Reflections Of Angels

Impasse

They hurried down the stairs with the sound of his footsteps on their heels. Nyx scrambled in the dark for the light switch as they headed into the kitchen. They rushed to the far side, putting the table between them as he entered. "Why did we come in here again?"

He chased them round; mirroring them left, then right. They split from each other as he came round the table at them, Nyx one way, Perry the other, as he leapt over the table at Perry, throwing him into the larder and shutting the door behind him, leaning back against it with his arms crossed. "Now you're shut behind the door."

"Hey, let me out! What the- is this your larder?!"

"Shhhh." Sebastian looked across the room at Nyx who was frozen, wide-eyed in place. "I just want to talk."

"...Then it seems we are at an impasse." Nyx said, glancing around; she could not go whilst he had Perry, but she certainly did not want to talk.

"No, an impasse would suggest we are on equal footing."

Nyx huffed. "Fine. Then talk." At least if he was talking, that might give her time to think of something else.

He shook his head. "You are causing me quite the dilemma. Sometimes, there is nothing I want more than for you to just disappear. Other times, you seem to have... potential. Sometimes, I just want to wind you up and watch you go. Open you up and see what makes you tick."

Nyx swallowed nervously.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, deliberating. "Do you know who your father is?"

"No."

"...Do you want to find out?"

Nyx narrowed her eyes. "Why? Do you know?"

"There are ways of finding out." He looked almost nonchalantly at his own hand, before crossing his arms again and looking up at her, a wicked smile on his face. "I could teach you."

"...No." Nyx shook her head. "I don't want to know."

He laughed. "Well, that didn't sound convincing. Did you never even wonder? Never even ask, where was it that you came from, why was it you were the way that you were? As someone whose been in those shoes, I find that hard to believe."

Is he trying to relate to me? "Of course I've wondered." Nyx said. "I just decided I didn't need to know."

"Decided, or was told?"

"Besides, there's always a catch with these things." Nyx continued, voice growing hard. "Like now, for instance. What's the catch? Considering our last encounter, you're being strangely nice to me. Unless..." She narrowed her eyes once more, trying to read his face- an act which he seemed to find strangely amusing. "...You know something."

Smiling enigmatically, he leant his head back against the door. "I know something."

Nyx's mouth went dry. He knows I'm sick. "Was it you?" She spoke hoarsely. "The Draugr. It was going for Grizelda. Then it changed its mind, lashed out at me instead. Was it you?"

"Perhaps." He mused. "Perhaps not. Perhaps I have a vested interest in keeping you around. For now." He sniggered. "Perhaps I'm the hero in this, this time."

"He's not." Perry called out behind the door.

"Do you need your little friend?" Sebastian asked Nyx. "Because they're starting to get annoying."

"Hey, I'm shut in here, drinking your wine because there's nothing better to do."

"What I need," Nyx said firmly. "Is to see if Grizelda's okay. Where is she?"

He gestured with his arm back up the stairs. "Please, lead the way."

A/N: Nyx having a "come to the dark side" moment XD
So this was originally going to be longer, but due to time and exhaustion, I've elected to cut it in half. This way, I can upload on schedule and make sure both parts are good. Stay tuned for the next half in the next chapter!