Unkept Promise

CHAPTER TWO

My heart was racing. My eyelids were heavy, and my whole body was shaking. Despite everything, I opened my eyes. Pitch black. That was all I could see. I looked at my hands, trying to make sure that I didn't go blind. Luckily, I could see my body well enough. But I couldn't say the same about the place I was in. It seemed like an endless void filled with nothing but darkness.

I stood up and suddenly felt like I was about to fall right back down. I shifted into a more steady position and tried to walk around. Just when I was about to take the first step, a massive wave of dizziness struck my head. I closed my eyes and massaged my forehead, trying to put my headache under control so I could focus.

Suddenly, somebody wrapped my neck in their arm, trying to strangle me.
I grabbed the person's arm and tried to pull it away. I fidgeted and moved continuously, but I couldn't set myself free. Each breath I took felt like it was going to be my last. I was going unconscious.

An unfamiliar voice spoke to me out of nowhere. I had no clue what it said, or how I was even still alive. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make out any words. The man disappeared, but the sensation of suffocation was still there. I held my neck and fell on my knees, trying to breathe. The voice was still speaking to me, but I couldn't understand a thing.
After a few seconds, the voice stopped. I was terrified. The floor beneath me started to crack. White, glowy lines showed up and destroyed the surface I was on. Before I knew it, I was falling to my death in a white void. It felt like a real nightmare with no end.

Just when everything had gone quiet, I could hear the voice again. But this time, it wasn't speaking. It was breathing. The breaths were deep as if the one speaking was doing breathing exercises. I still felt like I had a knot down my throat, but I had one last plan. Whilst falling into the endless void, I followed the voice and tried to coordinate my breathing with his. At first, I felt like I was breathing nothing. But I kept following the voice and after a few deep breaths, I finally managed to breathe normally again. But once again, I made a fatal mistake. I didn't even realize how far deep I'd fallen. Shortly after I regained my ability to breathe, I hit the ground.

I opened my eyes in a flash and got up, breathing heavily. I expected to see either all black or all white, but that was all gone now. I was in a soft, comfortable bed. I was sweating like I just finished running a marathon and then proceeded to jump off a cliff. But in the meantime, something else caught my eye.
My left arm, which was once all covered in fresh red blood due to my wound, was now wrapped in a soft white bandage made of cloth. I felt the same kind of bandage hugging my head. Right. I was injured. But how did I even get in this condition?
Suddenly, a slightly familiar person made their appearance.

"Hello," the boy said. His tone was awfully calm, yet excited at the same time.
I gasped and immediately pushed myself away from the individual. I recognized the guy. Slightly. I saw him before for sure, but I couldn't quite recall the exact moment. Still on the bed, I looked for the weapon I stole, but I couldn't feel it anywhere.
"Where's my dagger?"
The boy seemed to be expecting that question.
"It's over there," he said as he walked towards a nearby table, grabbed the weapon and returned to me, then sat on a chair next to the bed. "I thought it'd be quite dangerous if you rested with something this sharp around you."
He handed me the dagger. I hesitated at first, thinking it was a trap, but I took it anyway while I had the chance. I analyzed the weapon carefully. Why would he care for my safety?
"What's your name?" the boy asks.
I shrugged.
"My name doesn't matter to you," I started. "I'll be gone before you know it."

Suddenly, an aching feeling hit my head. I massaged my right temple with my eyes closed.
"Sorry, but I don't think that's gonna happen," the boy intervened. He stood up and walked away. "You need to rest for a while. Your body is healing. And you need a lot of water."
With my eyes still closed, I moved my hand from the temple to my forehead, trying to understand why this guy was still talking to me.
After a while, I heard glass being placed on the table close to the bed. Surprised, I opened my eyes. Indeed, there was a glass of water on the table. I moved my gaze upon the boy for a second, trying to figure out what his deal was. But he was already gone. He was moving things in a place that seemed to be a kitchen. On second thought, my throat was as dry as a desert in the middle of nowhere.
I took the glass and lifted it, looking at it with caution. After that, I brought the glass close to my face and smelled the drink. It seemed to be fine, so I got a sip.
The fresh water running down my dry throat felt like a temporary blessing. Not even two seconds passed by and I already left the glass empty. I placed the thing back on the table.

