THE MONOTONE DRONE OF the professor overwhelmed Ary as she struggled to stay awake. The previous night, she had only hours of sleep, and it was merely because Oridor's words and Lucian's suicide clouded every vacancy in her mind. She had countless nightmares that began with vibrant green eyes and ended with a savage, brutal death. She precariously leaned on her hand, struggling to stay awake and take notes, but she eventually felt her eyes close to their own accord. She again succumbed to the darkness, thinking of Azeroth's whereabouts and Lucian's piercing green eyes.
He was leaning against the wall. His vibrant green eyes were drawn to her every movement and his lips were pursed into a small, alluring smile. He captivated her soul and all she wanted to do was run to him, fall into his arms, and plead why he did what he did, why he wanted to possess her out of all people, and why he was in her dream. He already affected her mortal life and it had been less than 24 hours, so why did he bother her in her dreams?
Lucian's smile widened, as if listening to her thoughts. "All will be explained in due time, Ary. All you have to do is come to me..."
This time the pull was stronger. She mentally restrained herself to stay rooted in her position. She forced herself to look away from his breathtakingly beautiful emerald orbs, from his swift wisps of hair, and his stunning jawline―the epitome of temptations―and looked into the distance. In her peripheral vision, she saw that he was coming closer, and she began to panic. She attempted to run away, but it seemed as if his eyes pinned her down and rooted her into the ground. She couldn't move. She was all his.
Her eyes unwillingly moved, and met his in a heartbeat. It seemed as if his eyes were on fire, the way they glazed over her― inappropriately, she couldn't say―and searched through her soul. She felt something ignite within her, something she couldn't pinpoint, as he stepped closer and closer, until his slender nose was brushing hers. She couldn't look away. The atmosphere was so intense, so sensual, so... breathtaking, that she didn't even want to blink in case she missed any of it. She didn't know what was happening, but she couldn't find herself to care, as he leaned closer and closer...
"Sleeping on the first day, Miss Aragon?" The professor's voice instantly snapped Ary out of her dream, as she jumped and met the disapproving stare of her teacher.
"I-I..." She flushed, expecting the vivid green eyes she dreamt of moments before, only to meet brown ones. "I apologize."
"I do hope that this... behavior of yours does not continue," The professor continued, pursing his lips before walking back to his podium. Ary flushed a deeper color as she noticed the students beside her were blatantly staring at her. He began to speak about the beauty of bones, and she found herself aptly listening. It's better than thinking of Lucian, Ary thought, feeling goosebumps rise on her skin.
"As you know, the human body consists of 270 bones at birth. As the human ages, by adulthood, those extra bones fuse together and decrease to the average amount of 206..."
At the end of the lecture, Ary was absolutely exhausted. Her mind was weighted with all the terrible dreams she had after she returned to her dorm, the sudden disappearance of her roommate, and the recent dream of Lucian and his disturbingly beautiful green eyes. All she wanted to do was sleep, but the demons occupied her actual life and in her dreams―literally. She began the draining walk from her first lecture to her dorm, in hopes of gaining a few extra hours of sleep before her next class.
"Feeling okay there?" The familiar voice stunned Ary as she abruptly stopped walking and turned around.
"E-Evans?" Her voice was shaky as he sent her a soft smile of reassurance. What was he doing here?
"Well?" He said after a beat of silence. "Are you okay?"
She pursed her lips. She could lie. It had gotten her out of countless beatings from her father, so if she lied to Evans, would he leave her alone? Judging from his friendly and comforting demeanor, it was likely he would not.
"No," She settled for a short answer and began to walk.
"Where are you going now?" He asked, walking beside her. She turned away, wishing that he would disappear. It was rude, but all she wanted right now was to be alone. The last time Ary became close to someone, she died; hell, she didn't even get close to another person, yet he still died.
"Somewhere," She said offhandedly, hurrying her pace. She gazed around campus, ignoring the loud chatter, and caught sight of familiar dark brown hair far distance away. Azeroth. Her eyes widened and she snapped into a run, ready to interrogate the girl for what she might have done yesterday.
Ary pushed through campus grounds, not once muttering a word of remorse, and kept her gaze pinned on Azeroth, who was laughing with an unfamiliar girl. She clenched her teeth and forced herself to run faster, but before she could reach Azeroth, Evans's warm fingers wrapped themselves around her wrist, yanking her to a complete halt. She winced at the sparks of pain that shot up her hip, but she ignored it and ripped herself out of his grasp and continued running.
"Where are you going?" Evans effortlessly kept up with her fast pace, which infuriated her. Did he ever get the hint that she wanted to be left alone? "What's wrong?"
"Can you just g-go away?" Ary snapped, clenching her jaw tighter as she huffed for air. She finally reached where Azeroth was, and pulled her away from the girl she was talking to. Frankly, she was being more rude and inconsiderate than she had ever been her whole life, but she had to get answers―before she turned completely insane. "We need to talk." Her tone was firm; it left no room for argument.
Ary gave Evans a pleading look and he finally caught the message. He raised his hands in defeat, though his eyes were persistent. Instead of walking away, like she expected, Evans stood right beside her and gave a sympathetic look to Azeroth, who was looking terribly confused.
"I sincerely apologize for the rash behavior of Ary," Evans smiled warmly. "She has had little to no sleep last night, so please forgive her for acting this way." Ary felt anger kindle at the bottom of her stomach―what gave him the right to intrude? He turned to her and rested his arm over her shoulder, bringing her close. She flinched at the contact and felt him push her away from Azeroth and the girl beside her. She attempted to protest but she found that she wasn't in control of her body. Words were desperate to escape from her lips, but they only remained in a deep panic on the tip of her tongue. Her heart thudded and she felt the fear rise through her body, like a cold, cold chill.
"I'm not going to do anything to you, Ary," Evans's breath brushed her earlobe while his husky voice soothed her. "Just understand that Azeroth has nothing to do with what you think is happening to you. I know that what happened yesterday may be difficult to process, but it is vital that you remain calm and do not breathe a word of what you saw to absolutely no one."
Ary held her breath as her legs moved to their own accord. She hated how close Evans was. Never had she willingly allowed another human being to be this close to her before, and now that it actually happened, she felt repulsed―sick, even. Her heart thudded against her chest and she felt the panic rise. It began at the pit of her stomach and slowly paralyzed her every muscle, until she couldn't even breathe.
Evans eventually began to realize that she was on a verge of a panic attack, and released whatever hold he had on her. A rush of air escaped her lungs as she gasped for breath. She tumbled out of his gaze and stared at him warily, clutching her throat with both hands as she wheezed.
"Hey," Evans's expression morphed into one of concern once he realized the fear present in her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I'm f-fine," Ary choked out as she finally managed to catch her breath. "Just―just don't come n-near me again." She ran away before he could say anything else.
Evans watched from afar as curiosity and concern brimmed deep in his mind. Something was wrong with her and he had yet to find out what was the reason for her fear―it was Oridor that ordered he did not find out. No matter how high his curiosity was, he could not under no circumstances find out the reason why she was the way she was; incredibly flawed.
In the end, it would result in losing his high ranked position in Prima Shadow, something that had taken him almost a century to complete. Oridor's instructions were to make sure that she was safe at all times and that she told no one of what happened the night before. It was clear, cut, and concise. It wasn't worth it trying to figure her out and why Oridor and Lucian had taken an interest towards her and why so much commotion and drama was happening because of one single girl.
Or was it?
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