Breathless

Chapter 20

Aaron paced back and forth, pondering his next move. He knew where Lady Madison and his brother had taken Emily, but he didn't know what they were planning.
Was it an assassination?

Doubtful, Devon was not nearly as strong as him and his army of nobles. Aaron was quite confident in himself, his power and strength was feared by many.

Those who opposed him, well, their bodies were usually found.

Maybe they didn't even know what to do? If that was the case Aaron could easily trap them, but he knew his brother would have a plan, as much as he hate to admit it, Devon was highly intelligent.

Aaron stopped his pacing and looked out the window of the cabin, he saw movement in the distance. A young man, hiking along the trail about two hundred yards away. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, wearing sport clothes and a backpack.

He was alone, which was his first mistake, Aaron had been feeling a bit peckish for a couple days, a healthy young snack would just make his day.

Aaron sped out of the cabin, his speed couldn't be seen by the naked eye, he was on the man in seconds. Grabbing his neck tightly, launching him a few yards away from the path and to the ground before he could react. The man tried to scream, but Aaron ripped out his throat before even a sound came out.

Blood practically squirted from the huge gash in the hikers neck, staining Aaron's shirt and falling to the earth beneath them. The man tried desperately to struggle under Aaron's firm grip, as his dark blood came pouring out,

Aaron bit down and viciously drank from the open wound. He could taste the fear and panic flowing out of his veins, the flavor was exquisite to Aaron. He felt the mans heartbeat slow, then stop all to soon.

Aaron slowly released his grip around the hikers neck then stood up, looking down at his pray. He was a handsome man, and on his left hand he wore a gold wedding ring. Aaron picked up the freshly dead body, heaving the corpse over his shoulder, moving him far away from the trail, running quickly through the forest.

He stopped at a large oak tree, it's roots rose up from the ground, creating space underneath of it. Aaron put the body there, not really hiding it so he would eventually be found, then turned around, slowly strolling through the forest, admiring the trees and nature around him.

It was almost sunset, making the temperature start to drop, he looked down at his blood stained clothes then back up. He smiled and spoke to himself.

"I love Fridays"

                        **********

"Awwww what the hell guys, no food for me?!" Madi said loudly as Devon and Emily walked into the house empty handed. She was sitting in the living room on one of the couches, she had peeled off the plastic that covered the couch to protect it from dust.

"Sorry, you should have woke your ass up and came with us" Devon said shrugging, Madi stuck her tongue at him and muttered under her breath about how she needs her beauty sleep. Emily giggled and Devon rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the smile that fell on his lips.

That night, the three of them stayed in the house. They sat on the old couches in the old living room. Together they talked and laughed, almost like a family.

Madi told embarrassing stories of Devon from when they were young, and Devon told stories of Madi and Aaron, and the adventures they took as children.

Whenever Devon told a story about Aaron, he got this look in his eyes, almost sadness but something a bit more. He would hide the feelings however with a smile and laugh about the good old times.

Emily mostly just listened, she didn't have much to say. She did tell them about the time her sister broke her arm at the lake, but besides that she didn't say much. She enjoyed listening to the two of them and their stories about each other. It made Emily smile to know they were, at least at one point in time, very close. The way they talked to each other was almost like sister and brother, a bunch of teasing and name calling.

Around two in the morning, Emily started to feel drowsy, she couldn't stop yawning. After one particularly large yawn, Devon looked at her and raised a brow.

"Bedtime for you" he said smiling at Emily, Madi tilted her head.

"You're already tired? Feels like I've only been awake for a couple hours" Madi said shrugging, Emily gave her a sleepy smile and stood up.

"Yeah I should hit the hay, I can barley keep my eyes open" she said and started walking toward the stairs. Devon was about to stand up but Emily put her arm out, she didn't need help getting to bed.

Devon and Madi said goodnight simultaneously as Emily walked up the squeaky stairs. She got into her room and slipped into bed, not even bothering to change out of her day clothes. She closed her eyes and thought about what she was going to do with her life, once this was over. She knew it would never be the same as before, but what would it be like? Would she be able to go home and see her family? What would happen to Devon and Madi? Could she even really ever go-

Emily stopped her train of thought when she heard something. At first it sounded like nothing more than old house noises, like creaking and the wind blowing, so she kept her eyes closed. It wasn't until she heard the window begin to slide open that she realized it wasn't the house.

Emily felt frozen in her bed, fear swept over her as she heard a foot step onto the wood floor, then another.

The intruder stood still as far as Emily could tell, she felt terrified, she wanted to scream but was afraid of what this person would do to her if she did.

After what seemed like hours, Emily heard movement, soft footsteps on the floor. The person in her room got closer to the bed, Emily did her best not to move, she couldn't even breathe.

She was as still as a statue, until she felt the intruders breath on her arm, she couldn't help herself but move and tired to scream, but a hand went over her mouth immediately.

She opened her eyes to see the person in front of her. It was a man, he looked younger than her, maybe sixteen or seventeen. He had dirty blond hair under the black hoodie he wore. The guy put a finger to his lips, as if to tell Emily to hush. She tried to struggle under his weight, but she could barley move.

The man leaned down, he put the hand that wasn't over Emily's mouth over her forehead and whispered into her ear.

"Tomorrow will be a nice day, go on a walk through the forrest, go while everyone is still asleep" he said calmly, his words sounded almost like vibrations.

As he spoke, images of a clear blue sky, and then of the woods that surrounded the house flashed through Emily's mind. She closed her eyes, looking at the sky in her mind, she felt like she was flying. She could feel the sun on her skin, the wind in her hair, she felt amazing. She looked at the forest and saw a river, with clear water speeding through it. The sun was bright and beautiful, the world around her looked so alive.

Then the world suddenly went dark, the sun began to disappear, everything around her turned black. The river had black slime instead of water, the trees looked dead and charred, the sun was just a black ball in the sky. She started to fall, Emily screamed, grabbing at nothing as she fell to-

Emily opened her eyes, looking up at the white, smooth ceiling, she turned her head slightly and saw Devon sleeping next to her. The sun shined into their room, giving it a gold like color.

Emily sat up, she felt confused, what had she been dreaming about? Her head felt fuzzy, she tried to remember but nothing came to mind, in fact all she remembered was going upstairs and going to bed the night before.

Emily got out of bed, she changed her clothes and fixed her messy hair in the small bathroom. As she was almost done cleaning herself up and looking presentable, a thought crossed her mind;

'It's a nice day, I think I'll go for a walk.'