Infirmitate

FIVE | If I Fall

Every time I fell asleep, Thanatos' screams would wake me up. I finally gave up on sleeping and decided to get some more paperwork done. I quickly changed into a clean horse riding dress and brought the lit candelabra with me into the hall. The guard from earlier gave me a small, understanding smile as I passed Charlie's door.

Riki stayed right at my heels, even when I opened the doors to the office. He laid down by my feet when I sat down at the desk.

I was only working by candlelight for a couple of hours when one of the double doors opened with a loud click.

"What are you doing, Alexa?"

Jacob steps into the room and closes the door behind him softly. Riki peeks around the corner of the desk and huffs at Jacob in greeting.

He limps over to the chair in front of my desk and sits down with a soft groan. "How are you feeling?" I ask him, looking at the hand he had instinctively placed over the stitches. Jacob chuckles dryly. "I should be asking you the same thing." His knowing eyes meet mine.

My eyes drop to the papers in my hands. "I couldn't sleep. Thanatos' screams kept waking me up."

Jacob presses his lips together in thought. "I was walking around thinking when I saw the light from under the doors. What do you think happened to him?"

I sigh and place the papers into their rightful folders before setting them back in the drawer.

"I think someone captured him." I watch as Jacob's hand absentmindedly runs over the multiple raised scars on his forearm. I let out a small breath of air as I laugh at myself sarcastically. Jacob gives me a quizzical look and I shake my head.

"Here I am being miserable about all the terrible things that have happened to me while you're sitting in front of me having suffered much worse. I feel so selfish." I grab yet another letter from Stephen and Thomas' parents and open it to distract myself from my thoughts.

I jerk, startled when Jacob's hand falls on the letter and takes it from me. "You have every right to feel the way you do. I used to hate the world for the things that happened to me. I blamed Noa, I blamed the Academy, I blamed Borac." Jacob reaches across the desk and wraps my small hand in his calloused one.

"I blamed myself, Alexa." The pain in his eyes brings tears to my own. "Until I learned to harness all of that hate and all of that pain and turn it into something good." He lets go of my hand and leans back in his seat.

"We all have a destiny to fulfill. This might just be yours." When he looks down at the letter, I quickly wipe the tears away from my eyes. Riki looks up at me from beside my feet and I lean down to pet his head.

Jacob clears his throat to get my attention. "Stephen's mom and Thomas' dad are on their way here." My stomach drops as he hands me the letter.

"What do you mean? That's impossible. We never told them we were going to King's Tomb, only which state." Jacob shrugs his shoulders. "It's not as hard as you think to find a person. They could've hired someone to find them."

"What should I do?" I look up at Jacob to find him standing. "You're Head Elder." He smiles softly. "It's your decision." He walks over to the doors and opens one before turning back around.

"A word of advice, Alexa." I nod my head for him to continue. "Don't believe everything you see-especially everything you hear." I frown. "What does that have to do with this?" He sighs with that familiar smile on his lips. "I don't know, but I felt like it needed to be said."

With that, he leaves, closing the door behind him with an echoing click.

I sit at my desk working in silence for a little while longer until I catch myself nodding off. Next thing I know, the sun is glaring through the floor length windows. I yawn deeply as I sit up in my chair and stretch. I chuckle as Riki does the same.