Hollow Repentance

- - - - - Izzy's POV - - - - -

I ignored him and snickered as I ran into yet another random room and slammed the door behind me, surveying the room before me. I was in the games room this time. So far, I had been in six different rooms while trying to make my way to the stairs. I knew that Torren could easily outrun me, so it was safer to take a few detours. As expected, the door burst open and Torren charged in, his face flushed pink.

"Okay Koerta. Stop running and get here now, or I'll make you regret it!"

I laughed in his face, darting under the pool table and out the other side. Rushing to the cue rack, I snatched up a snooker cue and pointed it threateningly towards him. Torren stood still and merely stared at me. It seemed as though he was wondering whether I would actually attack him. Did it really take that much working out?

I thought it was pretty obvious. Well, I would clear that up for him. I swiped at him across the table and snarled viciously as he dodged my every attack, as I swung the cue at him repeatedly. I advanced towards him, thrashing the cue in every direction, backing him up towards the open supply closet I had opened when I first arrived in the room. I realised that whatever Torren was planning on doing with me, he needed me completely unharmed and probably awake.

I certainly wasn't going to let him anywhere near me, so I did it.

Before he could react, I thrust the cue at Torren like a battering ram and watched in awe as he toppled backwards into the supply closet with a series of crashes. I struggled to stop myself crying as I laughed at him, slamming the closet door shut on him and escaping down the hallway towards the staircase. Wondering whether it would be a good idea to take another detour, I glanced to each side as I ran and spotted Torren emerging from the games room out of the corner of my eye. There was no way he could catch up to me now, so I could just head straight for the gate.

If only I had turned back sooner, I might have been able to dodge. Sadly, I'm not that smart. Barely seconds after I had turned back to face the way I was headed, I bounced against something solid and stumbled over onto my back.

"Well, fancy meetin' you here, Koerta. Havin' fun, are we? You certainly don't make his life easy, do you?"

I glared at Dimi and spun myself around as I heard and exhausted Torren coming up behind me. Shuffling backwards, I collided with Dimi's legs as Torren stopped in front of me, panting.

"Oh, thank -- god -- for that! Cheers -- Dimi, she's -- a little -- bit of a -- handful today. Phew!"

He glared down at me menacingly for a moment and I whimpered softly, scrambling behind Dimi and clinging onto his legs protectively.

" Uh -- Koerta? What's the matter, child? Is something wrong?"

Staring at me, Dimi smiled sympathetically before turning back to Torren.

"I'm no expert on human girls, Torren, but I'd say that she's frightened of you. She must be scared that you're goin' to hurt her or do something mean again. You might want to consider lightenin' up a little. She is only - what is it - 16 now? You have to realise she is only a child compared to us and this is a difficult situation for her. Try to be a little more understandin'."

I suddenly felt guilty for punching him before. I acted on impulse and made rash decisions, as always. Maybe this was why I didn't have any friends, even I hated myself. Oh well, if I was going to change, I had to start from somewhere, right?

Standing up slowly, I brushed myself off and burrowed my hand into my pocket as Dimi turned to face me. I gripped the tiny vial in the palm of my hand and ignored Torren's face appearing over Dimi's shoulder. I held out my hand towards Dimi and dropped my head.

"Here. I took this from one of Torren's shelves in his bedroom yesterday and drank it this morning. I don't know what it was and I know now that I shouldn't have taken it and I'm sorry."

I dropped the empty glass into Dimi's hand and watched as he examined it carefully and passed it over his shoulder to Torren, who stood curiously behind the man before me. Laughing at Torren's frustrated expression, Dimi turned to face him and choked out as he struggled to catch his breath,
"Well, that explains why you couldn't keep up, doesn't it, Torren? Maybe next time you'll know better than to leave stamina potions around when you have a child in the house. Ironic, eh? By the way, thank you for bein' honest, Koerta."

Torren growled and made to speak when Dimi silenced him by closing his eyes. Torren dropped his gaze, almost as though he was thinking, or listening to something. Simultaneously, Dimi and Torren both raised their heads and turned to face me once again. Wow, that was creepy! Looking at the two of them, I wouldn't have thought that they could have been friends, they were so different.

In Torren's eyes, I could see darkness, anger and mystery, whereas Dimi's eyes were bright, welcoming and full of wonder. It was like a human and a beast. I had seen Torren with an expression similar to Dimi's before, but that was only when he was chasing me and winning, so it was never a good sign where Torren was concerned.

I stared, mesmerised, at Torren, taken in by the deep shades combined with the pearly whites of his eyes. His hypnotic eyes pierced mine and I gasped as he held out his hand and asked me to go with him, once again. He did have something planned, I could just sense it. Backing up slowly, I turned on my heels and sprinted blindly down the stairs, still unsure of where I was going. All I knew was that I had drank a stamina potion so Torren wouldn't be able to catch me. That was all I needed to know.

I reached the bottom of the first set of stairs and turned the corner to find myself at the top of the final flight. What the--?! I stared in a mixture of horror and awe as I spotted Torren leaning casually against the bannister at the foot of the stairs, his legs crossed and his arms folded across his body.

"My, my, child. You certainly took your time, considering you have boosted stamina for the moment. So, are you ready to go now, then? The car is waiting for us outside. Don't worry, Dimi is bringing your jacket down."

I merely stood at the top, glaring at him to disguise the horror I was feeling. There was no possible way that he could have beaten me to the stairs, it was just impossible. There was something about him that I didn't understand, and I didn't want to understand either.

Slapping the wall as I sprinted back up the stairs, I heard Torren following close behind and gasped when Dimi rose into view as I reached the hallway I had just left. Glancing behind me, I spotted Torren closing in and knew I had a better chance against Dimi.

Rushing directly towards him, I lowered my stance and drove my shoulder into his stomach, wrapping my arms around his waist and tackling him to the ground. I heard him gasp for breath as I knocked the wind out of him and clambered quickly back to my feet before Torren could reach me. There was only one way I could go now; back down the hallway. Back to square one.

I was caught in an endless cycle, trapped in this building. No, I would escape. This time, I would hide and wait him out. If I waited for long enough, he would give up and I would be safe, for now at least. As my eyes jumped from one approaching door to another, I spotted a door I had not been in yet and darted inside as swiftly as possible.

Slamming the door behind me, I surveyed the room, in hope that there would be somewhere for me to hide. I needed somewhere safe and comfortable, but was there such a place in this mansion?

Wow... Perfect!

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