In Between Seasons (The Fall) (10 page)

The next day came too quickly, and I knew that Hunter would have to leave me by myself to do whatever it was a general did. I rolled over to his side of the bed and spread out with a huff. I didn’t know what I would do without him there. At home I had always had something to do. I was doing some sort of chore—cooking, gardening, fixing things, and a lot of the time injuring myself, and then fixing myself back up. I figured that being here couldn’t be any worse than being there, even if those women already hated me.  Sara had silently hated me, and I had always known that, so it wouldn’t be much different. At least I had Hunter.

“Where are you going?” I asked
as I finally rolled
over in the bed to see Hunter putting
his
sneakers on.

“Off to do my job,
” Hunter replied,
his expression hidden by his shoulders.

“What should I do today?”

He looked over his shoulder with
a
smugness that made me know
I
wasn’t going to like his answer,
“Make some friends.”

I pulled t
he sheets over my head,
“I hate you right now.”

Hunter pulled the sheets
back down
and
brushed
a piece of hair out of my face,
“It won’t be that bad.”

“Promise?”
I asked.

“If
you need me just listen for
order
s being barked to granite heads,
”
he replied
with a slight movement of his shoulders.

“Great. When will
you be back to save me?” I asked with a pout
.

“Soon enough. Will you cook dinner again? It was a lot better than anything I’ve ever cooked
,
or eaten for that matter,” he suggested,
standing
and
stretching.

“You don’t stop for lunch?”

“Depends how much barking I have to do.”

I huffed
once more
and
rolled over to place my head in the pillow.

“Listen, you lived with other people just like those women down stairs. I’m sure you can handle a li
ttle bit more of it. Plus, they know better than to be mean to yo
u,” h
e said
,
opening the door. I rolled back over to face the door
and
he raised his eyebrows. I gave in
and
smiled at him,
“That’s more like it.”

The store that Hunter had spoken of was more of a shock to me than the kitchen filled with food
had been
. It was a huge room filled with every style of clothing one could think of
,
from lingerie to work out clothes. We had had a storage room with clothes at my father’s tribe
,
but
it had been simple
jeans,
white
t-shirt
s, white bras
,
and
white underwear. Here there were tons of choices. I imagined this was what a
mall would have been like
in the old days. I was slightly lost in it, dark wash jeans, light wash jeans, jeans with holes, jeans with skinny legs
,
and
wide legs. I decided to go with a few pairs of regular dark wash jeans
and
a pair of the skinny ones. The under garments were a whole other thing. I was blushing looking at them as I grabbed for black with lace, red ones
and
a fuchsia set that was barely there. I had fun with the various graphic tees
,
and
the tighter the
y were
;
the
better
they were
.
It was strange for me to make my own choices
,
and
I found myself staring at a section of lingerie with my head tilted.

“Never seen that before?”

I jumped
,
practically throwing the armful of
clothing that I had collected, “Oh, hi I didn’t hear you,
”
I said.

“The name is Amy,
”
t
he young woman who had scared me said as she laughed in my face.

“Ummm…Kate.
”

“The POW, yeah
,
I know,” s
he
commented
with
a perfect black eyebrow arched a
t me. She tossed her curly cindered
hair over he
r shoulder,
“I’m not sure you
have much use for lingerie unless you have a crush on your capturer?”

“I….oh goodness no…no
,
not at all.
I’ve just never seen it before,” I stuttered, “b
ut I should
ummm…
get going.”

“There’s not much to do around here
,
Kate. Why don’t you put that stuff away in your room
and
join us in the common room for beer, popcorn
,
and
a movie?” Am
y asked,
and
her dark eye
s
flashed
.

“Sure, why not,” I replied,
knowing that this gesture wasn’t one of good will
,
but
of interest in the newest toy.

When I got back down
stairs Amy patted the empty seat on the couch next to her
and
handed me a
bottle of beer,
“You’
re old enough to drink aren’t you?”
s
he sneered.

“Who gives a crap
any ways?” I retorted
,
shrugging as I took
a deep sip
and
tried
not gag at the taste. It was like combin
in
g a bag of dirty socks with acid
and
then
letting it rot for months.

“We don’t
,
so I guess it doesn’t matter.
You’
re over eighteen, right
?
”
Amy asked
.

I locked my eyes with hers. I wasn’t going to be her toy.
I had had enough of being toyed with,
“What do you think?”

It worked
and
she loo
ked away as if I had burned her,
“I sh
ouldn’t have said anything
.”

“Exactly,” I said
,
grabbing a handful of the popcorn she was eating.

“Bitch,” s
he muttered
under her breath.

“
Yup,” I responded as I grinded my teeth.

“Huh?”

