Arianwen woke up several hours later, blearily rubbing the sleep from her eyes. It was evening, and the sun was just setting, its vivid orange and vermillion ribbons floating across the sky, the moon shyly peeping out from behind dusky clouds. 1
She turned over, away from the window, facing into the room. Aodhan was sat on a chair over the other side of the room, leaning on the small dining table, his big hands nursing a mug of tea. Arianwen sat up, the small bed creaking under her movements. 2
Aodhan looked up as she moved, his eyes looked dark and tired. He smiled at her, actually looking very handsome again to her. Despite herself, she smiled back. She had no idea what his agenda really was, but he didn't show any signs of wanting to harm her. He motioned towards a tray on the table, filled with food. "I go' some food for ye' lass, I thought ye' might be hungry. Especially after having nae dinner last night."3
Arianwen sat still for a second more, and then nodded, sliding out of the bed. Her stomach rumbled in reply as well. "Yes, I am a bit hungry." she smiled again, shyly. Looking down, Arianwen began to smooth some of the crumples out of her clothes, before walking over to the table. She sat down next to Aodhan, and began to tuck into some of the scrambled eggs ravenously. 4
Aodhan continued to stare at Arianwen, with a softer look than he had before. He watched the evening sun highlighting the warm red lengths of her hair, and her high, elegant cheekbones. As he carried on staring at her, she glanced up shyly, her grey eyes vulnerable and bright. 5
"What?"6
Aodhan grinned at her directness. "No'thing, I'm just looking at ye', that's all." He took a sip of tea, his green eyes ever watchful. Leaning back, he sighed, deeply, and asked, "Arianwen. That's a pretty name, I must say. Why did yer' mother choose that name for ye'?"7
Arianwen swallowed the last of her eggs and toast down, licking her lip. She looked ponderingly at Aodhan, wondering why he would ask such a question. "Well, my mum was into Welsh mythology. Arianwen was the name of a silver spider or something. She just really liked the name."8
"Silver like yer' eyes." Aodhan murmured, then checked himself. "I mean, I suppose that's what yer' mother might have thought."9
Arianwen shrugged. "I suppose it may have been that. What about your name?" She swallow++'#/wed a mouthful of warm tea. "Aodhan."10
He closed his eyes for a second, and chewed his lip, pausing again. Arianwen had noticed he did that quite a lot when he didn't really want to answer something, but he didn't want to lie. "It means ‘fire god' in Scottish Gaelic. It was tha' name o' one o' our-I mean, a god o' tha' Celt's."11
"Oh." Arianwen nodded. "That sounds quite cool. It's a little strange that we both have Gaelic names, isn't it?" She smiled brightly at him, her eyes shining. He peered at her, not even needing to read her mind to guess she was trying to get him on her side. Well, she could try, she wouldn't be going anywhere.12
He nodded, smiling back. "Ye' should eat up, we have tae get going soon."13
"Get going where?"14
"I already told ye', tae Scotland."15
Arianwen stopped chewing for a second, and lowered her fork. "Look, Aodhan. We both know you're not going to get far, if you let me go now, I'll do everything I can to help you. You won't get such a long sentence, or anything. Please." She smiled at him again, but he found it to be patronising, as though she were smiling down at a child.16
His eyes clouded over, and he put his mug back down on the table, rather too quickly. "Oh, ye' ken that I'm no' going tae get away wi' this, do ye'? Well, lass, yer' tae be sorely disappointed, because we're still going tae be going on our wee trip." He scraped his chair out, ignoring the scared expression on Arianwen's face. 17
He paced over to his bed, where Arianwen noticed a bag she hadn't seen before. She saw him pull something out, fastening the flap of the bag over again. Aodhan walked back over to the table, and threw something down in front of her, and then walked back over to his bag, checking he had everything. "That's for ye'." he said, over his shoulder. "Ye' had tae leave with no'thing, I thought ye' might want tae get some clothes or whatever ye' needed. We'll stop somewhere for ye'."18
Curious, Arianwen looked down in front of her. A platinum-coloured credit card gleamed back at her, Aodhan's full name spelt out in raised black lettering. She stared at it, her eyes growing wide. "I...I can't use this. What do you expect me to do with it?"19
"I told ye', I want ye' tae buy yer'self what ye' need wi' it. I will'nae miss it lass, I have aboot seventy-million last time I counted."20
I know. We checked. Arianwen thought to herself, shaking her head. "Fine. It's your card, I suppose."21
