Crow's Blessings → Sylus

Not So Villainous

Sleeping proved to be a challenge as I was faced with nightmares, no matter how many times I've woken up and tried sleeping in again. It was a continuous nightmare, as if it's a bookmarked page of a book and my mind continued on reading from the last paragraph I read. The same voice greeted me, this time growing ever closer and louder, kept chanting the same words.

"I will reclaim what's rightfully mine."

It's hard to tell whether the voice belong to a female, male, or another otherworldly entity. One thing for sure, it said that it has cursed me. So far the only curse I've felt is the endless nightmares.

So, it wasn't a surprise that I woke up, for the fourth time, at 5 AM. Not wanting to relive the same nightmare, I decided it was best to wake up now.

Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, a yawn escaped my lips whilst outstretching my arms. Taking my time to stand up, I leisurely tidy up the bed I slept in. For once, I'm pretending to savor a life of luxury - despite the fact that I've been anxious about being held captive by a stranger. Though it's safe to say that I don't suffer from Stockholm Syndrome.

Yet?

For a moment there, I let my intrusive thoughts voiced their opinions. 'What do you mean yet?' I fought back against said thought to defend myself against my thoughts.

While it did sound weird, I found myself contemplating over it. I mean, unlike the rumors I've heard, Sylus is a fairly nice man. I've only met him for a whole 24 hours, but he hadn't really done anything weird than threatening to hold me captive. He's even willingly driving me to work later.

Blinking my eyes, I came back to reality. Pushing the thoughts aside, I finish tidying the bed before leaving the bedroom and towards the only place I knew I was permitted to enter; the kitchen.

Passing by the lonesome hallway made me feel like royalty during the dark ages, but I enjoyed the dim lighting and paintings lining up the walls. Most of the paintings were medium sized and it looked like it wasn't painted recently, so definitely one of Sylus's vintage collections. While I didn't know most of the paintings, there was one I recognized. A painting of a man cradling his son whom he had just struck out of anger, with remorseful, fear-struck eyes were hung in the middle of the hallway, as if it served as a centerpiece. Ivan The Terrible And His Son Ivan by Ilya Repin.

I was getting too carried away by the painting that an angry crow started pecking on my shoulder to gain my attention. Mephisto cawed aggressively, pulling the sleeve of my outfit his way. "When did you get here?" my question was left unanswered as I followed him wherever he led me.

Mephisto ended up dragging me to the kitchen, specifically to a certain cabinet. Kneeling down to open the cabinet, I found several resealable pouches stacked neatly inside. Taking two pouches out, I raised them in front of my face. "Macadamia and pistachio?"

Mephisto cawed and pecked at the Macadamia nuts pouches. Storing the pistachio pouch back in its place, I quickly scavenged for a small bowl, brought it to the kitchen counter and opened the pouch. Pouring in a generous amount, I resealed the pouch and put it on the kitchen counter. Watching Mephisto gobbled those pistachios made me hungry, but I don't think I'm allowed to open the refrigerator.

A gentle beep came from the door leading outside. In came a burly man through the door wearing a short sleeved white shirt and a pair of white pants. The middle aged man froze as he made eye contact with me, a strand of his slicked back long hair fell to his forehead.

"You're not an intruder, no?" the man spoke with a subtle Spanish accent, his eyes locked on me. Cautiously walking towards the kitchen area, he took this weird fighting stance, as if fending mw off if I ever thought of fighting him.