Chapitre 6: Chapter Four
I lower my head and grunt as I force myself to keep walking. My legs feel as if they are on fire from all the running and hiking I've been doing in such a short amount of time. To make matters worse, I didn't grab any food or water before I left Daniel's, and I lost my wig. Scenes of the silver-eyed man attacking me in the alley fill my mind. I let out another groan, frustrated at the fact he saw me without my wig. I'm lucky that I escaped him at all, I'm not exactly the best fighter, or a fighter really at all.
On the bright side of things, I found Daniel, I got the files, escaped capture and I'm now on my way home with a brand new necklace. Plus I'm not dead, that's always a bonus. Overall, I say it was a pretty successful mission.
A smile spreads across my features as I reach the edge of the tree line, my home only a jog away. I push myself to pick up pace and clumsily stumble into my village. Around me the village is silent, the people are sleeping peacefully in their beds apart from the few guards doing their daily patrol. They let me pass with a wave and I flash them a grateful smile, making my way to Dimitri's cottage. It was hard to navigate my way through in the dark, but I managed to do it with a fair amount of success. Taking a deep breath, I brush the imaginary dust off my cloak and knock on the door.
At first nobody comes, so I knock again, this time there's a response. "One second," comes a gruff and annoyed voice from the other side of the door. In less than a second a very tired and pissed off Dimitri appears in front of me. "Who is it and what do you want?" His sleepy eyes land on me and I have to bite back a smile as his half asleep brain catches up with what he sees. "Oh, Zmiena, it's so late. What kept you child?" Dimitri's eyes narrow in concern and I lower my head, dreading that I made them worry.
"I ran into some...trouble," I bite my bottom lip and kick the dirt on the ground as if I was a five year old being scolded for eating the cookies when I was told not to.
"What about the documents?" Dimitri questions almost frantically, "Are they safe?" I nod and pull them out, a little crumpled but otherwise unharmed. "Good, good," I look up at him and he puts on one of his soothing smiles that can calm the nerves of anybody who sees it. "No need to be ashamed, why don't you write your report here, you look tired." I smile at his generosity, my shoulders sagging when I realize I won't be getting into any trouble.
"Yes, sir," Dimitri moves from the doorway and allows me to step in, the smell of polish hitting my nose. Taking a deep breath I do a quick sweep of the room that hasn't much changed the past eighteen years. In the living room there's a single couch and two chairs against the far walls. Connected to the living room is a kitchen where a small round table lays in the middle. In the back of the house is two rooms, Dimitri's bedroom and his office.
I follow Dimitri to his office that's pretty barren except for two chairs in front of a large desk and one chair behind it as well as a couple of filing cabinets. Dimitri sits behind the desk and I take my place in one of the two seats. He gives me a report sheet and a pen. "Fill this out while I go over the documents." I nod and begin filling it out word by excruciating word. I'm nearly finished when the sound of Dimitri cursing makes me jump.
"Sir, what's wrong?" I put the pen down and concentrate on Dimitri's serious looking face. He doesn't respond, his eyes glued to the opened documents I've given him. Whatever he's staring at it can't be good, I've never heard Dimitri cuss before, it's unsettling to say the least. "Dimitri?" I question one more time, this time he looks up to me, his brows drawn together.
"Hmm? Oh right," He puts the papers up and grabs my report that's not quite filled out yet. "It's not done."
"No," I draw out hesitantly, not sure how to make out his strange behavior. "What was in those papers?" I question, focusing the attention away from my report and back on the topic that matters.
"Nothing you need to be concerned with," I bite down on my bottom lip to keep from complaining about being out of the loop. He sighs and puts my report away. "I'm sure you're tired, you can come and fill this out after training tomorrow. Understand?" I sigh and nod, I lowering my head to the ground so he won't see the disappointment shining in my eyes.
"Yes sir," I reply meekly, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. He dismisses me with a wave of his hand and I quickly exit his house, a deep frown etched onto my face. Whatever was in those documents have to be important, and I'm going to find out what they are.
The walk home is lonely. I'm tired, confused and my head aches where it was banged against the wall from my earlier fight. I groan and sigh, stopping in front of of my little cottage, I open my door and stumble inside, surprised to see my living room lights on. Kicking the door closed, I take off my cloak and slowly walk into the living room, prepared for a fight. What I see can't be any less threatening. Ben, covered up with a blanket, asleep on my couch.
"Ben?" I whisper softly, he doesn't move.
I walk up to the couch and gently shake him. He groans and his blue eyes slowly flutter open. It takes a minute for him to wake up and when he does he quickly sits up, hitting his forehead against my own. I groan and fall to my ass, my already aching head exploding from the contact.
"Dammit," he hisses getting off the couch and kneeling by my side. "I'm sorry, Zem. Are you okay?" He helps me up, his eyes roaming over me worriedly.
"I'm fine," I brush him off, rubbing the bump on my head. "What are you-"my question gets cut off as I get my first look at him. He's shirtless. My eyes roam further down his chest to see him wearing only loose fitting pajama pants. "Doing here?" My face glows a bright red in embarrassment, I quickly tear my gaze away and force myself to look firmly into his eyes.
"You didn't come back at the scheduled time. I was worried." He grips my shoulders and gently rubs them, clearly worried over me. I frown and shrug him off, stepping away.
"If you're so worried about me why didn't you come to see me off?" Ben sighs and drops his hand to his sides, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry," he takes a step closer and I, once more, step away, not letting him get too close or I'd bend to his will and forgive him, just like I always do. "I had prior engagements, I couldn't just abandon them." I scoff and turn my back to him, a feeling of pain striking my heart. "I'm sorry, let me make it up to you." Ben's arms snake around my waist, his head hiding in the crook of my neck
"How do you plan on doing that?" You can hear the hurt in my voice and I hate it. I hate being weak around him, but he makes me weak.
"Do you still have trouble sleeping?" I blush and nod. I've always had trouble sleeping, ever since I was a child. When I'm sleeping I can't control my magic. I'll get visions or my electricity will short circuit and I'll cause a fire. The only time I do manage to have full control is when I have something to hold in my sleep, as silly as that sound. "I could sleep over, like I used to when we were kids." He gently kisses my neck, leading a trail of kisses down to my shoulder. I close my eyes and tilt my head, a blush crossing my face.
"Fine," I manage to pull away from him, biting my bottom lip. "But just for tonight," I turn to face a smiling Ben who takes my hands and leads me to my bedroom.
"You won't regret it." I roll my eyes and pull back my purple covers, Ben plops down onto my bed and I lay next to him, my back facing him.
"Goodnight," I whisper as Ben wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me against him, kissing the back of my neck. He whispers sweet little nothings, his thumb caressing my hip as I fall asleep.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone