Alpha of Dahael

Chapter 6 - Strange Occurences

She worked from into the wee hours of the morning, her drink had gone cold and her eyes burnt with tiredness. The good thing about some remote jobs or working for yourself was being able to work any hours you wish.

She took a quick shower, after putting away her laptop and other items before putting out a do not disturb sign and heading to bed.

Her dreams filled with random blurs as she heard random whispers and saw blurred faces. She felt nauseous as the world seemed to spin around her like she had drank too much at a club and couldn't think straight.

She woke up disoriented and nauseous, her head spinning as if she’d been on a carousel that wouldn’t stop. The room felt like it was tilting, and she clutched the edge of the bed to steady herself. This was her first time experiencing anything like that, and it left her feeling vulnerable and uneasy. She groaned as she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. Thirty mins later she stepped out of the bathroom feeling slightly rejuvenated but still somewhat sick. She got dressed and headed down to the kitchen area to grab something to eat. There was no one to greet her and the house seemed eerily quiet but she paid it no mind as she quickly secured a beverage and some light snacks before heading back up to her room.

She paused as she entered her bedroom, a cool breeze blew through her room. She didn't remember opening the room window, not when she was not yet comfortable with the surroundings. Especially not when she was about to go to sleep either, she racked her brain as she placed down her food and went over to the window gazing for a few mins before closing the window back and making sure that it was actually locked.

She sat on her bed and an uneasy feeling washed over her, she got up and started checking all areas humanly possible to hide a person. After she was satisfied with her search she sank back into her bed and cuddled her pillow, her appetite no longer present in the moment.

She felt a sad feeling fill her heart as she snuggled her pillow absentmindedly. She felt so alone for a moment like she never really and truly had anyone by her side that she could properly count on without being blindsided by a betrayal of some sort. Now, she was in some random place, staying in a random bed and breakfast, being paid by a person she never met, not knowing what next to expect.

Usually, she was okay with just upping and going places without restrictions, but now it dawned on her how miserable it felt sometimes. It was all fun and games until the chill of the bedsheets reminded her of how alone she felt on the inside.. She turned around and reached for the snack on the bedside table accidentally knocking over a cup of tea.

She sighed in frustration before getting up and looking for a towel or mop to wipe the floor with. She stopped as she noticed two leaves on the ground beside her bed. Her room wasn’t close to any foliage and was cleaned regularly, so how did that get in there? She picked them up cautiously, the edges slightly curled and the veins faintly visible under the light. The leaves were strange—pale green with serrated edges, unlike anything she’d seen in the inn’s garden. They smelled faintly bitter, like crushed herbs. She turned it around in the palm of her hand trying to see if she could identify what type of leaf it was.

She placed the leaves on the countertop, her mind racing. Even if the wind had blown them in, wouldn’t they be near the window sill or stuck in the curtain? She continued her search for something to clean up the mess she made earlier before it spread to the rug. She looked under the bed again to make sure, her mind racing again, 'Why were there leaves in her apartment.' The thought sent a shiver down her spine, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something—or someone—had been in her room. Why was it right next to her bed?

A small disturbed feeling filled the pit of her stomach as she put away the towel and the cup. She would need to get out of here sooner rather than later before anything happened to her. She was not about to become a missing person or a statistic before she fulfilled her dreams.

She took a quick bite of her snack before going back down the stairs to find the owners, return the cup and maybe find another beverage to drink preferably in a sealable container. As she headed down the corridor she met the lady of the house climbing up the staircase. "Good day Mrs. Bonny," Sayde said politely.

"I was just coming to check on you hun, we didn't see you this morning."

"Oh really, well you're in luck cause here I am," she said wrapping her arm around the elderly woman's arm and guiding her back down the stairs.

Mrs. Bonny chuckled and patted Sayde's arm, "Lunch is ready so let's have lunch together." Sayde readily nodded her head and smiled.

