Chapter 4

           “Lucas!” Daniel said through clenched teeth as he glared back at  him.

           

            “She deserves answers Dani, and if you're not gonna give them to her, then I will!” Lucas said to Daniel in a raised voice.         

                                                                                 

“We don't know her, Lucas! She might be Marcus' granddaughter, but I have no idea what the hell happened in that house-” Daniel began to argue.       

                                     

“Marcus saved your life Dani!” Lucas shouted. “And if he really is dead, then the least you could do for him is answer her questions.”

“So that's it? That's how you know my gramps?” I asked Daniel.

Turning from Lucas he stood to face me, though clenched teeth he answered. “Marcus didn't just save my life, he helped me find out about who I am. Let's go, we can finish this conversation at the cottage.”

 Turning and heading out of the tree line, I followed Daniel as he began to walk downstream, back in the direction we first came. Walking a couple paces behind I could see Lucas from my peripheral vision as he kept stride beside me. 

“Thank you.” I told him “For trying to get him to talk to me.”

 Giving me a small smile, that I'm sure made many a girl's heart flutter, “No worries. But seeing as I just got into it with my best friend in a vain attempt to try and help you……….I think it's only fair that one good deed deserves another.”  He replied in a conceited tone that immediately made me stop walking.

 Stopping a few paces ahead of me, he turned to give me another one of his weak kneed smiles. Glaring at him I asked “And what, would this good deed in return be?”

Closing the distance between us with two steps, Lucas looked down into my eyes as he answered, “Oh I don't know, guess we'll find out together.” Stepping aside he waited for me to continue walking, taking his place next to me.

 Figuring there were better ways to kill the 20 minute walk back to the cottage than dead silence, I looked over at Lucas. “Go ahead, just ask me.” He said without even sparing me a glance. 

“How come you don't have a problem answering my questions?”     

                          

“Unlike stone wall over there” he said to me gesturing in Daniel's direction as he walked in front of us. “I don't really see any harm in telling you what you want to know.” He answered.

“Thank you. You said you two were hunters? What does that mean?” I asked, hoping to get some actual answers. 

“Well, hunters fight the bad stuff. We hunt and kill the things that go bump in the night.” He answered in a tone that told me it was no lie.

“The things that go bump in the night?” I asked, blinking back the vision of the creature I glimpsed through the incineration of my house. “What kind of things?”

“Demons” he answered with no amusement. 

“Demons? Like the bible, straight from hell, kind of demons?” 

“Pretty much.”

Stopping in my tracks I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself as my breathing began to speed up. Taking deep breaths I tried to stop myself from having a panic attack. When I was younger I would get them, when I was too excited or scared, my chest would start to burn like it was on fire, breathing would become harder and everything would just go black. It was always okay though, because my gramps would always be there when I woke up, reassuring  me that everything was fine and that I wasn't dying or anything. 

“Hey. You alright?” I heard Lucas ask.

“Yeah. I'm fine, Just give me a second to process all of this.” I answered as I finally began to get my breathing under control.

“Well, were here.” Lucas said tilting his chin towards the old cottage.

“So this is your home? Where the two of you live?”

“Actually, this is your gramps place. Dani came down to Troian because of Marcus, so he let him stay here for a while.” 

“And none of that seemed questionable to you?” I asked a little confused.

“Hey, when the legend that is, Marcus Latro, asks you to do something, you do it. No questions asked.” He defended.

“Why would my gramps ask you guys to stay here?” I asked Lucas as we followed Daniel inside “And what do you mean legend?”

Walking through the cottage door, I stepped into a fairly sized room. The wall directly facing the door was the only source of light, as the moonlight peeked through the window's dusty pane. To my left was a small stone fireplace, tucked neatly into the corner at the back of the room, with an old ratty brown couch sitting in front of it, facing the open fire. On the right, in the middle of the wall was a closed door that I assumed would lead to a bedroom, or maybe it was wishful thinking.

           Not knowing exactly what to do now, I stood aside as Lucas entered behind me. “You should go sit by the fire, warm yourself up a bit.” Lucas said, nudging me with his shoulder in the direction of the fire.

Hesitantly I crossed the room and sat in the middle of the couch, bracing my elbows on my knees. I just sat there, looking at the embers stir as the fire's flames danced with lethargic grace. I was so enthralled by the fire, that I barely noticed Lucas sitting next to me until he grabbed my hand. Jerking back in surprise, I turned to him. 

“Sorry. Dani went to get some more wood for the fire, he wanted me to check and see if any of your burns were serious.” Lucas said as he reached for my hand again. 

“I'm fine. My skin feels a bit raw, but the waterfall's cool water helped a lot. It feels better now, thanks.”

“Are you sure? cause Dani said you were in that house a while before he found you and pulled you out. ” He said as he gave me a once over, probably looking for burns. 

Not wanting to have to talk about the fire and what I saw, I leaned back on the couch “Lucas, what did you mean when you said my gramps was a legend?”