Fateful Encounter

The Protector

All blood had drained from my face as I stood in the doorway of my room. I looked over at Zane who was now sitting straight up in the chair. There was confusion expressed on his face, but now panic was starting to show through. Whatever he was afraid of, made my fear only so much worse. Not only did I have a stranger tied to my desk chair, I now had another one downstairs who knew this guy in my room. To make it worse, this new strangers' tone implied business and I knew I was about to find myself in the middle of it.

"...put it away," Zane hissed quietly to me while also snapping me out of my thoughts, "Hide the feather now!"

Instantly complying, I stuffed the feather back into the container. I didn't know what to do at that point. 'Do I hide the container? Do I take it with me? What if this new stranger was actually coming for feather as well?' I frantically thought. Even though Zane's tone implied it, I knew, deep down, that I had to keep this feather safe and I was starting to feel overwhelmed by it.

Almost as if he could sense how overwhelmed I was feeling, Zane said, "Hey, look at me. It's going to be fine," he stated with confidence as he searched my eyes. "You're not going to like what I'm about to ask, but if you don't want to get dragged into this, you need to do what I say."

I looked at him with unease only to realize I knew what he wanted. "No," I quietly replied back, "I'm not untying you! I don't know you well enough to trust you and how do I know you're not working with that other guy downstairs!!?"

"If I was, I would have already called him up here to finish the job!" He hissed quietly.

That statement did not make me feel any better, but I had no other option at this point. I couldn't escape through my bedroom window because I would for sure break my ankles jumping out and going downstairs was a definite no-no. While I grappled with the very little options I had left, I looked towards the doorway. I could hear the guy searching through our things downstairs and there weren't many hiding spots to go through either. This meant, that within the next two minutes, he would make his way up the stairs and find me, as well as, Zane and the feather.

Looking at me and seeing the panic written all over my face, Zane stated, "You have ten seconds to make up your mind before both of us are screwed."

'That's not helping!!!' I screamed internally. 'Ugh, to hell with all of this...' And with that, I walked over to the chair Zane was sitting in and untied the knot. I prayed that this was the best decision I was making because I just handed over what little control I had left to a guy I barely knew. 

As Zane stood up from the chair, he looked at me with concern, checking to see if I was alright. I definitely was not, but it was also in this very moment that I noticed how tall he really was. Standing a head taller than me, I hoped that the stranger in my house was shorter than he was so Zane had some sort of fighting advantage. Suddenly, I saw his eyes shift to the container and then back to me, "You need to hide."

"Oh broootthhheerrrr...where are you?" the stranger said sardonically.

It was at this point that I knew the stranger was upstairs. The floorboards of the hallway began to creek as he walked slowly, checking each room. I had less than five seconds to pick a hiding spot and when I did, I quietly ran to my closet and slid the door shut behind me. I gripped hard onto the container and then crouched down. I tried to move myself in a way that would prevent me from making any sound, but it was so difficult because I had my laundry basket and other things in there with me. After getting in a slightly comfortable position, I cracked the closet door open just enough so I could still see what was going on while also concealing myself. As I did, I saw the stranger standing in the doorway.