Breakable

Chapter Four

Claire arrived shortly after the incident with the old man and once I was in the car, Claire started off the questions with why I looked so angry and why the old man looked so smug when she had picked me up.
I obviously didn't tell her the truth. How embarrassing would that be? Telling my best friend that an old man had gotten under my skin because I got awkward after using his phone. I really need to pick up more people skills.
I also gave her a quick rundown about what had happened after I left the apartment that night I went missing. I didn't go into details and as scared as I was, it wasn't that big of a deal. I mean I was gone for what? One night and one day? Barely even twenty-four hours!
I also didn't mention Amy or that I planned to go back there. I think Amy was crazy enough as it was, and I felt bad talking about her situation. I felt rude to assume what she had done through. Just because I wasn't beat up or starved didn't mean those things didn't happen to her, so I kept my mouth shut about Amy and quickly changed the conversation once Claire was satisfied with the little information I had given her.
Once we were home the first thing I did was shower and change into some comfortable jeans and a blue sweater. My hair was washed, brushed and put into a high ponytail.
I fell back onto the couch and closed my eyes, exhausted.
"I ordered takeout. I got you your favourite from the Chinese takeout place." Claire said, strolling over to sit next to me on the couch. I peeked my eyes at her.
"Thanks."
"No problem." She answered. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the cushions. It was silent for a while before she leaned forward, grabbing the tv remote and channel surfing until she found one of her reality tv shows she liked to watch.
As much as I loved Claire, she wasn't so great with emotional topics of conversation that didn't involve her. It wasn't that she didn't care she was just normally at a loss for words on how to comfort someone. Her life was pretty much perfect, so it was hard for her to empathise with people that were in situations she's never personally been in. She was great with cheering me up when Scott had broken up with me since she's been in some bad breakups herself but anything she hasn't experienced then there was no point bringing up.
"I think I'm going to go lay down and get some rest." I told her, standing and stretching my arms over my head. "Thank you for picking me up today."
"Oh okay. What about your food? It's probably going to be here in thirty minutes."
"Do you mind just putting it in the fridge? I'll eat it for dinner later, I'm not hungry at the moment."
"Yep, no problem. Oh, by the way I'm going to mum's place for dinner tonight. Did you want to come too?" She asked. "I'm sure my parents would love to see you!"
"Um, sure. What time are you leaving?"
"Around four-thirty. I'm going to help mum cook, so I'm leaving a bit earlier."
I checked the clock on the wall, in the kitchen. It was only half past ten, "Wake me up at two if I'm not already up."
Claire nodded and turned back to the tv and I walked off to my bedroom. It was simple, a double bed in the right corner, a desk under the window across from the door and a small walk-in closet for my clothes. I collapsed onto my bed, face first and groaned.
I wasn't really tired, but I didn't know what else to do. I wasn't really up for socialising either for that matter, but I couldn't just stay home and sulk.
My mind shifted back to the man I'd seen before passing out and waking up in hospital. What was he doing there? Was he another one of the men that had kidnapped Amy and me? If he was, then why didn't he take us before the police came? Maybe he was running out of time, or maybe he wasn't strong enough to carry us both.
He sure looked strong enough to carry both Amy and me. I shook my head and rolled onto my back, throwing my arms over my eyes to keep the light out that was leaking through my bedroom window.
It didn't take long for me to drift to a deep sleep, even though I thought I wasn't tired, my body had obviously disagreed. Rest was probably best for my body anyway to help with the dull aches and confusing thoughts rushing around in my head.

First thing I did when I rolled over in bed was crack my eyelids open and peak at the alarm clock on my bedside table. It was close to one-thirty, Claire was meant to wake me up in half an hour. I threw my arm over my head and my other hand rested on my stomach.
I really didn't want to go see her parents tonight. I loved them like my own family, but I just wasn't up for the questions. I sat up in bed and thought about my plan to check out the house where Amy and I were held. If I could get out of dinner then I could probably go check it out this afternoon.
The longer I thought about my idea, the more I convinced myself it was a good plan. I don't know what I'm expecting out of it, but I just had a feeling that this is what I should do. I'm really going to be pissed if this backfires on me.
I stood and stretched before walking out of my room to find Claire running from the bathroom to her bedroom in only a towel. Her hair was straightened, and her face was complete with her natural looking makeup.
