A Savage Inconvenience

Chapter 2 - Release

Part 1

He watched her face carefully as she entered the poorly lit room. He observed and stored every detail of her movement to memory. She had taken down six strigoi, even for a normal sized human, that was impressive. She had sent The Lap Dog running and somehow fought him off. Even in his injured state, that was a feat as well. She might make a valuable ally.

But, whether she was an ally or foe remained to be seen. In any case, Quintus was far from happy. There was only one thing that he detested more than being shot at, and that was being chained. At this moment, looking into her big eyes, in his mind, she was no longer his savior, she was his captor.

He saw the surprise wash over her face as she found him staring back at her. Had she thought he was dead? Surely not. He breaths; his heart beats. And as a look of relief washed over her face, his anger wavered, but only for an instant. Relief for what? Of concern she had for him? Surely not. Why had she helped him? To what end? His skepticism burned brightly.

He was watching and archiving every movement and expression, very, very carefully. Over the years, he had learned to read humans easily, and using these queues, he had become an expert at manipulation. But, before the manipulation could start, he would need to be able to speak.

If she was an ally, then he would need to work a more diplomatic approach to gain his release. He needed to assume that he was restrained due to his actions alone, and not some other agenda. It was easy to jump to conclusions right now, he was not of his right mind and he was so very fatigued. His fate was no longer in his own hands at this point in time.

She had halted at the door frame, staring back at him.

She wasn't sure how long she had actually stood there. She probably looked like she was staring blankly at him. Funny, she thought, "blankly". But she knew it was the complete opposite. So many thoughts and doubts started to skip across her mind at numbing speeds. In an attempt to slow her thoughts down, the dialog started up again.

"Great. He's awake now. So ... now what?"

"Uhhh ... now we give him blood?"

"Alright, Ms. Genius. How exactly do we do that?"

Her eyes darted down to the metal box that she carried, and his eyes followed hers. Did he know what was in the box already? Could he already tell? She set the cage down on the ground before a distant noise elsewhere in the building snapped her back into the task at hand. It was now night. Right. Stealth mode.

She pushed the door shut hurriedly. She picked up the crossbar to slide it into the metal holdings on either side of the door but then she hesitated. It was heavy in her hands and she was, frankly, still scared of him. She'd had no idea if the duct tape would really hold him. It seemed to be working though. Heh.

It was useful stuff, she'd discovered, and luckily she had found a crate of it in the shipping building. It had brought her great joy when she discovered it, "oh my god, a crate of duct tape at the end of the world! This stuff will be GOLD!." She had regaled herself with daydreams of trading for stuff she really wanted with it, but you would need people to trade with, and there were no people anymore.

She gripped the crossbar tightly and considered not sliding it into its snug security position at all. What was more useful now? Protecting the door? Or protecting her?

No, she dismissed this entirely now. "This is no longer a debate", she shut herself down before the argument could even ignite in her head again. She had already made her decision on this when she turned the lights on early and had decided to save his life.