demons | lrh

-04-

demons
eyes in the dark
—04—

Nora was smart enough to realise that there was no escaping at that moment. But as far as her intelligence went, she felt completely and utterly brain dead right on the spot where she stood.

Because she knew she should try to run. To, at least, attempt to push away the strange, alien, man behind her. But the girl was stuck, temporary paralysis seeping further into her muscles with each ice cold breath that hit the back of her neck.

"You seem scared." It was an observation, and it only unsettled Nora further. Because of course she was scared. She'd been terrified from the very moment she had woken up, and even before that, judging from what vague memories remained from the day before, yet it was like the man couldn't understand why. As if he hadn't realised that he was the one and only cause of her fear.

Or he had, and simply just did not care.

"That's...that's because I am," she managed to say, fumbling over her words. Voice quiet and weak. Almost polite, even as the face of danger was burning two eye-shaped holes into the back of her head.

"You should learn to never be scared of anyone," he began, and Nora let loose a relieved sigh when she felt his suffocating presence lessen slightly, as he took a step backwards. "Only their intentions."

Trying to suppress her trembles, Nora turned slowly, eyes remaining downcast as she twiddled with her thumbs, before a pair of black combat boots came into her vision, and her eyes travelled upwards, taking in the man's long, broad frame, that was dressed in black, loose pants and a red silk shirt, unbuttoned halfway down to reveal a pale, toned chest, with a single cross pendant sat in the centre of it. And as she finally looked back into his stone cold eyes, Nora got the impression that the symbol was not there out of religious respect.

"And what are your intentions?"

She craved an answer, she needed to know, needed her mind to be put to rest, to stop it from wondering whether she was in danger or a dream. Nora felt her heart in her throat, her pulse on her tongue, the rush of her blood in her ears as she waited for a response.

Instead, the corners of the man's mouth only twitched upwards, before his head gestured towards the far corner of the room, where two lounging chairs resided in a break in the bookshelves. A large bay window ran parallel to the coffee table sat between the furniture, with a delicate tea set rested neatly upon it.

"Sit." Was all he said. Commanded, even. And despite the simmering terror in her stomach, Nora began to bubble with an impatient kind of anger.

The girl had been about to question him when she saw his jaw clench in irritation, his eyes subtly narrowing, yet it had been enough to send her, albeit reluctantly, over to the chairs. She sunk into the one on the right, trying her best not to relax too much into the extra soft, padded cushioning, as she waited for her particularly unpleasant company to take the other seat.

However, after a couple of seconds passed, she felt his presence looming over her once more when a hand landed on the back of her chair and a scent washed over her, one that reminded her of fresh pine leaves and the smell of rainfall, and the holidays she used to go on as a child to the lakes further north from her city, and Nora's lips parted slightly as the man half-leaned over her and poured tea from the china pot into the cup in front of her.