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"what the hell you were thinking? Jumping into a pool of sirens?"

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I TRIED NOT to think too much about the eyes that were studying me three feet away, scribbling as much as I could, as fast as I could remember in the pages of the dark book that he had given me. I threw a low shady look his way when I noticed movement as he walked past me and to what I assumed was the desk.

I heard a creaky noise I could only assume was the drawer being open but kept my eyes on what I was writing, breathing heavily. He remained out of eyesight still by the desk, and somehow that made it worse.

I felt like he could see the goosebumps lined up my skin.

Then again, I was pretty sure he could already hear the heartbeat that thundered within my ribcage. He scoffed suddenly, but I couldn't get myself to look back at what he was grunting at, tightening my grip around my pen, gritting my teeth as I penned on.

When I finally felt like I could write no more, I stopped writing, sitting still in the middle of the room while my brain racked for some sort of getaway plan.

Everything that was happening here just felt like a bad dream, one that I needed to either wake up from or escape the killer before he decides to well you know, kill me.

The heavy footsteps behind me hinted that he was coming closer again, the familiar black shine of his heavy boots coming to view as he looked down at me, outstretching his hand which I proceeded to hand the essay over.

He took it along with my pen, twirling it between his fingers, as his eyes glazed over it.

I watched him in anticipation, unable to contain the worry that was flooding within me. He peered down at me for a moment and my eyes glued to the floor staring wide at his shoes, alarmed I had almost been a prisoner in those ice-cold prisons he called eyes.

ALWAYS HOLD EYE CONTACT, my mother and Zali had repeatedly taught me.

Well, they never said there would come a time when I would meet a convert who had the power to take control of your body. and make me feel like I was living a nightmare, so no, I would not be holding eye contact with a boy I was pretty sure could steal my soul, now.

After a moment, I risked a glance at him, noticing that he was back to reading the essay, the pen twirling between his silver-ringed fingers before he grunted tossing the notebook on the bed, his jaw tightening as he looked above my head in what I could only describe as a ticking frustration.

"Everything," he gritted out, before his eyes lowered down to me, "You remember everything," his jaw clenched, eyes narrowing down at me, "Good, so now you can tell me what the hell you were thinking jumping into a pool of sirens?!" he hissed.

I flinched at his tone but he didn't seem to give a dang.

I was breathing heavily now as he awaited my answer, and I glanced at the bed timidly. He looked at his bed before rolling his eyes and stomping toward it. He grabbed the book he had just thrown over handing it over to me.

I grabbed the book frantically writing down an answer as if my life depended on it, before showing it to him.

It seemed to annoy him how slow I was writing and just the mere fact that he had to wait for a few moments before he got an answer he would also have to read first. He got the book, scanning over the words, before throwing me a look that screamed 'You cannot be this dumb.'

Sadly, I evidently was. Thinking back now, it wasn't the smartest thing that I could have done.

"Sirens," he gritted out slowly as if trying to keep calm, whilst schooling a toddler, "Can't. Read." 

I rambled down some words, 'She could. She said your name.'

He glanced down at the book for a moment before holding eye contact solemnly, "Sirens are Creatures of the sea, at their best, they are flesh-eating predators, diabolical with illusions, deadly swimmers, blood hunters, and enthusiastic killers. They do not feel emotion, they do not understand sympathy, and they most certainly DO NOT READ," he stressed the last part firmly shutting the book close with a thump that made me flinch, drawing closer with each dagger-shaped toned-down word in that accent of his that honestly just made me feel dumber.

He paused, slipping his hand in his dark coat with a sigh, that told me he was trying to control many things about the fire in his eyes, before staring down at me, now just an inch away.

I had to crane my head upwards just so I couldn't look directly in and eventually freeze in those blue prisons.

"The only way she could tell you wanted to hear is because sirens read your deepest desires..." he trailed off his eyes searching mine, he paused for a moment as if something clicked, and my eyes widened at his blatant insinuation.

My fingers quickly went to work, denying all claims whether with or without evidence that my deepest desires could have been him. With a tight brave scowl on my face, I handed the notebook back to him, my hands forming fists in my laps.

He looked down at the words, with a light scoff, dropping the notebook at my feet, "But you did," he said, matching my defiant look with one I could have almost called amused if his eyes could hide humor like a normal frickin person.

He walked past me, and I kept my head straight, forcing myself to not look at him or what he was doing.

"You desired to find me," he continued, his tone gruff.

When I heard a scrape of a chair, I realized he had taken a seat and so I allowed myself to turn to glance at him, eyes wide when I saw the papers in his hands as he browsed through them gingerly, the papers I had left near the water.

"To find me so you could tell me.." he trailed off his eyes scanning the pieces of paper I had written out my negotiation terms, terms which involved me not saying a dang word about whatever it is he was doing, adding that a lot of people had strange extra-curricular activities and that I wasn't in the place to judge.