"Hey, are you getting ready now?" I asked, moving to stand over near the kitchen counter.
"Yeah, mum asked if I'd come around earlier. I was just about to wake you up to see if you still wanted to come."
"Oh, about that. Do you mind if I just stay here? I've got the Chinese in the fridge for dinner. I'm not tired and not really up for company."
"You okay, Casey?" She stopped outside her bedroom door and looked over at me. Concern showing on her face and I smiled to show her I was fine.
"Yeah, of course I'm fine." I said, giving a small laugh.
She nodded, believing me straight away and her concern turned to relief. "That's good. If you're sure you don't want to come then don't worry about it. I might end up staying there the night, but I'll try to make it home."
"Don't change your plans because of me. I'll be fine, I'm an adult and I can take care of myself for a night." I moved toward the fridge and pulled out a small bottle of water.
I took a sip and smiled at Claire while she nodded. "Okay. I'm going to finish getting ready." She walked into her room and shut the door softly. Music started blaring in her room, her natural routine of getting ready. I chuckled, she liked to dance while she picked out her clothing.
I took another sip of the water, before placing it on the bench and grabbing my container of Chinese. I switched the container out with a microwavable plate and placed the Chinese into the microwave to warm it up.
Leaning back against the kitchen bench with my arms crossed over my chest, I waited for the timer on the microwave. I'm surprised I didn't get hysteric about killing the man while attempting to escape as soon as I got home. Didn't police officers go to some kind of therapy the first time they killed someone while on the job? Was I a sociopath? How come I wasn't all torn up about killing someone with my bare hands?
Frowning, I pushed the thought out of my head. I wasn't a sociopath. I just didn't feel guilty for killing someone who was planning to kill me and who had probably killed many people before me.
The beeping on the microwave snapped me out of it and I used a tea towel to grab out the extremely hot plate of food. I placed it on the bench to cool down.
With music blaring behind Claire's closed door, I started humming along while grabbing a clean fork from the dishwasher. Taking a deep breath, I pulled in the delicious smell of the Chinese. Mmm yum.
Blowing on the Chinese a little bit, I took my first bite and moaned. I think Chinese is probably my favourite food in the world. It's a mixture of flavours and texture that makes my tastebuds dance in my mouth.
I think I kind of zoned out while I scoffed my food down because before long I was finished eating, lounging on the couch while rubbing my full belly and Claire was strolling out of her room ready to leave.
"You ate it all? I thought you were going to have that for dinner." Claire laughed as she sat at the other couch.
I snorted. "Did you really believe me?"
Claire threw her head back and laughed. "Not for a second."
"Smart lady. Are you leaving now?"
"Yep! I'm done. Are you sure you don't want to come?"
"I'm fine." I sighed. "I just want to relax tonight."
"Okay. I get it. Well if you change your mind give me a call." Claire got up, walked over to the counter to grab her handbag before opening the front door. "I'll talk to you either tonight or tomorrow morning when I get home. Love you!"
"Love you too," I called out as she shut the door on her way out. I huffed, finally!
I jumped out of the couch and ran towards my room. I already had jeans on and a blue sweater but if I wanted to go check out the place I was held then I think black is probably more appropriate for sneaking around. Adrenaline was rushing through me while I threw on tight black jeans and my black hoodie over a black tank top. Perfect outfit for this kind of activity.
I already knew the address because it was in the report I had to tell the police while I was at the hospital. They had filled in the details I didn't know like the address of the incident and little things like that thankfully.
I got down on my hands and knees and pulled out my little money tin. I know it's a childish way to save money, but it worked for me. I pulled out some cash for a taxi since I don't have any of my cards and shoved it in my back pocket of my jeans.
I quickly headed down the elevator to the first floor of the apartment and used the payphone out the front to call a taxi. I really need to get a new phone tomorrow; this is going to get annoying without one. I wonder if I can even afford to get a new phone.
The taxi took under ten minutes to get here since the apartment is in the middle of everything. I quickly climbed into the backseat and gave the older Indian man the address. The drive took a fair bit longer, the abandoned house was a fair way out of the city and in the outskirts of the rundown neighbourhoods. The drive was quiet, listening to the radio and only a few short polite conversations with the driver. Still, I was grateful when we arrived at my destination and I was away from the awkward silences. I paid the cab driver and watched as he drove away before turning around to look at the house. It still had police tape covering the front door but that wasn't a big surprise since it was only a new crime scene.
