Venator : Devil's Moon

XXII Meeting Pamela

"You sure the smoke won't-?" I heard a muffled worried voice which somehow spread a relief all over me and at the same time resulted in a slight fear.

"For the hundredth time Sebastian, don't talk. That smoke won't kill her!" A feminine voice flared up.

I realised I was feeling weird. I mean, after having an extremely pleasant walk through that peaceful graveyard, I naturally was supposed to feel that way. But I felt as if my body was on fire and I was fighting against an urge to vomiting. There was also a heavu feeling in my head as if someone was trying to force its way inside.

"But-" Sebastian began.

"Seb, I told you. Don't talk." The solemn voice said gravely.

"If she gets out of the loop, I don't know how'd I get in her psychic plane again. She might even pass in psychic coma, don't you understand?" She sounded angry and irritated as if she'd been saying the same thing over and over again.

"It's a sensitive job, you know..." She tried to shadow her anger.

The feeling of getting barbecued kept on increasing and I felt my clothes getting wet by sweat. Finally, after wondering why I wasn't waking up, I opened my eyes and realised I was lying on a couch and two pairs of eyes were hovering over me. Sebastian's face was grim and concerned, his eyes full of worry. The other pair of determined and desperate eyes belonged to the beautiful girl, about my age, now suppressing a dejected face. She'd been rubbing some oil on my forehead and muttering something like a spell.

She had curly black hair which went upto her shoulders. While she wore a loose green shirt, she was wearing shorts so that her smooth long legs were exposed. Contrary to this modern sense of fashion, she perhaps believed in rather ancient trend. For a necklace, she wore a chain of white smooth rocks of uneven sizes the pendant being the largest. Small brown beads were woven in her hair while similar black beads, woven in some white chain adorned her ears. She wore a weird combo of modern and tribal fashion.

But the most interesting feature was her eyes. They were jade green and looked ancient, as if she'd seen every wonder the world had to offer and that nothing was hidden from those knowledgeable eyes. Her gaze was so sharp that it seemed like she could gaze straight at one's core. In her stare, I felt naked.

But what made my mind jump from a 60 storeyed building was the fact that where I'd been lying, there was smoke all around. And near my head, what my hair was almost touching was a silver pot on fire. And whatever was inside it, had been flowing straight through my nostrils as it rose as vapor.

I screamed and quickly sat straight up, knocking off myself and the flaring silver pot in the process. A sigh escaped the young girl's mouth.

"Laura, you okay?" Sebastian quickly came to my aid. He and disappointed whoever-she-was helped me sit back on the couch from where I'd fallen.

He looked at me straight in the eye. Usually, I'd nod my head and gesture back I'm-fine-don't-worry. But when I looked in his dark blue eyes, I couldn't help but recall that nightmare, how these eyes glinted with murderous smile and how happy and satisfied his face seemed when he took that innocent life.

"Laura, you hear me?" He asked worriedly again after seeing my afraid and confused face.

"Pamela, what's happening?" He looked at the weirdly dressed up girl who was looking through a thick book she'd been holding.

"I'm...I'm okay." I answered weakly. The entire thing I'd experienced some time before I got wherever I was now, felt as if it never happened. Yes, every bit of that crazy nightmare had been carved in my memory. The spiral graveyard, the dark eyed girl and most importantly, that college guy who claimed Sebastian to be my destined murderer! While a part of my brain was pondering over possibilities, heeding Clara-the-witch's warning, most of it wanted to overlook everything. I just couldn't see the present Sebastian as a heartless killer, and certainly not mine. I'll talk about it later, I convinced myself when I realised the part that proved Sebastian to be the exact same killer even today strengthened.