Sinister Secrets

The Dark Lord Has Risen

Relm stirred in the bed behind me, but I never made a move to look at him. My eyes were trained on the window and the knife sat heavy in my hand. I felt crazy, my knees drawn to my chest with a singular nail digging into the handle over and over again. The wrap was once tight around the handle, but due to my lack of sleep, it slowly started to pull away from the metal with each tug of that nail throughout the night. I bit down on my lip, the knife shaking in my grip at random times when I recalled that bird and most of all that dark figure that seemed to linger. 

Relm groaned behind me as he stretched and the sound of his popping joints echoed through the silent room. I could feel his eyes on my back, the silent judgment that passed between us as he traced the outline of my body sitting there on alert without an ounce of sleep. I could only imagine the things he was thinking. He always thought negatively of me and in that moment it would be no different. But I know what I saw and he would never believe me. 

It couldn't have been at all concerning to him though. After a brief moment or two, I felt his gaze move elsewhere and the muscles in my body loosened at the shift of his attention while he stood from the bed and padded barefoot to the bathroom. I never moved, I just held that knife there like I single-handedly was defending our world. Like I needed to. 

I jumped when the door opened again moments later and an excessive amount of steam followed Relm from the bathroom. I felt Relm pause and his eyes burning into my back. He tossed his jacket on the bed and rounded the bed to my side. He paused and stared at me with his hands on his hips.

"Auden," he said, his voice controlled, "what are you doing?"

I swallowed, lifting the knife a little higher to point at the glass window. "I was attacked last night."

He paused, glancing around the room. "What are you talking about? Who would eve-"

"I went out on the roof to watch the stars and I was attacked by a bird."

His once parted lips met as they closed at the understanding of my sentence. He considered my words, glancing toward the window and then back at me.

"When did you go on the roof?" He asked calmly, his eyes slipping from mine to find the window again, his gaze lingering along the glass.

I stared a the glass with him, my mind reeling. "After you went to bed of course."

His eyes returned to me, confusion within them. "After I went to bed? What do you mean?"

Now it was my turn to be confused as I turned to him, the knife slowly lowering.

"You were asleep first. I made sure of it."

I glanced back at the window and then at the dried blood on the knife from where I'd stabbed the bird. There was no way. "No, I was... I was up."

There was no possible way it was a dream. I stared at the blood, turning the knife over in my hand to examine it.

"Are you..." he paused moving closer to see better, "are you bleeding?"

"What?"

He surged forward, grasping my arm in his hand tighter than necessary. He turned over my arm to reveal the tear in my sweatshirt. The skin was severely scraped and the blood had long since dried over the wound almost cauterizing it completely. I was so scared, that I had forgotten to tend to the wound. I forgot to clean it and take care of myself, but that wound coupled with the dried blood on the blade made it look... not so good for me.

His eyes went to the blade and then returned to me. He connected the dots in his head, moving away from me, eyes roaming my face. 

"No... wait..." I said as I dropped the knife for the first time since being on that roof. "The bird.." I swallowed as I stood. "The bird did this."