Where My Demons Hide

Chapter 19

    Once I was done grabbing food, I looked up, wanting to know what the gang wanted. My eyes soon met Taylor's, the member with curly hair and glasses. His eyes were cold as he stared at me and I found myself shrinking back. He didn't even know me, but yet his eyes were full of hate.

    "Guys, you don't need to stare at her," Haiden said. "She's human."

    "Like none of us," Taylor muttered, looking down to stab his salad with his fork.

    Haiden's jaw clenched and I stared at him, wanting him to calm down. After yesterday, I realized I hated seeing Haiden angry. It left me uneasy because I knew that side of Haiden was what led to him killing. Although I couldn't believe he was capable of killing people, seeing him angry changed that idea a little more everyday.

     Silence filled the table soon after and I kept my eyes on the table. No one looked at me anymore. They seemed to be bored of me - thankfully - which led to me eating in peace. I tried to eat quickly though, wanting to be outside. After spending a day in a cell, I craved fresh air.

    When I finally finished eating and saw Haiden was done too, I stood up. That brought all their eyes to me and I flushed, embarrassed. I hated how they acted like I didn't belong - even though I truly didn't.

    "I'm going to go on a walk," I said, looking at Haiden.

    "Okay, I'll come," he said, getting up as well.

     He went in front of me and I mentally thanked him as he led me to the front door. Soon we were outside and I inhaled the fresh scent of nature. I truly missed it and I wanted so badly to run to my own forest, but I knew that was a dumb idea with Haiden right beside me.

    I became curious to what The Demon's hideout was, so I turned around and looked at the house they occupied. My eyes went wide at the sight of it, noting it was a cabin. It was a gorgeous one too with its logs stacked on top of each other to create the building. I would never have imagined this to be where The Demons hid.

    "Shall we walk?" Haiden asked.

    "Oh, yeah," I said, blushing when I realized I'd just been staring at his hideout.

    Turning around, I began to walk off and Haiden stayed at my side. I tried to forget about everything as I explored the forest I was in, but it was hard to with him constantly there. Admittedly I was unnaturally aware of him and I couldn't help it. All I wanted to do was be at Haiden's side and finally I was. It was a dream come true, but now I didn't know what to do.

    "You probably have questions about what your purpose is," Haiden said after ten minutes of walking. "I can answer them."

    I had to stop my jaw from dropping as I looked over at Haiden. He stopped walking and I did too. Facing him, I found myself growing nervous as I realized it was finally time for Haiden to open up. After all these months, Haiden was going to answer some of my questions.

    The part of the forest we were in was peaceful. It was far from the cabin and trees surrounded us like a shield. There I felt safe. Safe from everything and everyone, which was why I asked the questions I wondered.

    "Yeah, can you explain how the negotiation is going to work?" I asked. "Since you guys are hiding, isn't it going to be hard to give away the bargaining piece - me?"

    "Okay, this is what's going down," Haiden said, going straight to the point - as usual. "Taylor is going to go to town and negotiate with the demon hunters. He's going to tell them we have you hostage and only if they give us a map, we'll set you free. They'll obviously say yes since you're the leader's daughter and Taylor will bring you back to them and receive the map. It's a simple plan."