Gold And Coal (Ryden AU)

2.15 ◇ Return The Favor

A gentle rapping sound woke me from my slumber and I blinked open my eyes. At first I thought I had imagined the disturbance, or it had just been a fragment of the dream that had now drifted into oblivion, but I heard it again a couple of seconds later.

It was still dark outside, and the soft sound of raindrops dripping on the pavement indicated that clouds were covering the only light sources found in the dead of night.

Carefully, I got up from the couch in Spencer's living room and slowly walked towards where I assumed the door was, holding my hands out in front of me so I wouldn't bump against anything.

I finally reached the door and twisted the knob slowly so I could be sure it would open quietly.

The obstacle standing between the cold night air and my own body was now absent, and I shivered as it slowly crept down to my bones.

My eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now, if only a little, and the dim light granted by a distant street lamp further aided my vision.

"Let me in," came a hiss and I almost slammed the door shut, being caught of guard by the sudden voice disturbing the previous silence.

"No," I answered defiantly, wondering who would show up at a strangers door in the middle of the night and demand to be let in. Then again, who answered the door in the middle of the night in the first place.

"I saved your life for fucks sake, now let me in," he said impatiently and pushed past me, easily shoving out of the way.

"Well, come in then," I said sarcastically and softly shut the door once more, the room now almost pitch black again.

"Candle?" He asked and I fumbled around for one. It took me a while to light it, but my nightly visitor remained silent in the meantime.

I hadn't yet fully grasped the situation, still being groggy and half - asleep,  but as I struggled to make light, the information thrown at me earlier slowly started to reach my brain, which concluded two fundamental things.

Number one: I had just let a criminal, who had successfully escaped a holding cell multiple times, into Spencer's house.

And number two: The fact that he had asked me to light a candle after putting great effort into keeping his face hidden at our previous encounter was highly suspicious and put me on edge.

I guess you could say I wasn't the most intelligent to have put myself into this situation, but taking my previous actions and situations into consideration, that wasn't much of a surprise.

When the small flame finally lit the room, I carried the candle over to the table I saw my acquaintance sitting at and carefully put it down. The last thing I needed right now was my clumsy movements knocking it over and setting my friend's house on fire, because let's be honest, that was something that was very likely to happen to me.

I remained silent, waiting for the man to speak first. Either he had fallen asleep or he was simply waiting for me to do the same, but he didn't break the silence.

"Why are you here?" I took matters into my own hand, and voicing the question that had been sitting on the tip of my tongue ever since I realized just who exactly had interrupted my sleep.

"Are ya aware there'r two police carriages in close proximity to where you're staying and that you're currently housing a spy?" He asked, sounding almost bored.

I shrugged, "I am. You didn't answer my question."

My eyes drifted in his direction and I made eye - contact with him.