Chapter 2

Chapter two

The soothing sound of a deep voice brought me back to reality. My heavy eyes sluggishly opened and the first thing I noticed was the throbbing headache and the desire for water or any form of liquid.

"Hey." The voice repeated again looking towards the corner of my eye I saw a figure carefully approaching me.

Then it dawned on me everything that occurred the last time I was awake, the flashbacks held me immobilized in my body. Who exactly was this person? And how did he know my name?

On the spur of the moment I ascended out of what was a rocky bed and lunged for my jagged, silver knife that was hid in the secret pocket of my coat, that currently was tossed to the side of the bare floor. If he tried anything, I guess I had to be to one to end his life.

I used this for emergency only and I guess this would classify as one.

I looked up to see the startled look of the person in front of me, my vision was still blurry but being in the light definitely helped me see his features better. His arms shot up defensively, I guess he wasn't expecting that to be in my possession. Maybe he didn't really see me with that or maybe he was as shocked as I was at my sudden gesture. "Hey, Alexis. I'm on your side, I'm here to help you."

"But how do I know that? How do I know you're not with the military? Or part of human trafficking of some sorts."

He frowned, the very action crimping his features. "Why do you think I'd ever let anything bad happen to you? You need to trust me."

"I don't even know you."

"But you know that I saved you from that Unknown. You know that without me you would have been the next meal. You know that." Intentionally, his eyes locked with mine, peering into them, looking for answers to questions. "You trusting me, is the difference between life and death. I don't want you doing anything stupid out in the field. I'm not worried for myself, but for you."

The pressure in his gaze only confirmed it. Yet, I knew that putting your trust in people, in these times wasn't exactly convenient, that meant if they wanted to hurt you, make you suffer. They could do. "How did we get here?" Wherever here was. In the distance was the faint sound of crashing waves, but it couldn't be possible to be near a river or in a bed. We were just in middle of a forest. That would defy physics.

"Location shift." Once again the words rolled casually out his mouth.

Still, I didn't know what that meant and since I was the one currently yielding the weapon, I knew it would be wise for him to answer my questions. Yet, it seemed like he was unfazed by that fact, almost trying to make me feel comfortable. "Care to explain to me what that is?"

"It's pretty self-explanatory. Three chances. Shift your location to your liking. But I'm an agent my numbers are limited." Agent?

"Limited to how many?"

"Just two."

"A week? A month?"

"Ten years. We're trained not to be dependent on it, if a situation arose that getting out from is difficult, we're required to know how to think on our feet, not relying on the technology handed to us."

"Well then, who do you work for? You said you were some sort of agent."

His lips tugged in the corner, pulling up into a smirk. "You caught onto that? Yeah, I work for an organisation." That was it, no emphasises, not extra information or anything. How did he expect me to trust him, when he couldn't even trust me with certain details of his life.

"For military? Or?"

"Definitely, not military. Although we have our own branch, but no."

"Then what?" I pressed further, trying to pressure him into revealing more about himself, it would work to my advantage if I knew more details in his life. I could possibly figure out what he could want with me. "How do you expect me to trust you, if you can't trust me?"

The other side of his mouth, pulled up, evened it into a smile. But, by far the most beautiful smile that I had ever seen.

"Alexis, I assure you that you have my utmost trust. But for now, anything that I share with you can put you at risk. And I'm not entirely sure how you'll react. Personally, I think it's best to not reveal everything for your sake, it might be too much to handle."

"What do you mean? If you're an agent, were you sent to retrieve me or something? Because that's an odd place to run into each other at a very odd time. I guess my excuse is liable, but yours. Well, I don't know yours."

His smile only deepened, I guess it was somewhat funny to see me challenging him. "If you must really know. Then yes, I was sent to bring you, safely."

"What for?"

His mouth parted, proceeding to say something but decided against it, shutting it close. "I'm sorry, I know all of this must be daunting and strange to you. But just know, that you're safe with me. When the time comes, I'll tell you all you need to know. For now, just rest."

I trailed off lowering my voice still holding the knife out in front of me and I was prepared and not afraid to use it. "I don't know you. I don't even know your name. And I have no clue where I am and all your telling me is I'm safe with you?

"My name is Isaiah Patriot. Even though I know you're not going to use that on me, you need to put it down and avoid hurting yourself."

I could feel my features strain into a frown. I was tired of people thinking I was weak and in need of their protection all the time, I could fend for myself just as well as a grown man. "What, do you think I'm incompetence? Or just weak?" Clutching my head the throbbing was getting worst, my eyesight was clearing but the sound of the thumping waves weren't helping either. "Where am I?"

"How could I ever think that? It's just the position that hilt is being held, if someone wanted to attack you it's easier to grab and turn it until you instead. Here, let me show you." Cautiously, he approached me, holding a hand up to let me know that nothing was going to happen. His hands wrapped around, the heat encompass around, he clutched them tighter, dragging them up higher. "That how you're supposed to hold it. Then it'll really give you the advantage, they'll be less likely to challenge you for it and you'll be far more in a better position." Why was he even helping me? I was just his mission that needed to be delivered. Nothing more, nothing less. "We're off by the coast, since you asked."

That meant it would probably be secluded,  if he wasn't delusional and we genuinely 'location shifted' that meant it would be easier for him to kill and dispose of my body. I just hope that my faith in him wasn't misplaced.

"Do you know which coast?"

He shook his head. "Should I?"

"Then how does the location shift work? Surely, you'd have to put in where you're heading or something."

His smirk made a reappearance. "You're smart. Yes, it does. You put in where you want to go but there's really no telling if it wanted to choose randomly or not."

"So, where did you choose? Your destination?" If I was meant to trust him with my life, anything that I could receive about him would be increasingly helpful.

A eyebrow of his shifted upwards. "Why does that matter?"

"You did say that I had to trust you. Just humour me, where?"

"Kensington. It's far from the Unknown and the soldiers tend to leave the well off places alone." I guess now, it made more sense.

There was a long pause and to be honest, he looked terrible; his shirt was thorn and his pants were covered in mud and green leaves. Obviously, our little excision last night did that. But if he looked like that, then what do I look like?

"Do you want some breakfast?"

I looked up, he seemed calm and composed, like for him there was nothing to worry about. "You know I could kill you." Still wielding the knife, standing up I inched closer, anticipating his reaction but that same state of his never left. "With this knife. Right here, right now. And no one will know."

He crossed his arms, watching me with an amused glint in his eyes." Funny, I swear that's what you were thinking I'd do to you, right? But, I know you won't use to that. You may be many things, but a killer definitely isn't one of them." I couldn't tell what he meant by that statement, but I didn't want to push further. He was right, I don't think I could ever go to the extent of actually killing someone, in spite of what happened to me, I didn't want spilled blood on my hands.

My head quickly turned from the throbbing pain to someone repeatedly stabbing my skull pain making me lose my footing and stumble backwards and for a fraction of a second my vision blanked and the cold metal that I once felt in my hand was quickly gone.