Enlightenment

Part 18

            We debated over the details for the next few hours, but eventually we decided we would have to go back to the warehouse to confront them. It was the only way to finish it. I would go in front. Julia and Chris would be behind me holding Jamie, and Anna and David would be at the back in the safest position. Although I was against them coming at all, they both argued fiercely against me.

            We would attempt to reason with them to devise some sort of truce, and we would return Jamie to them. I hoped that he would not give them too much information about me, but I didn’t trust him that much. He would probably tell them every single thing he has learnt. Although, I hoped that the amount of knowledge he had about me would prevent him from killing me if given the chance in the future.

At one point Anna had asked the awkward question of what we would do if they refused to cooperate with us. A tense silence had followed before Julia had answered;

“We kill them.”

Anna had drawn in a shocked breath before I added, “but only, and I mean only if they are definitely going to kill us first.” Eventually everyone had reluctantly agreed.

            We would wait until the evening to go. They would expect us to come at that time, and if we were trying to create an agreement I did not want to unnecessarily alarm them. Plus, judging by Jamie’s previous reaction they would not expect us to be out in the daytime when the sun is up. I wanted to keep it that way as long as possible. It would be better if we wanted to catch them by surprise in the future.

            Neither Anna nor David had school, as the Christmas holidays had started. This surprised me. I had forgotten Christmas was that close, although I didn’t really celebrate it properly anymore. After a couple of centuries it had started to seem pointless. They both rang their parents and told them they were at my house. Luckily neither of them had realized how early they had left, as it was now about 9 in the morning.

            I didn’t want them to leave now, in case the hunters were aware that we were back. It would be more dangerous now.

Once we had decided what we were doing there was nothing to do but wait.

            Anna and David both looked tired and hungry so I made them all some toast with the few supplies I had left from what I had brought Jamie. I briefly had to untie one of Jamie’s hands so that I didn’t have to feed his to him. But I was careful to supervise him carefully the entire time.

            Afterwards we decided Anna and David may as well sleep for a few hours, as they had already been up for most of the last night and there was no way to tell what would happen later.

            Chris volunteered to let Anna have his bed, so I told David to take the spare room. Anna blushed when Chris held the door open for her to pass through before he led both of them upstairs to show them where they were going.

            When he returned he and Julia when to sit back down, so they could continue arguing over minute details of what would happen later.

            I chose to ignore them and go into the dining room where Jamie was still tied up. He looked extremely tired, which was not surprising considering the fact that he had been awake all night traveling. Nevertheless, I was unsure of what to do with him.  I wanted to let him go to sleep before he passed out, but he couldn’t do that bound to a dining chair. But if I untied him he would probably try another escape attempt.

I stood there contemplating this until eventually he answered my dilemma for me;

“How about this? I promise I won’t escape if you untie me. I just want to go to sleep.”

I sighed and gave in, “ok fine,”

He held still while I untied him from the chair, I untied his legs so he could walk but left his hands bound together. I held onto his arm loosely so I could lead him up the stairs. When we entered my room he stopped.

“Is this your room?”

“Yes” when he didn’t move I added, “It’s here or Julia’s room.” He groaned and reluctantly went and climbed onto my bed after kicking off his shoes. He held up his hands hopefully;

“I don’t suppose there is any chance of you untying me?”

“No.”

“But how am I supposed to sleep like this?”

“I’m sure you can find a way.” He slumped back and lapsed into silence for a moment, “I can’t sleep with you standing there watching me.”

I growled, “Fine. I’ll be outside the door, and I’ll be listening very carefully… the slightest movement and I’m coming in here to check on you.”

He groaned in defeat “Fine.”

My eyes narrowed “Fine.”

            I turned on my heel and left the room. Once I had closed the door I sunk to the floor in front of it and leaned my head against the cool wood. I could hear Julia and Chris downstairs, still arguing. Anna and David were both breathing slowly and peacefully. Asleep. Jamie turned over and sighed. Gradually his breathing and heartbeat also slowed to match theirs.

            He must have been exhausted. But I still found it slightly surprising that he wasn’t even attempting to escape. Unless he figured that he would be returned to his group soon anyway… and he was depending on them to save him? But that didn’t seem right. He didn’t seem like the type of person to depend on others for rescue…

            I contemplated his motives for a while, but was unable to come up with a more realistic solution than the one I had already thought of. But then why did it matter? This would probably all be over in a couple of hours anyway, and then I would never have to even see him again.

            I felt an unexpected twinge of sadness at the thought. Logically I knew I should be glad… but I wasn’t.