Chapter 43: Home Sweet Home.

Thursday.

Day 19.

Issa.

My head definitely hurt when I awoke again, real bad.

But I guess that was generally what happened when you fall flat on your face on hard tile. Very embarrassingly, might I add.

I wasn't sure where I was, only that the small room smelled strongly of a hospital which was always a smell that put me off and only did just that this time round tenfold. I slowly sat up, half expecting myself to be back in the house again, but clearly that wasn't what was happening. I should be awake inside my room if that was the case, not in a creepy white room full of medicine and doctor gloves.

I felt pathetic for what happened. Even just seeing him was enough to make me pass out. I knew I shouldn't be, but I was embarrassed as all hell. Fainting was definitely a habit I needed to drop, pun intended.

I stand up from the doctors bed I had been lying on and immediately felt dizzy again. How long was I out for? I'm readying myself to walk over to the door when as if sensing I was up, it flies open and in comes Cam.

"Oh-hey you're awake. How's your head?" Cam flashes a smile making me even more embarrassed, knowing he definitely saw me pass out. Ugh.

"It's been better. Hey, um, where am-" I hear footsteps coming from behind Cam first, then it wasn't long after that the door next to him was being pushed open completely and in strode the very reason I was here. The Boss.

"Issabelle! How was your nap?" I was on my feet in a second as I stared him down. I maybe got up too fast and had to grip the bars against the bed to not fall yet again. The Boss sees this and steps closer to me.

"Be careful. You hit your head good yesterday. Here, drink this." Yesterday? I watch the Boss' every move as he leans to grab a styrofoam cup next to the bed then quickly hand it to me. I don't take it.

"It's just water. You can trust me." His voice was still robotic sounding, and much too creepy for me to handle. It didn't even sound human, and I wasn't sure at this point if he even was, judging by his even more strange eyes. I glance quickly at Cam to see him eyeing me, then his eyes dart to the cup and right back. He nods, letting me know it was indeed okay to drink it. Still very hesitantly, I reach for the cup.

"Cam, go get the lady some fresh clothes in her room." I knew I heard him, my room, but we most certainly weren't inside the school anymore, so where the hell were we that I would be having another room? Cam does as he demands and turns, leaving me and the Boss alone now. He stays there staring at me intensely for a second longer then he calmly states;

"I'm glad you're awake. Now I can show you around the place." I was surprised I could even speak at all, and when I do it comes out strong and brave, not at all how I was feeling inside.

"Where am I?"

"My second home. Our second home. This is where you and Cam will go when taking back a new Hunt. Think of it as your second home too." Second home? This guy was seriously that rich from all we do for him that he has enough money to buy himself a second house? All I wanted to do was scoff at him and tell him how much of a pig he was, but I couldn't.

"This room here is where we implant the tracking chips. Thought I'd just take you here for a checkup after your little mishap yesterday." The Boss suddenly steps even closer to me, reaching for me. I am unable to move any further back as I was pushed against the bed and am forced to welcome his touch. When he finally gets close enough to me, he was feeling around my forehead gentle like.

"I do hope you are feeling better. Any idea what caused the fall, my dear?" I hated everything about him. The way he spoke to me, the sound of his voice, and even more, the glow of his eyes. Dispite the unnatural color, they were too kind and welcoming, unlike anything I actually knew about him. He was a beast. A monster.

"I didn't scare you, did I? I am truly sorry. I only wanted to come and see how the training was going. Afterall, Cam decided on actually going to his own office, leaving me blind to the training itself." I couldn't decipher between whether the Boss was catching on to me and Cam purposely avoiding the office for the fact that he could hear everything we said in our rooms. It was much too hard to focus, all I wanted to do was make a break out the door behind him.

I don't say anything, all I could think about was his gloved hands combing through the sore part of my hair. It was when he stopped and lowered his hand down to trace my cheek that was could finally move. Jumping with shock and fear, the cup of water in my hands spills all over the Boss.

"Crap-! Sorry Sir-I'm so sorry-" I hated the formal way I was speaking with him, but at that very moment the deer in headlights in me kicked in and I was the dumb deer cowardly surrendering to the car heading straight for me. Only this car was a psychopathic monster truck.

