A deafening slam awoke me from my peaceful slumber, the sound recoiling off the surrounding walls. The clamour signalled the mood of a certain someone in the house, one that he'd presented for the time we'd been here. He had been silent for the past two days, apart from his persistent door slamming, and it concerned me slightly. I had racked my brain trying to find an explanation because I knew he wouldn't give me one but after having come up with nothing, I had begun to ignore him and his sour mood.
Sighing, I lifted myself up from the comfort of my duvet, allowing the cold air to invade my senses. My walking had been improving and I was walking well without the aid of my crutches, despite the pain still throbbing in my rib area. I was near to certain that I should be going for a follow up appointment in an upcoming week, but I doubted that was an option considering the circumstances. The fact we were in a completely different country being a main reason.
Tiredly, I got myself ready, having been deprived of large sums of sleep over the past few days. The images that had haunted my mind every time my eyes fell heavy and closed left me staring blankly at the ceiling above, my entire body exhausted but forcing itself to fight against sleep. This wasn't helped by the fact that I was forced to do the same thing during the day, with the activities in the apartment limited, leaving me and my thoughts to persistently battle among one another.
I needed some air, a chance to go out and let my body breathe in the mild air, so I swiftly made my way downstairs anticipating my departure. Upon crossing the hallway, I caught sight, of Luke, who sat perched by the oversized bureau in my father's office. His eye brows were furrowed, his hands rifling through a collection of papers, as he scanned and marked certain pages. He soon caught sight of my presence, his eyes sharply flinging up to meet my curious gaze before they scanned my attire, taking note of my coat and bag.
His frown deepened, "Don't even think about going out."
"Luke," I sighed. "I'm not spending all day inside again, it's driving me up the wall."
"Go sit out on your balcony or something," he dismissed, wavering his hand as he spoke in a harsh tone. "You can't go out."
"Do you not realise that I'm going whether you approve or not? This isn't a detention centre, you don't control me."
"No, but I have a duty of care," he said. "I can't let you go wandering around again, you know that."
"You wouldn't have to go protecting me if I knew who the hell I was running from."
He laughed unhumorously, "You have no idea what we're up against do you? Did the whole 'you need to move to the other side of the world' thing not spell it out properly enough to you? These people want you dead Adelaide, and they won't stop until they do. I'm here for a reason, to keep you safe, so don't make my job fifty times harder by not listening. Being careless is just going to end with you, to put it bluntly, dead on your ass. When is that going to finally click in that pretty little head of yours?"
I had very little to respond to his outburst, with the few words I managed to accumulate not making it past my lips in fear of sparking further anger from the boy in front of me. He combed his hand through his hair in irritation before hastily pulling his body away from the desk, catching the jacket on its back in the process.
"You can have an hour or two," he asserted, stalking toward the door, turning around to usher me along once he reached it. "I have to get back to finish that shit for your dad."
We ambled along in silence for a while, my mind being certain that any comment I made would aggravate Luke further, who had already had to sacrifice some of his time due to my desire to go out. His feet paced ahead of mine, leading the way toward the city centre, but after a while, they stilled, allowing my body chance to catch up with his towering figure.
"What was it about? Your nightmare?" he said suddenly, his voice clear and blatant.
I didn't respond for a moment, my mind subconsciously anticipating a smart comment from him, but one never came. Instead he watched me, patiently waiting for a reply. "I wish I knew."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Why the sudden interest?" I defended, sceptically of his intentions.
"Hey I don't want to go sparking conversation about stuff you'll get in a state over," he said, holding his hands up in reassurance.
"You worried you'll have to deal with it again?"
"I didn't say that. And for once, please don't be difficult. That's my job, and just because I fancy an afternoon away from it, well it doesn't mean you need to be going off on one," he smiled, a sight I had yet to witness. It was an attractive sight in my honest opinion, one that created a harsh contrast to the glare usually distorting his face. The gesture was brief, but I still managed to catch sight of it, and even offer one in return.
"Don't knock me for being wary. We've had what, three conversations since we met? All of which have them have ended with both of us riled up. I just don't understand why you're so off with me all of the time, surly us getting along, or at least trying to, would make sense?"
"I'm just not the kind of person you go discussing the weather with over breakfast Adelaide," he stated simply. "You don't want to go wasting your time getting to know me. I'm not someone you should be associating yourself with."
"My father clearly thinks differently."
"No, he knows I'll do everything I can to protect you," he corrected, mindlessly stuffing his hands into his pockets. "That and being associated with you are two completely different things. I'm not a good person Adelaide."
"Well I doubt it's in your job description to be nice."
"Quite the opposite really," he mused quietly. "So in this state of me being tolerable, I'd like to know what happened in your nightmare?"
"Honestly I have no clue," I admitted. "Half of it was a complete blur, and the rest was just my entire body in agony."
"Could you not see anything?"He questioned in pure curiosity.
I shook my head, "I know I was bleeding though, all of my clothes were drenched and there was this screeching. Someone was calling my name, but with all the gunfire going on around me I struggled to focus on it."
"Do you know who it was?"
"I didn't recognise the voice no," I confirmed. "Then again I don't have the memory to recognise anyone's voice."
"So can you not remember anything? At all?"
"I know common knowledge, but when it comes to anything personal, there's nothing there. I mean I didn't even know my own name when I woke up, never mind who my parents were," I said.
"Isn't it supposed to come back though?" Luke questioned, our bodies finally nearing the centre of the city, where Luke guided me over to a tall, extremely grand building.
"In theory, some of it should, but being moved half way across the world as soon as I got out wasn't a smart move. I need things to trigger the memories if they're going to come back, which I can't do if I'm nowhere near anything remotely familiar."
