Under the Gray Willow Tree

Chapter 7

I am currently waiting in anticipation for Gray to arrive. But, he's late. By an hour or so, note that. He promised me that he'd fill me in on everything when he gets back, and seeing that he came back late yesterday, he said that he would tell me today. I wonder if I'll understand what he is about to tell me. Hmm... I wonder...

The sound of the doorbell that echoed through my living room totally caught me off guard.

I walked unsteadily towards the front door – feeling nervous for some reason – my hands shaking as I unlocked the front door. I pulled it open slowly, my hands still shaking uncontrollably from anxiety as I do so.

I looked down at my face instead of his face, not wanting our eyes to lock.

I watched as a pair of hands grabbed my own, still shaking, trying to stabilise it successfully.

"Let's go and sit down, shall we?" he asked me, sounding calm and confident, gesturing towards the sofa.

I nodded, and we walked to the black, leather sofa and sat down. I placed my still-shaking hands gently on top of my lap as I waited for him to speak.

When I finally realised that he wasn't going to say anything, I muttered a soft "What happened?" with my voice breaking terribly.

I heard him sigh loudly beside me. "Well... It's just that... It's..." he trailed off.

Anger started boiling up in me for absolutely no reason at all. I don't know why though. I should be scared and worried and anxious, but instead, I am as angry as I can be.

"Just freaking spit it out already!" I snapped all of a sudden, impatiently.

It took me a while to realise what I just said. When I did, I blushed in embarrassment.

"I mean... Umm... Err..." I stuttered awkwardly.

He chuckled and patted my head, messing my hair up a little at the same time. "Never mind. It's okay."

I put on a forced smile on my face. He sighed once more. I could easily sense the tension in this room. Anyone could sense the strong tension in the room. Nervousness started bubbling up inside of me.

"I guess I should break the silence and start talking huh?" he asked randomly.

I nodded. I didn't have the willpower – or the strength – to say anything at the moment. But if I did, I would say," Yeah, I guess you should."

"Do you want me to tell you everything I've found out the long way? Or do you want me to tell you straight to the point what I came here to tell you today and leave the descriptions for another day?"

"Straight to the point," I forced myself to say.

No way was I going to listen to a bunch of unnecessary descriptions.

He sighed for the third time that evening. Well, to be honest, he sighed for the third time in under five minutes. "Well, I don't know if all this is true. It might just be a misunderstanding or misinterpretation or I might have misheard –"

"Don't try to stall me," I interrupted him, feeling pretty annoyed this time.

I heard him take a deep breath from beside me. I'm guess he's trying to release some stress or something. "You're in danger."

"What?" I blurted out before I could even stop myself, not believing what I had just heard.

"Look, I don't know how, I don't know why," he told me seriously, "But some people are on the hunt to kill you."

It was as if my whole world came to a standstill once again. Why would anyone in the world want to hunt me? Am I even worth killing? I don't think so... But, for what? They have no one to threaten by killing me. So, why? What did I even do to make them want to kill me?

"I don't know why," Gray said from beside me, as if reading my thoughts.

I need more time. More time to sort the many things in my head out. More time for the huge news to sink in. More time to think. More time alone.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I stood up dramatically. Gray grabbed my hand and tugged on it.

"Where are you going?" he asked, with a hint of worry in his voice.

I shook my head only so slightly, hoping that he got the message of me wanting to be alone. I walked slowly to my room, looking at the floor, and taking more time than necessary to get there. I'm pretty sure that if I talked right now, my voice would break terribly.

"Willow –"

I shook my head 'no'. "Just go, please." And I was right. My voice did break terribly.

I entered my room and slammed the door shut behind me, without even looking back...

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It's short, I know, and I'm sorry. I have written this until chapter 14, so... Yeah! :D Anyways, thanks for reading~ N I hope you click that button on the top of this page! XDD