'Yea lunch, would help her formulate what she needed to ask politely.'

Mrs. Bonny ushered her towards the family room as she stepped off the staircase and told her she would be right back with the food. Sayde offered to help but was laughed off and she sat at the table.

Her mind slowly wandered off to the times as a kid her grandmother would sit her at the table as she waited excitedly for her grandmother's home-cooked meal. She smiled at the little memory as the scent of spices and seasonings hit her nose.

"Mrs. Bonny it smells amazing," she rose to take the tray from her hands and placed it on the table. Mrs. Bonny smiled and shared out a soup, the veggies and meat seemed to burst with fragrance and juice.

Sayde's mouth watered at the sight and smell. She waited for Mrs. Bonny to take a seat and take the first serving before helping herself to the toasted bread in the covered basket on the table and some soup.

"How do you like your stay so far, Miss Bloom?"

Sayde smiled warmly at the woman, "It has been amazing and your homemade meals are beautiful, it reminds me of my own grandmother when she was alive."

"I had to ask a question though, I found a few leaves in my room and my window opened this morning but I didn't open the window." She looked over at Mrs Bonny seriously, "I left my shoes by the door so there's no way I could've dropped that in there but I was wondering if the windows had a fault or something that would make it open on its own?"

Mrs. Bonny looked at her calmly and shook her head. If you weren't observant you would miss it, the slight change in her eyes before she shook her head."Would you like my husband to check it out for you?"

"Yes please that would be wonderful, thank you," she said in earnest, taking large bites of her bread.

Mrs. Bonny excused herself from the table and covered her bowl before heading towards the back, after a few minutes she returned with a smile," My husband said he will go take a look when he's done with what he's doing down here."

Sayde breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you Mr's Bonny I do appreciate it."

Mrs. Bonny went back to eating and they both ate in silence for the remainder of the time.

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Audeion woke up with one thing on his mind, to find the Doctor he was looking for, he had no time to skylark when his whole inheritance lay in the balance. He got up, took a quick shower, dressed and headed out. He stopped at a cafe for breakfast and immediately started making calls, he was determined to find that seemingly elusive guy.

With some searches and some calls to Aaron he had found a positive trail. He sipped on his coffee and signalled to the waitress so that he could order some scrambled eggs and toast. Aaron soon joined him at the cafe bringing along his laptop and they began to narrow the search down.

They traced him down to the edge of town, apparently he recently moved there after his office kept getting broken into in the middle of the city.

'Would it not get worse when he's in an isolated area though?' Audeion thought to himself.

"Would you like to go to his office now?"Aaron said, looking up from his computer. Strangely enough, there wasn't any contact number or email, just an address and the note below said 'We take walk-ins'.

"Ya sure, the sooner I get to him, the better for me," Audeion sighed in exasperation. 'I’ve been searching for a doctor like him for months. All of them have either wound up dead or missing, and this is my last clue.' Aaron’s expression darkened, and Audeion felt a flicker of unease. Was there something more sinister at play?

Aaron looked at him strangely, "What do you mean they just randomly ended up missing or dead while you were looking for them?"

"Ya, I-" he looked up at Aaron. "What?"

"And you didn't find it a bit strange or even concerning?"

"Well, to be fair the guys I got in contact with were kinda old and with the exception of that one young doctor getting t-boned at an intersection."

"Aude.... Every single contact you made was squashed there should be a glaring red flag going off in your head right now."

"Was there anyone with you when you got in contact with them?"

"Well they were actually introduced to me by some of the members of the pack that knew of my search."

"Does anyone know a lot of information about this one?"

"Well the person who recommended him to me knows that i'm looking for him..."

"Come on, let's go,"Aaron said as he packed up his laptop and left a tip on the table.

As they left the café, Audeion couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. He glanced over his shoulder, but the street and parking lot was empty. The wind picked up and the unease lingered, he couldn’t quite place what it was.