The land on either side was empty of ay houses. The spot on the left had burnt down remains of a house and on the right was a forgotten construction of a house that never finished. The house in front of me was old. The porch steps were old and looked to be rotting away, the windows were boarded up and some of the glass from the windows were smashed, with glass covering the ground underneath and sharp pieces still attached to the window, making it dangerous to climb through. Not that you could unless you knocked down the boards on the inside of the windows first.
The front yard was overgrown and dying. Overall, the house looked spooky as hell. Maybe I shouldn't have come here.
My breathing quickens slightly, and I stupidly realised that I was stuck out here. Yes, I have enough cash for another taxi ride home but how the hell am I meant to call a taxi with no mobile or payphone around here? Even if I managed to find one around here there's not guarantee that it'll even work.
I cursed under my breath; furious I was so stupid to ever think this was a good idea.
"Well, I guess I might as well look around while I'm out here." I muttered angrily under my breath. I looked up at the sky and guessed the time to be around four. It was three when I left home and the taxi ride took only a little under an hour to get here, meaning it will be getting dark soon.
I roughly pull my hands down my face and sigh. Oh well I'm here now. Nothing I can do about it. I'll just have to figure something out later, one problem at a time.
I quickly walked down the cracked concrete path to the front door and ripped away the police tape. The door was unlocked but I'm not surprised. What would even be the point in locking it when the place is pretty much trash anyway.
The creaked open and I slipped inside closing it quietly behind me. I walked down the ratty hall that lead to what looked like a room the used to be a loungeroom. A couple stained and torn up couches were scattered around the room with trash on the floor. There were two doors in the lounge room, one leading to a dining room and another that lead to the hallway I had walked down when trying to escape with Amy. I already knew that hall lead to a few bedrooms and bathrooms, so I headed through the door leading to a dinning room.
In here was a little bit less ratty. The windows were boarded up and the wooden table was scratched up but in otherwise stable condition. There were four chairs tucked in under the table and a plastic bag under on of the chairs. I pulled it out and checked what was inside, but it was only a bag of rubbish.
I put it back where I found it and continued to walk around the table, closer to another doorway leading to a kitchen I'm assuming. I stop dead in my tracks when I faintly hear voices coming from the doorway.
Is that the people who kidnapped me? What do I do? I don't even have a phone to call the police!
I tiptoe towards the doorway and put my back against it.
"How much longer are we going to wait around?" A female voice asked.
"A few more hours. We need to be sure they don't come back here. If they do, it'll make things easier for us." A male voice answers. He voice is low and husky as he whispers to the female. "Go scout outside with Carson. I'll call out when we leave."
I don't hear her voice answer him, but I hear footsteps and then a door open and close. I'm going to guess the back door is in the kitchen.
I peeked around the door frame to get a look at whoever is giving out the orders. I thought the old woman was the one in charge.
As I peek around the door my eyes settle on a figure, leaning against the kitchen bench. The room is trashed, and the man is quietly standing there, hands holding onto the bench behind him.
I can't make out his features because all I can really see is his back, but his arms are a dark caramel and covered in tattoos. And my god, they are big. He's wearing jeans and a tight black shirt, that show off his firm back muscles. He's the guy I seen before I passed out and woke up in hospital. It's hard to tell without seeing his face but his smooth dark skin and tattoos aren't all that common around here. It's a sight you'll never forget, that's for sure.
I swallow as my mouth fills with saliva as I check him out from behind. Bad! Bad Casey! He's a kidnapper, don't check out the killer!
Just as I'm attempting to shake the traitorous thoughts away, two sets of footsteps come from the other doorway leading to the kitchen.
A young woman, with dark wavy hair stumbles into the room, her pretty chocolate coloured eyes turn to glare behind her as she straightens up and I hold my breath to stop the gasp that threatens to break through my lips.
A man with dirty blond hair walks through the doorway after her with a big grin on his face and his blue eyes squinted in amusement.
"Don't shove me asshole." The woman hisses as the blond man.
"Then hurry up when you walk." Blue eyes retorts. His blue eyes sparkle with amusement and I glare from my hiding place at how he treats women with little respect. Is she their new victim? Did they kidnap her too? But how did they get her so fast? It was only this morning that the police showed up and ruined their plans with me and Amy.
