Time had passed, and Gilbert had chosen to sift through my belongings. He wandered in and out of the room, adjusting his flame every so often to get a good look at the objects scattered around. He opened a trunk at the foot of my bed– heaven knows how since it was locked– and opened my files, searching through them, eying every word he saw.

"You know," he began, shutting the trunk and now walking towards my closet. "There is a few things in here I suggest you pack up. A few changes of clothes, your book, and any other books if you have any, and some of the medicine you have in the kitchen-"

"Why?"

He stopped shuffling through my clothes for a second to give me a sideways glance, but he continued after, not saying anything.

"God damnit, you broke into my house and got me accused for something that you did! I think I deserve to know what you're plotting-"

"You're moving out of here. And you're moving 6:30 AM sharp in the morning. Pack what you want and need. It's 10:22, and I suggest you get packed before midnight. Where we're going, you're going to need more sleep than I do."

I glared, slowly rising from the bed. He continued to look through my clothes, acting like he hadn't said anything, like he couldn't see me walking up to him, like he couldn't feel me grip his shoulder as tightly as I possibly could.

"I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me where the hell I am going."

"I may have to use force."

"Who says I won't struggle?"

"My rope and my gag."

I punched his shoulder.

"Like hell I'm going to let you tie me up! Just tell me where I'm going!"

He slammed the closet shut and gripped my shoulders, forcing me against the wall. His grip was definitely stronger than mine, and I shivered, suddenly terrified of this man's overwhelming strength.

"I can't..." He seemed to be struggling from the inside, and he bit his lip, eyes casted down as he fought over what to say. "I just- I can't. Okay? I just can't. Not yet. Not here." He shook his head, leaning forward. "Please, just... We- I!... I need you..."

I was confused, and I rested a hand on one of his arms. He looked at me, and I sighed, seeing the desperation in his eyes. I couldn't possibly say no, now.

"Fine... But there better not be any blood or tragedy on the journey, alright? I hate that mushy crap."

He lightened up like fireworks, almost how a kid would when gifted a Birthday present, and went on his way to going through my stuff again. Now he was crouched down, hand nudging under my bed, where I kept all the treasure I'd find in the meadow, around the medicine cabin.

"Hey, where do you find these," he began, inspecting my small container full of gems. "These... these things?"

"They're gems." I chuckled and crouched down with him. "And they are usually meant to be underground. A long time ago, people would dig underground and create man-made caves called mines, and these mines were meant for workers to dig out all kinds of pretty things and good material. They're not common now. Now we usually just recycle broken tools into new ones."

I took the container and opened it.

"These gems are a special collection of mine. They're birthstones, or, at least that's what my readings have informed me. My birthstone is..." Fingering through the jar, I gently took out a multi-colored, bright gem, handing it to Gilbert to inspect. "This one is called opal. It's really classified as a mineraloid, but my book was really old, so it probably wasn't a hundred percent correct."

Gilbert rolled it around in his palm, rubbed it between his fingers, getting a feel of it. "Are you taking this with you?"

"I don't really need it," I said, taking it back and closing it within the jar. "Gems aren't really useful. They're just pretty. Well, they're not useful when they're so small. But if they were bigger, they would make good material for weapons and tools. Small ones are just meant for jewelry, really."

"Keep it. Take it with us."

I looked at him questioningly, but nevertheless went to get my backpack and sling-over, taking the jar with me.

"Is the reason to this whole kidnapping thing is that I know where all this old junk is? And that I can do... Whatever the hell all that darkness is?"

"Well, I can't really tell you much yet, but that's the general idea." Gilbert was then shuffling through small discs, holding the flame close to it. "And it's not kidnapping if you're coming willingly."

"Technically, you threatened me, which means I had no choice to begin with. This is kidnapping. It's just being carried out a lot more calmly than most. Hey!" I slapped his searing hand away from the disc. "Stop it, you'll melt it."

He silently obeyed, putting the disk down and moving on to the candles. I humphed in satisfaction over getting him to obey, and stuffed the jar into the backpack.

As I began packing clothes, I looked over my shoulder to see what he could be nosing through every once and a while, and I would explain to him what was there and what wasn't true, and what I had read and what I believed to be false. His curiosity perplexed me to no end, and I wondered; Where have I seen this before?

When 6:30 came along, I had been shaken awake by big hands, ones that reminded me of something I couldn't quite put my finger on. However, it all came back to me, and I looked up, expecting Gilbert to be the one ruining my slumber, but I jumped back into the headboard when I discovered that no, it was not Gilbert. It was Frederick. And Gilbert was right behind him, carrying bags full of things that I was sure I hadn't packed. In fact, I was sure I didn't pack more than one backpack.

"Rise and shine, kiddo. We're moving out now."

