A Giant's Grace

Chapter 6

Grace yawned, sitting up in her makeshift tent. It took her a moment to remember the events of the past couple days. Aaden's home was silent. That probably meant that he wasn't up yet. Good. Now she would have free reign over the house. She could scout a little bit more. Her stomach rumbled. But first, some food. Grace grabbed some of the berries in her backpack and started eating.

All of a sudden, Grace realized that she was eating into her winter stash. Even if she got home, she would likely have used up all the food in her backpack, which was a significant portion of her stash for the winter. But she wouldn't be getting home, would she? The giant would never let her go, and her plan towards liberation was almost certain to fail.

"Keep going, keep going, you can do it," Grace chanted to herself, blinking back tears. Even if the chances were low, it was worth a shot. What did she have to lose? Well, her life. But it would be a life full of sorrow and torture if she stayed. So yes, it was worth a shot.

Grace dashed down the hallway towards the door. She looked at every nook and cranny, jotting down anything important in her notebook. She moved on to other areas of the house, repeating the process.

Aaden rubbed his eyes, sitting up. His thoughts instantly jumped towards Grace. Was she okay? Why hadn't she talked to him? Should he go check on her right now? Aaden decided that he would go check on her, but not try to push her to talk or show herself.

Grace heard footsteps. Loud footsteps. Footsteps that made her skull rattle in her head. She frantically stuffed her notebook in her bag, not wanting Aaden to discover her plan. As the footsteps got closer, Grace heard them slow and eventually come to a halt.

"What are you doing here?"

"I-I w-was j-ju-just, uh I-I w-w-was d-do-doing s-some, u-uh I-I'm s-s-sorry."

"No worries. You don't need to be sorry. I was just curious." He bent down, causing Grace's heartbeat to accelerate. She took a few steps back. She felt so naked; so exposed in the face of the giant. She felt an overwhelming urge to hide behind something.

"C-can I p-please g-go?"

"Go? Go where?"

"B-back-ck t-to t-the b-blankets."

"You don't have to ask me. But do you want to eat something first?" Grace shook her head no, too light headed to speak another word. "Alright," Aaden said, rising back to his full height. "Do you want to talk, or..."

"P-please, c-can I g-go?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Grace made her way through the corridors and hallways as fast as she could. She wanted to get out of here. Back to her tent, where it was safer.

When Grace arrived back at the tent, she sat on the ground. She was breathing pretty heavily, and she needed to catch her breath. Aaden had almost caught her. If she was a second too late, he could've discovered her plan. He would have given up his ruse of being a benevolent giant. She would have been locked in a cage, or killed, or even used as a toy for his pleasure. She quivered at just the thought of that.

Aaden's concern was growing by the minute. Grace still hadn't talked to him. He decided to check on her, and maybe talk with her for a bit, if she wanted. He made his way to the storage cabinet and bent down. The doors had been open the past couple days to allow Grace full access to the cabinet.

"Grace?" he called out quietly. She heard him calling. She wasn't very apprehensive to answer, as she felt safer by a huge margin while under her tent.

"Y-yes?"

"I... I was just worried about you. You haven't talked in a while."

"I-I'm sorry."

"No, you don't have to be sorry."

"Oh, s-sorry."

"Are you scared of me?" Of course she was scared. No shit. What was he playing at? Grace didn't know what answer would satisfy the giant. Did Aaden want her to be scared? Did he want her to feel safe before he broke her trust? What should she say?

"Y-yes!" she blurted out. Fuck. She should've thought this through first. She could've just made the wrong decision.

"Is there something... is there anything that I could do to make you feel comfortable?"

"I d-d-don't know."

"Oh. Just...just tell me if you want me to do anything. To make you feel safer." An excruciatingly awkward silence permeated the air. "Do you wanna talk?"

"S-sure." Grace actually didn't mind talking. Of course, part of the reason she accepted Aaden's offer was out of fear. But it gave her a semblance of normalcy, just talking. It made her less afraid of the giant. And she felt less like the giant was a mindless beast and more like he was an individual, with individual thoughts and feelings. She felt more like the giant was a gentle being.