Timeless - Mark Tuan

Chapter 6

Even with the worried voices outside my bedroom door and the unrest of confused shadows in the streets, I close my eyes and let Mark's arms cradle me to sleep. 

"Get away from him."

"I'll kill you this time, Arnisa."

"Wait for me."

"I'll burn you alive. Get away. Stay away."

"Gillian!" I jerk up from my sleeping position, perspiring, feeling a headache. My ear drums feel like they're gonna rip apart from the screams I heard just earlier. 

"Annie? Are you ok?" 

The hand caressing my bare back startles me. I look to my side and Mark is sitting there, looking worried as he eyes me with concern, his hand still rubbing me gently down. 

"Are you ok?" He asks again. 

I close my eyes and lay back down. "You need to go Mark," I sigh. 

"You need water? Anything?" He goes on top of me. 

"I need you to go!" I cover my eyes with my arm and pull the sheet to cover my naked body. 

He gets up, and opens the door to the bathroom, smiling when he sees he got the right door. When he comes out, he's wearing one of the robes Cecilia had put in there in case I get a guy in my room. "You wear men's robes?" He chuckles. 

"Mark!" I groan, rolling my eyes at him. "Just go."

"Seriously? You need a drink. Let me get you one." He goes out the door before I could even stop him. 

I get up then and grab my own robe from the chair just beside the window. I look out and realize it's still dark. I can sense a shadow lurking outside, searching. I check the time and it's only been an hour since I closed my eyes. 

Maybe upon hearing the door open, Mae and Cecilia dash inside the bedroom. "You need some explaining to do, Annie." Mae is at my face, glaring. 

"Can we talk in the morning? Please." I tell her as I sit on the chair and massage my temples. 

"You promise?" Now, she sounds like the kid she is. 

"Yes." I almost yell. "Now, go. He's on his way up."

"You ok?" Cecilia takes my hand and looks into my eyes. "You used up your energy to shield the house. And you  .... "

"Had sex." Mae interjects, making me glare at her again. 

"Yeah..." Cecilia blushes for me. "And that. You must be tired, Arnisa. I'll let him out."

"You can't." Mae interrupts again. "There's still trouble out there. We can't risk opening the door." She furrows her brows and massages her head. 

"Cecilia." I look at the older woman. "Give Mae some calming brew and take her to her room. She needs to rest." Whatever Mae's feeling, it looks like it's affecting her a lot. Her hands are shaking and her eyes are dilated. 

Cecilia looks at me questioningly and I nod at her, silently telling her I'll explain later. She obeys. Mae is even more confused when she takes her out the door. 

"Just follow her, Mae. You're gonna be ok."

"You promise to tell me in the morning?" The child asks.

I smile up at her and nod. 

There are so many things going on at once, it's hard to think. Especially when Mark comes in the room, holding a bottle of water and what looks like half of a champagne. I wonder where he got that. It could've been one of Mae's stashes.