Chapter 3: Questioning

Now they were away from the warehouse and appeared to be in no imminent danger, Adira had the chance to fully take in the man she was now responsible for. He was a young man, couldn’t have been any older than twenty five, possibly even Adira’s age. She didn’t know what to think about that. The idea of finding something in common with and relating to a man she may end up having to kill unsettled Adira - it was much better to ignore the fact that he is a person too.

“Are you okay?”

“Fi-”

Her voice game out rough and raspy, the attempted words clearly grating her dry throat in all the worst places. The water she had, though partially satisfying for her dehydration, failed to help with the scratching in her throat. She cleared her throat as best as she could and took another gulp of water before attempting to speak again.

“I’m fine.”

The man raised an eyebrow and studied her suspiciously. His gaze was uncomfortable, as if he could stare straight through her and into her soul. Adira wasn’t used to such a penetrating gaze and for a moment she worried that he would be able to read her thoughts, that him just looking at her would expose her darkest secrets.

Adira shook her head as if doing so would also shake away the nagging of her thoughts, “I told you to explain.”

“And I’m supposed to do everything you ask of me because…?”

He looked innocent enough standing there and leaning against a tree as he ran his hand through his chocolate brown hair. Then again, looking innocent and genuinely meaning her no harm were two very different things and Adira knew better than to think otherwise. Personally, she found his arrogance frustrating but there was something about the man which drove Adira to keep him around.

She could kill him there and then, it would be more merciful than the guards would show him if they had seen the two of them together and Adira was almost certain they would have. Or, she could abandon him, continue on alone and whatever happened after that wasn’t her problem. She had her own problems too, though. In particular the intense thirst and tiredness which overwhelmed her now she had a second to sit down was a big one.

Dehydrated didn’t seem like a strong enough word to describe her right now and the water seemed perfectly clean but she knew she probably shouldn’t drink it. Just in case. She had no idea how long it would be to get to the nearest town or drinking water source, though, and the heat was really taking it out of her. If she could see the land under the stream, it was clear enough, right? This was just one of those things Adira was willing to risk; she would likely suffer either way.

Adira cupped her hands and dipped them into the stream, sipping at the water slowly to try and prevent herself from feeling sick from the sudden hydration after such a long and intense period of being given minimal water. Relief ran through her when the liquid hit her chapped lips. It definitely had a slightly unpleasant taste but Adira couldn’t bring herself to care much; she finally had water and that was good enough for her right now no matter the quality. She just let herself sip at the water and slip further into the relief while she had the chance. It wasn’t safe for her to stay for too long but a few minutes couldn’t hurt.

Part of her had expected the man to speak again to fill the quiet but it seemed his question wasn’t as hypothetical as she had first thought. The annoying thing was that she had nothing to tell him, no good reason for him to trust her, at least not without sounding slightly crazy. After all, who would believe the horrors Adira had been through as fact from a person they had only just met?

“Just explain.”

“I’m not here to hurt you. Trust me.”

“So you want me to  just trust you blindly when you aren’t willing to do the same? Too bad. My parents taught me not to trust strangers.”

“Pretty sure they are supposed to teach you not to talk to strangers and you’re already doing that.”

The man smirked as he spoke. Adira hated that about him. She had always found men who smirked when they spoke to be arrogant and self-absorbed, she doubted this man could be anything else. Just the way he carried himself felt like a warning sign, as if he were carrying around a sign that said ‘I’m an obnoxious asshole and I think I am better than everyone else’.

Growing up, Adira was always told that she seemed to have a sense for people’s character. It came so naturally to her that even her time in the warehouse couldn’t dampen those instincts and she had never been so grateful for it. In the past, she had always seen it as a burden; it made her anxious and often cautious of others, overly so on multiple occasions, but this time felt like a blessing. Right now, she couldn’t afford to trust the wrong person and this man was definitely looking like the wrong one of those people.

“Besides-”

Adira internally groaned when he spoke again and fought the urge to throw the rest of the water in her cupped hands at him in an attempt to shut him up. It wasn’t much of a threat, she knew that, but she hoped that the momentary shock might shut him up and distract him for long enough that she could walk off and, at least, get a head start in case he tried to follow her.

“I can easily introduce myself. I won’t be a stranger then, will I?” his smirk widened, making the man look awfully pleased with himself, as if he had won Adira over when in actuality the look only served to irritate her more.

She turned away from the man, letting the water fall from her hands as she dried them on her jacket and straightened up, looking around to try and get her bearings. It was obvious that she didn’t want to talk to him and she was more than ready to leave, if only her senses would lock back into place and help her figure out which direction she should be heading. There was nowhere specific in mind she could go to but she needed to stay away from the guards and preferably find a place she could rest for the night - though right now anywhere away from whoever this guy was seemed like a better option than staying at the stream.

The man didn’t seem to get Adira’s disinterest though as he pushed himself off the tree and approached her. Once he was in front of her, he paused and held his hand out. Adira simply stepped back, not wanting to touch the man nor enjoying how close he was to her. Not even that put the man off though. He simply shoved his hands into his pockets again and spoke up.

“I’m Braxton but you can call me Brax.”

Brax.

The name echoed in her mind, an almost ghostlike reminder of her lost brother, and she couldn’t help but wonder if the man was really telling the truth. She didn’t know what to believe. Maybe his name really was Braxton and maybe he had other people in his life who used Brax as a nickname for him but part of Adira found the situation almost convenient. It was almost as if he knew her brother was called Brax, that this was some elaborate act to try and get to her.

All of his charm suddenly seemed sickening. What if he wasn’t as innocent as he would like to make out and was simply layering things together to manipulate her the best way he could?

Adira didn’t know what to think. Nothing seemed to make sense right now and there was only one thing she was certain of.

The urge to kill the man was stronger than ever.