A Prey's Protector

2

"Doesn't your parents feed you?" Kanan asked me.

"Not since I ran away," I replied quietly hoping he wouldn't hear me. My luck ran out. "Why were you running away?" He asked.

"I hate them, my parents, I hate them so much. Sometimes, I think they don't even want me around," I said softly then cleared my throat, "Now you answer some of my questions. Why are these people after me?"

"I already told you that," Kanan said annoyed.

"You weren't telling me everything," I retorted.

"To be honest kid, I'm not fully sure either," he said honestly.

"Why are you protecting me?" I asked.

"Do you want to be killed?" He replied.

"Well, no but random people don't just come out of no where and protect you from things like that," I said referring to the shooting in the city.

He stayed silent.

I started to move around uncomfortably and my breathing uneven, "Gosh, I can't stay in here. I told you I'm claustrophobic."

"Yeah, you can," he said.

"No, I can't. You try it," I complained, my voice cracking a little.

"I have," Kanan replied with the same monotone voice.

"Yeah right, when?" I asked challengingly.

Kanan was silent for a moment and seemed to be gathering his thoughts.

"I was a soldier. The other soldiers and I were sneaking into a military base when a dog came up barking, wanting to play," Kanan started. I listened, interested in what the story was going to be about.

"The other men told me to shut the dog up but the trust in the dog's eyes..." He paused to gather his composure, "but the others told me to stop his barking."

Kanan hesitated before speaking again, "I stabbed the dog. Its' blood staining me for three days. I felt trapped almost...claustrophobic knowing what I did."

My eyes widen and for a moment, my hand released my stress ball. I reached down and grabbed it again and almost felt bad for Kanan.

I let his words sink in and was about to ask another question. "Time to stay quiet," he ordered and I shut my mouth as the car slowed down. It soon came to a stop and my heart was racing once again as I rapidly squeezed my stress ball and gulped down my fear.

   Then as quick as we came, we left without any troubles. The car ride continued in silence and then we came to a stop. Kanan exited the car and I waited for him to open the trunk.

   It never opened and I realized that he wasn't going to open the trunk. I looked around the small area to see if I can escape this small area. That's when realizing that it could be only opened from the outside. I wanted to scream and almost panicked but a couple minutes later, the cover opens revealing Kanan.

   "You said you would open it when we arrived?" I said angrily.

   "Well now you're out," he said and I glared at him but sat up. I climbed out of the trunk and was happy to breath in the fresh air. He closed the trunk then guided me to a nice brown house in the middle of a forest. We walked up the steps and onto the porch. We went over to a door with two slits of glass with wood bordering them. The top silt was broken and fragments of glass were scattered on the floor inside the house.

   'Now we are breaking into houses?' I thought scrunching my nose in confusion, 'How many illegal things can he pull off without being caught?'

   Kanan opened the door and let me walk in, avoiding the glass on the ground. He followed behind me, closing the door behind him.

   "Can I use the bathroom?" I asked randomly.

   He stared at me blankly for moment before nodding with approval. I walked into the bathroom and scanned the small room. There was the usual stuff you find in a bathroom but what caught my attention was the shelves. On one of the shelves was a home phone. I picked it up then placed it next to my ear finding that it works. So I pulled the phone away from my ear and typed in 911.

   I placed the phone up against my ear once again and waited for any sort of reply.

   "Hello, who is this?" A woman's voice spoke through the phone.

   "Hi, my names Ezra. I'm trying to reach my dad," I said quietly through the phone.

   It took a moment before the woman replied, "Ephraim Bridger?"

   "Yeah, can I talk to him?" I asked with some hope.

   "I'm sorry, I can't do that," the woman said, "My name is Tua and I work with the FBI. You need to tell me where you are."

   "I-I don't know where I am," I stuttered.

   "Are you with a man that goes by the name of Kanan?" The woman asked. I paused bewildered that this woman knew something.

   I looked around hesitating for a moment before saying, "Yeah."

   "You need to get out there. Kanan is a professional assassin that is hired to kill you," Tua said sternly. My heart hammered on my chest and the phone almost slipped out of my hand. The man that was outside of the door was going to kill me. I licked my lips scared as my hands trembled and sweat started to form.

   I am scared. My breathing became uneven like it did in the car.

   "Ezra, don't worry. I'm going to track this number and send in help," Tua said calmly but I wasn't listening anymore. Instead, I placed the phone back on its' receiver and walked towards the door slowly.

   I reached for the handle but hesitated. My foot took a step back as I was trying to calm my nerves. This time, I opened the door and walked out of the bathroom slowly to see Kanan leaning against the wall with a gun in his hands. I to quickly think of an excuse to leave this place.

   "Um," I stuttered then quietly said, "I-I left something in the c-car. Can I-I go get it?"

   I kept glancing down at the gun then back into those cold, green eyes. There was a thick silence as I moved my fingers to keep my hands from shaking.

   "Ar..." I paused for a moment and licked my lips to get moisture in them. I gulped down the lump in my throat and continued my question. "Ar-Are you going to kill me?" I asked quietly terrified. I wished I didn't ask, afraid of the answer.

   I knew to be afraid.

   He looked me straight in the eyes with a blank face when quietly replying, "Yes."

////////////////////////////////////////////

Stay tuned and adios!!!!!😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