Hunger

I walk to the refrigerator and sigh when I see that it's still empty. My stomach rumbles in protest and I feel myself growing tired. Screw it! I close the door and find Alec leaning to the side watching me with interest.

"What are you doing here?" I ask as I make my way back to the couch. His dark eyes watch my every move and only after making myself comfortable does he make his way over saying "I'm here because of you... did you find something?"

I watch as he makes his way over but quickly say "Maybe... but that doesn't concern you. It's my problem and I'll take care of it. Thank you for your help earlier but I would have taken care of it." I pull my phone out and start searching for nearby restaurants.

I need food... bad things happen when I don't eat. Alec sits on the couch next to me and gives me a dark chuckle. "I see someone gets hangry when they don't eat but your problems are my problems. If someone is giving you a hard time I will make them disappear."

My finger pauses and I turn to look at him. His dark eyes watch me as I cock my head in confusion. Could he be the one making a mess of things? I quickly dismiss the idea and sigh "Look, I appreciate the offer but my problems are mine and mine alone. I will deal with it myself. Have you found out anything on the curse thing?"

He makes a face but allows me to change the subject "I have my men looking into a few things but I wanted to ask why you have that book?" I decide to be honest "That book was from my Grandfather's study. Something tells me it doesn't just stop there but my Grandfather didn't tell me anything about it."

His dark eyes sparkle as he asks "Can you ask him more about it? If it's okay with you I would like to talk to him myself." I watch his dark eyes and the hope I see in them as I say "He's dead." The hope I saw just moments ago dies and is replaced by shock and confusion.

"I'm sorry... I didn't realize." Alec says looking away. I push my emotions back down and return to my phone. Of course, he doesn't. No one does and I made sure it stayed that way. I bite my lip as I think about Alec and how much I should tell him.

"And your parents?" Alec asks gently pulling me out of my thoughts. When I look back to his dark eyes I'm shocked by the gentleness I see. "Dead," I say in a soft voice and watch as his jaw tightens. "I feel like this may be connected more than I originally thought," Alec says surprising me once again.

I sit up a little "So you're saying that my parent's and my Grandfather's deaths are related to your curse and the book?" He watches me with gentle eyes and says "Yes, I'm starting to really believe that they are." I find myself frowning and thinking back to the men who killed my Grandfather and the black box they took.

I look back to Alec and find him still watching me. "What if I told you that my Grandfather was killed because of a black box... a black box that has the same markings that are on you?" This time Alec frowns but I see hope flaring back to life once again.

"I'd say that this is indeed connected." He says as his eyes lose focus. I watch him as he gets lost in his own thoughts but I find myself doing the same. Was this really all connected? I was told that my parents died in a horrible fire at their vacation home but I find myself questioning it now.

I sit up completely as I begin searching my memories. It's true I was very young when my parents died so I only have a few memories with them but my Grandfather was different. He was hiding something from me... he was protecting me but from what?

I look back over to Alec and see that he's still lost in thought. Was my Grandfather trying to protect me from someone like Alec? Or was he trying to protect me from something else entirely?