The woman huffs and leans back against the wall turning away from Blue eyes and ignoring him. She's such a strong woman to hide how afraid she really is. She must be horrified about what they're going to do to her, but she definitely doesn't show it on her face or in her actions.
Blue eyes shrugs at her and turns to the boss that's still quietly leaning against the bench. "How much longer do we have to stick around? It's already dark, I don't think they are going to be coming back."
Boss man sighs, "Will you both just shut up? I already told Amari that we are staying a few more hours."
"Well can Tara at least stay here with you? She's annoying the hell out of me." Blue eyes replied.
"Excuse you! Maybe you should stay here instead. You're a pain in the ass, boy!" The girl, I'm guessing Tara, growled.
I have to do something to help her. I need to get her out of here. I don't have a phone to call the police but what if I can get to the boss? Will Blue eyes do as he's told if his boss is in danger? That's what they all do in the movies.
"There's no boy in here, babe. I'm one hundred percent man." Blue eyes grinned. I can practically feel Tara roll her eyes at that one which makes me smile too.
My smile doesn't last long because just then the Boss man pushes away from the bench and starts walking towards, Blue eyes and Tara.
My heart races in my chest and I know, if I'm going to do something it has to be now.
Before a plan fully develops in my mind, I feel my legs thumping as I run towards Boss man's back. Blues eyes and Tara stare at me in astonishment but I block them out as I charge towards my target. When I'm about two metres away, I launch into the air and let out a warrior cry as I land on Boss man's back. My arms instantly curl around his neck and my legs cling onto his waist to stop myself from slipping.
"Tara, get behind me! Blue eyes, stay where you are, or Boss man gets it!" I threaten and tighten my grip around Boss man's neck. I have to look over his shoulder at Blue eyes which kind of makes me feel childish but I ignore the feeling and put a threatening look on my face that says 'things will go much smoother if you just listen to me.'
I feel Boss man's rock-hard muscles tense under my body, but I don't let go. Why isn't Tara moving? Is she too scared to move?
"Was that a warrior cry you did back there?" Blue eyes chokes back laughter. I glare over Boss man's shoulder at him.
"Tara, over here." I encourage but she just looks at me shocked. "Blue eyes won't hurt you while I have his boss."
"Um..." Tara starts.
"Go on Tara. You heard her. Let the young woman protect you." Blue eyes says, covering his mouth to hide his laugh.
"I don't need protection." Tara growls at him, finally finding her voice.
Boss mans weight shifts under my body, and I slip down his back a little. Cursing, I use my legs to climb back up.
"Can you get off my back?" Boss man's husky voice growls quietly.
His voice sends shivers through my whole body and I'm not entirely sure if it's all from fear or not.
"Only if you primes to stop kidnapping young women and killing them." I reply sarcastically. "And that's not going to happen, is it? So, no. Not until Tara and I leave this house safely."
"Look, I don't need protecting. I don't know where you got that idea, but we are the good guys." Tara tells me. "But you should probably get off his back before he turns into the bad guy."
"Boss man isn't the good guy," I scoff. "I seen him before I escaped this morning."
"How do you think you escaped, babe?" Blue eyes grins.
"Just shut up and get her off me!" Boss man yells at them.
My eyes widen as Blue eyes walks closer and I tighten my grip around his neck and hips even more. Blue eyes hands grab my waist and he attempt to pull me off. I tuck my head into Boss mans back and hold on for dear life.
"She's got a good grip on you Rowan." Blue eyes laughs. "Come on, let go. We aren't going to hurt you."
He tightens his grip and I wince slightly. He's going to leave bruises. My soft skin is way too sensitive to hold on much longer with his big hands grabbing and pinching me like that. "Okay! Wait!" I yell.
Blue eyes lets go and steps back. My face is still pressed into Boss mans back so I can't see him step back but I feel the heat flowing from him get a little cooler as he steps away.
"I'll get down on my own. But you need to stay away from me once I get down." I bargain.
"Yeah, alright sounds fine to me." Blue eyes answers.
Boss man hold his arms away from his sides, letting me know his hands are away from my body and I can let go when I'm ready. I lift my head and glance over my shoulder at Blue eyes and raise an eyebrow, "Move over there." I nod my head towards where Tara is still standing near the wall closer to the other doorway. He sighs but moves over there like I told him to.
