Asleep *FINISHED!/COMPLETE*

*Chapter 5

I tried not to let the guilt simmer too closely to my conscience as I snuck down the dark hallway. Jase had come by at some point to check on me and tell me good night. That same beaming smile he always had etched on his face faltered slightly when he took in my newly dyed hair, but shone even more brightly than usual when he had said he would come get me for breakfast in the morning. I gave him a polite nod of thanks, even though I knew I wouldn’t be here by then, and painfully told him goodnight. I had then locked the door and set my alarm for 3:00 a.m. to try and get a few hours of sleep before leaving to find Callen.

I was now holding my breath as I made my way through the house that seemed even more massive in the darkness, with only small lights flickering in sconces every so often, its hallways now seeming endless.

With my newly borrowed tennis shoes in my hands, my bare feet made their way down the stairs, and into the living room. I eyed the winged-back chairs where Jase’s dad had sat almost out of view when I had first arrived. They were angled away from any prying eyes and faced towards a now flameless fire, its coals still glowing softly in the dimly lit space. I prayed his dad wasn’t in that same chair now as I tip-toed along the back wall, with only a large sofa and a small coffee table separating me from the chairs.

Only a few feet from the entryway, an abnormally loud rumble sent my heart galloping in my chest, and a traitorous gasp escaped my mouth before I could cover it. I tried to steady my breathing and slow my heart rate as I looked to find the source of the monstrous growl, and caught a glimpse of massive arms draped over one side of the large sofa in the middle of the room, with feet hanging off the opposite end in mirroring fashion.

I let out a small, relieved sigh, thankful the unearthly sound was only a snore from what appeared to be a larger version of Jase, I noticed, as I peeked cautiously around the makeshift bed, my eyes adjusting to the shadows.

I shouldn’t have lingered there, but I couldn’t help but study his features for a moment in the still silence of the night, my curiosity getting the best of me. He had the same skin tone, the same squared jawline and almond-shaped eyes, but the lines of his face cut in deeper, making me think he might be much older than Jase. But I suspected it had more to do with experience than age. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about him, even the way he slept, his chest rising and falling, screamed “warrior,” as though he were a dragon-slaying knight in another life. I noticed a scar across his chest. It spread diagonally, beginning under his right armpit and stretching across, ending at his navel. I silently wondered what battles he had faced in this lifetime.

A voice sounded behind me out of the darkness, breaking the still silence, causing me to jump and stifle a scream, my hand covering my mouth.

“He’s not much to look at in the daylight, ya know,” a girl said softly from the chair behind me, its height and width hiding her body from sight completely. I hoped it hadn’t come from Karis, who clearly disliked me and who would no doubt be about to sound the alarm. For what exactly, I wasn’t sure, but what I was doing felt wrong, nonetheless. Leaving in the night without explanation or even a genuine thank you for their kindness. Thinking of Jase’s face in the morning when he realized I wasn’t there, no note, no goodbye.

“Who are you?” I said, not unkindly, but with steel in my voice to mask any fear or nervousness I felt. Getting caught sneaking around the orphanage after hours would result in a myriad of punishments. I shuddered at the thought.

“Well, aren’t you friendly,” she said, not rising from the chair. “Have a seat.” I could only see her hand move from beside the chair as she gestured for me to sit in the one mirroring hers.

I slowly, steadily walked around and did as she asked. Why exactly, I’m not entirely sure. Fear. Curiosity. The calm command in her voice. Maybe all three.

The girl in the chair, who looked to be close to my age, didn’t even glance up at me as I sat across from her, her eyes fixed on the dying fire, only ash and embers now remaining. She pressed a button on the side of the small table that separated us and suddenly the flames roared to life again. I pressed my back against the chair and squinted my eyes, trying to adjust my body to both the heat and the light that now roared before me.

Seeing her more clearly now, I realized she was older than I had originally thought. Early 20’s, maybe. Her chestnut brown hair similar to my own. Well, similar to what my hair had been a few short hours ago, I realized, as I looked down at my newly white-blonde waves. She held a short, ornate glass in her hand and sipped on something I assumed was stronger than apple juice. I noticed thick, black lines of something underneath and around the bed of her fingernails. Odd, considering her hair was damp, as though she had showered recently.

She finally glanced up at me over the rim of the glass as she took one, long swig and set it down on the side table. She puckered her lips as if it burned and turned her full attention to me. She looked me up and down, not even trying to hide her clear mental evaluation of me. I couldn’t help but shy under her stare and wonder who she was to Jase, to this family.

