I didn't leave myself time to think, rushing into bed and throwing the cover over my head. My body trembled, more than it had ever in my life. I felt fear, a fear that seeped into my very bones. A fear that made me feel like any feeling I had felt before this moment was a lie.
They would be back, I was sure of it. No one would go through that much trouble to keep something hidden just to let a witness go. I had never paid much mind to Mr. Artofex Tremblay, but now he was all I could think of.
Would he kill me? Torture me? Worse?
After my close call with death, anything seemed possible. Death, a foreign concept I was mainly exposed to through books, became something too intimate.
Through quick and short breaths, I just barely managed to focus. [Don't freak out, don't freak out Eliya. If you freak out, you can't think and if you can't think you're stuck here worrying. I'll be fine. I'll be fine. I'll be fine.]
My breath steadied as best it could in spite of my growing anxiety and worry. I had to get out. I waited for a few minutes until I was sure the two men and Mr. Artofex Tremblay were gone before checking the halls. Almost blinded by the white lips, I faintly made out the silhouettes of doctors, researchers, and students returning to the wing.
With this many people present, it would make it a little harder to leave. Not knowing who was with Mr. Artofex Tremblay or not, I didn't know who was suspicious of me. It was fine if I was seen, I could likely get away with a half-baked excuse, but it would be a problem if I lingered.
[I need to get out of here.] I reminded myself once more. The threat of those two coming back was very real, and I was not at all enthusiastic to find out what the metal sound I had heard was.
Filling my lungs with air, I opened the door and walked into the corridor. I tried to lax my shoulders, appearing as normal as possible, but they still held a level of rigidity. My skin burned, charring at their piercing gazes, all of them. Shadows elongated, blotting out the sun. At the edge of the corridor, I swore I could see the grim reaper.
I took a step forward and felt the energy zap from my body, as if with that one step I had moved a mountain. Hands, claws, illusory fingers of fear and dread, gripped my ankles, holding me still. I felt my body sink, as if drawn into an eternal darkness.
"Sorry to scare you, but I was wondering if you knew where I could find Junjujunjun Library?"
A voice tore through the darkness, a blade of dawn piercing through the heart of Lady Tenebrae¹.
I took a step forward, feeling exhaustion once again grip my body.
"What?" His face was racked with embarrassment, cheeks red and gaze avoiding mine. I couldn't help a laugh from leaving my lips. He looks so… awestruck.
I took another step, feeling my head grow heavy. Another, and another. His figure was growing closer, that bright smile and onyx, sometimes ivory, hair.
He had saved my life.
That fact had yet to sink in. Had it not been for this man I knew for less than a day, I wouldn't be alive. I wouldn't be able to see my parents or my little sister, I wouldn't be able to hang out with my friends, and I wouldn't feel this fear. This fear soo intense it felt like it was physically binding me, this fear soo visceral it made every step feel a marathon, was a blessing.
It meant I was alive.
The dead feel no fear and have no duty, and I was not dead. I had a duty: getting out of her.
My steps grew lighter, each feeling less and less exhausting. The shadows on the wall and searing gazes dissipated, and before I knew it, I found myself in front of an elevator. The elevator to the first floor.
DING!
The sound was almost deafening, I had yet to ring the elevator yet it opened. I didn't wait to see who it was, dashing into the nearest.
Why? Why did it have to be his room?
A man lay unconscious, a large cover around his right eye. The cover bulged, underneath it resting cotton and bandages. My heart sank.
It was Bran Herken, a boy I knew well. Too well.
I was the reason he was missing an eye.
I didn't feel bad for it, no matter how many teachers tried to convince me otherwise. He had deserved it.
What bothered me were the words he had said before being wheeled off in an ambulance. He screamed that he'd kill me, he screamed it with such hate and animosity I couldn't tell if it was still Bran or if he had been replaced with a devil. He also said… worse things.
"I'll finish what I started, I'll make you regret ever having a…" I repeated the sentence, unable to finish it. I wanted to hurt him, god how I wanted to hurt him.
But I couldn't risk another suspension, V's only allowed one suspension per student, A second one and I'd be expelled.
I held back my rage and focused on the noise outside. The coast was clear.
DING!
The ring of the elevator wasn't nearly as shocking the second time, I entered and patiently waited until I reached the first floor. It was hard to suppress my fear and anxiety, but I couldn't let that stop me this close to the finish line. I pushed through, gritting my teeth as the door opened.
[We're almost there, thirty more seconds, thrity more seconds.]
Each step felt like it took an eternity, but I never stopped. The memory of footsteps approaching my door was still fresh in my mind, causing me to walk a little faster. Before I knew it, I had broken out into a slight job.
My eyes shut as the door approached, scared I'd be called out.
One.
Two.
Three.
No one called out, and when I opened my eyes, I was outside. Flanking my sides were buildings Lamba 7 and 8, the walk was a straight line from here.
[Relax, relax, relax, relax.]
Despite being out of immediate danger, my nerves refused to calm. Footsteps, my own, echoed louder than they should've in the partly crowded path. Gazes darted my way, none lingered.
None except for one. A pair of eyes bore into my back but there was not a soul behind me. My sanity was beginning to slip, stretched thin from the week's stress.
Sane or not, there was no explanation for the figure at the edge of my vision.
[You're going crazy, you're going crazy! There's no one.] And there was in fact no one, I was seeing things.
Ignoring any other anomalies, my goal was the dorms.
…
Click!
A silent prayer left my heart thanking Kira for the key she had given me. No thoughts, exhaustion beat at my body as if I owed it rent money. My body fell onto Kira's couch and sleep took me just as quickly.
¹ : Tenebrae is Latin for darkness.