I take a deep breath, count to three and drop from Boss mans back and land loudly on my feet. Before anyone has a chance to react, I sniper my way back to doorway that I originally came through. I sprinting as fast as I can to get away from this damn house with these damn people when I hit something solid and go bouncing back and landing on my butt and sliding a few more inches back.
There's no way I just hit the wall. I'm not that stupid to misjudge my path and slam into a god damn wall, while I'm running for my life. I'm not like those stupid girls in horror movies that trip over nothing and let the killer catch up to them.
I look up from my position on the floor to see what got in my way when my breath completely leaves my body. There's another man standing there and smirking down at me.
The man standing in the doorway has short brown hair, light blue eyes and plump pink lips. I only notice that because he hasn't stopped smirking yet.
"Nice of you to show up." Boss man, Rowan, grumbles while rubbing his shoulders.
"With all the noise you were all making, it was hard not to." He answers back, finally looking away from me, splattered on the floor looking like I'm about to give birth. My knees bent and my arms holding my top half off the ground.
I scowl as I think of a new plan to get the hell out of here. I'm surrounded. Tara and Blue eyes are standing near the second doorway, Plump lips over here is standing in the first doorway and Rowan, the Boss man in standing right behind.
I curse myself quietly for ever thinking this was a good idea to come back here.
"Look, I'm sorry I interrupted your little thing going on. I should probably just be going back home now." I said, trying to come off confident. I stand up and dust off my butt and my hands.
Everyone's eyes are on me and my eyes shoot from person to person. It's silent. Not one of them speak and it's starting to piss me off that they aren't just telling me my fate straight away. It's worse not knowing what is going to happen.
I take a step closer to Plump lips and attempt to step around him to get to the doorway, but he sidesteps into my way again. I stand in front of him and look up at his blue eyes intensely. Then I throat punch him.
His eyes bugle out and he grabs at his throat, wheezing. I take my chance, sidestep him and bolt out the door back to the dining room.
I can hear him wheezing in the background while Blue eyes laughs and then I hear footsteps following behind me.
I push my legs to go faster but sadly, I'm just not that fast. Rowan and Tara catch up to me in no time and surprisingly so does Plump lips. I'm turning down hallways and running through open doors trying to get to the front door and outrun them, but I know it's hopeless.
So much for them being the good guys.
The good news is that, to my surprise I actually make it to the front door and it's open too. Plump lips must have left it open when he came in after me. The bad news, there's a scary looking woman standing there with a scowl on her face and a dagger drawn and pointed at me.
She's taller than me with pale green eyes and pale blonde hair, down to her shoulder blades. Her forearms covered in shining metal Armor plates and under the Armor she's dressed in a long sleeve dark green top and with black jeans and boots that finish just below her knees. Strapped to one of her thighs was a sheath for the dagger she was holding in her left hand and a metal belt full of small bottles and smaller weapons.
"Crap, crap, crap." I muttered, sliding to a stop a couple metres away from the edge of her dagger. Unfortunately, my sudden stop caused whoever was behind me to crash into my back and my eyes widen as I fell forward. Thankfully, missing the blade but slamming face first into the ground with a heavy body on my back, making the impact all the more painful.
I groaned as I tried to roll the body off my back, but I was stuck, with my nose throbbing painfully into the ground. My face was wet from the blood gushing from my injured nose.
"Problem, Rowan?" The warrior looking lady asked politely.
The weight lifted off my back and I rolled. Once on my back, my hands went up to hold my bloody nose. It was Rowan who had fallen into me, no wonder my face slammed so hard into the ground. The amount of muscle on him would weigh a tonne.
My eyes were watering from the impact and I tried to wipe them away with my shoulder because my hands were now covered in blood from trying to hold my face together.
"Ow," I groaned. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what? You're the one who came into this house and attacked me." Rowan scoffed.
"You call that an attack? I thought it was a piggyback ride." Blue eyes laughed, appearing out of nowhere. I thought he had stayed behind laughing at the throat punch.
"Lukas shut the fuck up." Rowan growled. Blue eyes, Lukas, didn't listen but he laughed a little quieter. Rowan then stuck out his hand to me and I flinched, thinking he was going to attack me, but he didn't. He just held out his hand to me. I stared at it accusingly before getting up on my own.
I swayed a little before I planted my feet, spread apart to help me keep my balance. My hands were covered in blood, as well as half my face but I think the bleeding had stopped at least. I hope I didn't break my nose.
