Darien had left early in the morning. He let jack sleep in his still warm spot on his bed. He headed off to work without a word. the days were getting more chilly. Darien was going to have to find a better way to keep jack warm.
Elemus didn’t bother Darien today. in fact, Darien hadn’t even seen the magi yet. He was able to do all of his work without any bother. He ran through as fast as he could, knowing that Elemus might come at any moment and corner him.
He didn’t know what Elemus was willing to do, but he was very uneasy about the idea. Elemus had proved that he was hostile, he had shown that he was willing to hurt. Darien didn’t want to see how far the man was willing to go.
Today had gone fast and there wasn’t any reason for Darien to stay longer so he closed everything up and started heading out.
“Darien!”
He turned, seeing James running to him. Darien smiled. “hey James.”
“I didn’t think that you would come back to work so soon,” James said. “has Elemus spoke to you at all?”
Darien bit his lip, looking up. “I guess you could say that…”
James immediately lost his smile. “what did he do?”
“come on, ill tell you on the way home,” Darien insisted, waving for him to follow..
“I still have to get everything cleaned up,” he shook his head. “but when I get off, ill meet you at your house. Sound good?”
Darien nodded, waving to him and parting. He walked home, enjoying the quiet. everything was so still and silent.
Darien felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck. He had the feeling that someone was watching him. he looked around uneasy, but didn’t see anyone. He carefully started walking again, but the feeling did not go away.
When Darien could see his home, he sighed with relief. He turned back one last time, then something caught his eye.
There was a hellhound glaring at him. the moment he looked at it, it slinked behind another house.
That was Elemus’ hellhound.
Darien got inside, slamming the door and locking it. He charged up the steps and into his room. jack had been resting in the sunspot on his bed, but the cobra had risen form the commotion.
“what is the rush?” he asked.
“Elemus had his dogs following me,” he said quickly. “he might be here any second!”
Jack frowned. “what are we going to do?”
Darien grabbed his hair in anguish, looking around. He let out a breath, extending his hand down to him. “come on. I have to get you out of here.”
“if he catches you with me-“
“jack, come on!” Darien snapped.
Jack looked at him, then started slithering up Dariens arm and into his sleeve. He wrapped himself around his torso, tightening his coils.
“you must trust me. do you understand?” Darien whispered.
“do I have a choice?”
“stop saying that and let me help. Do as I tell you or we are both going to be in some serious trouble.”
Jack didn’t answer. Darien walked out of his house, carefully looking around. He could feel eyes on him again and he let out a breath, walking to the keep.
There were times when he could hear the hounds footsteps around him now. There were defiantly 2 of them, slowly circling him. he could feel jack tightening around him and he swallowed hard.
“Darien!”
Darien shot around, seeing James running to him. he let out a breath of relief, walking to him.
“there you are. You haven’t changed yet?” James asked. Both of them were wearing the servants clothing.
“James, did you finally finish that project that you had been working on?” Darien asked quietly.
“what? My new dining room table? Yep! Sure did. Built it all by hand. It looks great to! Wana go see it?”
“congratulations!” Darien exclaimed, holding up his hand for James to shake. James looked at him suspicious, wondering if this was some sort of a trick. He slowly brought his hand up and Darien grabbed his wrist tight, so neither of there skin was showing.
“relax and don’t panic,” Darien whispered. “I will meet you at your house later. I will explain everything then.”
“what?” he frowned.
Darien nudged his own side, hitting jack. Jack didn’t move for a moment, then slowly slid down Dariens arm and carefully moving over to James.
James froze, stiffening. His eyes were wide as the snake slowly moved into his clothes.
“just be careful.” Darien whispered, feeling jacks tail finally leave the sleeve. James was very rigid, eyes wide. He carefully pulled away, moving as though he had a board to his back.
“meet you at your house later!” Darien called loudly, walking away.
James finally made it out of his view and Darien sighed with relief. He turned to start heading home when he was faced with two hellhounds.
They were 6 feet in front of him, growling deeply. Darien backed against a wall, eyes wide.
“down!” he snapped.
“they wont listen to you,” a voice whispered. Darien turned, seeing Elemus walking up to him. he grinned darkly and the hounds didn’t move.