Yes, the same notes I had written to inform him that I was nowhere near a threat to him and I would keep my mouth shut if he just left me alone. It was that easy, and then we could all go back to normal and pretend none of this ever happened.

"I'm not a threat- I didn't see anything...blah, blah, blah - " he grunted, flipping to another page, "I won't say a word-" he glanced from the papers to me, "touché," he grunted, clearly firing at the irony of what I had written.

His eyes scanned the rest so fast I was sure he hadn't bothered to read anything more, throwing the papers on his desk. He looked back down at me and I quickly looked away, facing the door once more, rubbing my wrists as I tried to regulate my breathing.

I felt his presence move until it stood behind me blocking the light, "that apology might have worked then, MIGHT," He repeated, "but now you know just a little too much."

I tried to sneak a side glance but he was directly behind me so I couldn't see anything. I could hear him pace behind me as he talked, his tone clear, authoritative, and firm,

"Then it was just a midnight swim, I only had to ensure you understood that, but now," he circled in front of me, "it's a little bit more, isn't it?"

I looked up at him for a moment before nodding solemnly, sniffing a little. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

"Make no mistake, since you now know too much," he began and I stared at him in a growing panic, "and that is not as simple as a few threats. I would have ... preferred to have let you die..." he trailed off, "it is the only reasonable punishment. It was fair game, after all, you were prey and a complete idiot for taking a swimming lesson with a siren," he grunted out, his tone louder and harsher at the end, nodding along to how own words.

An idiot? Me?

I was a lot of things I could accept, a stalker, yeah, creepy, debatable- but an idiot? C'mon, that was mean. I would bite his head off if I didn't think he would kill me instantly.

He searched my face as if knowing what I was thinking.

"Say it-" he encouraged.

I studied his eyes for a moment before my shaky hands wrote my thoughts down-

'You swam with them too." I accused.

I only learned it from him.

Did he think if I hadn't seen him amongst them, I would have sat at the edge of the frickin water staring at a half-fish, half-human?!

No, I would have bolted the heck home but because I knew they knew who he was I thought she could help me, so technically speaking- it was all his fault.

He glanced at the words, eyes narrowing down at me, "but I'm different, aren't I?" he grunted, his lips pursed in a tight firm line.

My memory flashed back to the sight of him after my first attacks, the sight of the numerous sirens spread out in the vast water in front of me, staying still underneath the moonlight as if they all hadn't attacked me, blood dripping from my face as I turned around to see him standing on the shore as if his mere presence feared them enough to heed a warning.  They had stopped then, entranced by those pitch-dark eyes that stared out soullessly.

My heartbeat wildly at the memory feeling the hairs rise against my skin.

"You're scared of me," he plainly stated his eyes trailing up my exposed arm and I pulled my sleeve down covering the goosebumps, "as you should," he added his eyes meeting mine, enough to ensure that I remained that way for a long time.

"As easy as it would have been to have left you dead, or stop your heart this very second," he began and I glanced up at him alarmed at his statement, because Lira was fricking right.

"The last thing I need is a Prime breathing down my back," he trailed off with a sigh, tucking his hands in his coat, "Gravis in particular," he added, causing my eyes to snap to his, heart beating loudly.

"I find it strange that he would return 5 months earlier than his scheduled date, that he would watch over a scruffy little girl in the sickbay."

My eyebrows furrowed at this wondering how he could have known all this, then remembering the figure of a person I had seen when I had just walked out of the sickbay, realizing there was another sickbay opposite the one I had been in, its door slightly opened,

Could that have been him?

"Give her a tour of Prime Tower, only accessible to the prime, and lastly midnight conversations in the King's Court."

I swallowed hard at this, my eyes keeping to the floor, as his tone blurred between rough and demanding, looking up at him slowly,

"Are you going to tell me your secret? Or must I stalk it out of you as you did mine?" he asked. I noticed his words were polished almost as similar to Mr. Ogustus's if he had been 50 years younger and replaced his accent with an English one.

My gaze remained glued to the floor knowing I couldn't say anything. It scared me how much he had already put together but I wasn't saying a word to him.

"You should know that I need leverage, I need to know you have something to lose, but if you don't, then I can't trust you, and if I can't trust you-" he paused my head forcibly turned to look up at him, as he was in control of my full body again, that creepy feeling of ultimate helplessness resting in my body, the panic stinging in my eyes.

"Then I won't, and then- you're stuck with me."

My eyes stung from being unable to blink as he held on, keeping me on the edge for a few seconds, and then, he let go.

"Think it over, you have 5 hours." He stated plainly, his look dim before walking behind me and taking a seat. He leaned back quietly but I could feel his eyes on me as I took charge of my own body with a thud which felt like I had been dropped back into my brain.

After a few moments of nothing, I scrambled to my feet, looking back at him, his eyes never leaving my figure as I timidly walked toward the door, not knowing if that was what he meant.

When I was near the door, I took my chances and bolted through only coming to a stop three feet out when I realized –

I was in the boy's hallways.

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At least she escaped right 😅
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