The boy showed up from the left corner. He took a look at the empty glass, then he turned to me.
"Yep, I told you. A lot of water."
He grabbed the glass and rushed back to the kitchen. Meanwhile, I looked around for any possible escape routes. There was a window right behind me, but it was clearly locked. Another possible exit would be the front door and the two windows close to it. I quickly noticed that my only escape was through the front door, but it didn't seem like an issue. With a wide jump over the table close to the bed and a few running steps, I would already be out of the house.

"Why did you go all quiet?" the boy suddenly asked.
This guy really did manage to always bring me back to reality. He once again made his appearance, with yet another glass full of water. He placed it on the table and shoved it close to me. I glanced towards him and raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you even bother?" I asked. "I told you I'll be right out."
"And I told you that your body needs rest." He started. "I don't know, and don't even want to know what happened to you, but you can't go out there like this." He sat back down on the chair.
For some reason, his calm tone got on my nerves. Does he really feel so safe around a bleeding stranger who just randomly busted into his house?
"So what if my body needs rest? Why would you even care?" I asked.

I wasn't planning to really pay attention to his answer. I had another important task to complete. Now that I was more aware and the guy was busy answering the question, I could take a closer look at his appearance. He had dark grey coloured hair caught up in a small ponytail, with two loose strands at the back that were slightly longer compared to the rest of his hair. Some strands of his hair were light grey, and that colour ran down to some ends of the ponytail. That hairstyle reminded me of someone I once knew…
He was wearing a chocolate-coloured shirt, covered by a suit with the same colour, and his pants were dark brown. I was mostly looking for any pockets, and he certainly had a lot of them, which was an immediate threat. Back at the collapsed dome, I almost lost my life because I wasn't aware of that man's scheming. He had a hidden weapon in a pocket I didn't see. Looking for any weapons beforehand is always a crucial part of winning a battle, and I failed to do so.

Even though I was paying more attention to his appearance, I couldn't help but listen to his answer to my question. This was very unlike me, but I was just curious.
"Well, you asked for help," he said calmly. His answer disturbed me greatly.
"I never ask for anybody's help," I spoke in a serious and somewhat threatening tone. "I stand alone."
"Then why did you show up here?"
"I was expecting this house to be abandoned. I didn't think anybody would be here."
I quickly shut my mouth. I shouldn't have said anything. Any information he gets might soon be used against me. And as of right now, I couldn't afford to make another mistake.
"In the end, it doesn't really matter if you want help or not. What's important is whether you need it or not. And I assume you already know the answer to that," he said.
I gave him a shady look but didn't say anything.
"My name's Altair by the way! Since you'll stay around for a while, I thought you should know."

I didn't even know if this guy was serious. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Town folk like him don't know what it means to be on the verge of death every day. They don't know how to truly survive in this cruel world.
"You always seem to be deep in thought. What are you thinking about?" Altair asked eventually.
"Do you really think I'll tell you that? If so, you're greatly mistaken." I answered.
"I assumed you wouldn't want to tell me, but I guess I don't really mind. It is none of my business after all," he said.
"You got that right."
"I'm sorry if my questions bother you, but I'm genuinely curious to know more about the stranger who suddenly rushed into my house," he said, somewhat amused. "Come on, at least tell me your name."
Very persistent in learning personal information I see. Another bad sign.
"Call me anything you want." I said carelessly.
"I will do that if you won't tell me your actual name," he confirmed. "But I really doubt that you'll like that."
I looked at him with suspicion, but I kept quiet and avoided eye contact.

Just when he opened his mouth to say something else, an envelope slipped inside beneath the front door. Puzzled, and slightly surprised, Altair stood up and walked towards the door. He grabbed the envelope and opened it with caution.
The once easy to read expression was now incomprehensible.