The sun was well and up and casting its bright yellow rays on the land by the time that Leander and Guinevere began making their way down from the high ground, away from the cliff where they both stood earlier, talking, on the other side of the river.
Guinevere could hardly believe what was going on and was just about as excited as a kid receiving a present, so much that she could hardly hide it. Finally, she had found the person that she had been diligently looking for for days now, the man who rescued her, saving her life a few days ago, and boy, was he handsome! He was worth every bit of the trouble she went through to find him, she told herself.
"Uhmm... where are we going again? I thought you agreed that you were going to show me where you live." Guinevere spoke up as she trailed the man leading the way in front of her.
"Yes, that is correct." Leander responded.
"Then why are we heading this way?" She asked again, bemused.
After managing to draw him out by attempting to jump off a cliff, Guinevere had finally thanked him for saving her life days ago. But that wasn't enough for her. After knowing his name, Guinevere had insisted on getting to know more about who he is, starting from where he lived. Amidst her persistency, Leander finally caved and agreed to show her.
"Because, Guinevere, my home is actually this way." He replied to Guinevere.
"Your home... your home is in the woods?!" Guinevere repeated in disbelief. In response to that, Leander said nothing. He simply kept on walking, and Guinevere followed.
They both made their way to the edge of the woods, and then Leander led the way down narrow pathway that led in. After walking some distance, he took a turn to the right and headed down a smaller, obscure, almost invisible path. Guinevere recognized this place from that day when she almost drowned at the river. Taking a quick glance to the left, she spotted the sycamore tree that she had taken shelter under when it had suddenly begun raining.
After walking a few metres through the bushes down this path, they came to a small house standing by itself in the middle of the woods. Leander walked up the front steps to the veranda of the house, stood there and then announced:
"Well, you wanted to see where I live? This is where I live, Miss Guinevere."
Guinevere stood outside the house for a moment, staring at it wide-eyed. Turns out, she had been there before. This was the house that she came to that fateful day when she was looking for shelter from the rain!
"This is your house?!" Guinevere suddenly asked, almost like she didn't hear when he said it the first time.
"Yes, it is. Any problem?" Came Leander's response.
"I've been here before!" She revealed.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I came here the day when I almost drowned at the river. I was looking for shelter when the rain began, and I ended up here." She explained.
Leander chuckled. Then he muttered: "I know."
"What?" Came Guinevere, confused.
"I know you've been here before. I was home that day and saw you come here for shelter from the inside." He revealed to her. Guinevere was shocked.
"I had absolutely no idea that anyone was in the house that day. As a matter of fact, I doubted that anyone lived here, in a cottage in the middle of the woods, all by himself!"
"Well, you thought wrong."
"I see. Ouhh, that explains why somehow, you were around that day and you came to my rescue! I been wondering where you might have come from that day, because it seem to me like you came from nowhere." Guinevere suddenly realized.
"Yeah I guess..."
"But wait, I still don't get it." Guinevere spoke once again, interrupting Leander mid-statement. "You said you were at home that day right? It was raining. But somehow, from here, you knew I was in danger. I don't get it. From all the way out here, you heard my call for help and then somehow, you get there in time to save my life? Is that even possible? I mean, the distance from here to the river is more than a kilometre, nearly two in fact. How did you hear me? How did you even get there in time to..."
"Okay okay, Miss Guinevere, slow down, that's a lot of questions. Besides, that's quite irrelevant at this point. What's past is past, there's no use dwelling over it." Leander cut in and stopped her.
Guinevere paused for a brief moment and stared at him for a few seconds. She had a whole lot of questions about him in mind that needed answering. It seemed like the more time she spent with him, the more questions she had about him. Well, now that she was here with him, she had better start asking those questions. Particularly the ones that were first and foremost in her mind, she said to herself.
"Fine, I'll ask the relevant questions then. But please, before I go on, can you please stop calling me Miss Guinevere? Guinevere is okay, Leander." She communicated when she finally spoke up, to which Leander nodded in acknowledgement.
"First off, why do you stay all the way out here in the woods by yourself, alone? I mean, it's absurd, you're the only person I know who does that. Why don't you stay in town like the rest of us?"
"How could you tell that I stay here alone?"
"Because I can't imagine anyone else staying all the way out here with you. I mean, it seemed quite obvious. Or by any chance, am I wrong? Is there anyone staying here with you? Perhaps a friend, or a brother... or perhaps, a wife?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow as she mentioned the word 'wife'.
"You're not wrong. I do live here alone, by myself." He confirmed.
"Then why? I can't figure it out yet. Hell, I had assumed that no one lived here initially, but for the fact that this place was well kept."
"Well, I stay here because it is away from everyone and everything else. I actually enjoy being here by myself, away from everything." He explained.
"And why's that? What's wrong with staying in the midst of everyone else?" Guinevere inquired, still very much puzzled.
"Nothing really, I simply prefer to stay here by myself. I guess you can say that I am very much a reclusive person. Also, I appreciate being at one with nature. I feel best when I'm here." He explained.
"So...no other reasons?"
"Look, I'll be honest with you, there are other major reasons why, reasons that I'd like to keep to myself, if you don't mind."
