chapter three
IT SEEMED TO HER THAT Void had left her alone for eternity, not several hours. She was being overdramatic obviously, but sitting and wandering around a mostly empty room proved to be quite boring. After two hours of letting her feet pad around the dirty floor, searching for something she could use to break the door handle, she finally gave up and took a seat on the chair see remembered she couldn't wait to get out of.
The human luckily was able to find a connecting bathroom during her time here, and even though it didn't necessarily look the nicest, the girl had to pee and made herself use it anyway. She was also quite thirsty and planned to drink some water from the facet, but it didn't look that clean when she turned the knob, so she forgot about that idea despite the dryness of her throat irritating her. As for food, there wasn't anything editable at all, which meant Avery had to sulk around with an empty stomach.
Eventually the exhausted girl ended up curling up in the most comfortable position she could get in on the reclined chair, too tired to care about staying awake to defend herself if he suddenly came back. Then again, at this point, the brunette began wondering that maybe he never was going to, that he was going to leave her here to die a slow and painful death. She shivered at the thought, though goosebumps were already forming on her skin from not wearing warmer clothing.
Avery was miserable nonetheless, whether it was the fox's intention or not, and ultimately she decided she didn't care why he did the things he did. He was clearly the enemy, he was trying to hurt everyone she loved, and she was supposed to hate him. It wasn't hard at all for her to do just that in that moment, anger rising within her by just thinking about what he did to her and what he was currently doing to Stiles. She even fell asleep listing all of the things she despised about him, knowing better to remind herself of the faint good.
VOID WAS A LITTLE SURPRISED when he opened up the door because she didn't immediately pop up and try to hit him with a random object she had found. He even shifted his head to look on either sides of the door frame, expecting her to be crouched down and ready to slip by him to run away. His heart dropped thinking she had figured out a way to leave, even though the rational side of him knew that was impossible.
A breath of relief was exhaled when he finally spotted her laying down, asleep, where she was when he originally departed. His footsteps were quiet as he approached her, letting himself gravitate towards her like he had been wanting to all day. She was out of his sight, but certainly not out of mind; the human was about all he could think about when he let Stiles take over and go through with his tests at the hospital. Luckily enough for him, the supernatural creature still managed to get the things he wanted done, tricking everyone until the end of the night where the precious tragedy he desired unfolded.
People got hurt, chaos broke out, but unfortunately he didn't get to witness everything. Once the power started going haywire like he planned, the dark fox got dressed and left the premises without being detected, a little encounter with Noshiko being the only unexpected thing that happened. To conclude the hectic night, Void drove away in Stiles' Jeep, knowing he left a lot of trouble for the McCall pack to deal with.
Avery looked rather peaceful to him when he reached her, her eyelids calmly closed and her mouth parted while her lungs helped her breath evenly. Before Void could stop himself, he reached over to brush some of her disheveled hair out of face, letting his thumb stroke her flushed cheek. The contact made him forget about everything else, all of his plans, the McCall pack — just every priority that took up his mind. It was as if the girl pulled him to somewhere different where nothing else mattered except the two of them, and this... fire that would surely burn them from the inside out if they weren't careful.
The brunette stirred, leaning into his touch instinctively while she faded out of sleep, a small whine exiting her from comprehending the stiffness of her body. She opened her eyes unhurriedly, her mind a little hazy from just waking up, but once she noticed the pale teenage boy hovering over her, the human quickly got ahold of herself. Blinking hastily, she shoved his hand off of her and sat up, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the demonic spirit possessing her friend.
"Don't touch me." Avery growled, even slipping off the other side of the chair so there would be distance between them; she didn't want to be near him.
"I was just waking you up," He partly lied, scoffing at her jumpy reaction, "Unless you don't want me to take you home. You can always walk all the way back to town I guess."
His words made her glance at the only entrance to this room, seeing the door now wide open and a set of stairs leading to the upper level of the building. "I don't need a ride home, especially not from you."
The girl suddenly filled with adrenaline didn't wait for a response or reaction from him, because she decided to take her chance and dart towards the exit. He couldn't help but roll his brown eyes at her impatiently sprinting past him and trudging up the steps, the sound of her opening up another door finding his ears. Void sighed, slowly following the direction she had went.
The sight of a long hallway greeted her when she finally made it to the main level, her chest starting to heave as she continued on running. The light bulbs hanging from the ceiling didn't provide much light, but it was enough to help her see and not trip over the occasional piece of furniture that was messily left on the floor. Wherever she was, the place was clearly abandoned.
