Unafraid (On Hold)

Chapter 5- Welcome

The day arrived with the sun peeking through the clouds as its light shined through the broken windows of the old, decrepit building. Faith rose from the hard floor and reached up towards the ceiling, yawning and twisting her body to wake herself up. She decided to sleep on the second floor in order to keep her distance from Akakios. She picked up her belongings and made her way down the stairs she had discovered the night before.

As she made her way to the last step she happened to see Akakios leaning against a pillar in the middle of the room, staring off into the distance.

"Akakios" she said as she approached him.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Good. You're up. Let's get a move on, we don't have all day."

"No need to remind me, I'm quite aware of the amount of time we have."

Akakios didnt reply, instead he turned around and made his way towards the entrance of the building. Faith followed him with a content look on her face, it was something about the morning that always picked up her mood. She began to admire her surroundings, looking up at the sky, watching the clouds as they drift by. Her stomach interrupted her as it growled incredibly loud.

Akakios snickered. "Looks like someone needs a meal." He spoke a bit too soon because a little while after his remark, his stomach growled as well except it was a lot louder.

Faith laughed. "Looks like someone needs a meal." She mocked.

"Let's find somewhere to eat." Akakios instructed.

The two made their way down the long path stretched out in front of them. Faith led the way although she had no idea where the nearest village was. She thought it was best to just follow her instincts; after all her father always said "if you don't know what to do than just follow your gut." Faith continued to walk ahead once again admiring her surroundings. It wasn't until she came across a large hill of gravel that she returned to reality.

Faith lifted up her dirty peach dress and started to climb the hill. She slipped a couple times on some rocks; she was always known to be clumsy. By the time she made it to the very top she found herself to be out of breath. Akakios approached her with no scratch on him and he seemed to be quiet calm. It appeared that the hill had not affected him, if anything he climbed it as if it was the easiest task ever.

"Show off." Faith mumbled under her breath. She clapped her hands together to get rid of the small pebbles in bedded in her skin.

In front of her stood a tiny village with small cottages and numerous stands built by those who were trying to sell items. Small children played in the streets as the adults stood around attending to their responsibilities. Faith made her way into the village but Akakios decided to stay behind and hid behind a nearby tree. Faith walked up to one of the stands that held a variety of food. As she was doing so a group of kids were playing catch with a ball. One of the kids threw the ball a little too hard causing it to roll in the woods nearby.

"I got it!" yelled one of the boys in the group. He ran into the woods and disappeared behind the trees. He searched the area for the ball but could not find it anywhere.

"Looking for this?" Akakios whispered. He held out the ball to the boy but remained under the tree. He smiled at the boy; he was trying to be friendly. The tree's shadow hid a good amount of his face but unfortunately it was easy to see his fangs in his smile.

The boy screamed and ran out of the woods. "Demon!" He yelled.

The villagers scurried around one another, and parents quickly picked up their kids and locked themselves away in their homes. The owner of the stand Faith was currently at snatched the bread from her hands and gathered all of his things. He quickly made his way to his home and pulled his curtains shut. The village was deserted within seconds. Akakios walked out of the shadows with his hands in his pockets.

"You sure do know how to clear out a village." Faith joked. She stood in the middle of the road with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Yea, well that wasn't my intentions." Akakios replied grimly.

"Well so much for getting something to eat. The next village could be miles from here."

Akakios shrugged. "Well we won't be getting any closer by standing here."

The two turned around and began to walk, making their way out of the village, but they were stopped by someone.

"Excuse me young lady." A faint old woman's voice said.

Faith and Akakios turned to find a short old lady standing in front of them. She had snowy, white, curly hair that stopped at her waist and pretty grey eyes. One of her frail hands was hanging loosely at her side while the other held onto a basket. She wore a long, emerald green dress that flowed to the ground.

"Yes?" Faith asked.

"Is there anything I can do for you and your friend? I know the two of you aren't from around here."

Faith glanced at Akakios. He pulled his fedora further down to hide his face a bit. "Well, we were looking for somewhere to freshen up and get a meal." Faith replied.

The old woman smiled and stretched out her hand. "Why I'll be happy to be of your assistance."

"You aren't afraid?"

"Of what?" The woman asked; her facial expression changing from delight to confusion.

"Of me." Akakios spoke. His deep, masculine voice not quiet matching the quiet scenery around him.

The woman quietly laughed a little. "No." She answered.

"May I ask why?" asked Akakios.

"Well you don't seem like such a threat to me. You're with this young girl and she doesn't seem to be frightened at all. If anything she appears to trust you. So why shouldn't I?"

Faith snickered at the woman's explanation. Trust...yea right. She thought.

Akakios took a few steps towards the old woman. "How do you know that she isn't my prey and that she only trusts me due to a power I possess? How do you know that the moment we are alone I won't tear her limb from limb and feed off of her as though she means nothing to me?" Akakios asked.

The woman stared up at him. "Simply because demons usually terrorize and torture their victims on the spot. They have no sense of guilt or remorse for ever doing such a thing and it doesn't matter who is around to watch. As long as their hunger is being satisfied nothing else matters to them."

"That is some assumption you have there." Akakios replied.

"Tell me I'm wrong and I'll leave you two alone."

Akakios glanced at Faith then looked at the old woman. He sighed and looked away.

"Exactly my point, you can't." The woman turned and looked at Faith. "So, you say you were looking for a place to freshen up and get a meal?" She asked taking a look at Faith's dirty clothes and Akakios's ripped clothes that showed his bare skin.

Faith nodded.

"Well you can use my place if you like."

"Thank you." Faith said.

The woman nodded and smiled at her. "Right this way." She said as she turned and started towards the woods.

Akakios began to follow after her tracks but Faith grabbed his arm before he got away.

"What?" He asked harshly.

"Don't you give this woman a hard time." She demanded.

Akakios laughed and rolled his eyes. He snatched his arm away, getting out of Faith's grip and started following the woman into the woods.

Faith shook her head and tightly held onto her bag. "He better not try anything." She whispered to herself. She walked after Akakios before he got too far into the woods where the shadows would make it impossible to see where he was going.