Nefarious

C23 - Trespassers

Slowly and deliberately, I crawled across the floor as a way to avoid unnecessary sounds. I could no longer hear their voices, nor could I hear any rustling coming from the bushes. I had simply lost track of their location because my instincts caused me to back off. They could be in my house, they could be right outside my bedroom door.

I moved my head upwards before I got up to open the door. I paused for a second, the hesitation slowed my actions down. I was overthinking every move of mine, but I saw no other options.

I stood still, frozen by terrifying thoughts as I was staring down at the door handle. The thoughts of someone standing right behind it made me want to slam it shut and lock it, but there was no lock, there was no security in this room. I would either have to stay in my bedroom, hoping they wouldn't come in here or leave. I was certain they had seen me in the window, which means they know where I'm at, so leaving sure sounds like the safer choice.

No person stood outside my door, but the second I walked out, a person with familiar face stepped right in front of me. "What are you doing here?" I gasped in shock. "Keep it down," he whispered, placing his finger on his lips as a sign for me to be quiet. I nodded as I carefully closed the door behind me. I was gonna ask him another question, but I didn't get the opportunity to. He took my hand in a firm grip and brought me downstairs.

"Someone knows how to get inside of your house, in fact, several does," he told me. "What? How? How do you know this?" I blurted out. "The book, do you remember it being here?" he asked. "If it's the one that Alex freaked out about, then yes." "As you hopefully remember, you didn't place it here. And Alex for sure didn't, now who do you think did it?" he raised his eyebrows. "Jeez, if I knew I would have done something!" I sighed in frustration. His jaw clenched, like Alex's do whenever I say something he doesn't appreciate.

I'm guessing he spent a minute or so to control himself or whatever before he spoke again. "I have to tell you his secret, Valerie." "Alex won't, so please do." "Not quite yet, I wasn't finished with the whole book thing," he said. "Okay?" I frowned. He looked around cautiously, making sure no one was lurking or listening to our conversation.

"The book contains keys to different places, including your house. Also, there are keys to certain books that belong to people like Alex," he told me. "That sounds believable, but why to my place?" I frowned. "Aren't you aware that Alex is one of the most wanted people in this whole conflict?" he asked confusedly. "What? No?" I swallowed oddly. "If they get you, he'll die," he informed me, slightly shaking his head at my lacking knowledge. "What do I do?" I asked, panic dominating my voice. "Well, for starters perhaps you should stay with him without leaving whenever you feel like it." "It's easier said than done. I can't live with all his secrets, they must be really bad as he won't tell me a single one," I sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you one then," he answered. He bit his bottom lip as if he truly didn't want to tell me anything, but I had to take the opportunity. "Thank you, Xavier."

Xavier was carefully moving two of his fingers over his right wrist. When he removed his fingers, a tattoo was exposed. It was a tattoo of the play, pause, shuffle and fast forward symbols. "Does that tattoo happen to have a deep meaning behind it?" I asked. "Well, kind of. It's a stupid reminder that life isn't an act. I can't go backwards or forwards as I please. Consequences can't be avoided by a push of a button, and mistakes can't be undone," he answered. "Right, that's reasonable, but you don't have the replay one though?" I pointed out. "Thinking of all the years I've got ahead of me, it would be a waste of time to replay something I've already been through. Nice things create nice memories, I wouldn't want to risk changing them, and bad things I obviously don't want to relive." "I see," I nodded.

Somehow, our conversation caused me to completely forget about the strangers, luckily, however, Xavier did not. "You can't go upstairs," he reminded me, grabbing my arm quickly. "Where am I safe, Xavier? Not in my own house clearly, nor at Alex's place," I sighed distressfully. "Jace should've been here." "Jace hates me, he wouldn't help," I shook my head immediately. "You've got to earn Jace's trust, he won't give in easily to help a stranger. Even though he knows how much Alex needs you alive, Jace is still cautious." "Alex needs me alive? Why didn't you use love as the main reason?" I swallowed oddly. He broke the eye contact quickly and looked down. "I swear if you'll start keeping secrets for him I'll-" I started. "They heard you," he cut me off. "What?" I stuttered. "My doors are all locked, so is my-" I started only to get cut off again. "So's your windows? Yeah, I think not."

Xavier led me to the bathroom and locked the door quickly. "Is that a mirror?" he questioned as he pointed to my wall. "Nah, it's a fancy camera," I answered sarcastically. "Could you take it down?" he asked. "Wow, you're even pickier than Alex." "Fallen mirrors bring bad luck, and we don't want that, do we?" he raised an eyebrow. "I didn't expect you to be superstitious, Xavier." Even though I found his request odd, I decided to take down the mirror silently. "I can guarantee you that there's more to me than you know," he said.

The sound of my front door creaking open was heard only minutes after Xavier and I had stopped talking. I was standing in the corner with him right in front of me. He was literally pressing me up against the walls as if he'd forgotten that I was there, but I didn't want to risk us being caught by speaking. It wasn't hard to tell he was already stressed out, judging by his unstable breathing, and trembling hands.

"Are you okay?" I whispered. He reacted quicker than I'd ever seen before, it a mindblowing reaction. When he turned around, I could barely see his face, but it wasn't hard to tell it was a hunted look. His face reminded me of myself earlier tonight when I discovered the strangers outside. He was scared, almost petrified, as was I. I could see his nostrils moving, so was his lips. It seemed as though he wanted to speak, but he didn't, not once. I could see feet moving right outside the door, meaning someone was dangerously close to us. Xavier heightened his head and took a deep breath, he was at the edge of panic, it was evident.

Standing in the bathroom with Xavier felt like it took ages. Both of us became both worried and ridiculously intimidated, and neither of us dared to say a single word.

As far as we could see and hear, the people that had broken into my house were gone. I stepped away from the corner that I'd spent way too long standing in. "I just realized something," Xavier said softly. I turned around with a frown. "If I don't tell you anything, they will," he said.