CHAPTER SEVEN
756 Words
The bedroom was dark. Night had fallen while I slept.
A figure sat in the chair beside the bed, barely visible in the shadows.
"Kaelith?" My voice trembled.
"You were screaming." He leaned forward into the faint moonlight streaming through the window. His expression was unreadable.
"What were you dreaming about?"
"I don't remember." The lie came easily.
He studied me for a long moment. "Professor Llyen contacted me. He told me what happened in class today."
My stomach dropped. "And?"
"And I think you should work with him." Kaelith stood and moved to the window.
He kept his back to me with one hand braced against the window frame and the other in his pocket.
“Why?” I asked quietly.
“Because pretending nothing is amiss won’t protect you.” His voice was low and controlled. Too controlled. “It is better to explore the knowledge of what your mind is open to, especially with someone trusted watching.”
He was right.
I really wanted to expand on this newly found magical theory and runes, but I was scared.
The thought of learning something so foreign yet familiar filled me with a kind of excitement I can’t explain, but within me was also a sense of urgency rooted in deep fear of what is to come.
I could feel the strangeness of everything and everyone around me, including my new life. But I wanted to pretend it was normal.
“Do you trust him?” I pushed.
Kaelith didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, like he was listening to something I couldn’t hear.
He turned to face me and gave me a small smile. “I trust him more than most.”
That wasn’t very reassuring.
“You should attend every session with him.”
A cold ran down my spine. “What if I don’t want to dig deeper into whatever happened today? What if it makes everything worse?”
“It won’t.” He approached the bed in a few strides. “You screamed from your sleep. That’s not something to ignore.” He rubbed his thumb on my temple while his remaining fingers ran through my hair.
My breath hitched. My scalp tingled and felt warm from his contact. “I didn’t mean to-”
“I know.” He sat on the edge of the mattress. He was so close to me that the heat from his body curled around my skin. “But dreams like that aren’t just dreams... Arwenna.”
Something in his voice made my pulse jump. I didn’t understand what.
He leaned my head on his chest. “Tell me what you saw,” he murmured from above me.
“I can’t,” I whispered. This time it wasn’t because I didn’t want to... but because the pieces were already slipping again, like fine sand through my fingers. “I don’t remember.”
He exhaled slowly. “Then get a rest.” He removed my hair from my face and pecked my forehead. “You’re safe.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that. I wasn’t sure he believed that.
Kaelith rose and walked to the door.
“Where are you going?” The question escaped before I could catch it.
“Patrolling the grounds.” He didn’t turn around. “Someone sent you a message today.”
My blood went cold. “You saw that?”
“Next time, don’t delete it.”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
“It matters.” He paused. “Everything around you matters.”
He opened the door. Stopped.
“Lock the door behind me. I won’t be coming back tonight.”
I waited until his footsteps faded down the hall before I slipped out of bed. I turned the lock. The click echoed too loudly in the quiet night.
The room felt different. Heavier.
I sat on the edge of the mattress, fingers curling into the sheets.
Sleep eluded me.
Kaelith knew something. He was watching me.
Someone was also trying to warn me or hurt me... I didn’t know which.
Or it could be both.
My phone buzzed again.
A second unknown message. It was from another unknown number: You don’t deserve him.
Him? Kaelith?
I rolled my eyes and was about to drop the phone.
Then another buzz came in: You should have died back then, Arwenna.
My breath froze. My vision swam.
The text rang a bell.
Where have I seen or heard of it before? I can’t seem to remember.
- Writer
