Who is he?

Scarlett opened her eyes to a strange ceiling that she had never seen before. Her mind was slowly getting back together, as she tried to put the pieces of her memories together.

‘What had happened?’ she thought. Then, all at once, she jolted up, as she remembered what happened with Elder Quinn, and the witch. She recalled the strange unkempt man who she had fought before she unwittingly lost consciousness.

“Where am I?” she wondered in a whisper, whilst looking around frantically. But as soon as she put her feet on the floor and stood up, she heard a voice speak up behind her.

“Finally, you have woken up,” the rough and deep voice said. “I was afraid I would have to wait for too long.”

At that, Scarlett whipped her head around in shock, and her eyes widened at the sight of the man from before.

He looked almost the same as before, except that this time, he did not have his hunting gear with him, and he had removed his jacket which she had spotted him wearing before, only wearing a t-shirt, and some rough-looking jeans and well-worn brown leather boots.

He looked at her, and their eyes met. He looked a bit disgruntled like he had been the one to wake up in an unfamiliar place instead of her. the thought of it annoyed her, and scared her as well.

Who was he? And what had he done to her while she was out of it?

“Who are you?” she snapped at him, crossing her arms firmly over her chest and scowling at him, “And where am I? What did you do to me?”

He rolled his eyes, and spoke as if he was grumbling to himself, to her consternation, “wow, you talk a lot, don’t you?”

Scarlett saw red, and before she could think better of it, had strode up to him, pointing a finger at him accusingly, “How dare you speak to me like that? You do not get to complain about this, do you understand? Just answer my questions and nothing else!”

At her statement, he stood, and now she had to look up at him because he towered over her. His eyes were set and piercing into hers as his face gave off annoyance and frustration.

“Are you threatening me, missy?” his voice came out as a low and deep growl that made a chill run down her spine. He took a step forward towards her, and she had to crane her neck to

glare at him. “Well, are you? Speak up.”

She gaped at him for a second, stunned and unable to speak. Varying emotions ranging from shock to outrage passed on her face before it finally settled on anger.

Without any more words, she lashed out at him, aiming a kick at his legs. He sidestepped it, and that was how their fight started.

She kicked and punched him with gritted teeth, and each time she attacked, he blocked her moves with startling speed. He matched

each step she took as she kept pushing towards him with each blow.

The man was not tiring any bit; in fact, it seemed that he was holding back a lot so as not to hurt

her. Yet, she raged, and in that anger and anxiousness within her, she wondered

why the man was not hitting her back.

“What game are you playing at?” she all but spat at him. “Why am I here, and why did you abduct me?”

“Abduct you?” he looked confused for a bit, then gave a loud chuckle that sent shivers down her spine.

She tensed up even more at that, and when he finally looked back at her, his eyes belied amusement, which made her frustrated. “Why the hell would I abduct you, hmm? What worth do you have to me?” He asked her.

“Stop mocking me, and tell me what I am doing here then,” she went back to her fighting pose and waited for his answer.

“You know,” he sighed, shaking his head with a mocking smile still on his face, “I didn’t know that you would be so ungrateful, or I wouldn’t have even gone through the trouble of carrying you here. I would have left you on the damn floor to be eaten or worse. That would have been better for me, I think,” he looked pissed off at her as if she was a great burden indeed.

His words made her falter, as she tried to process them. Had he taken her here to save

her?

Scarlett was confused and shocked at this turn of events. On one hand, she had been almost taken by a strange witch at Elder Quinn’s place, and Elder Quinn was possibly injured, or

worse.

On the other hand, it seemed that this stranger was harmless. She did not feel any new injuries on her body, or like she had been poisoned.

Therefore, he could have been telling the truth.

She now looked unsure, and her

tense fighting pose became less so, and the man noticed it.

Before she knew it, she

had the air knocked out of her as the man tackled her to the ground.

He braced himself above her, and she quickly came to her senses, alarm on her face once

more. She quickly wrapped her hands around his neck, and he gripped both of her wrists in one hand as they struggled on the floor.

“Let me go!” she yelled.

As soon as she screamed that out loud, the furnace which had only wood and a dying fire in it, suddenly flared up, catching the man’s attention.

His attention on Scarlett waned, and

with his loosened grip, she bit his hand, pushing away from him and standing up.

Slowly, the man stood as well. His eyes seemed to make the connection that she was responsible for the furnace flaring up like that, and dread pooled in her stomach as she let the blazing furnace die out once more.