I stared Rowan in the eye as he dropped his hand and rolled his eyes.
"So, what now? Are you going to tie me up? Torture me? Kill me?" I asked, venom lacing my voice.
"Like I said, you attacked me. We're not the bad guys here." Rowan answered.
"Don't give me ideas. You still throat punched me and I'm thinking tying you up, sounds real good right now." Plump lips sneered. Lukas chuckled again, this time under his breath.
"She thought she was in danger. Cut her some slack." Tara defended. "I honestly think she did pretty well considering it was five against one."
"Cut her some slack? She pounced Rowan and throat punched me! Off with her head, I reckon." Plump lips retorted.
"Stop being over dramatic, Carson. She's a human, she couldn't have done much damage." Tara snorted.
My eyes widen and I looked at Tara, then Plump lips, Carson. Human? What does she mean I'm only human?
I took a couple steps back with Amy's crazy assumption running through my head. Witches? My breath caught and I started hyperventilating silently. When a took another step back and my back touched the tip of the dagger Warrior lady was holding up, my chest started heaving like crazy.
I'm trapped with bunch of witches. A coven? Trapped with a coven of witches who aren't letting me leave.
I doubled over, hands on my knees as I loudly tried to breath through the anxiety attack coming over me. There's got to be a reasonable explanation. Maybe I'm crazy? Maybe I heard Tara wrong? Am I on drugs? Was I drugged? Is this all a hallucination?
The background noise slowly stopped as I felt everyone's eyes turn to look at me, hyperventilating over here by the front door with a dagger pointed at my back. Oh, great now I have an audience of witches.
"Amari, let her outside to get some air." I heard Rowan's deep husky voice order to the Warrior lady standing behind me. The point of the dagger was removed, it made my breathing a little easier but still not back to normal.
With my hands on my knees, I lifted my head to glance at everyone quickly. Tara and Lukas looked worried, Carson looked nonchalant and Rowan just stared intently. I didn't look over at Warrior lady because seeing the dagger wasn't going to help me in the slightest.
Counting to ten in my head I tried to control my breathing.
"Um...What are we going to do with her?" I heard Lukas whisper. "If Tara had just kept her mouth shut-"
"Just shut up!" Rowan roared. "I'm sick of hearing you speak tonight. I don't know what we're going to do."
"Maybe we should take her own advice and tie her up." Carson muttered under his breath with a snicker.
"Or maybe you can all get out. Go wait in the car, I'll be out soon." Rowan growled.
"You do realise that just because she called you 'Boss man' doesn't mean you're actually our boss, right? We are a team and we work together. We're not children who are going to be told what to do. I don't mind following your plans and shit but don't order me around like I'm a fucking child." Carson hissed before moving past me and Amari, and out the front door.
The rest of them slowly walked out but Tara hung around with Rowan. "Do you want me to try to talk her down? I might be a better option."
"Oh? And why's that?"
"I'm a girl," She answered. "And you're kind of scary sometimes. You know, to humans."
Rowan sighed. "I've got it. Thanks. Just stay in hearing distance and I'll call out to you if I need you."
"No worries." Tara smiled at me and walked out as well.
My breathing had calmed down a little better than before, but I was still tensed and changed positions into a crouch with my back to the wall and my head in my hands.
It was silent for a little while, but in my head thoughts were racing around, crashing and burning before I even had a chance to analyse any of them.
With a small creak of the floorboards, Rowan crouched in front of me and pulled my hands away from my head. "I'm sorry you got pulled into this, today. Do you have a name?"
Great personal questions, was he asking so he could find me if I ever escape or is he asking to calm me down? Should I lie?
"M...My name's Carol." I whispered. My thighs were starting to burn from my crouched position, so I slipped down the wall until my butt hit the floor, with my knees bent in front of me.
"Carol, huh?" Rowan snickered.
I glared up at him, "What? You have a problem with my name now?"
"No, I just thought your name was Casey. Thought I saw it on the news. My bad." Rowan snickered again and I blushed at having been caught out in a lie. Damn it.
I stayed silent not knowing what to say to that. I guess witches watched the news just like us normal humans. I guess it made sense, it would be kind of wild to think they had their own secret news channel or something.
"So, what were you doing coming back here, Carol?" Rowan asked, holding back another snicker as he used my obviously fake name.
I huffed and glared at the floor. "I don't know," I mutter. "I thought it was a good idea."
"What exactly were you hoping to achieve?"
"I already told you, I don't know."
"Hmm," Rowan rubbed his thumb over his bottom lip as he thought. "What do you think we should do?"
"Do? Like with me?" I asked, my breathing picking up again. "Not killing me would be a good start, I think."
"That was definitely not an option, Carol."
"Okay, okay I get it. You already know my names not Carol. Stop calling me that." I said, squinting my eyes angrily at the floor between my legs.
Rowan chuckled quietly and my breathing smoothed out again.
"I'm scared." I admitted.
His chuckling stopped and he awkwardly dropped to the floor from his crouch. His knees were bent like mine and he placed his arms on his knees with a thoughtful look on his face.
He stayed silent for a while and I thought he wasn't going to answer when he took a deep breath and finally replied with, "You seen me before you passed, right?"
I nodded my head, not exactly knowing where he was going with this.
"If I were going to hurt you, I would have done it then. But we aren't here to hurt you. We came to stop the people that were going to hurt you." He explained, slowly. "It's true we aren't human. But that's no reason to be afraid. We aren't going to harm you in any way."
I nodded slowly, "Are you all witches?"
His brows furrowed as he thought about his answer. "No, I am but the rest of them aren't."
I gulped, if he was the only witch then what the hell were the others?
I raised my eyebrows at him as encouragement to keep talking but he didn't. "And the others?"
"I'm not sure answering that question will help you calm down."
"What were you doing here?" I asked instead. I completely understand him not wanting to tell me, I'm not even sure if I want to know right now.
"Waiting. To see if the Chatswood witches were going to come back." He shrugged. "If they did, then we probably scared them off already with all the noise we've been making."
"Why are those witches kidnapping people?"
"You're full of questions, aren't you?" He chuckled and I smiled weakly.
"You know, Tara is right." I smirked at him.
"Oh, yeah? About what?"
"I didn't pretty good against five non-humans."
Rowan threw his head back and laughed. I'm not if it was meant to be with me or at me though so I scowled. "Why are you laughing?"
"You're serious? Casey, you jumped on my back, throat punched Carson and ran like hell. Not one of us was attacking you either."
I snorted, "I could have snapped your neck front my deadly position on your back."
"It's not as easy as it looks in the movies."
I narrowed my eyes at him but didn't deny that's where majority of my killing knowledge was from. My eyes light up when I thought popped into my head and I grinned. "I have killed someone, just so you know."
He raised and eyebrow like he didn't believe me. I know being all happy about killing someone is wrong, but I felt the need to stand up for myself and let him know I can be dangerous when I need to be.
"If you were here while I was escaping, then you saw the man in the room that I was held in. I killed him. Strangled him with a chain." I cringed inwardly with the memory of it happening. A shiver ran down my spine, but I shook it off.
"The guy found where you were being held? He wasn't dead, Casey. He was unconscious."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're lying. I felt him die."
"Did you check his pulse?"
I looked at the ground, "No." I grumbled.
"He was taken care of by my team. He was definitely alive when we found him." He said.
Not really knowing how to feel about not being a killer, I stayed silent. On one hand I was glad I hadn't actually killed someone but on the other hand, I was pissed that I hadn't known that small fact myself and I wasn't the one to end the life of a vicious killer who had kidnapped me, Amy and probably a whole lot more helpless people.
Deciding I should just be grateful I couldn't be called a killer, I accepted the fact and blushed again at trying to be someone I wasn't. Damn him! He keeps proving me wrong about everything I say.
Not really sure what to do from here I sit quietly and wait for him to speak but he seemed to be waiting for me to speak too.
"So, um..." I start before I'm interrupted.
"Just bring her, I want to go home. We'll figure things out later." Carson says, appearing at the door and looking down at us both. "It's not an ideal situation but what can we really do?"
Rowan grumbled quietly under his breath and even though he was only sitting a few feet in front of me I couldn't hear what he said. What surprised me more is that Carson did hear him.
"I know she's human, but she already knows. We can't let her go while she knows about what goes bump in the night. We need to talk to her, and I'd really rather do that at home instead of this dump. Don't you agree?" Carson argued.
My eyes widen at Carson's side of the conversation.
