Chapter 14: May is escaping

As the night went on, May was laying on the bare ground, her arm under her head. She pretended to be asleep and waited for a convenient moment to slip out of the camp. The girl opened her eyes slightly, not wanting to give out that she was awake, and took a look around the camp.

The campfire was still burning, flames dancing playfully and casting a little light on her kidnappers. Eren was soundly asleep and so was Baltar, snoring quite loudly. May squinted her eyes, trying to figure out, if the steed called Meirch was sleeping as well. The beast was lying on the ground, its head tucked under one of the wings.

All right, safe.

Now the last one left. The girl turned her eyes to the black-haired demon. He was sitting on the opposite side of the campfire, leaning his back against the tree, his eyes closed. Aedain had his armor still on and the two swords rested against his shoulder. His face was peaceful and May assumed, that he’s asleep. She wasn’t sure though.

Well, there is only one way to find out, May thought and lifted herself off the ground slowly, not taking her eyes off the demon, waiting for any reaction. There was none, he was sitting still all the time. Taking it as a good sign, the girl slowly crawled towards sleeping Eren and began delicately shaking the child. However, the tired kid was sound asleep. May glanced nervously at Aedain. Seeing no signs of danger, she covered the boy’s mouth with one hand and pinched his cheek.

Eren’s eyes fluttered open and May muffled the startled cry. The girl lifted her finger to her lips, gesturing the child to be quiet. The boy nodded, nervously looking around. Warily watching Aedain and the other two demons, May slowly stood up and pulled Eren up.

Holding their hands, the two of them made their way to the forest, taking one step at a time, careful not to step on some twig, rustle with the fabric of the dresses or even breath loudly, afraid to wake the demons up. May knew, that if Aedain caught her and the kid, they would be dead meat. She was nervously glancing back from time to time at the demons, checking for any signs of danger. When they finally reached the edge of forest, she started marching faster, not letting go off Eren’s hand.

Neither of them uttered a word, they were still carefully looking under their feet and keeping quiet. May refrained herself from running till she would be out of the demons’ hearing range.

If May looked back now, she would see a pair of golden eyes opening to watch her and Eren warily.

 

 

May found a path and followed it. Her escape didn’t go as smooth as she pictured it. Although it was full moon and stars were shining brightly, the trees cast a dark shadow. It was difficult for her to see where she was going and had to walk really slowly at avoid tripping and alarming anyone in the camp. The branches were catching on her long dress and hair.

Eren kept tripping too, but was very brave for a kid and endured the hardships without a word of complaint. The little boy was silent all the time, obediently following May. But, finally he shared her doubts.

“May, we should go back. They’ll catch us,” Eren whispered quietly, fear in voice. The girl squeezed the child’s hand encouragingly.

“Don’t worry. They won’t notice a thing till morning,” May whispered back, honestly hoping for her words to be true. She smiled to the kid and carried on with fighting their way through the thick bushes.

May cursed, as her long silk sleeve got caught by a branch again. She struggled with a tree to free her sleeve and wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings.

“What are you doing, woman?” she heard a cold voice right behind her.

May felt all color leave her face and a shiver go down her spine. I’m so dead! she thought frantically, ripping her sleeve, as she pulled it in panic. Eren let out a surprised squeak and glued himself to May, clinging onto the older girl like baby Koala to its mother. May slowly turned around to see angry Aedain, standing not a meter from her. How did he get here so fast? His face was calm, but May could see wrath in his eyes. She was sure he would kill her this time. May was so scared, that she couldn’t think clearly.

“Oh,” May uttered, desperately trying to figure out, what to do. Should she take Eren and run? She had no chance �" Aedain had longer legs and would be only madder if he had to chase them. The girl tried to keep her head cool. “It not what you think! We weren’t going to escape!”

The demon arched his eyebrow, expressing his doubt for the honesty of her words. May cleared her throat and made her best to sound confident.

“I only wanted to bath. I was looking for some water, I took Eren for company,” she said quickly, thinking, that was a very poor excuse. “I really need it. The bath.”

“In the middle of the night?” Aedain asked, clearly unconvinced to her stupid story. He looked slightly less pissed off, more like he was amused, in a sadistic way. May smiled faintly.