“
I’m a bitch, thanks,
” I retorted
,
taking another sip.
Why would any one drink this stuff?

“You’r
e a spit fire now aren’t you?” s
he
commented
a
s the other women
looked between us.

“Aren’t you?”

“Alright, I won’t treat you like a baby
—we won’t treat you like a baby,” s
he said
,
looking around the room at the other women who looked away from me.

“From what I can tell none of you are much older than me
,
so we can get off that subject real fast,
Mhmm
?”
I questioned
.

“I’m twenty,” Amy retorted as she munched
on a handful of popcorn.

“Exactly, not
much
older than me,
” I said
,
taking a deep brea
th. If you didn’t think two years was much
,
“So
,
what are we watching?”

“The w
hole Twilight Saga,” Amy replied as she nodded
her head so that the girl hand
l
ing the remote would turn the TV
on.

“What’s it
about?” I asked
a
s
previews for
movies I had never heard of began to play.

“You’ve never heard of Twilight? It’s a classic; the first movie
came out in 2008,
”
Amy commented.

“That was a long time ago,” I commented,
putting my beer down on the table with no plans of ever touching another one again.

“Still awesome though!”
Amy said
.

I tried to hide my skeptical look from
them as I watched a deer running across the screen.
The music, I had to admit, already had me enthralled.

“Something smells amazing,” Hunter commented as he came
into the kitchen.

“It’s not you,” I retorted,
wrinkling my nose as I took
in his sweat
and
dirt covered body.

“It’s no
t that bad,” he teased
as he pulled me into his arms
and
rubbed his sweaty head on me,
“Didn’t you miss me?”

“Oh, G
od
, you smell like something died,
”
I gagged,
pushing him away.

He raised an eyebrow at me,
“And now so
do
you.”

“Well, dinner is almost ready
,
and
now we both need to bathe,” I said,
dusting off my pants.

“So you found the store, eh?” he asked
,
his eyes going from my face down.

“
Yeah, what do you think?” I asked
,
looking down at the very tight v-neck t-shirt with
a
silver scroll
design
and
my
skinny jeans.
In truth it felt
amazing to be able to choose something for myself, and for it to be something I truly liked. I was supposedly a prisoner, but I had never felt so free. I smiled at Hunter and cocked my head as I waited for his response.

“I think if you had a quarter in your back pocket
I could read the writing on it,” he observed,
sitting down at the table with his hand covering his smiling mouth.

“Really?” I asked as I turned
around
and
then looked
over my shoulder at him.

“Yeah
,
but
, err…you
look nice,
”
h
e st
ammere
d as he swallowed.

“So how
was your barking today?” I asked
as I continued cooking dinner.

“Huh?” he mumbled
,
and
when I looked at him his eyes were distant
and
dark.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, m
y father said he wants to visit,
”
Hunter replied
.

My stomach dropped,
“What does that mean? Is he going to want to kill me?”

It was as if all the air had been sucked from the room when his eyes met mine. Darkness was hinging the sides of my vision
and
sparks started to dance as my legs wobbled. Hunter caught me in his arms just before
my head would have hit the table in front of me. I felt his arms tighten around me as everything went completely black. When I opened my eyes I was in the tub with the shower head pulsating water into my face. Hunter was sitting on the floor beside the tub
with
his head in his hands.

“I didn’t kno
w my face was that easy to read,” Hunter sighed,
not looki
ng at me as I sat up in the tub,
“How am I going to be able to lie to my father if it’s that easy to read?”

“I know you Hunter.
I know what that look in your eyes means. You told all of t
hese people the same thing you’
re going to tell him. Do any of them suspect who I really am?”

“Not at all, they think you
’
r
e
some runaway I picked up on my
way home from a failed mission,” h
e
answered,
looking up at me.

“Theoretically though, if yo
ur father knew who I was…he’
d have me killed?” I asked
,
reaching up
and
shutting off the shower.

“D
on’t faint on me again,” h
e remarked
,
holding his arm
out for me as I stood
, “b
ut
,
yes.”

“It’s sad that your father would kill me
,
and
he doesn’t even know me,
”
I said.

“This is
a sad world,” he shrugged
,
“He would have to go through me first
and
he’s an old man
…he’
d never win.”

“S
o I shouldn’t be scared?” I asked,
beginning to step out of the shower
,
but
thinking the better of it.

“Not at all.
”

“You should be scared,” I growled,
grabbing the removable shower head
and
turning the shower on. I aimed it at him just
as he was about to ask why, “o
f me.
”

“What’
s wrong with you?” h
e shouted
,
trying to remain serious
,
but
unable to stop his laughing when he saw my face through the stream of water aimed at him.
He slipped on the floor trying to get to me
,
and
I started laughing.

