Nefarious

C174 - Caught in the act

Heavy steps brought sound loud enough to roam the entire room. I gulped, though I tried my hardest not to. Xavier's chest moved slowly against my back. Due to his breath being weirdly calm, I suspected the person of being a trusted person. Unfortunately, I lost all hope once I heard the person speaking out loud. "I know you're here, Leclair," his dark voice called out. Quickly, Xavier yanked me to the floor and pushed me into a space between two commodes. There was some furniture blocking my view, and so I sat hidden entirely. "Finally I've witnessed your trespassing," Xylan snickered maliciously. I grabbed Xavier's foot impulsively, feeling nothing but terrified for him. He shook his head discreetly and walked away from the desk, moving closer to Xylan. "Oh, I must say your stupidity amazes me. I'm convinced you did this so you would be sent to England and reunited with Jace, but you couldn't be more wrong. You belong here," Xylan paused "and only here."

Without saying a word, Xavier went with Xylan willingly. The door shut itself, and I could hear the sound of the lock turning. I sat beneath a desk in a huge, creepy room in complete darkness all alone. My paranoia was as bad as it could be, which resulted in me jumping at sounds caused by myself. The floor was made of stone, so thankfully, it couldn't creak at least. If Jace had been here, then he would've come to check on both Alex and me, and I wouldn't have been in such a situation. Sadly, I'd messed up and was left with nothing but my clumsiness.

When I'd managed to build up enough courage, I stood up and placed my hand on the desk. Perhaps Xavier had left his phone around to help me get out. All I had to do was find my way to the entrance and unlock the door from the inside, right?

I swiftly realized that finding my way out would be way more difficult than I'd thought it out to be. I kept stumbling in objects, and since I'd only seen the room once, I had no clue where anything was. I'd crawled on the floor in hopes of finding the phone, but with no luck. Had Xavier really left me with nothing just like that?

While opening drawers to look for a light source such as a flashlight or matches, I heard creaking from behind me. The floor couldn't creak; neither had the door to the room. None of the drawers had creaked either. Petrified, I turned around despite not being able to see a damn thing. My breathing felt too loud, I thought, and so I shut my mouth and held my breath momentarily. I considered putting out my hand to guide myself away impulsively, but I dared not do that. Instead, I placed my hand over my heart in hopes of blocking the sound of its fast beating. I knew it was stupid, but I was hopelessly trying to erase any signs of my existence temporarily.

As soon as a book fell to the floor, I started running in a random direction. Surely, my heart was beating fast enough for it to leave my body at any time. Time after time, I almost tripped due to my upper body not managing to follow the speed of my legs. A pile of books eventually got in my way and caused me to fall on my face with a loud thud. My nose hit the cold floor, almost causing me to shriek. I rolled onto my back and covered my mouth to prevent sounds from escaping me. At this point, I was sure there was another person in the room. I could hear footsteps some meters away from me. If I were to guess, the person was approximately five meters from me.

While laying on the floor desperately trying to steady my breath and calm my panic, I heard sounds again. I automatically went dead silent and focused on the exact sounds. The person was fiddling with something, and yes, definitely only a few meters away from me. My brows narrowed, forming a frown which no one could see. I gulped again, louder than the last time once I realized what the person had done. Whoever was in the room with me had removed his or her shoes, so I could no longer track the footsteps by hearing as easily.

I sat up properly, carefully backing away with my hands behind my back as my only guidance. One by one, I placed my hands on the cold floor to direct myself away from the person. With one move, I felt a sudden bulge beneath my hand. This wasn't some object; this was someone's body part. Paralyzed to the spot, the menacing aura held me in a tightening grip. Fear crept over me at racing speed, immobilizing me completely. It was as though my voice left me instantaneously, refusing even to whimper. A strong hand grabbed my arm, lifting me to my feet in a matter of seconds. As with my voice, my legs failed me, and I fell to the floor. The person once again grabbed hold of me, but this time, I was placed to sit on some surface.

The second I got asked who I was, I exhaled deeply. "It's Valerie," I said. "Oh, my god, Valerie! I seriously thought I was after some random person who'd broken in!" Alex answered. "And I seriously thought I was going to die. You sure know how to hunt a person." "Wait, you fell pretty badly, didn't you? I can't tell by your face this time because I literally can't see it. Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm confused, though. As vampires, aren't we supposed to handle the dark better than this? We literally couldn't recognize each other in any way." Alex cleared his throat, and I would typically predict parts of his answer by the look on his face, but that was a bit of a challenge this time. "The dark enhances your hearing, and you're able to trace the scent of blood very well. However, you're not granted night-vision, no. You'll see better in the dark and in general now than before, but not in pitch darkness. I'm not sure why I couldn't recognize your scent, though." "Will I bruise after this? Gosh, I have so many questions," I sighed. "Relax, it is time-craving to explain it all and incredibly complex. You're probably confused because of Jace's bruises after fighting Xylan, or so I assume. Honestly-" he paused "we don't quite understand ourselves sometimes even. You can read about it later, but let's not do that now."

I expected Alex to say we should leave the room at once since I had no right to be there in the first place. It thereby surprised me when he suddenly led me through the room with ease, making sure not to trip over any objects on the way. Eventually, I felt something soft against my cheek; a curtain, I presumed. He parted the curtains soundlessly, and then both of us slipped through an entrance which I hadn't noticed earlier. Alex proceeded to close the heavy door; a soundproof one it must've been. A lantern lit up the room, though not too brightly.

"It's my study. I don't let anyone in here except-" Alex said, scratching the back of his neck. Tilting his head to the side, I caught eye of a book with Jace's name engraved on it. Alex lingered at the book to appreciate the tranquil atmosphere, before putting it away and out of sight. Within a short time, Alex's eyes pierced me, flashing brightly in the lantern's light. "Why were you in here, Valerie? Most importantly, how did you manage to get in?" he questioned, changing the subject.

Reluctant to answer Alex's question, I cleared my throat to gain time to think. Xavier was already in trouble with Xylan. Besides, I wasn't sure how Alex would handle the news of Xavier and me going behind his back to snoop around. "I heard rumours were going around and you weren't contacting me. I was going to ask you about it, but someone advised me not to go upstairs." "So despite the warning, this person still took you upstairs but here instead of to me? That doesn't sound too good-intentioned," Alex answered. I nodded instead of answering, still unsure if I wanted to mention Xavier's name or not. "As long as it wasn't Xavier. Kai decided to consider his vote as valid since he's proven himself to be trustworthy," Alex said. I turned away from his gaze, feeling unsettled as though he suddenly could read me like an open book. "Valerie?" he scoffed, turning me back in his direction. "I'm just curious. Let's say it was Xavier. Would he lose his vote immediately, or?" I asked. Alex heaved a sigh, realizing it was Xavier who'd accompanied me. "We have to go, now," he said quickly.