Ashes of Affection (Rough Draft)

Chapter Three

I hadn’t realized I had blacked out till my senses returned. Unfortunately, the pain was the first thing that returned before the sound of a fire crackling. My sight still hadn’t returned which left me trapped. Despite this, I sat up, hissing from the pain.

“The more you move, the more you’ll bleed.” A voice cut into my ears. The man was lying nearby. I just ignored him and forced myself to my feet. The coldness stabbed into my body as I moved. Due to being unbalanced, I had to grab the wall for support. The moment I went to walk, my arm was pulled behind my back, forcing me to freeze. “Even your friend wasn’t this stubborn. Now, I suggest you stop fighting it and let me keep you alive. Or you will lose the ability to walk.” His tone was a lot more harsh now.

I knew if I tried to get away, my arm would snap. He really was done with my games. Why was he so desperate to keep me alive? It’s not like he knew me very well or anything.

“You can’t stop…stop me from leaving.” I uttered, my breath was shaky.

In a swift motion, he kicked my feet out from under me which forced me to my knees and he tightened his grasp around my arm.

“Don’t test me.” He hissed.

The pain had gotten a lot worse and I knew it wouldn’t stop unless I did. Finally, I gave in and stopped fighting so he released me. He walked away and I just sat against the wall, not willing to return to the fire.

I had never heard him approaching me so how did he get so close so fast? Why was his skin so warm? No human felt as warm as a fire. Then I realized it, he mentioned one of my friends. Who was he talking about? What was happening? What happened that put me in such a bad state?

“Who were you talking about?” My voice was still weak.

“No one.” He answered numbly.

I forced myself up again. The need for answers trumped the pain and realization that he could kill me without struggle. Unsurprisingly, he sighed.

“I need answers and unfortunately you’re-you’re the only one who can give them to me.”

“No. Now sit down.”

“Not till you give me answers, and this time your threats won’t work on me.”

“It’s not a threat if you’re willing to go through with it.” His voice was suddenly right in front of me instead of about twenty feet away.

“You aren’t human.” My voice was just barely above a whisper.

“The blood loss is getting to your head. Lay down now.”

“Why are you so reluctant to tell me what I want to know?” I was becoming light headed and was struggling to remain on my feet but I refused to give in.

He hissed a breath. I was expecting him to hit me or something but when he just turned and walked away, I was slightly frozen.

“You just going to stand there or are you going to come sit down?” I hesitated but followed him before I sat beside him near the fire. He didn’t need the warmth of the fire due to how warm he already was which kind of gave away the fact that he just wanted me to be near the hot flame so I’m not as cold. He took a deep breath. “We’ve met before, though I hope I can remain hidden from you specifically. For whatever reason, the thought of you hating me has a worse reaction than the thought of your friends hating me.” His words slightly surprised me. “ When I got to you, I did in fact see one of your friends who was dreaming. She wanted to protect you from me but quickly let me help you as she realized she couldn’t help. She was dreaming when she found us.” I realized he had tensed but it wasn’t because of what he was telling me but because of what he was hiding.