“Who’s
the klutz now, huh? Huh?” I taunted
as he grabbed for me. I dropped the shower head as his strong arms pulled me across the threshold of the tub into his arms.

He
rolled his body on top of mine, “Still you,” h
e said
,
his chest rising against mine as he laughed
,
pinning my arms back as I tried to slip out of his grip.

The room had disappeared for me
,
and
all I could see
and
feel was him. Our laughter had stopped at the same time
,
and
my sen
ses could keenly hear our breathing
. For once I felt I couldn’
t decipher the look in his eyes as they searched my face. I felt the words were written all over my face
,
and
I wondered what he was looking for
. I wanted him to
find it in
me
because I had found everything
in him.
My heart hammered against my rib cage
,
threatening to implode
,
as his lips reached for mine. I could feel his sweet breath washing over my lips like a tease.

“What the hell?” Hunter asked
as someone knocked on the door to his room. It was as if all the air had rushed into the room at once
,
and
I was dizzy from it as he put h
is forehead against his forearm, “Coming,” h
e said
,
pushing his body up
and
over mine.

I pulled my knees to my chest
and
placed my forehead on the top
of them as I
desperately
tried
to reconcile the thoughts rushing through my head.
I looked up
,
and
he was leaning against the door frame still dripping wet.
I watched him silently as the rain began to ping off the glass of the sky lights above us.  He sighed shaking his head.

“My f
ather will be here tomorrow,
” Hunter
finally said
as he looked at his feet.

“So soon?”
I asked.

“When my father gets
something into his head there’
s no stopping
him,” h
e replied,
his eyes meeting
with
mine.

“Right,” I said
,
standing
and
pushing past him.

I was at the
front door before his voice stopped me from continuing.

“Where are you going?” h
e asked
,
and
the look in his eyes was desperate.

“For a run,” I turned the handle,
“You can come if you want.”

He shook his head
,
hi
s hands planted in his pockets,
“Sometimes I don’t understand you.”

“Are you coming?”

“Of course I am,” he answered,
his eyes fading from desperation to
something I couldn’t quite peg,
“I have to make sure you don’t fall on your face too much.”

Once we were on the ground I took off running.

“Just try
and
catch me,” I taunted,
not looking back as I sprinted
and
leapt over the logs
and
rocks in my way.

It took Hunter
a good five
minutes to catch up to me
,
and
I had to wonder what was taking so long. I knew if he wanted to he could overcome me in a matter of seconds.

“Finally,” he huffed,
grabbing my waist
and
tumbling to the
wet
ground with me.

“Ar
e you trying to kill me?” I asked
,
laughing
as the few
crisp leaves
still on the ground
flew up in the air around us.

“Not at all.
I knew this pile of leaves woul
d be a nice landing spot for us,” he joked as he leaned
up on one arm with a smirk.

“
I love the smell of fall leaves,” I commented,
picking one up
and
twirling it.

“Me too,” he reached
up
and
crushed it from my
hand,
“I’ve been thinking that I should teach you how to fight.”

“Really?”

“And you’
ve apparently gotten ov
er the
tripping over nonexistent
objects
thing,
so I think you’re ready,” h
e replied,
standing
and
giving me his hand.

“I really had t
o concentrate.”

He reached up
and
gently pulled a leaf from my hair. It drifted in a slow fluid m
ovement to the ground
,
and
I found
my mind
wandering
. I saw it in his
eyes that his mind was following mine
.
His hand went to his own hair, shuffling it to make sure there were no leaves
in it.

“
Err
…so teaching you
will be mo
re about finesse than strength,” Hunter finally said.

“What’s that suppose
d
to mean?”

“That everyone I’ve ever taught has had d
ifferent equipment to work with,
”
h
e replied
,
rubbing his chin stubble.

“I’m pretty su
re that only applies when naked,
”
I teased
with a smirk.

His face flushed red in an instant
,
and
I saw
him try to check his thoughts,
“Right
but
there’s
a difference in the level of strength as well.”

“If you say so,” I replied
,
and
before I could react he had bent my arm behind my back
and
was standing with his chest pressed into my shoulders.

“I say so,” his breath warm on my bare neck, “I
f we want you to beat people trained similar to me we have to teach you finesse
that
men don’t posses.”

“I’ve seen you fight Hunter
,
and
you have plenty of finesse,” I commented,
my head tilted sideways
, and
his breath hit my
cheek
sending
tingles up my spine.

“Yes
,
but
that’s something I didn’t teach them because they didn’t need it
,
and
most likely if they trained anyo
ne else it would be lacking too,” he explained,
loosening his grip on my arm.