The Devil's pleasure

Ch.12- Windy Night

Liu allowed you to pace around the living room and around any room you desired to. You had no intention of escaping, not that you didn't want to leave but everything still seemed tense underneath all the "bonding" and you were sure it would take more time to have his guard fully down. While pacing around the room you went over to the stack of books you saw when you were forcefully taken to this cabin. You crouched to better see the books underneath the ones that were on top, you saw a pretty sage green book that didn't have it's dust cover. The rest of the books were either black or white, all the same boring colors. The sage green book had a pleasant color that couldn't be ignored. You pulled it from the stack and allowed yourself to relax on the couch.

"Disappearance" was the title of the book. You chuckled, what a coincidence. A book with a pretty color was able to stand out to you, only to describe a word that explained your entire situation. It was truly amusing. You sighed, remembering that all the information about the book was on the dust cover, sadly this one didn't have one. You could only guess what it was about. You went to the couch and adjusted your body to a comfortable position before flipping over to the first chapter.

It didn't take long for you to submerge yourself into the book, the first 5 chapters seemed to go slow, it was expected and you usually mildly disliked going through these stages, it seemed slow and too peaceful but tried reminding yourself that action wouldn't take place immediately. That's what intrigued you, a slow build-up to a problem, you wanted to read what conflicts would unravel. You heard Liu mumbling in the background but ignored it, unsure whether he called your name or not.

"[name]?" Liu called out, the sudden raise in his voice causing you to jolt from your reading position.

"Yes? Sorry what was that?"

"I asked when you were going to sleep?"

"Oh..."

You went over to look at the window in the kitchen, Liu's room also had a window but why bother when the kitchen was closer. The sky was covered in long tree branches. Only a few spaces allowed you to see the dark sky littered with stars. You couldn't help but look at how beautiful the sky looked. Living in a city never granted you the chance to see the stars so clearly. Admiring the sky that seemed so much like a painting made you crave for the scent of wood and leaves accompanied by the breeze. The leaves danced lightly to the movement of the wind.

"I never noticed how quickly the night came." You were mildly taken aback. Why did the day seem to go by so quickly this time?

"Do you want me to open the window for you?" Liu suggested, you looked at him, almost thrilled and nodded, chilly nights have always been your favorite. He did, a slight squeak coming from the window. Almost immediately you felt the breeze come in caressing your face, the scent was pleasing, better than the city could offer.

Run away.

Your head called out. You wanted to but like always, it wouldn't work out.

Not now. Soon but it's not now.

"It feels nice" you whispered in attempts to try and silence the voice in your head that seemed to beg to leave this place. You wanted to leave too, but running away impulsively wouldn't do anyone any good.

"It's starting to get cold" Liu replied, "You don't have anymore clothes with you, [name]."

Yeah I wonder why...

You glanced at Liu.

"I don't..."

"I'll see what I can do about it later." He rubbed his eyes, he looked tired.

You stood near the window for a few seconds more, allowing yourself to indulge in the earthy and woody fragrance not long before yawning, deciding it was also enough. You went back into your room and noticed it started feeling cold. Colder days are coming after all, though it would be uncomfortable sleeping in a freezing room. You sat on the mattress before laying down, hearing footsteps entering your room.

"[name], I know this isn't much but I found this old jacket. It's thick and heavy so maybe it can help, even if it's just for a bit." He said dropping the jacket on top of you.
You nodded, feeling a little awkward for the sudden act.

"Thank you." You whispered, you turned over and heard the door click, he most likely locked it too but it wasn't a concern at this point. Everything seemed peaceful, the breeze you felt on your face a few minutes ago, the scent that you found therapeutic, and a jacket that did good in keeping you warm seemed to comfort you in the smallest ways possible.

Your mind went back to the subject of Liu's vent earlier. Maybe that's why the day went by faster, you saw a man break in front of you and you knew it wasn't the only thing he had in his mind. He even said he'd vent more tomorrow. It'll be best to prepare your parts, every word that you would use to comfort him is to be premeditated, makes everything more believable while still caring less about his problems. A perfect way to mask your true feelings. You felt a smile grow on your face. What a wonderful solution, a very devastating one at that. Pretend you care so much about his stories, fake cry if you're able to, make him believe he's worthy of being listened to and then break him completely.

Liu may be more of a decent human than Sully but you were going to make sure they would both pay the heavy price later on.

It really was peaceful enough to forget that you were with a wanted killer. Amusing, isn't it?