Thief Assassin: Chapter 7

Auxi was sat on her bed in her bedroom, still locked in her waking nightmare. She had been sitting there for a day. Various people had entered and exited the room, but no one dared to touch or move her since she had been placed there. She had not reacted to any of them, and none of them could work out what was happening to her. So there she sat, locked in her memories.

*

Zach woke up with a jolt in his bed across the hall from Auxi’s. Pain radiated from his wound but otherwise he was unharmed. He looked around the tiny room and noticed a medic walking in. The medic’s eyes widened when he realised that Zach was awake. He bustled over to him and took his pulse then started to look at Zach’s stomach but was pushed away.

            “Leave me be,” he growled.

            “But sir you’re -” The medic protested.

            “Out!” The medic froze then scuttled out of the room. Zach sighed and used the headboard to pull himself up into a sitting position, wincing as the movement pulled on his wound. Looking at his stomach, he pushed aside the bandages and saw that the wound had been stitched together and slathered in one of the medic’s poultices. He snorted in disgust and tugged the bandages back over the wound. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed and placing them on the floor, he pushed himself off of the bed and stood up on slightly trembling legs. Annoyed at his weakness, he walked a few paces up and down the tiny space a few times, stretched carefully then pulled the door open coming face to face with one of his watchers, who looked startled.

Zach frowned then looked at Auxi’s closed door and back at the watcher. “What are you doing here?” he growled.

            “Th-the medic told me to keep an eye on you and…” He glanced at Auxi’s door.

            “Why, what happened to Auxi?” Zach asked, annoyance turning into concern.

            “I don’t really know but I heard what a few of the people who have come said.” The watcher was nervous now, almost wringing his hands.

            “Well, go on then, tell me!”

            “U-um, well apparently, she just shut down when she found you. Won’t move, won’t talk, just sits there. I find it pretty freaky myself.”

            Zach grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall. “Watch your mug,” he snarled. “That’s your Thief you’re talking about, not some unknown person.”

            The watcher flinched and nodded. “Yes, sir,” he whispered.

Zach nodded then pushed past him and entered Auxi’s room.

Once he had slammed the door behind him, he went over to Auxi and crouched down in front of her, looking at her with worry etched on his face. He had seen her like this once before. Once she had come back to her senses, he had asked her to tell him why she had retreated into her shell. She had explained in a quiet voice with silent tears flowing down her cheeks. Zach had sat next to her and listened patiently until she had finished. It had surprised him that someone who seemed so strong, so unbreakable could be hurt so much by one word. Since then he had seen that even if she was strong, strong enough to beat her enemies, strong enough to overcome her past most of the time, she wasn’t unbreakable, she was as weak as a newly born child when her defences were broken. He knew from the time he had seen her like this, though, that one phrase would heal her heart.

He took her slight hands in his own and whispered at her.

            “You’re not a murderer.” Auxi shifted slightly in front of him, then blinked as she started to cry. She scrubbed the tears away angrily and looked at Zach, who had quickly dropped her hands as she had come back to her senses. “Well then, what’s this about then Auxi, really? You locked yourself in your shell again? Is that the only escape you can find?”

            “Yes.” She replied curtly. “I’m not as strong as you think.” The echo of his previous thoughts made him smile inside. “Now, how are you, you were hurt, weren’t you? Who by?”

            “Oh, this?” He spread his hand over his stomach. “It’s nothing.”

            “Nothing?” Auxi raised an eyebrow. “Really. Well then, if it’s nothing then I’ll leave you to sort it out yourself. I trust that you can.” Zach smiled and nodded. “Right.” She stood up and stretched. “Time to eat!” She bolted out of the room and downstairs, making the watcher jump. In the kitchen, she yanked open various cupboards and pulled out food. She piled it onto two plates, pulled out one of the two chairs around the table, plunked herself down onto it and started eating ravenously. Zach pulled out the other chair and started eating too.

Once they had eaten their fill, they dismissed the watcher and slipped into the Under Road. They had work to catch up on.