“I didn’t want to wake you all up,” she answered, cursing in her mind, because it sounded just so dumb… She felt Eren cling to her more, as though the child wanted to melt into her side and disappear. May felt protective of the kid �" the escape was her idea and didn’t want the boy to bear the consequences of the failed attempt.

“I wasn’t Eren’s fault; it was entirely my idea,” May stated firmly.

Aedain glared at her and May fought her urge to turn on her heel and flee as fast as she could.

“Return to the camp immediately.” The demon broke the uncomfortable silence at last, pointing his clawed finger towards the campfire.

Eren obediently let go off May’s dress and began marching in the direction, Aedain showed. May rushed after him.

“You stay, woman.” The demon’s voice stopped her.

She turned her head to look at him and saw the dangerous seriousness on his face. Eren also stared at him, and then at May, unsure what to do. Aedain narrowed his eyes, impatience all over his face, as he made a hurrying gesture aimed at Eren. The child gulped and ran to the camp, leaving May behind.

The girl wasn’t moving, feeling as though she was standing on a mine. She clenched her fists, trying to prevent her hands from shaking. She was terrified �" what Aedain planned on doing with her? Whatever he had in mind, May was absolutely afraid of it.

“Follow me,” the demon said dryly once Eren made it to the camp and started walking away.

May hesitated for a moment and then rushed after him, thinking it would be foolish not to. They were walking in silence for a couple of minutes. May wondered, where the hell he was leading her. Her sense of direction wasn’t her strength, but she was pretty sure, that the camp in the opposite direction. May’s heart began pounding faster, as she imagined, why could he lead her into the deep, dark forest. He could murder her there and Eren would never even hear her screams.

“Aedain?” May spoke up, her voice shaking. The demon didn’t answer or show any other kind of response, like slowing down for instance.

“Aedain!” May called louder, thinking, that maybe he didn’t hear her the last time.

“I am not deaf, woman,” he said eventually.

“Where are taking me?” she asked, hoping, that to start a conversation and divert his attention from the gruesome plans, she suspected him to have for her.

He didn’t answer her right away. May covered her eyes with her hand, as the bright moonlight blinded her. She lowered her arm and looked around. Aedain led her to a lakeshore. The light of stars reflected in the water. May opened her mouth in awe, impressed how beautifully the water sparkled. She looked up and gasped.

The sky was very clear tonight, the little shining dots decorating it. The moon was full tonight and seemed brighter than usual. However, there was another thing on the night sky, that caught May’s attention �" from eastern part of the sky emerged another moon, smaller than its companion, but was shedding more wonderful, bluish light.

 “Woman.” Aedain’s voice made her come back to reality and averted her attention from the two moons.

May almost forgot, that he was standing beside her. She turned her head and looked at him. In the bright moonlight he seemed even more inhuman, as the pale light illuminated his unnaturally handsome face. His golden eyes were almost glowing in the dim light as though there was some mysterious fire burning within their depths. The light breeze was gently playing with his long black hair, gathered in a loose ponytail in the back. Aedain narrowed his eyes at May, clearly demanding the answer right now.

“Mhm?” May uttered, unsure and scared what did he want from her.

He glared at her, becoming annoyed again.

“Undress,” he said simply, his face unreadable.

May opened her mouth agape, wondering if she heard what she thought she did. Exactly what did he want from her?! Then it clicked in the mind.

How dare he!

“What?!” she exclaimed, as she folded her arms protectively around her chest and took a step back away from him.

“Hn.” Aedain averted his gaze; May could have sworn that she saw a flicker of bewilderment on his face when he realized what actually he had said. However, his mask slipped only for a split second before he regained his usual hash and commanding façade.  

“Go bathe.”

May stood still in one place, processing, what he said just now. She looked at a lake and then back at the black-haired demon. Did he lead her here only to let her bathe? That was kind of… nice of him, but she smelled a rat �" it was suspicious that someone that cruel like Aedain was being nice. She’d rather expect him to beat her senseless for trying to escape from him or something like that. However, it was best to play along for now and not tempt him to kill her like the warriors in the morning.

“Oh, thank you. I will,” she said, accepting his “kindness” and waiting for him to leave. After all, she desperately needed the bath. Aedain, however, stood still, not taking his eyes off her.

“Are you going to stand here?” May asked, a little irritated. “I need some privacy.”

