Moonbound Justice

chapter 5

LYRA

I don’t know how long I lay on the floor but I do know that when it started to get so cold I knew I had to stand up. Sluggishly, I dragged myself off the floor and stumbled all the way to the bed. The super soft mattress embraced me, submerging me in its tender insides. I turned over and closed my eyes.

Day would soon break, i could feel it. I needed as much sleep as I could for tomorrow. I may be suspended but I had to chase the evidence from Jason’s case so, it wasn’t going to be all in-door and ice cream for me when day breaks.

I snuggled into the bed sheets and shut my eyes. I drifted off to sleep but after a while, I felt a hand tapping my arm harder and harder.

A faint voice called out to me. “Lyra, Lyra wake up!”

I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t. I was paralysed, and it was as though a heavy pressure pressed down on my spirit and was forcing it out, into an abyss.

The voice kept calling. The hand kept shaking me, vigorously until finally; I snapped out of it.

“Ehhhhhh.”

I shot up from the bed, forcing oxygen into my lungs like I was suffocating. My body was drenched in cold sweat and I was shaking. Those hands circled me and pulled me a warm embrace. The strong scent of lavender and roses filled my nose and saturated the room. My savoir held me tight, whispering to me as I shuddered in his embrace.

“It’s alright. It’s just a dream. You are going to be okay.”

Tonight, everything in me was freezing from pain and fear. Lying on this bed was like sleeping with ghosts but his presence set the room ablaze and let the heat in. I was still frightened but I wasn’t cold.

We stayed like that, for god knows how long before I mustered the strength to look my savoir in the eyes. For some reason, this otherworldly peace he gave me made me wonder if he was real.

I wiggled a bit, feeling his hold loosen so I could raise my head. I looked up and my gaze met his deep blue eyes, staring down at me. They were misty and cold but they weren’t scary, instead they were mesmerizing.

“Professor Lucien.” I murmured, almost out of breath. “What are you doing... here?”

I felt his hands pull away, hesitantly. There was guilt in his eyes. I just couldn’t comprehend why he felt he was doing something wrong.

“You were shaking, on the bed. It must have been a bad dream. I had to help.” He voice was barely audible. He was careful not to break the beautiful silence he knew I loved.

“How did you come in?”

“Spare key.” He showed it to me. I stared at them with my half-open eyes.

“I’ve been coming here every June 12, since my son died. I would lie awake on that bed and even then, I had nightmarish day dreams.” He chuckled a little, hoping to lighten the mood. I didn’t smile.

He cleared his throat, continuing. “I didn’t know that someone has gotten the dorm room. I sincerely apologize for barging in.”

“You should get going-” I said, quietly lifting myself off the bed and walking to the door. I gestured to the exit. “Before anyone starts getting funny ideas.”

“Lyra let me stay. Let me watch over you while you sleep, just like when you were a kid.”

“Do I look like a kid, professor? I’m a full grown woman. You can’t watch me sleep. No one will see it as familia love.” I spelled out. He just never seem to get how much I hated it that he saw me as a kid; I never that.

“Okay, but let me find you another place to crash tonight. You can’t stay here. The way you twisted and stretched your-self on the bed, trying to wake up; my blood still curls when I think about it. “

He paused and took a long look into my eyes, perhaps he was searching for something that would tell him that I wanted to do what he said.

“I can’t leave you here. I won’t.”

A sharp exhale escaped my lips, I was annoyed.

“Then I will force you out. You know there is something you don’t understand.” I drew closer. He was sitting on the bed. His face was up to the length of my abdomen when I stood near him.

“Your care and your feelings; I don’t give a f**k about them,” I said clearly and calmly. “Please take them with you and leave or else I will kick you out.”

He didn’t respond, he just kept our eyes locked, breathing slowly. Perhaps he wanted to look beyond my tough exterior, to see what I really meant through my eyes but I wasn’t that little girl from back then who it worked on so well. I had gotten so good at hiding what I felt inside. How he made me feel inside.

“Lyra-”

“Go already. It’s still dark.”

He lowered his head, gripped the bed sheets and let out a sigh of defeat.

Slowly he rose to his feet. He was a towering height of 6’4. He made me feel like a dwarf each time I stood close to him.

He dipped a hand into his pocket and stuck out a card. He extended it to me.

“If I need to call, I know which school brochure to find your number.”

“This isn’t my work card. It’s my personal line. Call me. It doesn’t matter what it is. I will come, I will help you. I will make everything better.”

I scoffed. “Kinda like you did for Jason.”

“Lyra-”

“Never mind, just go.”

His eyes held a pained look in them when I mentioned Jason. They still had the same look even after he forced the card into my hand. I practically threw him out because of it, shutting the door behind him.

Hot air escaped my lugs as I slid to the floor. My heart was beating so fast all of a sudden and I couldn’t make it stop.

“Tsk.” I clicked my tongue. If only he could just stay away from me. If only he understood how much Jason means to me. If only he knew how he made me