Alethea has always been awkward - eccentric, even. On a typical day she spends her time cloistered inside a tiny apartment hiding from the world she doesn't really understand. When her therapist encourages her to push herself outside her comfort zon...
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To say that the tension between Roran and I was uncomfortable would have been an understatement – multiplied by a million. Every time I had tried to explain my reasoning for leaving he would just glare at me and then go back to pretending I didn't exist. I wasn't exactly sure what he wanted from me. It seemed he was angry with me for leaving, but now that I was back he didn't seem to want me to stay.
"So are you going to ignore me for the rest of eternity, or what?" I asked him, receiving nothing but another glare in response.
"Okay, look, this is pretty silly," I began again, trying to pry his attention away from the knife he had been sharpening for so long it would probably cut a person in half.
Roran's head snapped up to bestow me with another glare, only this time he didn't look away. His eyes blazed deep red in his anger, the darkness in the cave making them glow even more brightly.
"You think risking your life is silly?" he forced out through clenched teeth. "Or maybe you think it's silly that I had risk my life to save you, again."
I glared at him this time. "You didn't have to do anything. You chose to save me, Roran. No one forced you."
He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Well you certainly wouldn't have gotten out of there alive if I hadn't intervened."
I couldn't argue with him there.
"What were you thinking, Thea?" he demanded, his tone less angry but still unhappy. "I left you here, safe, with plenty of weapons to protect yourself. Why did you go wandering off?"
"Look," I began, trying to figure out how to phrase my next sentence in a way that wouldn't make him angrier. "I don't know you, okay? You dragged me here and just expected me to trust you. For all I know you could be some crazy psycho killer!"
'Good job saying that so nicely, Thea. Calling him crazy is definitely the way to go.'
"If I wanted you dead I would have killed you when I found you in the crypts!" he snapped in response, shoving the blade he had been sharpening back into its holster. Looking me square in the eyes he continued, "But when I saw you down there you were crying and scared, and I realized you weren't like the other creatures here. They are vicious, bloodthirsty monsters with no remorse and they kill on sight. You and I aren't like that. I'm pretty sure we both just want to be left alone until we can find a way out of here. Am I wrong?"
I shook my head and scuffed my shoe against the dirt. "No, you're not wrong."
"I get that you're afraid and you don't trust me. But right now I'm the best chance you have of ever getting out of here."
Now that Roran had explained his side of things, I kind of felt bad about accusing him of being a psycho. If he was telling the truth and honestly wanted to help me out it might not be so bad to hang out with him here for a while. At least I would be safe from the other monsters.
