The Untold Truth

Chapter 7

As soon as Shadow was gone, I asked Benjamin, "What area am I not allowed to see?"

Benjamin laughed and said, "Aleksandria, you're being paranoid. Shadow just doesn't want you worn out too much on the tour."

I gave Benjamin a skeptical look, but he just shook his head.

He said, "That's not going to work on me Aleksandria. Trust me. Shadow has me trained."

I rolled my eyes and said after a few seconds of silence, "What's your story Benjamin? How do you know Shadow?"

Benjamin smiled and said, "Well, I used to live in New York City. I lived in an apartment right after graduating from high school. My reputation was...not good to say the least. There was a reason I didn't go to college. I had gotten in trouble a lot with the law and I wasn't a good person. One day, the building my apartment was in started on fire. They don't really know which apartment it started in. My apartment was on the top floor, so by the time that I learned there was a fire, it was already too late to try to go down. Well, I wasn't the brightest at the time, so I tried to go down the stairs to get out, but those were also the same stairs that the fire was coming up.

"When I saw the fire coming toward me, I was so shocked to actually see the fire that I just stood where I was. It was almost as if I couldn't remember how to move. By the time that I did start to move, it was too late and now, because I stopped, I have burn marks on my back because even when I did move, it wasn't fast enough to get away from the heat of the fire. I ran all the way to the top of the building and thought it was over when I realized there was no way down. That's when Shadow came. He calmed me down and actually got me to jump to the next building over. It wasn't that far of a jump, but it seemed like the Grand Canyon to me.

"When I got back down from the other building, the police were threatening to arrest me. When I asked them why, they said it was because I started the fire. I told them that I didn't start the fire, but because of my record, no one believed me. I ran away from the cops. I ran as fast and as long as I had ever run before in my life. A couple miles out of the city, Shadow found me again. By this time, all the police in the surrounding area were looking for me and, since I had run, my sentence would be longer. Shadow knew that it wasn't me who had started the fire and he offered me to stay here and help him with his work. Whenever someone is in trouble, I'm the one who alerts Shadow and tells him where to go."

The images of the night of the fire at the party immediately flooded my mind and I was intrigued by how similar Benjamin's story and mine were.

Benjamin smiled and spoke what I was thinking, "He came home that night he rescued you from the fire and told me all about it. He said that it was almost exactly like my story, except for the whole criminal part of mine. He also thought it was so funny how you tried to break the window. I can't remember what he said you used but he thought that it was the funniest thing ever."

I pretended I was mad and said jokingly, "A hairbrush was the only thing in the bathroom that was sharp okay?"

He laughed and said, "Oh yeah! That was it! Why did you use that? A hairbrush is not sharp, or at least the kind that I use."

"It was a guest bathroom in someone else's house. It was the only thing I found in the whole room. Also, just for your information, it was a sharp hairbrush...after I broke it."

We laughed for a minute before I asked him, "So how did Shadow get into this kind of life? What is his story?"

Benjamin shook his head and said, "No way. You're going to have to dig that one out of him yourself. I found out years after working with him and I'm not going to ruin that level of trust by telling someone else."

"Oh come on! Please? It's not like he's going to know that you told me. He said he was out!"

I heard Shadow's voice behind me, "Finding out who I am from another person is not the right way to get to know someone Aleksandria."

I turned around and he was leaning against a doorway with his arms crossed.

Shadow said, "Benjamin, I've changed my mind I need you today to help me out."

Benjamin nodded and stood up to put his plate into the sink. He walked out of the kitchen, leaving Shadow and me alone. Shadow stood in the kitchen for a few seconds before slowly following behind Benjamin. I stood up and slowly walked back to my room. Within that week, Benjamin had delivered bags of clothes for me to wear, insisting that Shadow didn't want payment. It wasn't as if I could offer him or Shadow any money since I didn't have any, but I felt rude not to pay him back in the form of cleaning or cooking, but he insisted Shadow wouldn't have it. After getting the clothes however, the next few weeks fell into a boring routine.

Benjamin would take me down to the kitchen for breakfast, we'd talk for a few minutes before Shadow showed up and demanded Benjamin to help him, leaving me to watch movies all day in my room. It gave me time to think, which was exactly what I didn't want to be doing for most of my day. Questions swirled around in my mind for most of the day with no hope of ever getting an answer.

How was everyone back at home? What ever happened with Jenna and that guy she was dating? Did Stuart ever end up with anyone? What is going to happen to me? Is this going to be my life from now on? Why is Shadow avoiding me? Is it because he could sense my turmoil over our one kiss and this is his nice way of letting me down? I was driving myself insane just thinking over these questions all the time.

Every time that I would see Shadow in the kitchen, it was almost as if I didn't exist. He would talk directly to Benjamin and never addressed me by name. After a couple of weeks, I was immensely bored and had more questions than answers. My wound had healed and now, it only hurt a little bit if I turned too much towards one way.

I got up out of bed, got dressed, and headed towards the kitchen for the usual routine of having breakfast with Benjamin. I walked into the kitchen and saw that it was just Shadow making breakfast. Benjamin was nowhere to be found, leaving the kitchen in painful silence.

I sat down at the table and asked, "Where's Benjamin?"

"Out."

Frustration at his one-word answer built inside of me, but I was able to push it down just in time for him to turn toward me to bring me a plate of food. He set it down in front of me roughly and started to walk out of the kitchen with his plate.

I asked him just as he was about to leave, "When will he be back?"

He stopped walking and I saw frustration on Shadow's face, which made me confused. Why would he be frustrated? I should be the one who's frustrated, what with him ignoring me every time that he sees me and taking away the only person that will talk to me while I'm here every chance that he gets.

Shadow said quietly, "I don't know what's going on between Benjamin and you, but you are not allowed to distract him from helping me Aleksandria. People's lives are at stake and I'm not going to risk those lives so you can spend time with your boyfriend."