Aedain sent her his cold glare, walked over to a large stone nearby and sat on it, his back to the lake. May was staring at him, not believing, that he wasn’t going anywhere. How the hell was she supposed to take a bath with HIM sitting here? She stalked toward him, rested her hands on her hips and cleared her throat.

“I think, we have a misunderstanding about the meaning of the word ‘privacy’,” she said angrily. The demon looked her in the eye, sending her his intimidating icy glare.

“Woman,” he said quietly. “Go clean yourself.”

Somehow his calm voice scared her more than when he would be yelling at her. Considering the previous events, arguing with him would end painfully for her. May sighed, defeated.

“All right,” she said. “But don’t peek!”

Aedain didn’t respond, he averted his gaze from her and fixed it on the nearby trees. May made her way towards the lakeshore. When she reached it, she leaned over the still surface of the water and looked at herself, reflected in it. She looked terribly, with face smeared with dirt, tangled hair and torn clothing.

She carefully took the silk slippers off, and dipped her tired and blistered feet in cold water. She shot a nervous glance at Aedain, who was still sitting with his back to her. Embarrassed by his presence, she untied her sash and placed it on the nearby log. She checked once again, if the demon wasn’t peeking and took her attire off. She darted into the lake, to get herself under the surface of the water as soon as possible. She didn’t want to stand naked longer than it was necessary. She dove under the water and stayed there until she was out of breath.

She emerged slowly, keeping only her head above the water level and checked for any signs of peeking. May decided, that Aedain was apparently no pervert. She started rubbing her hair and body in order to get them as clean as possible; she would kill for a soap or shampoo. May winced as she touched her left arm. The girl had blue bruises all over the body, but the arm was a mess. She managed to wash off the dried blood, but the sight still wasn’t pretty to look at. The arm seemed to be covered in one huge bruise. There were also puncture wounds from the demon’s claws.

Good, that at least it’s not broken, May thought. She scrubbed herself a little more and was not so eager to get out of the water �" it was a nicely cool after experiencing the murderous march in the heat; after all it was the peak of the summer. Finally May emerged from the water; she rushed to the log, where her clothes were. She grabbed the most inner layer of underwear and wrapped herself in it as in the towel �" she wouldn’t wear it anymore anyway. After checking Aedain’s position, she examined the rest of her clothes. Without a second thought, she tossed the corset out �" it would be masochistic to wear that wretched thing. The outer gown, beautifully green dress red roses embroidered on it couldn’t be saved; the silk was tattered and torn like a rag, not to mention horribly stained. She sighed with regret and tossed it into the bushes too. She was left with only two petticoats and a set of silk skirts.  She decided to put on one of two petticoats, that looked like summer dresses anyway and one skirt. She unwrapped the fabric, that was around her body and quickly slipped into the clothing. She put on the slippers, which were suitable only for walking in the palace, and gathered the other clothes.

The girl was so busy with sorting and folding her clothes, that she didn’t notice Aedain raising from his place and soundlessly making his way towards her. She didn’t even sense his presence when he was standing right behind her.

“If you ever try to escape from me, I will track you down and kill you,” he spoke, startling May and causing her to shriek, as her heart nearly stopped.

May whirled around, clutching one of the folded skirts in front of her, as though it was a shield, protecting her from the demon. She looked up to see the hateful look on his face, as he stared her down. He surprised her that much, that words refused to leave her throat. It took some time, till she was able to utter a response.

“I… I didn’t mean to…” she tried lying again, but the demon interrupted her.

“Do you take me for fool, you idiotic human?” Aedain asked slowly, a dangerous flicker in his eyes.

May quickly shook her head. The demon smirked maliciously, enjoying to see her terrified of him. Cherishing every second of the girl’s fear, he leaned down so that he could whisper to her ear.

“You do not know much about my kind, do you?” he asked rhetorically. “The main difference between you and me is that you are weak, like a mouse in front of an eagle. You will not run away at night, for I never sleep soundly like you humans do. If you somehow escape, I will track you down without any problem, even after days. Once I get you, you will beg me to have mercy and end your life quickly. Remember, your life holds no meaning for me. Actually, I would very much enjoy watching you slowly bleed to death.”

