War, Elements, and Magic

CHAPTER 4: PROMISES ARE JUST WORDS AT THE END OF THE DAY – 1585 EG

Sub-Chapter: Daniel Phillips

The floor creaked loudly, followed by someone saying  "Shoot.."

There it was again. I jumped out, but no one was there yet again. I think I might be going crazy. It's been two months since this all started. Every night, around this time, I heard the floor creak, and almost the exact same word followed afterwards. Yet, there was no one EVER there. Sure, it's creepy, but it's mostly just annoying having to constantly get woken up. If only we could get windows...

There it was again, a creak, followed by that same person whispering "Shoot.."

"GO BOTHER SOMEONE ELSE IN THEIR SLEEP", I yelled at the top of my lungs. I swear to god, if some person is coming to kill or rob me, they should at least have the decency to do it while I sleep.

Turning around in my bed, I came face to face with a knife right next to my throat, with a masked figure shushing me. I whispered to the figure "You know, you're the one that friggin woke me up for the past two months with all that noise.". Turning my body back, I pulled the blanket up to my head.

Next second later, the same person who had a knife to my throat suddenly swiped the blanket away, climbing on top of my bed in the process.

"You know, if you're really that interested in me, we should go on a date first, perhaps learn each other's names, and also.."

"Shut up!" the figure yelled. I could tell it was a girl, at least that answered one of my questions, also confirms that I didn't make a move on a guy.

Quickly covering her mouth as well as punching me in the gut, she then said "Look, you have it. We know that you do. Revealing where it is means a less painful death, you do realize that?"

In the middle of  yawning from being tired (It's not boredom I assure you)"Have what? If you're looking for something valuable, you do know that the neighborhood down the road has a lot more 'stuff', right?"

After getting no answer I asked as I began to sit upright on my bed, "What's your name by the way?".

"There is no reason for me to tell you. You would just report me anyways"

"I guess that's true…. Thought it's kinda hard to report you anyways, you know, because of your whole masked face.". The room was still after that. Neither I nor her moved from our positions.

After a few minutes, the stillness became stifling. It felt like if either one of us moved, the other would pounce.

All of a sudden in a succession of moments that I know I'll never be able to repeat again, I quickly brought my feet to the wall behind me, and pushing off from there, my legs collided with the masked girl. As they did, knocking her over, I made my move. In the midst of the girl being confused, I quickly got up and sprinted out of my room, and kicked the masked girl in the face as I retreated.

However, before I was able to leave the room fully, I felt a hand grab on to my foot.

"Please, don't...go". I looked down only to see the masked girl no longer masked or hooded. What I saw was a beautiful display of long, obsidian-black hair, which flowed over her shoulders, glistening in the moonlight. I was wonderstruck by her beauty for a few seconds before realizing something.

She looked exhausted and defeated.

I crouched down. As I did, she looked me right in the eye, revealing her face. The girl's ears were a rosy red, probably from the chilly weather outside. I could see her small button nose clearly as well, which was also a bit red. Her eyes, they weren't just any regular green. Her eyes, they reminded me of the summertime greens, like the Watermelons I loved to eat. As her face encapsulated me, we sat there, just staring at each other for a few minutes. After a bit, I asked, "Are you hungry?".

She continued to look into my eyes for a moment before looking back down, in which she then simply nodded. I pointed at my bed and said "Feel free to sit there. I'll get some bread from downstairs. Don't worry, I'll be back in just a few.". With that, I exited my room, and took the ladder down to the first floor.

Once I got to the bottom floor, I briskly walked down the stairs into the kitchen. After looking around for a bit through the shelves and empty boxes, I finally spotted a loaf of bread. I grabbed it carefully, making sure not to get crumbs over the floor. Right after that, I walked to the ladder leading to my room.

As I went up, a thought popped in my head. My dad. Afterall, he was our family's main source of income, which came from the job dad went over for in the next town over…. It's been a couple months though, I really hope he didn't spend it on anything….. He probably did...

I finally got all the way up and entered my room. "Here's that loaf of bread I told you about." I said as I tossed the girl half of the loaf. Her eyes began to glow as she grabbed it. From there, I said while walking towards the bed "So, what brings you to 'The glorious estate of the Phillips household?' I said somewhat sarcastically.

She looked away for a second. I then moved close to her ear and said as I did, "Now's your queue to tell me what's bothering you". She turned her head slowly, and as she did, she had a piece of bread in her mouth. She quickly ate it before looking at me again. After a few seconds, both me and her turned away from each other. For the first time that night, I noticed how soft her skin seemed, as if one touch would ensnare my mind. With my cheeks a little red, I quickly said,

"I.. I'm sorry…."

"N...no worries. You got me bread after all.".

We sat there for a few minutes before out of nowhere, she said "Capsa..."

"What?" I said as I turned my head towards her. She then said as she also looked back. "My name, since you asked, it's Capsa. And, thanks for the bread. My family has been in desperate need of money recently. I didn't want to be a burden to them. They provide enough for me already."

Continuing, she said "I just don't know what to do anymore.".

As she talked I thought back on what she said early, about me having something. However, I noticed that Capsa was waiting for a reply. So I quickly said "Look, Capsa, if you're really that worried, just come back over here in your free time.".

With what seemed to be a genuine smile, she said "Really? Are you sure?".

"Yeah. I mean you stopping by every night for the past couple months hasn't stopped you anyways, might as well make it official." I said as I chuckled.

"I'm sorry… I'll try to sneak in at early times from now on." Capsa said as she winked at me. She then stood up from the bed, making her way to the window she came from.

As she climbed up onto the window sill, her hair fluttered in the wind, and her face seemingly glowed as she looked back at me. She then said "Bye-bye.". I waved back.

As I saw her jump out, I realized I didn't even share my name. I quickly ran to the window. Looking to the left and then to the right, I saw her, I then quickly yelled “My name, it’s Daniel Phillips!”