Half Past

Chapter 5: My Cloaked Angel

The nurse tightens her grip on my chin, causing me to wince as my jaw aches as I look into her eyes.

I shiver. Dark, heartless, and cold swallowed me as I stared into the black pits.

"Yes, yes. Master will be pleased." Her deep voice purrs, and I blink hazily, trying to break out of her gaze.

"Who's Master?" I mumble incoherently.

Just then, the curtains flew open as a cloaked man barrels in, a sword flashing as he raises it above his head, bringing it down speedily and hitting the nurse in the chest. She emits a blood-chilling scream, her eyes seeking mine one last time before she collapses, her eyes flashing a yellow before becoming glazed over and lifeless, her body falling limp onto my bed.

The cloaked man stares at the body, heavily panting, and I stare at him in turn. 

He was the figure from the shadows.

He turns his gaze onto me and I quickly avert my eyes, my focus falling onto the dead body of the Creepy nurse before becoming frozen in horror, a gag escaping my throat.

'Oh. Should I get rid of that?" He  asks, smiling sheepishly, and I glance at him again, his face shadowed by the cowl of his cloak.

I force myself to swallow, my throat dry and raspy with fear.

"Yes, please."

He averts my eyes as he drags the body outside of my cube, calling a janitor over to dispose of the corpse. 

He returns after a minute, and I struggle to sit up, my mind still frozen with fear as I try to thaw through the frost.

"Who-Who are you?" I stutter, instantly kicking myself for asking such a stupid question.

I glimpse a flash of white from underneath his cowl, which promplty returns to darkness.

"Someone. Who are you?"

I furrow my brow, narrowing my eyes.

"Thea."

"Well, nice to meet you Thea."

My brain finally resumes, and a boatload of terrifying information is shown to myself.

The nurse.

Him, leaping into the room.

Him killing the nurse.

I shake my head, massaging my forehead.

"Why did you kill her?"

He looks at me, almost offended as amusement plays in the air.

"She was about to perform a Maev, Thea."

I gasp, scooting back on the sheets, my terrified gaze locked on the curtain that blocked me from the creepy nurse.

A Maev.

A Maev is when a very powerful Sesempra, or curser, enters a victim's mind, stealing the memories, knowledge, and can be used to summon a victim. The victim would be trapped inside their own mind as the Sesempra summoned them, causing them go to the Sesempra, not even knowing. They would lose all memory of it.

In other words, the witch had been trying to capture me.

I stare at the cloaked man in fear.

"W-Why?"

He shrugs helplessly.

"I don't have a clue, Thea. But there was one thing..." He trails off uncertainly.

I sit up immediately, almost afraid to hear the 'one thing'.

"What?" I breathed.

"I believe she was an Imper." He says calmly.

I feel my face pale.

When someone was an Imper, it meant he or she was controlled by part of a Sesempra- the Sesempra controlled the person, creating them into a mindless wreck to follow the Sesempra's wishes. The Sesempra could make them do anything.

"And... There would be one fact that you might have that would be useful." He says, hesitating again.

I swallow, than nod.

"What color were the nurse's eyes right before she died?" He asked me boldly, looking me straight in the eye.

My mind whizzed back, the last glare from the nurse as her eyes flashed yellow, before glazing over as she died.

"Yellow." I whispered.

He pales as well.

"Oh dear god no. Not Ajuaba."

Hearing that name, my face pales even more, becoming a sheet of white.

He meets my eyes, his fear flashing briefly before being replaced with determination. He strides towards me, grabbing my arm and standing me up. I give him a curious look.

"What are we doing?"

'We're going to see the votros." He states, meeting my gaze.

His cowl had slipped off as he had helped me out of bed, and now I studied his face.

Dark brown curls crowned his head, framing a soft yet hardened face. Small lips, dark eyebrows, and a strong jaw suited him well, alone with his soft yet striking blue eyes.

He taps my shoulder and I jump, realizing that I must have been caught staring. My face flushes, and I avert my gaze to the floor.

'Come on." He says gruffly, striding out the curtain. I hurry after him, keeping pace with him as we walked briskly in silence until we reached the flap of the tent.

I turned to him, one question pricking my mind before I entered.

"What's your name?" I asked him softly.

He meets my eyes, startled for a second, than composes his face.

"Lithen."

And with that, we enter the tent.