Slinging the bag strap onto his shoulder, Aodhan walked over to the door, looking back at Arianwen. "Are ye' ready then?" 22
Arianwen put her fork down onto the plate , making a clattering sound. She quickly scooped the card up, shoving it into one of her jacket pockets, standing up quickly from the chair. "Aren't we going to check out?"23
"I already did." Aodhan said, gruffly, unlocking the door and holding it open. Arianwen shrugged, walking over to the door, smoothing her skirt out again. As she passed Aodhan, she risked a glance at him. 24
He looked back at her for a second, but that was all. 25
He didn't notice the knife she had shoved under her jacket.26
Breathing in relief, Arianwen scooted out across the car-park to the parked Ford Escort. The sky was growing darker now, the sun disappearing in vibrant red flames of the sunset. The moon had fully flung off its virginal cloud-cape, and was parading itself radiantly across the velvet sky. Looking around herself, Arianwen took in the landscape. 27
They were definitely far form the city, surrounded by fields and farms as far as the eye could see. To the distance, there was a large green forest, covering everything like a blanket; silhouetted by hills, purple and dream-like. Aodhan grasped her arm by the elbow, and began to lead her towards the car. Arianwen willingly walked along with him, still staring at the surrounding landscape. There wasn't another sign of life anywhere.28
Frowning, she looked back at the motel, particularly at the office where you were supposed to check in. Looking up at Aodhan's stern face, she asked, "Where is everyone? It doesn't look like anyone is here."29
He said nothing, still pulling her towards the car.30
"Look, stop!" She yanked her arm out of Aodhan's grip, forcing him to turn and look at her. "What the hell is this? Where is everyone?" Arianwen turned to gaze at the office again, then squinted at it. The desk inside appeared to be broken, and there was graffiti all over the walls. She gasped.31
"There was no-one here, was there? Why did you make us stay here? And where did you get the food from?" Arianwen's voice became higher and more hysterical as she continued questioning him. 32
Aodhan chewed on his lip again, and then answered, "Yes, there isn't anyone here. I thought it would be best if we did'nae stop anywhere wi' too many people. And I go' tha' food from shops, nearby."33
"Cooked food?"34
"Aye, I go' it from a café, did I no'?"35
Gulping, Arianwen stared at him, her face devoid of colour. She had no idea why she had felt she should trust him earlier. It was then she realised she could try to get away now. If she didn't do it now, who knew when she would next be out?36
Aodhan stared at her, his face blank. If he really could read her mind, he simply wasn't doing it now, or he thought it wasn't possible.37
Arianwen turned to face him, and crooked her finger at him, beckoning him to bend down. Aodhan frowned, but then chuckled, as if this was a great joke. Grinning, he leaned down. 38
Quick as a flash, Arianwen pulled the knife out from under her jacket, where it glinted wickedly for the split second it was out. She pulled her arm back, and drove it into Aodhan's neck with as much force as she could muster. 39
She spun on her heel, and began to fly across the tarmac, pumping her arms by her side. Two seconds later, she suddenly felt something land heavily behind her, grabbing her around her waist, and lifting her clear of the floor.40
Winded, she tried to steady herself, gasping for air. As she turned around again, she came face to face with Aodhan. 41
The knife was still sticking out of his neck, spurting glittering dark-scarlet into the moonlight. It was then that Arianwen noticed his eyes were-black? As she stared, mouth ajar, he pulled the knife out from his neck, growling in pain. Blood gushed out in a fountain, spilling onto the car-park below. Eyes still wide, Arianwen watched as sinewy fibres of flesh and muscle began to stretch across the gaping hole, almost in slow motion. The fibres began to reconnect themselves, making a sickening moist sound as they began to heal the hole up. Within a minute, the gape on Aodhan's neck had disappeared, the only trace of the injury smears of blood across his skin.42
"What are you?" Arianwen whimpered, half-whispering. She cowered away from him, her head spinning. Aodhan stalked across to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him. His face darkened, shadows flickering across it, his eyes as black as crows. Pearlescent dark horns began to crunch their way out from his temples, and his tone became strange and rumbling, almost as though several people were speaking at once.43
"I'm something ye' should'nae have crossed." he snarled, his eyes seeming to flare black fire.
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