"Nuh-uh," I said immediately, glancing back at Jaxon. "No way am I going down there."

Through the flashlight, I saw him roll his eyes. He pushed past me so that he was in front, but didn't bother with a reply. Briefly, I wondered if my earlier comment bothered him more than he let on, but then decided that I had better things to worry about other than his feelings. Like, was this guy trying to lead me into some sort of basement where he intended to keep me for the rest of my days? Pff. Forget the so-called giants. I might have very well been duped into following a crazy psychopath who knew an opportunity when he saw one. I mean, c'mon. It was either that or admit that he was in with the giants. I wasn't quite buying the whole story about his father sending him out - because who in their right mind would include their kid in a crazy conspiracy that could very well get them killed?

Still, I was tired, cranky, and honestly, if Jaxon was intending to keep me here against my will, at least it would buy me some time. Maybe I could stay holed up down here, convince him to take care of the other people who want to kill me, and use that time to figure out what to do with him. Assuming that that was what this was all about.

Following the suspicious fellow down creaky wooden stairs wasn't the best course of action I could have taken, but I couldn't think of anything else. There was no one behind me, and I didn't see anyone back upstairs that could very well change that. If I didn't like what was down here, I could easily race back up the stairs and high-tail it out of here.

And, like an idiot, I thought nothing else would be able to surprise me. As the stairs went in a spiral, I nearly missed it when they ended in front of another door, and when Jaxon opened it, light flooded out from the other room like a switch being flipped. I recoiled back, my dry eyes complaining of the sudden change.

"Ah, what the hell!" I exclaimed. Pressing a hand above my eyebrows to shield my eyes, I stepped forward. "A warning would have been nice, you know."

Another circular room, though this one obviously had electricity, and it was made entirely of cement. In the middle of the room sat a guy at a desk that made the stove upstairs look like a child's toy in size. While it wasn't nearly quite as tall, it made up for its height in the way it curved around in a half-crescent, covered in papers and open books. The boy sitting there had been nearly asleep over his research, and it wasn't until he startled awake that I recognized him: he was one of the boys who were with Jaxon the day they were hunting after Felix - the red-head, to be exact. He narrowed his eyes at Jaxon, but when he saw me, whatever tiredness that clung to his face vanished, to be replaced with outrage and dismay.

"You brought her here?" he exclaimed. "What the he- why would you bring her here?"

Jaxon barely gave him a nod of acknowledgement before turning to his right. I took the moment to look around further. Shelves curved around the wall, full of fancy medical supplies commonly found at expensive hospitals as well as some of the basics, such as medical tape and a few first-aid kits here and there. And that was just to my left. To my right, three doors were evenly placed about in accordance to the one we just went through, with a lone fridge and a microwave standing awkwardly between the two doors furthest from me. Directly behind the desk the redhead sat at was an open area that cut between the shelving. I could just make out a series of equipment meant for exercising - a pull-ups stand, a treadmill . . . and what was up with the rack of black suits all the way in the back?

The redhead caught my frown and stood to block what little view I had of the area to begin with. Like how Jaxon was earlier, he didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. Even in my tired state, I could tell how much he did not like me just by looks alone. Fine by me. I wasn't exactly in the loving mood, either.

Jaxon waved his hand to grab my attention. Wanting to know what was in the room behind the redhead, but wanting to sleep even more, I reluctantly turned to face the boy wearing a suit. He was holding a door open with his foot. A semi-long hallway was beyond the new door, lit with bright, rectangular lights that reminded me of the type of lights you would see at a hospital. Weird, seeing as how the house above didn't seem to have a single power outlet. Cautiously, I stepped up to Jaxon, angling my head to examine the doorknob to make sure there was no lock on the door. Aside from a pair of raised eyebrows, Jaxon did not say anything.

"You're the one that made the asylum remark earlier," I reminded, crossing my arms over my chest once I was satisfied that I wasn't about to follow the guy into some sort of secret prison. "How'd you manage to pull this off, anyway?"

Jaxon glanced over my shoulder to eye his friend, who was still looking as pissed off as ever.

"I'll explain on the way," Jaxon assured, and gestured, once more, to step into the strange hallways.

Please, please, don't make me regret this.

Jaxon shut the door as he trailed in behind me. I couldn't help but stare; there were clean, pristine white doors on either side of the long hallway, all spaced out evenly. There had to be at least twenty rooms per side . . . why would they need so much space? What kind of bunker was this?

Unfortunately, we didn't get very far before Jaxon stopped at the fifth door to my right. I gave him an odd look as he reached over me to push the door open.

"You can sleep in this one," he said as the only explanation. "If you get hungry, continue going all the way down this hall and through the door at the end. There's a kitchen area, and if you do some searching, I'm sure you'll find something edible back there."

Jeez, he wasn't too happy about something. Shaking my head, I peered into the new open room, running my hand down the side of the wall to fumble for a light switch.

The room was wide and spacious enough; a simple queen-sized bed took up the middle of the floor, which was covered with soft gray carpet that could have easily been sold for a few months' worth of rent back at the apartments. A couple of bookshelves lined the wall on either side of the bed. Large pictures of nature things and paintings took up the rest of the space on the other walls, and for a moment, I felt that if I could get past how truly expensive all of this was, I could be at ease for at least a few hours here. It was quiet, it wasn't stuffy, and the only lock on the door came from the inside, which meant I did not have to worry about being locked in. There was a door on the western wall that I could only assume led to a bathroom. Taking a step forward, I saw a wide, open closet that took up a chunk of the eastern wall. A nightstand next to the bed contained a decent enough lamp, and two small scented candles stoon on either side of the lamp.

I was so awestruck by the entire thing that I almost missed Jaxon about to walk away. I stumbled back.

"Wait, where are you going?" I reached out to grab his arm. He stiffened at my touch, and I blinked, unsure why I even bothered to stop him to begin with. He raised his eyes to the ceiling before turning on me.

"What?"

I hesitated, easing back. Stifling back a yawn, I made a show of spreading out my arms.

"What is this place?"

"An underground lair for obsessive stalkers," Jaxon deadpanned. I winced. Okay, maybe I deserved that.

"Listen, I just don't understand-"

Jaxon waved his hand to cut me off, pointing to the bedroom behind me.

"There's clothes in the closet. Get changed, wash up, do whatever. Go get some sleep."

I scowled at him.

"Jaxon-"

But he was already walking away. I was tempted to go after him, then I was overtaken by yet another yawn, and thought better of it. Suddenly awkward, I headed back into the room and closed the door, turning the lock into place out of habit. Why would I care what some petty rich boy thought of me?

After shuffling through the closet for a clean change of clothes (there were plain white shirts and black sweats of all different sizes hanging up from the hangers, and the same went for packaged gender-neutral underwear and socks neatly tucked into a set of drawers built into the wall), I decided to test out the shower in the bathroom on the other side of the bedroom. The bathroom itself was simple; pristine tiled walls, a plain sink, toilet and bathtub, all barely a step away from each other. There was a small closet next to the toilet, where a handful of towels were neatly folded on the two bottom shelves while things like toilet paper, bottles of peroxide, and medical bandages took up the floor. On the third shelf were a few bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body-wash and face-wash, and boxes of individually-wrapped bars of soap. There was also a hairdryer and a couple of packs of feminine pads.

My head began to ache taking all of this in, so I hurried and grabbed a towel, a box of soap, and a bottle of shampoo and conditioner before shutting the closet.

I wanted to stay awake to further go over my situation, but after a quick shower, I didn't even have time to pull back the thick covers on the bed before I was out, wet hair and all.