Chapter 3: Hidden Features.

After another hour of complaining Logan had finally agreed to call it a night.

I watched him as he laid down on the ground using his bag as a pillow. He has got to be kidding; I am not sleeping on the muddy floor with worms and bugs.

He closed his eyes and interlocked his hands resting them on his stomach. How do people actually sleep like that? It was like he was pulling a sleeping beauty, all he needed was for seven little men to come out and start laying flowers around him.

“What are you waiting for?” He questioned putting a stop to my search search for the seven dwarves.

“I am not sleeping on the ground!”

“Well then have fun climbing a tree”

My faced drop. He had to be kidding right? I looked the tree next to me up and down there was no way I could actually climb the damn thing let alone sleep in one, what did he think I was a bat?

“This isn’t the hunger games buddy, people sleep in beds.” I protested crossing my arms over my chest.

“Then make one” out of what sticks? I didn’t sign up for any survival camp.

“There is bound to be a motel or something, we not that far from the main road”

“I thought you said your feet hurt?” What now he cares about my feet? I had the sudden urge to kick him in the face; it wouldn’t be hard since his face was a lined perfectly on the forest floor.

“They do but I’m going to sleep on the ground”

He sighed heavily before getting up and storming off towards the road. Why are guys so irritating?

“There see I told you there was a motel” I said pointing to the building in distance.

I started walking off in that general direction with Logan following close behind me. It took us another half an hour walk before we finally reached the damn motel. Pulling open the door we walked into the small room that according to the sign was the reception even though it smelled a lot like the rest room.

The man behind the counter was missing his front tooth; his bald head was like a reflective ball or a disco ball. He was rather plump and smelled worse than the room we were in. I stopped in the middle of the room and looked over at Logan, maybe I shouldn’t have argued about the muddy ground.

Logan walked up to the man narrowing his eyes, the man looked up and his eyes were captured by Logan’s.

“We need a room, two beds”

The man nodded his hand reaching behind him for a key but his eyes never left Logan’s. He passed Logan a key.

“Now forget out faces” he said taking the key and pushing me out of the door.

“You shouldn’t do that you know” I said falling into step next to him.

“What?”

“Compel people; it takes away people’s free will”

“So?”

“So it’s every ones right to have free will and you just go around taking it, it’s not right”

“But isn’t it my free will to compel people?”

“You’re impossible”

“No I exist therefore I am impossible I think the word you’re looking for is improbable” No it’s Jackass.

I followed him to the room numbered six or at least that’s what the key said since the number on the door was missing a screw and had turned upside down reading nine. He opened the door to the room; its two uncomfortable looking beds made me wish I’d taken the floor with the bugs.

There was a small old tv that still had a massive box attached to it. You had to be kidding me; this room was violating every health code imaginable.

“Still prefer a bed? Or is that tree looking really good right about now?” he said looking at me with a knowing smile.

I mimicked his question in a mocking tone and walked over to the bathroom on the other side of the room. There’ no door, what kind of bathroom has no door?

I walked in and had a look at the shower; it was probably the most bearable thing in this room if you ignore the spider in the top corner. But the shower had no door or shower curtain either, I really needed a shower and some clean clothes.

“Hey did you by any chance happen to bring my bag?”

“You mean that ugly purple thing?”

“It’s not ugly; my best friend bought it for me”

“Well in that case, no I didn’t bring it” Great, now what was I supposed to do?

“Do you have some clothes or something?”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“For me” asshole!

“I need a shower do you have something just for now please” I begged.

Rolling his eyes and breathing out a deep breath he fished in his bag and pulled out a jumper “Here” he chucked it at me.

“Great now, kill the spider in the shower and go for a long walk”

“Why?”

“Because I hate spiders and there’s no door, now get to it” I smiled sweetly at him.

He rolled his eyes again muttering something as he walked out of the room slamming the door behind him.

“What about the spider?!” I yelled after him. Damn it! What good was a guy if he couldn’t kill a spider?

I jumped in the shower enjoying the hot spray of water and scrubbed out all of the mud and dirt from my hair and skin, I even had a leaf in there, how it got there I will never know.

Getting out I quickly dried off with one of the towels and threw on Logan jumper, thank god he was tall or my butt would be hanging out. The top fell at my mid-thigh and was extremely comfortable; his minty smell lingered in the fibres of the material making me crave a mint chocolate cupcake.

My stomach started grumbling. Oh when was the last time I ate? Actually now that I think of it how long was I knocked out for?

