The Hidden

Chapter 26 - [The Truth]

Meenu found herself in Feyran before she could even think straight. So it was only after she had arrived that she wondered how she was going to find him.

     Everyone knew he was Avaryn now. Could he really ever come out of hiding again?

     Had she lost him forever?

     The only way she could really think of finding him was to go to Master Red. And for some reason, she still thought that that wouldn’t help.

     She took a breath and let it out.

     But when she opened her eyes again, her heart skipped a beat.

     She turned around quickly, not really too surprised to see him standing there.

     And as she ran towards him, she wondered if he had really ever let her down. He always seemed to be there when she needed him… and she shouldn’t have expected less this time around.

     When she jumped into his arms, he hugged her back, tightly. But the hug didn’t last as long as they both had hoped for.

     She pulled away the second she had a chance. “I’m sorry,” she said, quickly. “I really am… but you have to explain. Everything.”

     The man looked at her with his red eyes, trying to figure out what to say.

     He was in his usual attire, except he wore a cloak on top of his clothes, the hood falling over his head. Like the man she saw in her dream months ago.

     Her eyes were just as red as they were before but his face looked tired. Tired and stressed.

     “Avaryn–”

     He flinched when she said it.

     And that made her narrow her eyes. “I won’t call you Blood anymore. Avaryn is your name so I’ll call you Avaryn.”

     He nodded his head slowly.

     Meenu pulled away from him completely. “Why aren’t you talking?”

     He let out a sigh and looked at her. “I… I don’t know what to say,” he started. “I always imagined that I would die before you ever found out the truth.”

     She noticed that his voice was a little deeper and it annoyed her to think that he hid his true voice from her as well. “Well I’m glad you didn’t,” she tried to give him a comforting smile. “But now you have to tell me the truth.”

     “I can’t let you get involved.”

     “I’m already involved,” she crossed her arms after pushing her hair off her shoulders. She had gotten so used to wearing it up in a ponytail that leaving it out annoyed her now. “Dukaryn probably wants me dead now.”

     He just kept his gaze steady, staring at her, trying to find the words.

     “You have to tell me the truth,” she took his hands in hers. “You owe me that.”

     “I don’t even know the complete truth myself.”

     “Well tell me what you do know. Tell me why you did it,” her voice suddenly started to sound like she was begging. “I can’t and don’t want to believe that you’re a crazy killer.”

     The corner of his lip twitched slightly. “What if I am?” He was. He had more blood on his hands than any of his comrades, or anyone he knew, after all.

     “You’re not,” she said. And though she felt confidence in her heart, her voice didn’t seem to agree.

     He sighed. “I don’t think I can tell you anything that will make you feel that much better.”