Darien was trapped.
“what do you want?!” Darien demanded.
“it seems that your house does not contain the snake. The only explanation is that you have it on your person.”
“why the hell would I carry a snake?! I would die!”
Elemus lifted his hand and Darien froze, unable to move. He grunted, trying to scream, but nothing came out. Elemus ripped off his tunic, leaving him in nothing but his pants. Darien looked at him, scared.
Elemus’ face dropped. He looked as though he couldn’t believe his eyes. he looked back at Darien, glaring.
“were is he?” he hissed.
Darien couldn’t answer.
“I will find him!” Elemus exclaimed. “you cant hide him forever! Don’t you see what you are doing?!”
Darien ground his teeth, feeling the pressure on his body finally release. Without a word, Elemus walked away, the hounds following.
“you bastard!” Darien chocked. He stood up, using the wall for support as he slipped his tunic back on. he let out a low breath, looking at the sky.
How long could he hide jack if Elemus just followed him all day?
Darien carefully walked to James house. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, making sure that Elemus wasn’t following. He didn’t have the feeling of being watched anymore. He got to James front door, carefully walking inside.
“James?” Darien called.
“up here,” James responded.
Darien looked up, running quickly to the stairs and to his bedroom. He pushed open the door, looking in.
James was sitting by the door, very stiff.
“where is he?” Darien asked in a panic.
“under my bed,” he muttered, still stiff. He seemed in shock, completely scared. Darien ran to the bed, dropping to his knees to look under. Jack was curled there, glaring. Darien sighed with relief, reaching under and pulling him out.
“Elemus searched me,” he said quietly to jack. “he said that he looked in my house for you. If you had been there or on me, he would have found you.”
Jack straightened in surprise. Darien turned to James. “are you alright?”
“I just had a cobra wrapped around my chest,” he said quietly. “it was a little…. Shocking.”
“he's really cold,” Darien muttered, feeling jack. “did he hurt you or anything?”
James shook his head, looking at jack in his hands. “how can you just hold him like that?”
Darien shrugged a little. “I just do. Did you hear him talk?”
“no. he has never said a word around me.”
Darien sighed, looking at jack. The cobra just stared back, flicking his forked tongue out. Darien sat next to James, setting jack down on his lap.
“I want to get him back home,” Darien said, putting his hand over jack to try to warm him up.
“well alright, I can walk with you if you want…?”
“no, I mean his home,” Darien shook his head. “in the jungle of raza.”
“how are you going to get him there?” James frowned.
“I don’t know yet,” he shook his head. He looked down at jack, the cobra looked back at him. “but I promised.”
James sighed deeply, rubbing his head. “you’ve gotten yourself into quiet a mess, haven’t you?”
“you’re the one that dared me to go into the room and steal something,” Darien accused.
“I did not!” James snapped. “I was joking! You’re the one who took it seriously!”
“you should know better then to challenge me!” Darien smiled.
James rolled his eyes, looking at the wall. They were both silent for a moment, then James turned back.
“what if we could get a magi to help?” he asked.
Darien made a face. “how could any of them help? If anything, they would just try to take jack themselves!”
“Darien, not all magi are like that. you have to know that. maybe you could get someone to take you with them to the jungle?”
Darien sighed, looking away. “there has to be another way…”
“is there any magi that you can actually stand?” James asked, shrugging. “is there anyone that you are willing to work with.”
Darien looked at jack. He sat up, glaring back.
“April,” he muttered. “her and her naga companion.”
James looked down at jack to. “is he going to accept the help?”
Darien glared at him, jack sighed, shaking his head. “do I have a choice?”
James jumped back, eyes wide. Jack and Darien looked at him, frowning.
“he spoke!”
Darien frowned, “I told you he could.”
He shook, eyes still wide. “i… I didn’t really-“
“believe me?”
James only swallowed, slowly coming back to his side. Jack looked him down, then looked at Darien.
“so tomorrow, I'm going to ask the naga,” Darien said quietly. “I think I'm going to have to tell him everything and expose you.”
Jack didn’t respond. He only lied back down.
