"Hmmm…" Duncan looked confused for a second then smiled at Sierra who looked scared from what happened. She was someone who cared about details and she didn't hear him breathe. "What made you think that?"
"I never found the door closed before," her voice became a whisper like her conviction that started to falter. She was confident he did it but the way he spoke made her realize he didn't have any reason to do it. "Maybe, you were hired by Alicia to prank me. Oh my God! I forgot. No one talks to you besides me. But still, it's strange!"
She hesitated. He was different from what she saw him a day ago. However, this made her refute more the sense of foreboding engulfing her, becoming braver like an idiot, then her hand moved to his nose, checking if he was breathing. She was relieved when she felt the air getting in and out of his nose.
"What's more strange is your attitude? Are you worried I am sick? I am flattered," he walked backward towards the fence where he met her. "What will we do today? Don't treat me to your lunch please… I just had my breakfast."
"What gave you that impression? You refused the last time so I won't ever ask you for it," she followed him as he climbed the fence to the other side where she used to sit, barely understanding his motives for coming again. He was a condemned and most condemned don't involve themselves with others.
"I see," Duncan offered her his hand helping her get over the roof. He decided he wouldn't leave her alone, fighting those dark thoughts and struggling endlessly. It was torture and he was once like that until he accepted his fate. As she glanced towards the door checking if Alicia's minions were behind her, he let out a chuckle. "Don't worry! There is no one behind us."
"How are so confident about it? Do you know something I don't do? You don't know them. They are like cockroaches, when you think you finally stepped on one; the other folds its wings and flies towards you. It's creepy," she shivered and wrapped her around her dramatically.
Taking one last breath, I walked following the small part of the ground on the other side of the fence following him. She figured he was going somewhere and she didn't want to stay in that place either. Step after the other, walking like cats on top of the building, Sierra forced her eyes to stay on the boy in front of her. Something about him told her to run away, to turn her steps and hurry to the place she was used to sitting down in and spend her entire free time in it.
However, a desperate part of her wanted her to go outside of him and relive what she felt with her teacher. It didn't seem to work; she was soon reminded of why he died and she turned her back on Duncan. The intelligent part of her brain told her to keep herself inside the rules; no one wanted to suffer the grief of the guillotine, no one wanted to dance a dance without a floor.
Her mind wandered to a dream she used to dream when she was young; she wanted to be a hero, like the ones her father used to read for her before bedtime sleep. She dreamt about keeping her loved ones safe from harm. Strangely, her father read many books about heroes and when she grew up, she noticed the existence of princess stories. When she asked him why he didn't read me princess' stories, he said: "Wouldn't it be better to be a hero than a princess? A princess is only a tool for others to use, she is always living in a dream illusion cast upon her by her guardian… When a dream becomes too real, it transforms into a shackle like an anchor pulling down to the bottomless deep sea. Making it impossible to see the truth of some things."
The sky quickly turned gray and the hint of a storm appeared from afar. She learnt her lesson and it was a hint to not break rules any further than she did. If she escaped the verdict once, who guarantees it would happen again?
She tripped and almost fell but she caught the iron fence in a tight grip. She wanted a painless death but in these few moments, her eyes widened in shock; she realized she wasn't ready to die. Her brown eyes stared down, feeling dizzy. It was as if the sight in front of her zoomed and returned to the way it was. Her lips curved into a smile. It was crazy but she thought how it would feel if she was in mid-air. Would it be amazing?
A hand quickly grabbed her shoulders and straightened her body; Duncan smiled from ear to ear. "Why are you running away, silly?"
What wicked game was he playing? She didn't want to break the rules. He was a condemned so he must care about that as well. Why is he showing the slyest smile to her face like a joker? Duncan was aware of her trembling body so he didn't let her from his grasp. However, Sierra understood the opposite. She thought he was oblivious to it and almost let go of her.
"Please… Did being a condemned get to your head? Chills… I almost fell… I am fine. Leave me be. Don't you care about the rules? We can't do something bad. We will be punished."
"Please? Are you begging me to push you down? It would be such an experience," his grip tightened around her arm and he pulled her closer until she stabilized against the fence. "Fine. Now, I am letting you go," he retracted both hands and raised them in a surrendering manner, walking back.
Sierra's mouth gaped open and her eyes widened until the white was bigger than the brown part. She remembered very well the last time she felt so scared like terribly frightened and what she was feeling was similar to that. His eyes were confident he wouldn't fall. After all, he had vampire blood in his veins but she didn't know that.
She blinked. "What are you doing?" her voice was a soft whisper, begging him to stop acting like an idiot. Who didn't care about their lives? Even if he were a condemned, he had to keep safe. Sierra thought he was doing that to annoy so she climbed back the fence, turning her head away and ignoring what he was doing.
Duncan's eyes lost interest in what he was doing seeing going back. He wanted her to follow him to the wild part of the school, a part that was renowned for being haunted. Everyone was forbidden from reaching that place, even all the routes were shut down. He went to great lengths to search for a path that humans could cross but he was disappointed. He thought she was braver than she showed but he bought the bear fur before being hunted.
"Alright, can you stop your game?"
"What? You want to play a game," he moved in front of her with only the fence separating them.
"Stop, twisting my words," she rolled her eyes, annoyed.
"How about we play a game of truth?" his hand grabbed hers locking the finger between the cracks of the fence. "I saw something interesting yesterday. A certain girl sneaked outside to the forbidden forest. Do you know what kind of clothes she was wearing?"
If what he said was true then she was doomed. However, no one talked to the condemned but Alicia may do that. She had one of the toxic kindnesses existing on the planet. Noticing her silence and understand she was weighting her words, he spoke again. He sniffed the air loosening his grip over her hand.
"You are injured. Why?" he crooned.
"I see you are interested in someone and you need my help in that. Very well, but I don't know anything about girls despite being one. I am sorry of being of no help at all," Sierra waved her palms curving her mouth downward, showing she had no intention of biting the bait.
At the mention of the wound, she was reminded of how her mother dragged her downstairs. She must have been injured somehow on the way. She had to fight hard to not fall because of her mother's strength.
She didn't want to listen to him but what she did the previous was something that included breaking some rules. If she was sentenced to jail for a period of time, she would be tortured. However, that was what she thought. Usually, the humans who broke the rules were put in coffins in deep artificial sleep where they were tortured emotionally while vampires drew the blood from the veins. The prisoner was forced to give more blood than the usual dose.
He smirked. "Shall I take care of this for you? Since you didn't tend to it early, you might get infected and we don't want that."