Laying in bed, I stared up at the ceiling with nothing to do. Lunchtime was nearing, I realized when I looked at the clock that hung across from my cell room and my stomach grumbled. The Demons seemed to have forgotten to give me breakfast, which left me with an empty stomach. Being a hostage sucked so far.
I sighed and turned to lay on my side. I now faced the bars of my cell and I looked at the darkness that I knew eventually led to the staircase. It was so far, yet so close, and I found myself wondering how I would reach them. Only a day had passed and I was already losing my mind, so I felt tempted to try to smash the metal bars open.
Suddenly, I heard the pounding of feet on stairs, surprising me. I sat up quickly and frowned, wondering who was coming. I then hoped whoever was coming came with food because I was starving.
My eyes soon went wide when Haiden appeared out of the darkness of the dim lit prison. He looked much better than he did yesterday. No longer was there worry written across his face and his body looked relaxed as he strode over to my cell. I wondered what had changed to make him like this.
"You're coming with me," Haiden said, causing my eyes to widen.
"What?" I blurted out, shocked.
Haiden pulled out keys from his jeans and he went over the my cell door. He unlocked it, shooting me a small smile, and I stared at him, shocked. I would never have expected this.
"Come, let's go eat lunch," he said. "Sorry you had to miss breakfast. I was arguing with my gang."
"Are you serious?" I asked. "You're letting me leave my cell?"
His eyes softened, giving him a look of sincerity. This was too good to be true, but that look made me believe him. Somehow, Haiden had helped and I was beyond thankful.
"Yeah, I made a deal with my gang," Haiden said. "You're allowed to go anywhere you want in our hideout and even outside around our area, but it's only as long as I accompany you everywhere. Sorry about that, but they don't want you escaping."
This was too good to be true. It was a dream come true. Thanks to Haiden, I would have freedom and the opportunity to spend more time with him. It was perfect for me, which led to me smiling.
"Thank you," I said, walking towards my now opened cell door. "Seriously, this is amazing. I can't believe you did this for me."
I watched as blush flooded into Haiden's cheeks. He looked away as I went to his side and he scratched his neck, seeming awkward. It was adorable.
"Come on, let's go eat," he said, walking off.
I followed him down the dark hallway and soon we reached the stairs I had craved to step onto. Going up them, I was surprised to enter a room that looked like a living room. Haiden then entered another room and we were suddenly in a kitchen. Looking around, I realized their hideout was like any other regular home.
"Hey guys," Haiden said. "Luna will join us for lunch. Okay?"
My eyes flew to a dining table and I became surprised to see that The Demons were all sitting around it, staring at me. Most of them didn't look happy. Only Saniya did, smiling when we made eye contact, which calmed my nerves a bit. I didn't think I'd have to spend time with the other members of the gang and I began to feel uneasy.
Haiden and I went to the table and sat down. On the table was a variety of food ranging from ribs to salad. Haiden immediately dug in and awkwardly, I followed him. As I got food for myself, I noticed everyone's eyes were on me the entire time.
Once I was done grabbing food, I looked up, wanting to know what the gang wanted. My eyes soon met Taylor's, the member with curly hair and glasses. His eyes were cold as he stared at me and I found myself shrinking back. He didn't even know me, but yet his eyes were full of hate.
"Guys, you don't need to stare at her," Haiden said. "She's human."
"Like none of us," Taylor muttered, looking down to stab his salad with his fork.
Haiden's jaw clenched and I stared at him, wanting him to calm down. After yesterday, I realized I hated seeing Haiden angry. It left me uneasy because I knew that side of Haiden was what led to him killing. Although I couldn't believe he was capable of killing people, seeing him angry changed that idea a little more everyday.
Silence filled the table soon after and I kept my eyes on the table. No one looked at me anymore. They seemed to be bored of me - thankfully - which led to me eating in peace. I tried to eat quickly though, wanting to be outside. After spending a day in a cell, I craved fresh air.
When I finally finished eating and saw Haiden was done too, I stood up. That brought all their eyes to me and I flushed, embarrassed. I hated how they acted like I didn't belong - even though I truly didn't.
"I'm going to go on a walk," I said, looking at Haiden.
"Okay, I'll come," he said, getting up as well.
He went in front of me and I mentally thanked him as he led me to the front door. Soon we were outside and I inhaled the fresh scent of nature. I truly missed it and I wanted so badly to run to my own forest, but I knew that was a dumb idea with Haiden right beside me.
I became curious to what The Demon's hideout was, so I turned around and looked at the house they occupied. My eyes went wide at the sight of it, noting it was a cabin. It was a gorgeous one too with its logs stacked on top of each other to create the building. I would never have imagined this to be where The Demons hid.
"Shall we walk?" Haiden asked.
"Oh, yeah," I said, blushing when I realized I'd just been staring at his hideout.
Turning around, I began to walk off and Haiden stayed at my side. I tried to forget about everything as I explored the forest I was in, but it was hard to with him constantly there. Admittedly I was unnaturally aware of him and I couldn't help it. All I wanted to do was be at Haiden's side and finally I was. It was a dream come true, but now I didn't know what to do.
"You probably have questions about what your purpose is," Haiden said after ten minutes of walking. "I can answer them."
