Fateless

Chapter Seven: Listen

~Jon's POV~

I slipped inside the room and heard Nick lock the door a second later. I breathed a sigh of relief before pressing my ear against the door, trying to hear the conversation going on outside. I could just make out Nick's voice, calm and smooth as ever and the slightly louder more frustrated voice of Thompson.

I can't believe he actually reported us! I thought, Geeze, what a Jerk! And people say I'm childish, at least I don't go tattling on people!

Not wanting to make any noise, I quietly removed my hat and placed it on the ground behind me, making sure the bells didn't jingle. As I did this I quickly glanced around the room, curious as to what was so important that it had to be locked and guarded in a restricted part of the castle.

There was a little wall behind me, blocking my view of the right hand part of the room, but what I saw looked just like your typical fancy castle room. To my left there was a large bed covered in embroidered pillows and soft looking blankets, much fancier than my own bed, but not quite as good as Uni's bed, which I had seen a couple of times when I had snuck into my friend's room. There was a dresser in the corner and a bedside table covered with dusty looking scrolls and an unlit lantern. The room was dimly lit and covered with shadows, as the only source of light was the sun streaming through a crack in the closed and draped windows.

That's weird, why would they lock and guard an empty room?" I shrugged it off and turned back to the door. I could now make out a third voice. It was authoritative and filled with confidence, but I couldn't make out any of the words.

Finally, one sound came out clearly and I jumped at the gentle scraping of metal. I was no longer paying attention to the conversation outside as I looked over the room once more, now with fear filled eyes.

Because the sound didn't come from outside.

It came from the room I was in.

"Crap." I murmured. My immediate thoughts were that I was locked up with some monster or a nefarious murderer, but that was hopefully just my imagination taking me for a joyride. I tried to think realistically as I kept my ears open, waiting for more noise. "Come on, Jon, you're probably just imagining things, everything is fine. Just stay calm, stay calm and take deep breaths, that's what Nick would do, right? No, no, he wouldn't have gotten himself into this situation in the first place! Oh, come on, Jon, stupid, stupid-"

"Do you always talk to yourself when you're scared?" A voice said, stopping my frantic whispering and causing me to yelp. I quickly covered my mouth with a hand, afraid that the people outside would be able to hear me. "Don't worry, the walls here are enchanted. No one outside can hear your voice, no matter how loud you scream." The voice was raspy and kept breaking as if it hadn't been used in a while. Despite its threatening words, it didn't seem particularly hostile.

Slowly, I lowered my hand from my mouth. Even though the voice had told me no one could hear us, I was still convinced that the thunderous pounding of my heart would give me away and that at any second some guards would burst through the door and get me.

"Who are you?" The voice called out. "I haven't seen you before and I can barely see you from where you are now, come closer."

I shivered as the voice sent chills down my spine. Well, that sounds like a lovely invitation, but I'd rather not get murdered today, thank you! I thought. I was tempted to just pound on the door until Nick let me out. Honestly, getting caught by the guards wouldn't be as bad as talking to a creepy voice and possible murderer. Picking up my hat, I turned around to knock on the door.