Frost-bound Singe

Chapter 2

Laughter. Conversations. Warmth.

Dobhailen awoke to these, his eyelids fluttering open to see a bright light above him. Feeling the soft mattress and wrapped in a white blanket. He must be in the infirmary, but then waves of mild pain coming from his injuries which were bandaged now that he realized slight pressure on them.

Turning his head to the side, he saw both of his teammates who were  happily chatting rather than being down and gloomy which wasn't too surprising for them as they were always looking at the positive side of things. 

One of them who seemed to be holding a mug of coffee in his hand was Haruki Kazue, the blue-grey haired youth who was one of the youngest exorcists to reach the ranks for the exceptionally skilled.

The other one right beside him, a lady with the most beautiful sun-kissed skin and well-kept hair who dressed in rather sumptuous attire one would never expect to wear out in the field was Ginessa Amoldine one of the few high ranking female slayers.

"Oh! Dobhailen! You're finally awake! It's been so long!" Haruki happily exclaimed as he quickly shuffled over to the bed, still with the mug of coffee in his hand.

"Not so loud! You might be disturbing the other patients in the other rooms!" Ginessa reprimanded as she quietly walked over as well.

"Seriously, you've been out cold for so long! It’s been like, a month or more!"

"Haru, it's only been a week, you don't have to exaggerate... Ah, Dobhailen, your hair has become longer! You should grow it out!" Ginessa giggled. 

The bed-ridden slayer could only watch them in silence however, one question stuck in his mind. Who brought him back? From what he could remember, he was absolutely alone when he went back-- but then when he collapsed, somebody had caught him. It was probably that somebody who brought him back as well. He was lost in thought trying to think of persons who could have possibly brought him back, Dobhailen was shot back into reality by a sensation of boiling hot coffee that poured onto his neck.

It seems that Haruki got too excited with story-telling of his oh-so-fun adventures around the base and a barrage of ‘I told you so’ that in the midst of his very animated speech, his coffee ended up spilling on Dobhailen.

The only thing Dobhailen could do was to let out a silent scream and jerk forward cutting Ginessa and Haruki’s visiting hours short fearing Haruki might end up setting the room on fire next.

With Ginessa profusely apologizing for Haruki’s accident as well as cleaning up his mess off of Dobhailen before literally dragging Haruki out of the room. Just like that, the room fell to a complete silence. It was peaceful again and the burning sensation started to fade away. However, the moment the two left, it just hit Dobhailen that he could’ve just asked Haruki or Ginessa whoever brought him back to base. He decided to let it pass, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed anyway anytime soon and all he could do now was to rest.

Night fell; Dobhailen was awakened by the bright moonlight shining through his window which gave his room a faint lighting, letting him see a bit of his dinner… or what was left of it, resting on the table beside his bed. Someone had snuck into his room while he slept. It could’ve been Haruki but it wasn’t likely because even he had his own limits, sort of. Mustering enough strength, Dobhailen painfully sat up to get better looks of the leftovers on his plate noticing that a hooded stranger had been sitting on the open window sill the whole time.

Still rather defenseless and weak, Dobhailen quickly inched away to the bed’s other edge hoping to be able to grab something he could use to defend himself. Feeling around under the bed, his hand came in contact with something hard and cold, a handle! He didn’t take it out just yet for it might provoke the intruder.

 The intruder was obviously not from Gaisma or the areas surrounding it since under the cloak was clothing which seemed to be what the desert people far away wore.

Dobhailen's ice blue eyes locked on the dark form seated on the sill trying to take in each detail he could take in.

The stranger turned his attention to the slayer, his eyes, the right one, bright amber, the other, a deep green.

"I've been watching you since that day,” the figure spoke, certain they were male.

What day? Could it have been that day where he destroyed the mansion and its occupants?

“You look so peaceful …so weak..when you sleep.”

..So now this guy has been watching him sleep as well. What’s going on? He didn’t know he had admirers, especially this …kind. Now that the stranger had his full attention, he grinned, his fangs visible. Dobhailen’s eyes widened, he inched more towards the bed’s edge, his grip tightening on the handle he had a hold on.

“Now that you’re almost back on your feet, I believe it would be more fair to feed off you right now.”

The slayer’s heart began beating faster, these were one of the few moments he had felt so helpless.

"Come," the vampire commanded his eyes now possessing a slight red tint.

Dobhailen stood from his bed and walked towards him as if in a trance, his blanket loosely wrapped around him,but still covering most of his body. The stranger extended his arm out to guide the slayer towards him to get a taste of his sweet sweet blood. However, just a step away from the vampire's reach, Dobhailen stopped in his tracks, but his face still blank leaving the vampire to raise a brow, not long after, a smile crept onto his face, figuring the slayer must've been afraid of him,the big scary vampire. The thought amused him, he hopped down from where he sat and slowly approaching the blanket covered form.

"No need to be afraid, it will only hurt a bi--" 

The vampire could not finish his sentence due to a full force of suitcase meeting his face, the impact so hard, it knocked him right out the open window. Literally.

Such a careless vampire he was, Dobhailen thought to himself. Looking out the window for any signs of the vampire, he saw him scurrying away out of the Hawthorn grounds before closing the windows then locking them just to be safe. He then looked down at the suitcase in his hand, a worthy weapon it was, despite its appearance, in reality, anything could be used as a dangerous weapon if used right.

With that, Dobhailen retreated back to bed to catch some more shut eye, the blanket dragging behind him, placing the suitcase under the bed where he had first found it.

He was going to be rather busy tomorrow, back to work along with questions that needed some answering. 

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{AN}: Idk how to feel about this chapter. Perhaps it's because I didn't give it much effort this time orz