Children of the Elements: Prey to Him

Chapter Two: Sins of the Victim

Chapter Two: Sins of the Victim

Ash lay on her back on the first floor living room's sofa in complete darkness. She'd been waiting for at least 2 or 3 hours; she hadn't really been paying attention to the clock, though it ticked and tocked every second to remind her that time was still crawling forwards, however slowly. She twirled a leaf she'd picked from Georgea's freshly bought flowers, delicately placed in the centre of the coffee table. The white lilies complimented the pale blues and aqua tones of the rest of the room in a way which made Ash feel surprisingly peaceful. Unfortunately, this made it moderately hard to fight sleep.

Getting fidgety, she sat up properly, and checked the clock. It was nearly midnight. He should be home by now. What if something's happened?

Ash had decided to wait up for Nathan that night. She hadn't properly seen him in over a week; the only confirmation she'd had that he had actually come home each night was the fact that the calendar on his desk was always flicked over to the next day, and there was always a new apple core on the top of the his bin's rubbish. She was beginning to worry about him. There must be something serious for him to be away for so long each day, but what did he possibly have to do for over 12 hours every single day? Even at the weekend he wasn't in. It wasn't like him. Before they'd inherited the powers, he'd been lazy in a typical teenage boy's kind of way. He watched TV for hours on end, sauntering around the place in no rush, and taking the piss out of anyone and everyone he saw. She missed it. Even though at the time, he could be positively irritating, Ash still missed his comments, his cheerful energy getting her through the worst of her moods. It had felt as though she'd known him for years, and now he was just slipping through her fingers and she had no idea why or how to stop it.

All of a sudden, the front door's lock clicked open quietly. Ash sat up straight, and looked towards the living room's doorway curiously. She glanced at the clock. Five minutes past midnight. What the hell had he been doing?

Carefully and silently, she slid off the sofa onto the balls of her sock-covered feet, and crept to the doorway. He didn't seem to be in sight, although she'd purposefully kept the house dark to catch him as he normally entered the house. There was rustling around the kitchen for a minute or two before his footsteps advanced up the stairs. Ash hid herself in the shadows of the doorway, wishing that she could turn herself invisible just like Eva for only a minute. She peeked around the corner as she heard him ascend the stairs. He had no idea she was there as she watched.

Strangely, he didn't actually go to his room first; he silently opened the door to Ash's own room and peeked in. He had watched her sleep? What if she had snored? Or done something equally embarrassing?

Even through the darkness, she noticed his eyebrows furrow a little as he realised she wasn't there. However within an instant his whole face relaxed and he turned to face her full-on with a smirk on his lips. Crap.

"Are you spying on me?"

Ash stepped into the corridor, trying not to show her excitement of finally seeing him again. "I'm not spying on you."

"Then what are you doing?"

Ash shrugged. "Checking up on you."

Nathan chuckled a little. "That's one in the same thing, Squishy."

Squishy? Ash hadn't heard him call her by her nickname for ages. Nathan turned to walk into his room when she didn't respond, and she suddenly felt all her original anger at him crashing through her blood. She strode down the corridor in a rage and straight into his room after him, shutting the door behind her carefully before she woke up the whole neighbourhood with her shouting. He stood by the desk with an innocent but baffled look on his face.