Marked By Darkness

Chapter Two

I frowned as the word bounced around inside my head with no meaning.

"What is a seer?" I asked, utterly baffled.

He shook his head with an incredulous look on his face, which made his hair fall in front of his eyes.

"I will explain everything. I promise. First, we have to get somewhere safe." He said.

I already trusted him, even though we'd only just met, so I just nodded my head, agreeing without hesitation as a frown marred my face.

"Didn't you take care of that thing?" I asked, a slight tremor of fear entering my voice.

A sympathetic look crossed his face as he shook his head lightly.

"I incapacitated it for now, but it won't stay down for long. We need to get out of here before it gets back up." He said. His words sent a shiver down my spine and I stood up, taking a deep breath and silently telling myself to be strong.

"What's your name?" He asked, glancing at me as he began to lead the way out of the alley with me following close on his heels.

"Aurora, but everyone except my mother calls me Aura." I said.

He flashed me a smile, which made my heart stutter, then he reached his hand out towards me and I slipped my hand into his, fighting back a shiver at the touch of his warm skin against mine.

"It's nice to meet you, Aura. I wish it could have been under better circumstances." He said, then before I could utter a word, he was pulling me along beside him.

I should have been terrified that I didn't know where he was taking me, but I felt safe with him, which was the most terrifying thing of all.

~

I lost track of where we were going after the first two blocks, but I counted one more block before he pulled me around the side of a building and towards a black car parked behind it, hidden by a sheet of plastic and a few trash bags.

He hauled the plastic sheet off the car and tossed the trash bags aside.

He unlocked the car with a key that he pulled out of his pocket, then he opened the passenger side door and motioned for me to get in. I wasn't particularly fond of cars ever since I'd had an accident in one when I was 8 years old, in which I'd ended up with a concussion and a broken collarbone, but I swallowed hard, hiding my fear as I climbed into the car and he shut the door behind me. He strode around to the other side of the car and climbed into the drivers seat, then he glanced at me with his eyebrows raised and I somehow knew that he was silently asking me if I was okay. I nodded my head and he pushed the key into the ignition, making me jump slightly in my seat as the engine roared to life.

He began to drive, seeming to know exactly where he was going, despite the fact that it was pitch black outside and impossible to see any street signs or distinguishing features. For a few minutes, I just stared at him, noting how comfortable he seemed in his own skin, driving this car at a blinding speed although it was damn near impossible to see.

"Where are we going?" I asked, unable to take not knowing anymore. I knew that he was taking me somewhere safe and I trusted that with every fibre of my being, but I needed to know where that was.

He glanced at me for a second before fixing his gaze on the road again, which I was thankful for because my heart had stuttered painfully in that moment that he'd taken his eyes off of the road.

"We're going somewhere safe. That's all you need to know right now. I can't explain where until we get there. Do you trust me, Aura?" He asked. Something in his tone told me that it was an extremely important question. I could tell that he wanted me to trust him, that he needed me to trust him, although I had no idea why.