"I see. Alright then." She said. She didn't want to annoy him by delving further in into the topic, preferring to leave it at that. Instead, she switched to another topic.
"So what about your relatives? Your parents, to begin with. Where are they? In town, I presume?"
"I have no parents." He said.
"Huh?" Guinevere suddenly let out, staring back up at him once more.
"I have no parents. They're dead."
"Ohh. Damn. Okay, siblings then? Brother? Sister?" She pressed further.
"None. They're dead too." Leander stated while looking back at her, coldly, expressionlessly.
"Oh my heavens, I am so sorry to hear this. I really am." She suddenly expressed, drawing closer to him. Her mood changed instantly, with her forehead creasing and her expression being one of pity and concern. She could hardly believe what she had just heard, and felt really bad for him.
"It's okay, don't be." Came his monotonic reply once more.
"No it's not okay, it's devastating. How did this happen, if I may ask? What happened to them?" She enquired.
"Once again, I prefer to not talk about it." He simply said.
"Oh. I see. I think I understand that. I personally lost my mother a couple of years back, and although I feel very comfortable talking about it, there are times when I prefer to just not talk about it." Guinevere expressed, trying to relate as best as she could.
"I'm sorry about your mother." He uttered, turning to face her once more after a brief pause.
"Oh it's alright, I don't even know why I mentioned it..." She replied, chuckling a bit and looking away. Then she looked back and added: "Thank you."
He simply nodded in acknowledgement, then looked away once more into the woods.
"Okay uhmm, how about close friends, maybe? Anyone around?"
"None. I have no friends." He said, much to her bewilderment. But she made no comment about it.
For a brief moment, Guinevere kept her eyes on him. A lot of questions ran through her mind about this man. Who really was Leander, she wondered. Why does he really stay out here by himself, away from civilization? What happened to his family? Why does he not have any friends? What sort of lonesome life was this man living? All these questions ran through her mind in quick succession.
"Why is he so reluctant to tell me certain things about himself? Why is he hiding quite a lot from me? Yes, I know that we barely just met and we are basically still strangers to each other, so he won't just open up to me and all, but still, it seems like he's hiding a lot. What is he hiding? He seems like he's gone through quite a lot..."
"Why do you continue to stare at me, Guinevere?" Leander's voice suddenly came through, interrupting and snapping her out of her thoughts instantly. He glanced at her, his amber coloured eyes seeming to glow brightly as the sun's rays hit them. The breeze blew his long, untied hair backwards, letting it fly behind him as he looked straight at her. At that, Guinevere's face reddened.
"W-What? No I wasn't... I didn't... I wasn't staring at you!" She stammered while blurting out, slightly embarrassed. That was when she realized that she had indeed been staring at him.
They proceeded to talk some more, with Guinevere asking some of the questions she had in mind and Leander answering them. To a few, he answered quite openly, to others, he give a straight, blunt answer while withholding the details. To some, he chose not to answer at all. It was quite obvious that he was holding a lot of details about him from her. For starters, the man had not even invited her into his house yet — they were conversing at the veranda. It made her wonder about him all the more. Regardless, she let the sleeping dog lie, for then. If there was one thing she was sure of, she was going to get to know more about him, gradually. Not long after that, Guinevere finally decided it was time for her to leave.
"It was a pleasure to finally meet you today, Leander. I appreciate the fact that I was finally able to meet you and talk with you today. I hope we will be able to see each other again and have more opportunities to talk. To be honest, I was quite shocked and in disbelief when you told me you have no friends. Actually I still am. So if that is true, I am hoping that I would be able to be your first friend." Guinevere expressed as she was about to leave.
However, Leander surprised her by letting out a chuckle in response. It wasn't a regular light-hearted chuckle. Rather, it was a dark, deep, devilish sounding chuckle, almost like he snickered. Just as he did, he uttered the words: "Yeah no, not happening."
"What's not happening?" She asked him, looking lost.
"We are not going to have more opportunities to talk, there won't be a next time. And we are definitely not going to be friends either." Leander stated, the smile he had on moments ago disappearing in an instant. A serious, stern looking face followed.
"And why's that?" Guinevere went on to question.
"Look here, Guinevere!" He suddenly began, grabbing Guinevere's arm, drawing her closer to himself and looking her straight in the eyes. "Stay away from me, alright? Don't come looking for me again after this. You may have found me and spoken to me today, but there won't be a next time. Forget about me, in fact, forget you ever met me. For your own good, stay away from me!" He ordered her plainly.
Guinevere was completely taken aback by his actions and the sudden twist his demeanor and expression had taken. He now appeared fierce and wild as he spoke to her. Only a few inches separated her from his imposing self now. Unable to even utter a word, she nodded quickly as she stared back at Leander, eyes wide open in fear and surprise.
"As you leave this place, do not come back, for your good, as well as mine. Do you hear me?"
She nodded quickly once more, breathing heavily. Her chest heaved up and down and she was still unable to speak. There was something about this man, something intense, something uncanny, something wild... and hot.
Slowly, he let go of her arm. Once he did, Guinevere slowly began to back out of the house. She got back on the track that led to this place and began disappearing into the woods, away from Leander's view. But before she did, she turned around to take one last glance at him.
He had not moved from the spot in which he stood. He remained standing there, watching her with those bright eyes of his.