May began shivering at the threat, still feeling Aedain’s breath on her ear. The demon straightened his back and smiled triumphantly, seeing that he nearly scared the girl to death. Watching  her tremble must have been a pure pleasure for him .

The girl gathered her courage and looked up at his face, refusing to grant him any more amusement.

“If you want to kill me so badly, why I’m still alive?” she demanded the answer in the most confident tone she could muster.

Aedain frowned, discontented that his prey wasn’t entirely intimidated. He turned around and slowly made his way into the forest, seemingly ignoring the girl’s question. May followed him, too scared to make him wait. She wanted to tell him to slow down, but she thought it was best not to say anything, that could make him want to strangle her.

“You must keep the child alive and healthy till the eclipse,” suddenly, the demon replied.

May furrowed her bows.

Eclipse? What so special about it? �" she wondered.

“What will happen to us after this eclipse?” she kept questioning the demon.

“After it I will have no purpose in keeping you anymore,” he explained, giving May a tiny piece of hope, which he shattered almost immediately. “In keeping you alive, that is.”

May felt her legs stiffen and she had to use all her willpower to keep them moving. So that was what the demon planned to do her �" he wanted to murder eventually. She had to take Eren and run away before then; it was a matter of life and death. However, the next time she would have only one shot, so she’d have to act with a plan and with a good one at that. Till she came up with something ingenious, she had to keep a low profile. The risk of getting caught turned out to be higher, than she thought.

When she and the demon reached the camp, Aedain sat down and leaned against the tree. May folded her spare clothes, trying to ignore, that the demon kept staring at her. She lay on the ground on the opposite side of campfire, her back towards the fire. She put the clothes under her head and wrapped them around sleeping Eren. She pulled the child closer to herself for the warmth and closed her eyes. She was so exhausted that she fell asleep right away.

 

Reviews

[Christopher Angel]

Or maybe I have time now :P

Good chapter. I liked that you showed Aedain's personality more and he's certainly more endearing than from the last chapter. Seems like there really is something about him - not sure how the eclipse will go on now. May got her hair cut...I can't see how that's bad considering it must be a b***h to run around when your hair's knocking at your knees. I bet shorter hair suits her and its certainly more manageable.

I'm surprised the thieves/rapists weren't at least terrified of Aedain. Wasn't he a demon? Weren't people generally afraid of demons? Levi was a soldier and he was scared...why wouldn't these louts be? Their bravado seemed rather uncharacteristic to me.

But they were dealt with so its of no consequence ultimately, except to perhaps drive the May/Aedain relationship forward, if you can call it that. I liked the bit at the end with the pseudo apology. I really liked that line a lot.

[JR Darewood]

Okay, this chapter was very tense, but I gotta say it really pissed me off when she actually called for Aedain. I can see why she did it, and I knew he was gonna save her but the whole time i was like nooooooooooooo not that!!!

It's hard for me to predict whats going to happen next because your story is wonderfully unpredictable (not knowing what's happening next is one of the great things about it) and full of surprises (some of them i enjoy, others i'm like-- noooooooooooooooo) and I don't have any clues to work with. All I know is that at least Levi didn't die, that you're forging a mutual bond between May and the demons, so there's probably gonna be some moment where May is conflicted about whether to side with the demons or the humans. Either way, I hope she gets free of them soon b/c she's been a prisoner for a many chapters now and the demons are evil douchebags and I'm scared of getting Stockholm syndrome, and May's been getting raped and beaten a lot which is making me nostalgic for her light-heated hillariousness. Give the girl a break you brutal author!!! (I'm one to talk, huh :) ) AND you cut her hair off!!! You're just getting harsher and harsher!!!!! Okay, I'm gonna stop blaming you for all the bad things that happened to May and calm down. I feel like whiny GRR Martin fans after watching/reading the Red Wedding.

This sentence kind of confused me, b/c he was close enough to slap her, so he doesn't really have room to stalk and also I don't know what ripped off means "May’s eyes widened as he ripped off a knife and stalked to her. "

[Gosia]

That was the reaction I wanted. I'm glad that the plot surprises you.
I loved how you called the demons evil douchebags, I laughed so hard! You're absolutely right about them being douchebags. May is surely having a hard time out there, but I'm not going to give her a break! Hell no, I'll make it worse for her.
Anyway, I uploaded a few new chapters, so if you feel a sudden desire to read and review...