Keeper's Oath

Chapter 9: Shadowlight Court

Something warm and comforting was wrapped around Hope. She slowly was becoming aware of this which made her snap out of her dream. There was an inviting light as she opened her eyes slowly. A pale light was next to a bed where she was in. Around her smelled clean, like what hospitals usually would smell. The young woman knew that smell rather well. It was also mixed with another smell... a place that hadn't been used that much lately.

Then there was a familiar smell...

Hope blinked slowly realizing the room she woke up in wasn't her room. It was slightly bigger than her room. There were two big rectangular windows on the right side of the wall taking half of the space. Curtains were drawn over them but Hope could see snow falling. A lamp illuminated outside which glowed behind the rest of the curtains.

She sat up, her mind felt dazed.

How long have I been out for...?

Hope remembered talking to a wolf and she spoke back to her. Previously, she wasn't able to remember what happened to Livius. The images dashed across her mind while she held her head with her hand. Hope's sky blue eyes widened in shock.

Livius! She gripped the blanket that was on top of her. Where was he? Why hadn't she remembered him before? The images of Livius laying still on the limousine floor hit her like a bag of bricks. No matter what she tried to think, that was the only thing she could see in her mind.

Hope noticed a door to her left. It was wooden and had a glass on it on the top half that was marbled. There were few chairs along the side of the wall. The white walls were just plain white.

She had to get out of here. Hope twisted her body to sit up on the bed. Looking down at her body, she noticed that she was wearing white pajamas. Instantly she realized they weren't hers. Nothing made sense in her mind. Going back to what she remembered Halo saying... something about a new life? Had I been reborn as someone else? Hope asked herself. From her hands, she recognized them as her own.

The door opened without any warning with a quiet swoosh!

A tall man with messy brown hair stepped into the room. He froze in front of the doorway seeing her sitting up on the bed. His green eyes were wide behind his square glasses. He placed his right hand over where his heart was.

"Oh goodness, you are awake!" The man's accent caught her off guard. It sounded like he was somewhere from Europe. Instantly, he closed the door behind him as he entered the room. "Here, lay down, please. Don't strain yourself too much."

The man drew up a chair from the wall and sat beside Hope. He helped Hope get under the blanket again.

"Where's Livius?" Hope asked as the stranger covered her with the blanket once again. She felt like there were thousands of questions about to be blurted out of her mouth though that question was top on the list.

The man adjusted his glasses looking at Hope with his tired eyes. The young woman noticed it looked like he didn't sleep that well. There was silence between the two of them. Briefly, she was scared to hear verbally that Livius was gone. Which would make sense seeing what state he was in last time she saw him. Then the man's gaze softened.

"He's fine. Your friend is in the next room- No, you can't go see him. You have to rest." The man held his hand against Hope's shoulder as she wanted to hop out of bed again.

"I feel fine." Hope told him. There wasn't any pain in her body. She couldn't understand why she needed to rest.

The man nodded slowly, he frowned.

"Let's keep it that way. You need to take it easy." He leaned back on the chair, the man looked outside. "You have been here for a while. It's Christmas Eve."