MANIAC - Hatred & Love (Book 1)

Chapter 6

Aidan was sitting on the limp body, his chest heaving and his head thrown back with open mouth trying to catch his breath. He drew in a hard breath through his nose and tried to relax his body, dropping his shoulder. He could feel Alex’s presence. He didn’t know she was there at first but now that he wasn’t focused on beating the shit out of a stranger, he sensed that she had been there for a while. He didn’t acknowledge that he knew however. He was a little worried about her seeing that… scene, but he didn’t know how to handle it or what problems would occur now that she had seen it. He hadn’t figured this whole damn thing out himself so how was he supposed to know how to react or explain anything? It was what it was and right now she would just have to deal with not getting any answers and hopefully she wouldn’t totally freak her out and even more hopefully so, she wouldn’t go around telling everybody. He wasn’t worried about her ranting though. She wouldn’t, he was pretty sure about that. Now that she was just standing there under complete silence and he could feel her eyes on him, a weird tension was building between them – A loaded tension that dared them to be the first to say anything. Aidan rose to his feet while keeping his eyes on the body under him. You didn’t recognize the man anymore. Aidan’s facial expression didn’t show any signs of regret, worry or discomfort. He kept a hard, almost challenging, pokerface. Nothing could move him. Well that was at least how he had everyone else fooled. With calm, he turned around and stepped away from the body, walking straight forward and past Alex without looking back. She was stunned for a second before she rushed over to him and followed behind his heels as they walked away from the pub in silence. 

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”Taking the meaning of 'bad temper' to a whole other level. Damn…”, she laughed nervously. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes with careful inspection. He wouldn’t say anything. He would just wait for her complete reaction and then deal with it from there. Alex scratched her neck and cleared her throat. ”So… That was… Something”, she went on. ”I’ve never seen you like that. Hell, I’ve never seen anyone like that.” She laughed again. ”It was weird but it looked kinda… Erotic.” Aidan turned his head to meet her eyes properly. ”Listen…”, he said. ”I don’t know what you think you saw and I don’t really know what’s going on myself but just don’t…” He stopped, searching for the right words without sounding suspicious and weird. He didn’t want it sounding like something that had to be hidden. ”I won’t talk about this with anyone. I won’t even mention it again. I’ve already forgotten it. What are we even talking about?”, Alex rambled and finished off with her usual bright smile. Aidan couldn’t help the tugging of the corners of his lips. A slight smile lifted one of the corners, resulting in a genuine half-smile. It felt so good that she didn’t make a big deal out of it. This whole thing suddenly didn’t feel as serious anymore. Maybe he’d been worrying too much lately. And Aidan didn’t do worry – It just didn’t fit his character. He relaxed a little more in his walk and put his hands in his pockets as they strolled down the same road from their previous route. At that moment – with Alex next to him – everything felt sort of okay. Damn, I’m starting to sound sappy. 

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Aidan had gotten his old dorm back, which he shared with no one. Sam had seen to it so that Aidan could have his place of escape. It didn't help much though – people came barging in every minute.  Like now. "Dude, you haven't seen my lighter have you?", a head popped in to say through the crack of the door. Aidan who had just sat down on his bead and let out a sigh of relief for finally being alone, let out another sigh; much more frustrated this time. He stared at him with a blank and exhausted expression which sort of made the person behind the door shrink in apology. "... Guess you haven't. K, bye!" The door slammed shut. Aidan let out a groan and fell down on the bed so that he was lying down, staring up at the ceiling. Rubbing at his eyes, he suddenly felt a presence in the room and froze, looking around with caution. It didn't seem as anyone was there. At least he couldn't see anyone. The fact that he couldn't see anyone but still felt as if someone was standing right in front of him, mocking his stupidity, made goosebumbs appear on his skin. Aidan stood up abruptly to leave the room before his paranoia would get the best of him. He felt that it was very unproffesional of him to be paranoid. Because that was what it was – paranoia. While trying to convince this to his brain, he strode off, heading towards the cafeteria. The grounds very much resembled a school, honestly. Although, if you would mention this to any of the assassins living there, they'd probably deny it. It kind of ruined their reputation. The light chatter from the cafeteria reached Aidan's ears as he made his way through the long corridors. Rounding the corner, he entered the large and open room with people sitting in groups at the tables that were spread out. He hesitated a half-second before making his presence known – whhich he did by simply walking in there. A couple of heads turned his way, some greeting him with a smile or nod, some frowning, others waving him over. He locked eyes with Daniel and walked over with confidence. As he sat down at the table, he gave them all a light smile. Sitting with him were Daniel, Zach, Malcolm, Liliàna and Jake. I know what you're thinking: A girl. Aidan's next target. But you're wrong. So now you're thinking: Okay, so he's already had her. But no, you're wrong. Liliàna was a bro, maybe the manliest in Daniel's group, and she'd been with them forever. Aidan was not really a part of the group since he preferred being wherever the hell he felt like, but since Daniel was the only one he considered his real friend and who actually felt comfotable around, he would often be around the others too. She grinned at him with her teeth and held our her fist for him to pound it. Aidan just stared at it. She was used to this however and so she dropped the arm nonchalantly, no feelings hurt. "I heard you were here, Aidan! I didn't know if it was true but man is it good to have you back", she said and leaned back in her chair.