“I’m Maven,” she said, answering my earlier question, her bright hazel eyes fixing on mine. They looked like Jase’s, only with more green shining through, the firelight dancing across them. “My friends call me Mave,” she went on. “You can call me Maven.”

Alright then…

“And you are…?” she asked, not rude, but not kind either.

Her intensity caused me to whither a little, which irritated me, my instincts sensing the challenging undertones of this exchange. I wasn’t normally intimidated, but something about her demeanor told me she’d been through just as much as I had, and you’d never catch me betting against her in a fight, that’s for sure. People like her had been forged through fire and came out unbreakable. I would know.

“I’m,” I hesitated, wondering how much information I should give to this perfect stranger in the middle of the night, but then decided my best chance at leaving this house without waking anyone or causing any problems was to be as polite and cordial as possible. I wasn’t looking for a challenge. I just wanted to leave unscathed. “I’m Ellie,” I said.

“And you are..?” she repeated, as if my name was not answer enough to her question. When I said nothing, she rolled her eyes and sighed, the gesture reminding me of my own go-to picture of annoyance. “Where did you come from and why are you here?” Her tone wasn’t clipped, she only sounded bored and possibly a little impatient.

“Um, well, I, um,” I stuttered embarrassingly, not even knowing how to answer that question fully. Thankfully she waited for me to gather myself. “I don’t know why I’m here, other than that Jase and I met earlier today and he offered to help me out. I was just on my way out actually.”

“At 3:00 a.m.?” she challenged.

“Better now than in the morning light,” I answered honestly. Better to not have to meet those eyes, say goodbye.

“Ah,” she nodded and seemed to understand what I meant, somehow.

She picked up the glass from earlier, with only a knuckles' worth of liquid left, and eyed me now with a new curiosity.

“Well I will tell you that Jase is… Well, he’s probably not like the guys you might be used to.” She gave me a side-eyed, judgmental glance, making me feel heat gather in my cheeks under her presumptive stare. “His overwhelming need to help people is admirable,” she swirled the liquid around and around as she spoke, her gaze now fixated on the honey brown fire she was about to consume, “but it gets him into trouble more often than not, and that kid is like a brother to me.” She stopped swirling her glass and looked directly at me. “So I suggest, if you leave…” She stared straight into me and held my gaze as she downed the remainder of the elixir, probably to ensure she effectively added the small layer of ice in the next words that followed, “that you don’t come back.”

My eyes were now downcast, feeling overwhelmingly guilty again. Not to mention I was now fighting an aching in my gut at the thought of never returning to this house that was not my home, for some unexplainable reason. “Don’t put him through that." she added.

My eyes snapped up, my brows arching downward in confusion, “Put him through what exactly?”

She sighed and looked back towards the light of the fire. “It doesn’t really matter if you’re leaving now, does it?” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Just get going, and I won’t stop you. And if you need some money, grab it out of that big oaf’s wallet on the coffee table. He won’t miss it.”

I stared at her for a moment longer, though she never turned her gaze back towards me, and then I silently stood and grabbed the money out of the wallet that apparently belonged to the super-sized Jase, who hadn’t stirred once during our conversation, and made my way towards the door. It felt wrong in a sense, but beggars can’t be choosers. I’d find a way to pay him back one day. At least that’s what I told myself to ease the guilt.

“Oh, and Ellie,” she said from the chair, still not turning to face me or making any effort to move, the glass somehow magically refilled and back in her hand, brushing her lips. I paused, waiting for her words. “There are things out there in the world that you know nothing of,” she started, staring off into the fire, the light reflecting in her glossy eyes as if she were lost in distant memories. “Things that will hunt you for no other reason other than that you have yet to choose a side.” Finally, she turned that haunting gaze towards me, and her words carried more bite with them than before, “Don’t get yourself snatched up by something you can’t run away from. I don’t want to have to come after you on some sort of half-hearted rescue mission just because Jase is smitten with you. Don’t trust your emotions until you’ve chosen, they will lie to you. Things are not always as they seem.” And with that, she turned back towards the smoldering embers, the flames dying down, and didn’t spare me another glance.

I stood there, staring into the dim light cast by the dying flames, watching the shadows dance on the walls and trying to process her confusing words. What did she mean, “choose a side?” Did she mean choose between Jase and where I was going? Cryptic much?

I mulled over her words, wondering if my coming here was a terrible mistake that I didn’t yet fully understand. Somehow, though, the only words I was able to replay over and over, the words I fixated on, were “because Jase is smitten with you.” Those words both electrified and terrified me, and I knew I had no choice but to leave. With one last deep breath, I finally turned and quietly walked out the front door.