I had to stop my jaw from dropping as I looked over at Haiden. He stopped walking and I did too. Facing him, I found myself growing nervous as I realized it was finally time for Haiden to open up. After all these months, Haiden was going to answer some of my questions.
The part of the forest we were in was peaceful. It was far from the cabin and trees surrounded us like a shield. There I felt safe. Safe from everything and everyone, which was why I asked the questions I wondered.
"Yeah, can you explain how the negotiation is going to work?" I asked. "Since you guys are hiding, isn't it going to be hard to give away the bargaining piece - me?"
"Okay, this is what's going down," Haiden said, going straight to the point - as usual. "Taylor is going to go to town and negotiate with the demon hunters. He's going to tell them we have you hostage and only if they give us a map, we'll set you free. They'll obviously say yes since you're the leader's daughter and Taylor will bring you back to them and receive the map. It's a simple plan."
"A map?" I frowned. "A map of what?"
"A map of the demon hunters from five years ago and where they live."
I stared at him, flabbergasted. That was what his gang wanted? That was what they were going out of their way to get? It seemed so small and I couldn't believe it. My purpose seemed so dumb now and for a moment, I thought about running. But with Haiden finally telling me what was happening, I knew I needed to ask more questions.
"Why do you guys want that map?" I asked.
"That's personal," Haiden said. "None of your business."
He was already closing up, I noticed. My heart dropped as I realized he was already going back to his mysterious ways. It was getting frustrating and I knew I had to keep pushing to finally learn more about him.
"Can I finally learn about you?" I asked. "I mean, I'll be staying here for a while. So... we might as well catch up."
"No," Haiden said bluntly, hurting me immediately. "We're not going to become friends. You don't need to know about me."
I couldn't believe him. Even now, when I was forced into his life, he wouldn't let me be his friend. He wouldn't let me be anything to him and even though it seemed like he was trying to protect me at times, I was sick of it. Opening up to me wasn't going to kill anyone.
"Don't you see I care," I said, my heart aching. "Haiden, I keep pining over you like... Like some dumb, desperate girl and I'm starting to feel like one. I'm starting to feel like I'm wasting my time so please, if you do care about me, just tell me something about you. Anything."
"Luna, you need to stop being that dumb, desperate girl you feel you are." Haiden's eyes hardened. "You keep forgetting that I'm a criminal. I'm the enemy of your family. We only knew each other for a couple of months... I don't understand why you act like we had some big connection."
My eyes began to tear up and I whirled around, hoping he hadn't noticed. Haiden was such a jerk. I couldn't believe he said what he said when he knew the time we spent together meant the world to me. Even if we only spent a couple of months together, I felt like I had known him for years and it broke my heart to hear that to him, it meant nothing.
"I'm tired of trying!" I shouted to the world, throwing my arms up with frustration.
I stormed off then, wanting to be as far as possible from Haiden. But as I walked off, I heard footsteps behind me and I exhaled loudly, knowing Haiden was following me. In so many ways, he was so frustrating and I wondered why I even wasted my time on him.
Suddenly, Haiden was in front of him, surprising me. He grabbed my arms and I pulled back, not in the mood for him to touch me. I was angry and I wanted to show him that for once, I wouldn't trail him like a lost puppy.
"You know you can't get rid of me that easily," Haiden said, causing me to frown. "I'm always going to be right there, watching after you."
Staring at him, I saw something in his eyes that caught me off guard. It was affection and stunned, I realized he was being honest. Haiden seemed to watch over me, which warmed my heart as I realized that maybe it seemed like I was desperately following him wherever he went, but so was he. I blushed and a small smile went to my lips as I looked away.
"Look, I'm sorry," Haiden said, surprising me once again. "I try to be an asshole in hopes that you'll leave me alone, but it seems like you're set on trying to get to know me. I have no idea why because you can do so much better. That guy, Blake I think, is a way better best friend than I could ever be now. So, I just don't understand."
"I don't understand it either," I admitted. "I don't understand why you're the one I think about when something good happens and I feel the need to tell someone about it. I don't know why you own the shoulder I want to cry on. I don't understand why even though my family is enemies with you, I still want to defend you. None of this makes sense, but... You really helped me five years ago. Seriously, it's because of you I'm still alive."
Haiden's eyes shimmered with a gentleness I had never seen before. Feeling oddly shy, I looked down at my feet and noticed they were near Haiden's. Looking back up, I realized we were only a few inches a part and flustered, I stepped back in surprise. Haiden gave me a small smile due to that.
"You know what, Luna," Haiden said, bringing hope to me. "Maybe one day, when things are less crazy, we'll finally talk. I'll tell you about my five past years and you tell me about your past five years. Okay?"
I didn't know when this day would come and I wanted to ask him about it, but I decided that I should just agree. His offer was more than I thought I could ever get, which made me hopeful. I was making progress, which made me happy. I finally seemed to have a purpose in trying for him.
"Sounds good," I said, grinning.
Haiden smiled back and it was gorgeous, which led to my heartbeat fluttering. I then began to walk again, knowing Haiaden would follow. We walked in silence and I was okay with it because finally, Haiden was back at my side. Finally, Haiden was going to be in my life as a constant again. I was more than happy about these change of events, even though I was a hostage.