I stared at Frederick, feeling betrayed, and I kicked off my duvet, gripped my temples, and hunched over the edge of my bed.

"Get out... Just- Ugh! Let me take a quick shower, put some clothes on, and we'll go, okay?"

Frederick seemed surprised by my tone of voice, and he gave a mean glare to Gilbert, who shrunk back in embarrassment. They turned around to leave, and before Frederick closed the door, he took a quick glance at me, and it definitely did not go unnoticed.

Stretching my limbs, I went to look out the curtains, noticing that it was still dark outside, and I had to remind myself that it was winter, which is hard to ever cope for me, since it's always summer or spring. Winter here is nothing like it is in my books.

I decided I best be hurrying up, and I took my quick shower and put on some white shorts and a red t-shirt. When I went out of the room, Gilbert looked at me up and down, and the same arrogant smirk from the first time we met came along. I glared at him, suddenly feeling hatred boil up in my core.

"Frederick, who exactly is the imbecile and why is he with you? He clearly isn't related to you."

"Look here, pal," Gilbert poked my chest. "If you have a problem with me having white hair and red eyes, well you've got another-"

"What the hell are you talking about? I didn't say shit about your hair or eyes. I couldn't possibly care less about how you look! It's your damn inconsistent attitude!"

Gilbert stepped back, seemingly confused for a moment, before he backed off behind Frederick, who was apparently smiling throughout the whole conversation.

"I see you two get along."

"Like hell I get along with my kidnapper."

"Kidnapper?" Frederick looked puzzled, then he went to glare at Gilbert. "You didn't tell him shit, did you?"

"Wha!" Gilbert seemed very offended. "Woah woah woah, Duchess said I wasn't supposed to say anything! Why are you getting mad-"

"Why the hell did you listen to Duchess?!"

"Hey! I'm supposed to listen to my elders!"

I was now broiling in disgust, looking between Frederick and Gilbert as they argued stupidly, talking about people that I, in the past few days, thought I could trust.

"So let me get this straight," I said, interrupting their conversation quite easily. "You're telling me that the only people I trust— the innkeeper, the elder travelers, and the waiter at the local Spanish restaurant— they're all in on this?!"

Frederick paused, seemingly realizing something, and sighed. "Roderich, we aren't trying to kidnap you. We just need your help. You can return to your normal life after-"

"Don't lie to me. Don't you dare think you can lie to me."

I rubbed my temples.

"Don't say that mushy shit about everyone having a happy ending, I don't want to hear those false stories that all these lights talk about all the time. It's unrealistic. It doesn't happen— shouldn't happen. It's unnatural, and you know that."

I take in a deep breath, calming my nerves. Now controlled, I look at Gilbert, then to Frederick, and back to Gilbert, deciding that he probably wouldn't lie to me like I was a guy younger and more innocent than himself.

"So don't lie to me. Give me the straight up truth. What is going to happen?"

Gilbert immediately opened his mouth to reply, but Frederick blocked his mouth, shaking his head.

"Listen here, Shadow. There is a time and place for everything, and right now, it's not the time or place for us to talk about this. You must remember that we are in the middle of town, and now that they have valid reason, they might have already set up cameras, and those cameras might be recording everything we are saying. The guards wouldn't be awake right now, but they will later, so we need to leave as soon as possible."

"They couldn't possibly have set up cameras with me and Gilbert in the hou-"

"Don't underestimate them," Gilbert said, biting his lip, possibly trying to contain anything that could give me some clue about what this is all about. "Don't underestimate their technology. It's more advanced than you believe."

I gave him a funny look, but decided I should just forget about it for now.

"Fine. Let's go. But once we're out of here, I'm not letting either of you two to back out of anything I have to ask or say, got it?"

They both nodded, yet it didn't really seem trustworthy, so I continued to glare, as we walked outside, as we passed the restaurant and inn, as we walked through the meadow, as we entered the thick woods, and so on. I continued to glare daggers into the back of their heads, making sure of it that it was so dark that they would feel the holes I burned into them for weeks. Making sure that they could feel my anger and distrust and disgust.

And it wasn't that damn hard to be angry at them the whole way. They kept making sharp turns, apparent trying to 'throw the council off their trail,' and we went under tunnels and through holed trees, and I was sure that I had no idea where we came from and where to get out is anymore.

God forbid I kill them before we get out.

So, yeah. This took longer because I had to sort out some things in my life. My dog is sick, my mum quit her job since her boss was an ass to her just because she was literally one minute late, and my dad is telling me that we are going to move. Again. To the OC. Orange County. Oh thank goodness, it's so much nicer there than it is here. Oh, did I mention I'm falling in love with more techno music? I think today's society is polluting my Vera Lynn and Cab Calloway heart.