Requiem [Sirius the Jaeger]

Chapter 24 - Two Words

"What I needed most was to love and to be loved, eager to be caught. Happily I wrapped those painful bonds around me; and sure enough, I would be lashed with the red-hot pokers or jealousy, by suspicions and fear, by burst of anger and quarrels."
~Saint Augustine

The light burned my eyes as I opened them, looking at the gap in the curtains where the sun was making its way inside the room. The rays of sunlight gave the room a warm and friendly atmosphere, distracting me from the headache that was still plaguing me. It felt as if a hurricane was wrecking havoc inside my brain, throwing my thoughts into a chaos even worse than usually.

I slowly sat up, immediately regretting it as the stinging pain in my head got even worse. Looking at the watch sitting peacefully on my bedside table, I had slept a few hours. Though I had even rested in the car again, I still felt like I haven't slept in decades. Resisting the growing urge to lay down again, I forced myself to stand up. It took me a moment to stand upright, my sense of balance fighting against the headache. I decided to leave the curtains closed, fearing that everything would just get worse if I opened them.

Tumbling over to the little bathroom, I opened the door and entered, regretting it not a moment later. Looking in the mirror above the sink, I blankly stared at my reflection. I probably could have looked at a corpse and it wouldn't be any different. Though my skin had always been pale, it now rivaled the white strands of hair dangling down from my shoulders. The dark rings under my eyes didn't make me look any healthier either.

As my skin seemed to lose its color significantly, the wound on my cheek still looked as fresh as ever. It distinguished itself from my paper-like skin with an intense crimson color, letting it seem as if it was glowing. I glared at the little scratch, as if that would make it disappear. The fact that I my condition was getting worse by the second even worried me by now, especially since I didn't seem to find the cause.

Was it really simply the consequences of the last week? Could my body have difficulties with keeping up? Could it be that I was merely exhausted, both physically and mentally? Was it that easy?

Sighing, I pushed all these thoughts out of my mind as I approached the sink, splashing some could water in my face. The wound on my cheek burned as the liquid made contact with it, making me hiss involuntarily. The water flowing down my face had a faint red color, staining the white stone of the sink. I chose not to think about it while I took of my shirt, fair bandages soon falling to the ground.

Looking at my stomach in the mirror, I turned slightly to glance at the wound from each side. Thanks to Dorothea's stitches, it didn't look nearly as bad as it really was. Considering it nearly killed me, it had healed surprisingly well and fast, even for my standards. I didn't really know why, but I could only guess it was because of the Blood's help. Knowing that it was only three days ago that I nearly died because of this freaked me out a little bit, but I was glad that it was at least healing. It was still there and it still was everything but comfortable, but I could fight with this. Whether I should was a different question, but I wouldn't be killed. At least not immediately.

A sigh yet again escaped my lips as I covered my stomach in bandages once more. Satisfied with my work, I chose a new shirt and changed before leaving the bathroom once more. Feeling a little better, I dared to open the curtains, hoping that a little more light would make things better. Squinting my eyes as the sun hit my face, I tried to push the growing headache down once more. I really needed a plan about what to do with this. I could live with being tired and having a huge gash on my stomach, but I learned my lesson about fighting with the world spinning around me. As of now, I could only hope my condition wouldn't worsen.

Honestly, I was surprised that Yuliy hadn't tried to mention this once more. I had the feeling he had become even more worried after what happened in my fight with Kerschner. Not that I could blame him though. The memories of that night still sent shivers down my spine and they probably would for a long time. My mind had always been one of my greatest foes, my memories being my strongest demons. The fact that I never managed to let the past go, that I still felt the need to hold on was wearing me down slowly but surely.