The Berserker

Chapter 22

Each breath was struggle, a weight crushing my chest sinking with each second all the oxygen sucked out. My arm whipped out searching for the assailant only to be met with air. Pushing myself up to sitting, guard up, I heaved chest feeling tight, surveying the room rapidly. No one else but Nathaniel who was still deeply asleep.

Massaging my chest, air flowed through searing my throat. There was no blade nearby for me to reach. In an instant, I was across the room, picking one up, a muted whoosh as the blade flew out. The second was in my other pocket, but the smell of blood made me pause. A ruby river flowed, glistening down his bed.

Don't be dead...

Tentatively, I walked to his bedside. He was still bleeding. Fingers outstretched, I felt for a pulse, but it was hard to tell. His body was cold, no heat emanated from him. Placing my palm on his chest, I waited, staring at his face for any sign of movement. Then, there it was. The small thud, and then another.

I sat on my bed, facing the window and massaging my head with one hand. Relief gave way to an anxiety that someone will come. Rubbing my palms together, I rolled the switch blade in between, opening it every other roll. Nathaniel stretched out on the bed, shifting momentarily and then settling down. Rain, hail, light breathing, whirring of the heater, contributed to the sounds of the night. I refused to let anything get past me.

Early morning came with more rain, but no hail. Nathaniel was still asleep, so I covered him with my blanket, getting dressed first. I left for the corner store in the next plaza to buy him food.

What does he even like?

Paying for two puff pastry pies and returning hastily to avoid the camera, which the umbrella helped with, I rested the food on the table, watching Nathaniel sleep peacefully. How nice it must be to sleep peacefully, no nightmares that threw you into the waking world or threatening to keep you for eternity. I scoffed stretching out and burying my twinge of envy. Few minutes later, he woke up, freezing mid sit after noticing me.

"We need to get going," I said, "I don't want to stay here any longer. Get dressed and eat quickly."

"Eat? What's there to -" he paused as I gestured to the pastries on the desk. "How long have you been awake?"

"Eight hours or so. Hurry up."

Nodding, he got up without a word, dressing and eating within five minutes.

"Thanks for the food," he said, but I didn't acknowledge too busy making sure there wasn't anything left behind saying instead, "Let's go. We have everything."

We checked out, and I opened the umbrella handing it to him.

"You're nicer than I expected you to be," Nathaniel stated, making conversation.

Taking the remaining pastry from him, I exhaled under my breath,  "Do you need to talk?"

He glanced at me before focusing on the path ahead, and then smiled. I frowned not seeing anything to smile about. It grew bigger, which increased my annoyance in my lack of knowledge and understanding of the situation.

"Planning my murder?" I inquired.

"No, I'll leave that to you," he said, chuckling. "Do you know what I just found about you?"

I remained silent, so Nathaniel leaned down and whispered into my ear, "You're shy when it comes to compliments and thank yous."

Elbowing him away from my person, I didn't understand how he and Maya came to that conclusion.

"I don't like people," I stated clarifying the difference between shy and being silent, but he neither refuted or rectified his previous discovery. My level of irritation with Nathaniel increased significantly.