Killed Killers (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Chapter Thirty

Hey guys! Can't believe that we're at chapter thirty already! Isn't that incredible? This must be the farthest I've ever written in a story. Anyways, vote if you liked!

    When she stepped back into her bedroom, she found Gem pacing back and forth from the door leading to the stairs outside of her room outside onto the balcony and then back again. As she observed him quietly from the doorway of the bathroom, she noticed that his face was taught with anxiety. He caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye, and his head whipped up to face her, the tension dissipating from his handsome features as soon as his gaze met hers. She furrowed her brow, wanting to ask him about his previous expression but feeling like it would be weird to bring it up now that he had moved on. It was extremely clear that he was trying to hide something from her, but for the past two days, that had seemed to be a common happening.

"Do we have any plans today?" She asked him, hoping to take her own mind off of his anxiety and also wanting to break the silence that had grown between them.

"What do you think? Of course we have plans, the real question is whether or not those plans are going to end up happening." He grinned at her, showing a row of sparkling teeth. She scowled back, annoyed by his indirect answer.

"So?" She prompted, "What are they?"

"Well, first there's breakfast, which I ordered up to the room. It should be here in a minute or so. Then, Monica and Cayde told me to bring you to see them." He paused when he saw the look of disgust on her face, "Not in their cave though, they want to see you outside instead." He paused again, shoving his hand down into the pocket of his jeans to retrieve a slip of paper, before glancing at it and promptly pushing it back down into his pocket.

"Why?" She asked, probing him for information.

"I don't know, but they said to bring you to the north wing practice fields." He shrugged at her and turned back around to face the balcony again.

Ere opened her mouth to ask him another question, but a knock at the door interrupted her before she could begin. She stepped towards it, annoyed that it had taken her chance to ask Gem another question, but before she could reach out for the door handle, Gem's hand shot forward and threw the door open. Ere had to step back quickly to avoid being hit by the door as it swung back and slammed into the wall. She glanced at Gem, who was grimacing at her apologetically.

"Sorry, I'm just really hungry." He commented, smiling sheepishly. She raised her eyebrows at him, but turned her head towards the person standing in the door, deciding not to bother him about it. She almost fell over as her eyes met Rian's smoldering gaze, and she had to clench her teeth shut to avoid screaming. She felt Gem tense beside her, and he reached out to grab the tray of food with jerky movements. Ere yelped as he grabbed the tray from Rian and his shaking hands nearly caused it to fall to the floor. She grabbed it from him as quickly as she could, giving him a look when he refused to release his iron grip on the food.

"Thanks Rian." She added in an attempt to make the tension disappear, but by the look on Gem's face, she'd only made things that much worse. He slammed the door, and from the thud and the cursing that Ere heard from the hallway, she assumed that he had closed it on Rian's nose. She flinched and shot him a glare, but found that he wasn't even looking at her. He was instead staring at the floor, his hands in tight fists by his sides.

"Gem, what is your deal?" She asked, trying to play it off cool like nothing had ever happened.

"What's my deal?" He hissed, his voice crack giving away his throbbing anger, "What's my deal? You know, it wasn't just what he did to you. There are a thousand reasons that I don't like Rian."

The tone of his voice both scared and surprised Ere. His eyes seemed to go from their usual dark gray color to a shade darker, almost black. She shook her head, sure that it was her imagination, but when she looked back at him, his eyes were still black, but his gaze was turned down at the floor. There was an awkward silence that stretched on for what felt like hours, and then he finally looked back up at her. His eyes flickered back to their normal color, convincing Ere that she was losing her mind. He didn't say anything, instead opting to grab the tray of food out of her hands and walk out onto the balcony, leaving her in his wake to follow. She stood still for a few seconds, her mind reeling, still trying to catch up with what had happened just then.

She sighed before she walked out onto the balcony, trying to forget what Gem had said about Rian. Whatever it was, Ere was almost one hundred percent sure that she didn't want to know any of it. She sat down across from where Gem had placed himself, and she grabbed a plate and some food off of the tray wordlessly, Gem following her example also silently. They at quietly, which only left Ere time to think about what Gem had said earlier, even though it was the last thing she wanted to think about. She forced herself to stop pondering what Rian could have done, instead distracting herself with focusing on what Gem might be thinking.

She didn't get long to ponder, as he looked up at her not a minute later.

"Sorry about my mood. I shouldn't be so bad at controlling it. Usually I can keep my emotions in check but something about you offsets my control." He apologized, although Ere wasn't sure whether she was supposed to say she forgave him or whether he would take that as an insult. She opted to stay silent, hoping that he wouldn't take that offensively.

    They finished their breakfast in silence, the awkward mood that had settled between them refusing to remove itself. Gem finished eating before her, leaving him to sit there and watch her eat. As soon as she cleared her plate, he stood up and headed for the door leading into her room, and she hesitantly followed. She threw a glance back at the food tray, for the first time since she had gotten there wondering how the tray was going to get taken back to the kitchen.

    Gem seemed to notice her hesitancy, and, guessing what she was thinking, he pulled out his phone and gestured to her.

    "I already shot a note to the kitchen to get someone to come and get that." He replied, tucking his phone back into the back pocket of his jeans. She turned and followed him to the door to the staircase. He paused at the door with his hand on the handle, waiting for her to catch up with him, before he opened it and disappeared into the hallway. She followed after him, suddenly remembering that they were heading towards Monica and Cayde. The thought of the two leaders made her mouth pucker as though she'd bitten into something sour. She had barely spent enough time with the pair to get to know their names, but already, she was beginning to hate them. She quickly scolded herself for judging character so quickly, deciding that it wasn't appropriate for her to do so, even in this situation.

    Ere was so deep into her thoughts that she didn't notice when they made it to the stairs, causing her to almost trip and fall head first down them. Thankfully, Gem was watching her and managed to catch her before she took the headlong plummet down them. She shot him a tight smile as she extracted herself from his grip, straightening her outfit and brushing herself off. Suddenly, it occurred to her that she hadn't been asked to change into a fancy dress, and Cara hadn't appeared to apply makeup to her face. She opened her mouth to ask Gem about it, but when she lifted her eyes to his form from the stairs, something about the set of his shoulders caused her to close her mouth again so quickly that her teeth made an audible click.

    They didn't speak to each other as they made their way through the hallways of the castle towards what Ere suspected were the north wing training fields. She kept wondering why Monica and Cayde wanted to see her outside of their cave, but sure enough, when she emerged from the dark interior of the castle, blinking to adjust her eyes to the sunlight, she found them standing on the field in front of her, both dressed from head to toe in black.

    Here we go. Ere thought to herself, before taking a deep breath and stepping after Gem towards the pair.

    A new chapter! This one was a whole lot of fun to write and I got some really good ideas while typing it to! Enjoy!