took me in! He cared for me. I placed the glass on a nearby table before throwing my head into my hands. I didn't want her to see me like this.
"Hunter, it's okay, calm down."
I felt my whole body flinch as she placed her hand on my shoulder.
"Tell me what's wrong, please...?"
I took a deep breath before collapsing in her arms.
"I-I..."
"It's okay, take as much time as you need"

•

Half an hour passed and I had just about told her everything. A stare of disbelief and slight anger looked at me.
"Are you serious...?"
I quietly nodded as two arms wrapped around me like a ribbon on a gift box.
"Stay here as long as you need, okay?"
"T-thank you, ma'am.."
"Call me, Franchessca."
She smiled in my direction.
"Oh, thank you, Fecknecka."
Franchessca let out a small laugh at my pitiful attempt at saying her name.
"Hopefully, Matt and Augustus will be coming downstairs soon. I have quite a lot of work since Steve quit. Will you be okay on your own?"
I nodded my head up and down before asking a bit about Steve.
"What was his job?"
"Actually, he was a coven scout. Mabye you'll know him? Anyways, I'm off! You're welcome to eat anything!"
"Thank you, again."
She walked outside, leaving me to sit with my thoughts on the sofa.

•

I crawled into a small ball in the corner. Closing my eyes in hope I'll fall asleep. But I was kept awake by mutters from upstairs. Gus, Steve, and I'm guessing Gus's boufriend? And they were talking about, me?! It was hard to pick most of it up, but they were most definitely talking about me! Although I knew that they were talking about me, I wasn't sure whether it was good or bad. My head began spinning, wondering what they could of possibly been saying. Should I ask? Three pairs of footsteps strolled down the stairs, having a friendly conversation.
"Oh, hey Hunter! Feeling any better?"
Gus asked, curious on whether the master healer could fix such horrible wounds. Steve turned to Augustus.
"This is Hunter? Or, the Golden Guard?"
"Mhm! He escaped the Emperor's coven!"
Steve approached closer. Now I think of it, he's the reason I escaped.
"I knew you'd make it, Well done!"
"Oh um, thank you."
I was beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed by all the people looming over me. I didn't like when loads of people were talking to me. The youngest Tholomule spoke,
"Let's not crowd him too much!"
The four of us sat down on the sofa.

•

"So did the two of you know each other in the coven?"
Gus asked, trying to make conversation.
"Sort of. Steve helped me escape."
All heads turned to Steve, awaiting a response.
"Well, with how Belos treated you, his right hand, it helped convince me to quit"
Eyes turned back to me, but before I could respond, Gus suddenly asked.
"How did Belos treat you?"
The room fell silent. Steve stared at me, and I stared back. Signaling for him to not say anything.
"Um, he always overloaded Hunter with missions. Yeah"
I smiled warmly towards Steve, silently thanking him.

•

The ex-coven scout stood up,
"Are you guys hungry?"
"Yeah!"
"Abit."
"Mhm!"
Steve walked closer to the kitchen,
"I'll start on lunch. Matt, you come help me! And, you guys. You can, set up UNO?"
"Uno?"
Gus explained a strange game using coloured cards. I didn't really understand, but I still helped set everything up! 15 minutes passed and a loud voice filled the room.
"Dinner, is served!"
"Matt, this is lunch, not dinner"
Gus replied, giggling.
"Anyways, wanna start UNO?"

•

For the first round, I sat behind Augustus so I could learn the rules.
"See this card? If you play this one, the next person has to pick up four AND you get to pick the colour!"
He gently put a black card onto the pile.
"Oh, okay."
"And you can play it, whenever!"
I still didn't understand the goal. People didn't really explain that part. But it was okay! I did enjoy watching. I jumped back from a loud voice,
"UNO!!!!"
Matt seemed excited by getting, Uno? I suppose that was good? He was tightly holding onto one last card.
"Seriously? Uno already?!"
"Awh, you're so good at this Matt."
I nodded in agreement, although I had no idea how anything worked.
A few more seconds passed until it was Matts turn again. Smiling, he placed a black card.
"A wild card? You're so lucky!"
Gus exclaimed, impressed by his boyfriends amazing UNO skills.
"It's not luck, it's skill"
Steve and I waited until the two of them stopped bickering before beginning the next round.

•

"Do you think you're ready to play a round, Hunter?"
Steve asked me. I agreed, little did he know, I didn't understand sh*t. I knew about 'Wild cards' but that's about it. Minutes became hours of playing. We all lost track of time but was reminded of how long we had been playing after a loud knock hit the door.
"Is that Mum?"
Matt asked his older brother, who was checking the time on his scroll.
"Wow, time really flew. Yeah, that should be her. "

•

He walked towards the door, but as he opened it, 5 extra familiar faces arose.
"Oh, hello everybody! I found some of Matt and Augustus's friends on the way! A few of them are gonna stay the night."
Willow, Amity and Eda held tightly onto Luz and King. Exhausted, they stumbled through the door.
"Hunter?"
"Willow?"

Authors Note: HUNTLOW???? Next chapter is gonna be very huntlow related (hopefully)

Word count:1139