After turning a corner, Avery spotted what appeared to be the door that would lead her outside, so she picked up her already fast speed, desperate to get the hell out of this eerie building. She was also afraid that somehow this was another part of his game and that he'd jump out anytime, stopping her right before she got her freedom. That's the kind of thing she believed Void would do, and to be honest, it was, but that wasn't the case this time. Not with her involved.
That was proven true when the brunette stumbled through the double doors, the cold air hitting her skin harshly yet liberatingly, and she almost smiled in satisfaction. Although, her newfound happiness was gone as soon as it came, because Avery took in the darkness that lurked around her, the numerous trees that practically caged her in, and the fact that she was many miles away from the main part of town. It would take her hours to get back home by foot.
Out of the corner of her eye, the human spotted the powder blue Jeep, so she headed towards that next with the hope that it was unlocked. Her feet protested the journey due to the fact they were prodded by jagged rocks from the gravel she was walking across, none of them actually breaking the tough skin, but it was still uncomfortable nonetheless. She didn't care about that minor detail at all though, especially when she grasped the door handle on the driver's side and it opened right up.
Her heart began to beat in triumph before sinking at the sight of no keys in the ignition or hidden in the glove department. Of course they weren't there, he wasn't that naive to leave them behind when it was the only sufficient transportation nearby. Avery breathed out heavily, her gray eyes appearing utterly lost. She didn't know what to do. She was all out of options.
"You know, if you're getting in the car, I'm driving."
His raspy voice made her head snap around, seeing him nonchalantly walk towards the side of the vehicle, only to stop when he was right in front of the conflicted girl. "Why? So you can take me somewhere else and torture me even more?"
"No, so I can take you home. I've had quite enough of your company." He answered for what seemed like the 100th time to him, getting irritated by her thinking he still wanted to physically hurt her.
"My company? You define my company as restraining me to a chair so you can poke and prod at me like some science experiment to please your sick mind?!"
"Oh please! I made a little cut in your arm, and I stopped. I stopped. I could've done so much worse. You have no idea. I could have—"
"Killed me." Avery finished for him, boldly taking a step closer. "You could have killed me. Well, answer me this, why didn't you?"
His nostrils flared and his jaw clenched by unpleasantly being put on the spot, the truth smothering him like a smoldering smoke, but he didn't want to reveal it. She didn't need to know why, in his opinion. It was something he had to keep to himself; it was safer for him that way. Perhaps if the secret was only his to keep, then he could control everything that was happening to him.
"That's none of your business," Void stated rather simply.
"I think it is my business when it concerns my life." The brunette disagreed, searching for a hint on his stern face as to why, but there was nothing. His emotionless exterior looked impenetrable to her, the human unaware of how much it shattered earlier when he gazed softly down at her sleeping form.
"Too bad. Now, are you getting in or not? I have to get going."
"No." Avery shook her head, not getting him at all. "No! Of course not. Who in their right mind would get in a vehicle with you?"
"Fine, then move." The frustrated male didn't wait for her to follow through with his request, grabbing ahold of her and shifting her out of the way so he could climb into the driver's seat.
Avery backed away quickly once she felt his hands on her, frightened by how close he was and how much she wasn't appalled by it like she should be, stepping backwards as he slammed the door shut. She crossed her arms over her chest, starting to shiver from the freezing temperature, the thought of the long and difficult way home by foot making her anxious. There were so many things that could go wrong, things that were probably worse than getting in the Jeep with an unpredictable person.
Void glanced over at her quivering figure once he started the engine, the somewhat-old car coming to life and the headlights flickering on. His chest felt heavy and strained as he continued to stare at her in her vulnerable state, making out how her teeth started chattering and how unwillingly nervous her facial expression was. She was worried to make the long and dangerous walk by herself, and right then, he was worried for her too.
"Damn it, Avery! Just get in the car! Unless you want to freeze to death before you take ten steps." Void uncontrollably let out, sighing dramatically afterwards.
The girl was quiet and unmoving for a moment while she reconsidered her options, and ultimately, without bothering to look him in the face, she hesitantly made her way around the Jeep to the passenger side. Her unsure eyes still refused to look up when she opened up the door and crawled onto the leather seat, gently closing it an instant later. She didn't know if she was making a mistake or not, but she had made a decision, and whether it was wrong or not, she would figure out later.
"Finally," the internally relieved male muttered, reaching in the back pocket of his pants for the set of handcuffs he stole earlier on from the sheriff's station. "Put these on."
"What?" She questioned, eyeing the object and asking herself if he was serious.
"I don't need you being a nuisance and doing something reckless like trying to crash the car while I'm driving. I don't trust you either."
"I wouldn't try to crash the car! What good would that do me? I'm not that stupid, and I'm not putting those on."