I'm struggling to wipe up the mess with my doctors gown, that I only then noticed I was wearing, when the Boss' booming laugh takes over my mumbling in the tiny space. I look up at him towering over me like a mountain and can tell from the slant in his eyes that he was smiling heavily.

"Sir? I know I told you to call me whatever you wanted, but sir? C'mon Issabelle, you can come up with something better than that." I hadn't really thought much about it at all, I wasn't all too exited to choose a name for my captor like he was a new dog I just picked out from the pet store. But right then and there, his demeanor, his tone, his evil robotic, inhuman tone that sent shivers down my spine, I came up with the perfect name for the Boss.

"Go, on. Take your time-" 

"Arges." The Boss stares at me for quite awhile, trying to put meaning behind the strange, unknown name I had just given him. I could tell just from the pinched look between his brows that he was totally lost, and I was very, very thankful of that.

The name came from Greek mythology, and honestly I didn't blame him for not knowing. But me being the nerd of a kid I used to be, and really still was, I knew Arges was the son of Gaea and Uranus, a Greek Goddess and God, and that it had greater meaning than that. As funny as it would be to have simply given him the name Uranus, I knew better. Arges was safe and almost normal sounding. Just enough to fit the beast in front of me. And honestly, it was the first thing that came to mind.

Gaea and Uranus bore three sons, one of them being Arges, a wicked cyclops, a creature hated by all and destroyed eventually, just like how the Boss was to me. As the Boss talked to me this whole time, all I could see were his horrible eyes, and that was all I needed to be reminded of what I had read when I was younger, about the many Greek Gods and monsters and to ultimately name him.

"Ar-Ges? Is that Greek? Tell me, what does that mean exactly, Issa?" From the tone he sent me, I could tell he was on edge, but my response came easy to me anyway;

"Bright." Instantly the Boss' cyclops like eyes flicked into life. I could tell this answer satisfied him.

Arges did mean bright, it wasn't a lie. The Boss was a monster, just the same as a cyclops, but I also knew from all I saw in his eyes was a type of brightness, and even some beauty to them, as difficult as that was to admit. If the Boss was even smart enough to search for a name such as Arges, I'd hope he'd see that it meant bright, and not something bad at all like an evil cyclops.

But I knew better.

"Well, Arges it is. I love it." Giving him a name felt strange. It was like I was giving him a fake name like he had for us back at the school. It felt alot like payback. I roll my eyes thinking about my very unfunny name given to me. Ani. Gross.

Just then, Cam was entering the room again with a pile of clothes for me.

"Here." He hands them to me then swiftly turns to 'Arges' and says;

"Dinner is almost ready."

"Ah, perfect. We have plenty to talk about. Issabelle, please get dressed, then follow the smell of the food. You'll find us." I see Cam from behind him watching me with such a nervous expression that I almost want to lunge forward and hug him, to tell him that I finally understand all that he goes through. Why he is the way he is. So guarded.

Instead I turn to the Boss and say;

"I'll be there. Thank you." I resist telling him that I really had no other choice as the Boss turns with Cam, and they finally leave me to myself. I look down at the stack of clothes in my arms and immediately want to scream.

"A fucking dress?" I would have literally rather went out there with just the doctors gown on if it were any other circumstance, but I bit down my pride and began getting dressed. I unfold the dress still in my arms only to have a pair of heels fall out from it.

"You've got to be kidding me."

•••

I was dressed very innoproprietly for the occasion, whatever that was the begin with, and now was making my way out of the room.

The first thing I see are multiple long hallways. What was it with this guy and hallways? The house was definitely a log cabin type of style, and I hated to say it but it was amazing. Of course it was.

The tapping of my heels on the wooden flooring was all I could hear for awhile as I trailed through the house, eventually heading downstairs when I finally heard silverware clinking against plates in the near distance. Hesitantly, I made my way to the sounds, and when I finally found what must have been the dinning room, the first person I thankfully saw was Cam.