My thoughts take a different route than I thought they would. Instead of freaking out and demanding to be taken back to my home, I instead think about what's going on in my life right now.
Boyfriend is out of the picture. Parents are out of the picture. Job is getting mighty close to being out of the picture. My boss that hates me so much is probably a week away from getting me fired. The only friends I have that would miss me is Claire. But I can still see her. Right?
Do I want to be taken into this lifestyle? Do I want to learn more about what goes bump in the night, as Carson simply put it? I need a change in my life right now but is this too big? And am I going to bite off more then I can chew by making rash decisions right now?
All these questions buzzed around my head and my dangerous sense of curiosity to things I don't yet understand seemed to win over the freaked out and negative thoughts.
This could change my life for better or worse, but I felt inside my gut that I wanted to take that chance. I wanted to do something bigger than what my boring life had offered me and now this opportunity has been offered to me on a silver platter. I'd be stupid to not take this chance, or I could be destructive. I could be like them, the good guys. I could help them take care of the bad guys. I'm sure I could find something unique I could offer them to get them to accept me.
Can I do this?
I look up at the two who could change my life forever and realise they are staring at me while I go over my private thoughts.
"Can I?" I asked quietly.
Rowan looks shocked by my question but Carson smirks.
"What? No, definitely not." Rowan stands up and crosses his arms over his chest and spreads his legs in a firm stance.
"Why not? That's unfair!" I yell.
"You have no place in our world. You need to stay in your own world."
I stand up and mimic his aggressive stance, while staring them both in the eye. There's no way I'm going to allow him to make my choices for me.
"I'm coming home with you. And that's final." I said, firmly.
Carson smirks and raises an eyebrow at me while Rowan scoffs with an irritated look on his handsome face.
"Get in the car." Rowan says and turns to go out the front door.
With a massive grin on my face, I look at Carson and shrug nonchalantly like I knew I was going to get what I wanted. I go to follow Rowan out the front door, but he stops.
"Not you, you're staying here until we leave. It was nice meeting you, Casey." He throws over his shoulder then nods in Carson's direction. "Come on."
Carson shoulders past me and chuckles under his breath as he follows after Rowan down the three porch steps.
My heart stops and I internally freak out. Once again my body seems to move without my permission, and I start running towards the steps. Once at the edge of the porch, I throw my body forward aiming for the closest body to land upon. While in the air I can hear myself let out another warrior cry and I flail helplessly through the air and hope I make it.
I slam into Carson back and instantly grip his shoulders and hips to secure myself but instead of holding on my grip starts to slip as my force slams him into the ground and I land on his back while he faceplants into the concrete path. My head gets slammed forward by the impact and I headbutt his solid shoulder blade once again lighting my nose up with throbbing pain.
"Get off me." Carson growls from underneath me, his voice makes the hairs on my arms stand up and I nervously scurry off his back.
"Sorry!" I squeal, looking at Carson as he continues to growl and curse while lifting himself off the path. My eyes swing to Rowan, but he looks irritated. Behind him Lukas stood on the sidewalk with an amused sparkle in his eyes, his mouth twisted into a grin.
Tara was standing beside Lukas, her hands covering her mouth in shock and Amari stood off to the right by herself as she shook her head in disapproval.
My gaze swung back to Rowan. "I'm coming."
"Or what?" He demands, brows furrowing as he glared at me.
"Or...Or I'll tell everyone about you." I threaten. I gulp as the fire in his eyes deepens and I shift uncomfortably on the ground while everyone else is standing.
Lukas chuckled again before grunting when Tara elbows him in the ribs to silent him.
I'm sure threatening them is a not great way to go about asking them to let me come with them but I'm not sure how else to get their attention. I've got nothing special I can bargain with, I'm at a loss. I just know that I need to go with them.
"Get in the fucking car." He ground out. My eyes brightened and I stared in shock. Was he talking to me? "You do as you're told while you're under our roof. I'll take no excuses, and this is only temporary until I figure out what to do with you."
I nodded frantically and shot up from the ground. "Yes, I'll do anything you want."
"Anything?" Lukas asked with a mischievous eyebrow raise. Tara elbowed him in the ribs again before turning on her heel and walking off.
I ignored Lukas's comment and turned to follow everyone when they all walked in the same direction Tara had taken off into. I smoothed out my hair with a big grin plastered on my face that I couldn't get off my face.
This is going to be my new start!