Heart of Glass [manxman]

Chapter Ten

It was three days after the last assignment, and still, there I stood in the bathroom, staring at the bruises coloring my face and neck. The same purple and yellow spots covered the right side of my body, mostly around my shoulder and ribcage. My wrist was bruised and hurt like a bitch, so I had it wrapped until the sprain healed.

Over the last few days, teaching had been difficult. Before each lecture, I had to apply a mixture of healing ointments, as well as masking agents in order to cover up the bruising in case one of my students mentioned it or another professor happened to see me. While I hadn't mentioned the demons getting anywhere near my neck or face, it still looked bad, especially when I was supposed to be retired.

Something even I didn't recall, however, was getting hit in the face. However, there were dark bruises covering my right cheek, right underneath my eye. Maybe I'd been hit and hadn't realized it. Either way, it was a nuisance. After each lecture, I teleported to my office, then back to the classroom or training room. Once the end of the day came, I teleported right back home, not wanting to be seen by a soul before the ointments wore off.

While we had had our debriefing for the last assignment, Louis reviewed the reports, making note of the apparition I saw. No one else noticed it during the fight, and no one else had any guesses as to what it could've been, so we sent it to the investigative team to see if they couldn't do more digging during their assignments.

Thankfully, Louis hadn't called any strategy team meetings. The ointment didn't last particularly long, especially the masking agent in it, and those meetings had the tendency to run long, especially since things were beginning to pile up. He had sent out a mass text, saying that he intended to call one within the next week, but he had yet to do so. Hopefully my face would clear up by then. If I had to, I could wear a scarf or turtleneck to cover up the worst bruising on my throat, but nothing was going to mask my face quite so easily.

Blinking tiredly, I glanced at the back wall, hearing Louis's shower turn on. Gods, it was only 21:30? It felt like midnight. Then again, I hadn't slept particularly well the last few nights either. The night of the assignment, I'd come home, wrapped my ribs, my wrist, and started mixing up what I would need for the ointment. After that, I'd showered, dressed, and gone to my first lecture that morning. That evening, I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up all night preparing lesson plans. I'd slept some last night, but I tossed and turned until a few hours before I was set to get up.

The circles under my eyes almost looked darker than my bruises. If it wasn't so frustrating and I wasn't so tired, it'd almost be funny. I was too tired to force myself into the shower, let alone chuckle. Heaving a sigh, I walked out of the bathroom and flicked off the lights. I went straight over to my bed and set my alarm for twenty minutes earlier so I would have time to shower then.

Once again, I checked the burner phone, finding another text from Louis, checking up on my healing. I still hadn't mentioned the bruising, just in case, but I kept him updated on my arm and my ribs. I sent him a quick text, reassuring him that I was fine, then grabbed my handcuffs, tightened them up, and settled into bed.

Almost as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.

Chaos had captured the floor. Demons were running around, my teammates were chasing them, hunting them. All of it went on as I sat at my perch, watching, trying to keep an eye on everyone to help them, to kill a demon before it got too close. There were too many, though. They were everywhere, left and right, front and back. It was difficult to find the Unit 01 and 02 members among all of them. Somehow, they were holding their own against them. We hadn't even managed to make a dent in their forces, though.

My heart jumped in my throat, I tapped the comm in my ear. "Love, your left!"

1274 spun, taking out the demon on his left, while I finished off 1782's, and then came back for the one he'd been pursuing.