"Fine, but don't bother trying anything. It won't work out the way you think." He reluctantly agreed, tossing the handcuffs in the backseat before starting to pull out out the spacious driveway of the abandoned building.
"God, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you have a bondage kink." Avery muttered while putting on a seatbelt out of habit, noticing the fact he didn't bother to put his on.
His lips pulled into a small smirk, overhearing the quiet comment, one hand on the wheel as he turned onto a vacant road. "Maybe I do."
The brunette scoffed, pretending to be uninterested, though really an unexpected blush spread across her cheeks and she fought the urge to swallow hard. Her head even tilted to the right to face the window, gray eyes on the sky where a few stars were sprinkled, a more nervous feeling showing up. It was different than before, this anxiousness wasn't rooted from fear, it was something else. Actually, it was the same something that haunted him as well, and it would soon be the reason why this already hectic situation would get so much more complicated.
HE SURPRISED HER TO SAY the least. During the entire drive he surprised her. Avery was expecting something to go wrong, for him to pull a trick that proved she was better off finding her way home by herself. Their time together wasn't like that though, not in the slightest. It was different, settling, alluring.
Five minutes into the car ride, when she was still shaking from being cold, Void tried to turn the heat on for her. Of course like half of the things in the Jeep, it was busted, so when the vehicle was stopped at a red light he unexpectedly didn't run, he pulled off the striped sweatshirt he was wearing to give to her. It left him in only a thin black t-shirt, and she questionably stared at him when he carelessly threw the item of clothing at her, but the only answer she got was a bunch of grumbling about how her quivering body and chattering teeth were annoying.
A part of her wanted to spit something back or refuse his gesture altogether, though ultimately the desire to be warm outweighed the other temptations, and the human shifted around the seatbelt to pull the piece of fabric over her. It did help admittedly, and after a few more minutes, she began to feel the soft fabric work to contain her body heat around her. His actions were... not making things easy like before.
Void was the villain, he was a bad person, and he hurt her, so obviously the conclusion was to hate him. Although during the unwanted amount of moments they've shared, her observing mind wandered around the conflicting thought that there was more than that, more to him. She didn't want to believe that — she wanted to leave the subject of him alone. In the end, that was impossible. He was an enigma, a dangerous, irresistible mystery that unwillingly provoked her. Her opinion of him wasn't that simple anymore. Nothing was.
So after the fox made all the correct turns and didn't go in any suspicious directions, both of them were greeted with the sight of her regular-sized house when he smoothly pulled the car into the empty driveway. It was almost hard to believe that he was telling the truth, but here she was back home after everything. The girl spent a day and a half confused, scared, and wondering if she would ever get back to her friends and family, and now... Void really was letting her go.
The sound of him putting the Jeep in park echoed around the rather silent atmosphere, leading to her slowly unlatching her seatbelt from around her body. The next step was obviously for her to open the door and sprint back into her house before he changed his mind, but she choose to turn her head and look at him one more time. He was already staring at her, feeling uncomfortable with the fact they would most likely never be alone with each other again.
"Oh, I have your phone." Void suddenly remembered, reaching to get it where he left it in the backseat before handing it to her.
"Why did you have my phone?" Avery asked, turning it on to see that it was disabled, and that she could try to enter her passcode again in twenty minutes. "And why is it disabled?"
"Well, I had to text Scott that you ended up going with your parents so he wouldn't be suspicious of your absence. And once I found out I was no longer... keeping you, I disabled it so I would have time to get away before you called someone."
"Wow, you had everything planned, didn't you? You could have killed me and no one would have known something was wrong until my parents came back." She stated, questioning again why things didn't go the way they were originally supposed to.
"I always do. That's why I'm always ten steps ahead."
"But... why? Why are you letting me go?"
He took his deep brown eyes off of her, gazing straight in front of him instead, his heart racing unusually fast. "Just get out of the car."
Avery moved her head from side to side, shaking her questions off, trying to shake him off, and she stepped out of the vehicle. The brunette didn't bother to glance at him again either, too frustrated with his bipolar attitude and the lack of answers; so she just slammed the car door shut and walked away, walked away from him. Void watched her bare feet pad up the blacktop of her driveway before she found the key left under the mat and entered her home, vanishing from his sight.
She had a lot to tell Scott, Scott had a lot to tell her, and soon they would reunite, knowing that they had to fix the mess Void made. Surprisingly the girl wasn't as traumatized as she thought she would be, considering the rather frightening circumstance she was just in, and she was okay at least — physically. Internally she was wrecked though with unanswered questions, unresolved feelings, and other intense problems he caused. Avery went inside her house understanding only one realization: things would never quite be the same.