Luke heaved the door open to reveal what I presumed was a public library. It was a classic old building, with tall ceilings that were stacked to the brim with shelves of infinite books. Arches in the wall were painted with stunning swirls and shapes that carved their way around the building, while a grand staircase led up to another maze of non-fiction. "Why are we here?"
Luke shrugged slightly, one of his palms moving to glide over a stack of books mindlessly, "I've taken note of the diminishing pile of books you've got hidden in your room, so I figured you could get some more while we're here."
"Thank you," I said, attempting to shield the small smile creeping onto my face as I appreciated his thoughtful gesture.
"I'm going to have a wander," he responded, returning his voice to his usual aggravated tone. I sighed, watching his back stalk away and leave my mind to lay restless over his bipolar attitude once again.
My eyes scanned over the numerous shelves that towered around the room, each title bouncing of the page and enticing my body to delve further into the tale. I found myself exploited for choice, every single book presenting a potential release for my aggravating thoughts.
My attention focused onto the book gripped in my hands, decoding the blurb on the back when a subtle cough tore my gaze upwards. I had expected to greet Luke's cold, impatient eyes ahead of me, but instead I was welcomed by another familiar face.
"Filth, Irvine Welsh," Ed smiled, lifting the book clasped in his hand into view. "One of the few I've finished, so that says a lot."
I reached out, taking the book firmly into my hands as a sceptical look overtook my features, masking my smile. "Are you following me?"
Ed laughed, "I'd say no, but you probably wouldn't believe me anyway. I was actually returning some curriculum books, and then noticed a familiar brunette across the room and couldn't pass up on saying hello again."
"I'm glad you didn't," I answered honestly. "I think you can gather what little company I have around here."
"What about your friend, isn't that who you're staying with?"
"Our parents are friends," I corrected with an awkward smile. "We don't exactly fit under that category though." Ed shuffled uneasily on his feet, picking up on my distaste toward my current living position. "I've got my books to occupy me though."
"They could entertain you for a lifetime by the looks of it," he said, motioning over to the pile I had accumulated beside me.
I smiled in embarrassment, moving to add the book Ed that had offered me to the brimming pile. "Hey, you should pop round sometime," I said suddenly, knowing for certain Luke wouldn't let me leave to meet Ed anywhere.
Ed appeared taken back by my forwardness, seeming to wait for a punch line. "I mean, you don't have to," I urged, going back on my words in a hurry. "It's just I don't really know anyone else around here, and-"
"No, no," he said, ushering me into silence. "I'd love to. No one else around here gives me the time of day."
"Now I would have thought with your accent that you'd have a line of girls waiting to talk to you."
"Only problem is that we have to get to the conversation stage in the first place, which is something I seem to have an issue with."
"You managed perfectly fine with me," I argued. "My bet is the girls are the ones with issues."
"You think?"
"I know so," I replied confidently. "The fact you're the only person I've spoken to since I got here says it all really."
"You know what they say about New Yorker's and their hospitality," he reminded, his gaze swinging slightly to the left of me, seeming to eye something behind us. "Is this family friend of yours a New Yorker?"
"No," I replied slowly, his eye line refusing to shift. "Why?"
"He has the hospitality of one," he commented quietly. I cast a look over my shoulder, my mind still perplexed, though as soon as I caught sight of Luke watching in revulsion in the distance, Ed's comment made complete sense.
"You can say that again."
"I should probably get going," he said, motioning to Luke and his rude antics, his eyes not so subtly still observing our interaction.. "I don't think he'll carry on watching from a distance for much longer."
"He's harmless really," I lied.
"I'm sure he is," Ed smiled. "I've got to get going anyway, but I slipped my number into that book, so you shouldn't have trouble getting in touch with me soon. And if you somehow lose that, try the house opposite you."
My eyes shot up in surprise, my throat lurching to question him, but he caught my uneasiness soon enough to explain himself without being prompted. "I saw you guys moving in last week," he answered with ease. "Coincidence figured everything else out for us." He pushed his body backwards, throwing a grin my way before he turned on his heel and left the store.
"Who the hell was that?" My mind was given little time to process what Ed had announced, and instead was met with Luke instantly by my side. His frown remained, his eyes in a deep scowl.
"Ed," I replied simply.
"What happened to lying low?" he retorted, heaving up the pile of books beside me and guiding me toward the checkout. "You can't go around making friends Adelaide. We're not here for that."
"Can you just tell me what else I should add to the list of things I shouldn't be doing, because it hasn't exactly been spelled out to me."
"It doesn't need to be," he huffed. "It's common sense. You're here to stay quiet and not get caught, you can't go doing that if you're trusting everyone you meet."
"I had day to day conversation with one person Luke, stop overreacting."
"Well the next person you have day to day conversation with could be one of the people who want you dead. So you need to stop being so fucking careless," he replied sharply, gripping onto my arm as we left the library, only for my shoulder to shrug it off seconds later.
"Can you just lay it all out now? How the hell am I supposed to know what I can or can't be doing when no-one will tell me what the hell is going on? Luke, I'm not trained for any of this, so stop expecting me to know what to do all the time. You don't have a right to go cussing me out over it, it's draining Luke. I'm tired of listening to it all the time."
He chose not to reply, and instead forced the pace of his feet to increase as we advanced back to the apartment. My body fought to keep up with him, my body ridden with pain at the intense movement it was under.
He soon took note of this however, slowing his pace to allow my legs chance to catch up with him. He failed at masking his irritation, but waited nevertheless until I reach him. "Get on my back," he stated suddenly. I sent him a puzzled look, his comment coming out of no-where and making little sense. "You're clearly uncomfortable. I may be a jerk but I'm not that much of a jerk that I'd make you hobble home in pain. So get on."