War of the Sexes

Chapter 4

Clayton and I spent the evening in silence. I couldn't move at all and he had gotten up and moved to the other side of the room. As long as this meant the other boy wasn't coming down, I was satisfied. My ankle hurt worse than before, though the sight of it might have been the cause.

I wasn't sure what to do. An awkward tension was set between us, one that I was accustom to from back at my normal life-before this kidnapping-business started up. I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the cold, hard wall.

"Ellie" Jim called, motioning for me to follow him. I rolled my eyes with a sigh, getting down on my hands and knees.

"Wait up Jim!" I called, already smaller than he was at only nine years old. "My legs aren't freakishly long like yours are!"

"Hurry up slow poke!" He called back, laughing. I quickly hurried into the tunnel, the roof of it just brushing my back. Jim must've had a much harder time getting through, yet he was far ahead of me.

"Just wait one second" I laughed, finally crawling out of the tunnel. My eyes searched for Jim, finally finding him standing proudly by the wall. I stood up hesitantly, walking over to him.

"What is this?" I asked looking around. The tunnel and released me into a small den, the ceiling a good foot above Jim's head. The walls were a

shade of brown, a little lighter than the ground.

"My secret hide-out" He explained "You're the only person who's ever been in here"

"Whoa" I whispered, still in aw

"Yeah... That makes you special" He said bashfully

I giggled, blushing slightly. Jim looked down at his feet, making shapes in the dirt with his left foot.

It was silent for a few minutes. I didn't know what to say. I had never been in a situation like this before-and I didn't like it.

"So what do we do in here?" I asked, finally creating a question I could ask

"What do you want to do?" Jim asked, thankful for my question that broke the silence.

I grinned mischievously, reaching my hand out and tapping his shoulder "Tag-you're it!"

"Girl!" I heard a voice, startling me out of my memory. My eyes fluttered open, searching for the source of the noise. I didn't have to look far though, for

the source was standing right in front of me

It wasn't the nice source either.

Automatically, I tried to move backwards, failing for my back was already against the wall. I pushed myself as far away from him as I could, not

bothering to mask the fear in my eyes.

That brought a smirk to his face, one that sent chills down my spine.

He chuckled under his breath, pulling away. I let out the breath I hadn't known I'd been holding and relaxed my body slowly.

I watched his body retreat over to the opposite wall where Clayton sat. The brown-haired boy plopped down onto the ground, landing with a thud. I

watched them, not making any sound.

It was silent but for a faint humming noise that went on above on the surface. I wondered what could be making that noise, but didn't dare speak my

mind. Especially not while the brown-haired boy was down here.

"I don't understand why you're keeping her" The brown-haired boy said, not trying to hide the fact that he was talking about me.

Clayton shrugged, both of them watching me. I couldn't deny it-I was a little creeped-out by them constantly watching me.

"She doesn't talk, she doesn't do anything, she's the enemy, and she's injured" The brown-haired boy continued "I would have gotten rid of her long

ago"

I shuddered, knowing he wasn't talking about returning me home.

He chuckled, seeing my reaction "Looks like she shows fear at least. That's something"

"I guess" Clayton said. I looked down at my leg, noticing that the ice had melted so that the puddle grew.

"Is that why you keep her?" the other boy asked "Torture her? Have to admit, pretty genius idea. I would never have thought of it. Eliminate the enemy.

Never would have thought that torturing was an option"

"That's not why. You torture her more than I" Clayton stated

"Hilarious, man. But really, why do you keep her?"

"I don't know. I just don't want to get rid of her yet"

"Well like I said before, I'm not backing you up when you get caught. And you will get caught. They always do"

"I know"

"The only good thing is when you are caught, at least she suffers worse than you" The other boy grinned devilishly at me. I shuddered again, failing

to suppress it. He noticed, laughing at me "She's pathetic"

"Dude"

"What?"

"Go get me something to eat"

"What?! You can get off your lazy ass and get yourself something"

"Go up and get me something to eat." Clayton repeated with more authority

The other boy just rolled his eyes "Whatever man"

I didn't look as the brown-haired boy stood up and climbed the stairs to retrieve something to eat. I waited until I heard a door slam from above before looking

anywhere except my ankle. My eyes wandered up to where Clayton was sitting. He was staring right back at me. I bit my lip, looking away, hoping nothing

painful would happen next.

There was a loud crash from upstairs. Our heads jerked towards the door from where the noise came from. I glanced back over at Clayton to see him once

again staring at me.

Cautiously, he rose, never breaking eye-contact. I watched him the whole way until he got to the stairs. Once he disappeared out of sight, I closed my eyes

once more and breathed a sigh of relief.