Knock. Knock.

“Are you done yet?” Logan called from the other side of the door.

I thought of just ignoring him completely and pretend to still be in the shower for a little while longer but then I also wanted some answers.

“Yes, come in” I said drying my hair and looking around for the control to see if this tv worked which I doubted.

“Why do girls always take so long to shower? I was out there for like half an hour” It wasn’t half an hour, twenty minutes maybe but not half an hour surely.

“Well let’s see I was covered in mud and dirt with a leaf in my hair, half an hour was quick considering the circumstances”

“Whatever, what are you looking for?” He said walking over to the bed furthest from the window and laying down on the bed putting his arm over his eyes to block the light coming from the bedside lamp.

“The control”

“It doesn’t work”

“How do you know?”

“There’s a sign” he pointed out the window and sure enough there was a big sign that says ‘all TVs out of order.’

“Oh” I sat down on the bed closest to the window and stared at him momentarily.

I don’t understand why he abducted me, he clearly didn’t like my company, I was annoying the crap out of him – partly on purpose – and all he had to do to get a girl to go walking in the woods with him is ask her and maybe buy her a drink or two. So why did he take me?

“Can I ask a question?”

“No, but it’s not like that’s going to stop you”

“Why did you kidnap me?”

He went a little stiff before he sat up facing me. His eyes looked into mine; his brow creased a little as I failed to fall under his compulsion once again. That must be really annoying him.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” What? How do my eyes have anything to do with the question? I got up from the bed and walked back into the bathroom looking into the mirror I noticed my eyes looked a little puffy and red. Shit my contacts!

I pulled my eye open and grabbed out my contact lens. I probably got a piece of dirt in it when I was unconscious. Running them under the water to clean it I wrapped them in a tissue, I would give my eyes a rest tonight but if we were walking in the woods then I needed them in.

“That explains that” Logan said from his new position leaning up against the door frame.

“What explains what?”

“You can’t be compelled because you can’t see, and the lenses act as a barrier.”

“I can see, just not very well” My vision wasn’t that bad, it was just a little blurry when things were too close… or too far away, but anything in between were not too bad as long as I didn’t need to take note of detail.

“Sure”

“You didn’t answer the question.” I said crossing my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at him. I wasn’t letting him get away with this one.

“I was told too” he said with a shrug of his shoulders and walked back out in to the room and sat back down on the bed.

He was told too! If someone told me to seal a diamond does that give me a good enough reason to do it? No, so how is that a good enough answer!

“You were told too!”

“Yep” he said popping the p. How can he be so damn calm when I am about to blow my top?!

“By who?”

“Well it’s not really my place…”

“I swear I will gut you in your sleep if you don’t start talking” I interrupted him.

He got up from his place on the bed and walked over to his bag and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me.

“I was told I had to bring you back with me. That’s all you’re getting” oh my god he is so frustrating! I just wanted to hit him again and again with a wooden paddle until he came clean.

I opened the paper and saw my dating profile that Danni had set up a few months ago. This wasn’t making any sense, who would make someone drag me across the country because of my dating profile? This was getting weird.

All he has told me was that he isn’t exactly human and that someone told him to kidnap me, oh and that he can somehow compel people to do whatever he wants. I needed more information. I think I was entitled to that at least.

“You said before that you weren’t human, and then what are you?”

“It’s a long story”

“Well I’m not going anywhere any time soon am I?”

He rolled his again – why is he always rolling his eyes at me, such a dirty habit – and turned his back to me, he slowly pulled his shirt off ravelling his naked back.

I was momentarily taken aback but was soon was stunned by what stood before me. His back was rippled in muscles but starting in the middle of his back and reaching across to his front he had what first appeared to be tattoos of a pair of wings, but they soon began to move and come away from his body morphing into a pair of real black feathered wings that stretched about three meters long taking up most of the room.

“You’re an angle” I said my voice barely a whisper. It was the only thing I could think of that described him.

“That’s what you humans call us, but we call ourselves Volucris, it’s Latin for Winged creature” He moved his shoulders back in a circle and his wings folded back onto his skin and turned back to appearing like a tattoo.

“I’ve already told you too much, now get some sleep, we have a long way to go and not much time to get there.”

I was still a little shaken and shocked to say the least, he grasped my shoulders and slowly moved me to the bed before he climbed into his own. I laid on the bed letting my tired body go limp and relax and waited for sleep to take me.

When all of this is over I am going to need some serious counselling. He was an angel, what was next goblins, fairies and vampires?