Slowly making my entrance, feeling very overdressed, it takes me no time at all to see Cam was also dressed nicely. He wore an all black suit and a bow tie, making me instantly feel better about my appearance. That was until the Boss entered the room and all I wanted to do was cover up.

"You look wonderful. I hope you don't mind the heels?" He walks past me and gestures that I sit at the too large table Cam was finishing setting up.

"I'm not all too great in heels, actually." I sit and see the Boss smirk at my confession, then cockily say;

"Well now that's just not true. You're doing amazing." I'm watching the Boss stay standing as Cam and I sit down preparing ourselves to eat what smelled and looked like incredibly delicious food.

"Aren't you going to eat with us?" He laughs like I had just told a joke then finally takes a seat at the end of the table.

"What? So the two of you can see my face while I eat? Heh, I don't think so. I already ate anyway. I'm simply here to talk." It was worth a shot, but even I had to admit that would be too easy.

"Go on then, dig in so we can talk." I watch in surprise at Cam picks up his fork and starts stabbing his porkchop without a moments hesitation. I still don't move. Cam take a massive bite then he was lifting his head and finding me.

"I made everything Issa. So yes, it's very edible." He doesn't wait for me to start having at it, he simply proceeds mauling his food like it was the best thing he'd ever eaten. I finally decided then to pick up my spoon and eat some mashed potatoes. As sick to my stomach as I was, I was more hungry than anything.

"So, Cam. Let's start with a question for you." That was when the eating subdued from his end and he was finally taking a breath;

"Oh. Yes?"

"Why was this very important and private meeting between you and Issabelle here being held inside the pool room and not your own office like you insinuated?" Cam gulps, but I'm unsure if it's from eating or fear. Totally expecting Cam to spill everything about me right then and there, I'm shocked when Cam seems perfectly calm as he explains;

"Well, I didn't want the risk of her new roommate coming back and overhearing her training. The same went with my office and George. I thought the basement was the safest option, I see now I was wrong, Sir." The Boss seems to accept Cams lies easily, letting me finally exhale and continue eating.

"Roommate? Ah, that explains the extra bed. And call me Arges, it's what Issa gave me, so use it."

"She did? I mean, you did?" Cam spins around to me looking dumbstruck. I shrug at him.

"Yes, she did." It was then that the Boss' phone began to ring.

"Enjoy your meals, I'll be back." The second he answered his phone and left the room leaving us alone at last, I couldn't hold back anything that had been on my mind.

"What the actual hell? He has a whole ass extra house for storing people inside to implant chips into them? He's insane!" Cam just about chokes on his food as I speak.

"Keep your voice down! Yes, I know. We'll be staying here for a couple days every other week. At least." From the other room I could hear the Boss' off putting voice echoing into this one. It was all I needed to lose my appetite again.

"Cam?"

"Yes?" Cam also seems to not have much of an appetite either as he stares at me from across the table, poking at his string beans on his plate like they could come to life any second.

"What's the deal with his voice? Is it like a voice disguiser or something like that?" To my surprise, Cam pulls a funny face at me, then he was tilting his head to the side and looking up at the ceiling, clearly trying to hear the Boss better on the phone in the next room over.

"I've always thought his voice was quite mesmerizing, honestly. Why? Does it creep you out?" I have to stop and listen along with Cam, feeling like I had somehow imagined his almost alien sounding tone. Nope, it was definitely otherworldly as hell.

"You're telling me you don't hear how robotic his voice is?" Cam continues giving me a strained look but this time says nothing.

"Nevermind. It's probably just because he creeps me out."

"Probably. You know, 'Arges' or whatever, letting you pick out a name for him is really, really strange. He's always told me to just refer to him as Sir or Boss. It's obsessive." I didn't need to hear Cam say it, I already knew since the very beginning how obsessed he was with me. It only left an unsettling feeling inside my chest that I wanted to claw at until it went away. But I knew it wouldn't anytime soon.

Adding to that uneasy feeling, the Boss comes back into the room, speaking in his bitter tone that I knew I one hundred percent had not imagined, and that it was very real.

"Good news. We have our next Hunt assigned for you two. Congrats."