Manor of Sleep

That morning when I arrived at the lecture hall I was pleased to see that Sean hadn’t shown up. A part of me was slightly concerned, but I felt a huge sense of relief too.

He had been positively hateful yesterday and it was an alarming change from the person I thought he was. The day ticked by at a smooth pace. I left the lecture hall at twelve for my lunch.

I took a minor detour to the library. The large, book-filled room was quiet. A sign was perched on the desk. I walked over and sighed. Mrs Perkins, the librarian had nipped out for lunch.

I decided to stay and try to find a new book to read. I moved through the shelves, passing by varying book titles. I paused at the end of an aisle and leafed through the books. The sound of the door opening caused me to peek round.

There was no one there and I frowned. A small tremor of fear lanced through me, but I pushed it away and continued what I was doing. The sound of footsteps made me glance round the corner again.

I decided to leave as panic was starting to set in. I marched with purpose over to the exit. A hand grabbed my wrist and I whirled round, ready to scream.

Sean was standing behind me and my scream died in my throat. He looked tired and a bit ragged. His clothes, or more specifically, his jeans were stained with dark red splotches.

“Hey, Sean.” I stepped back, putting distance between us.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” He cut me off before I could ask where he’d been.

“He’s at home. Why?” I watched him warily. He laughed then, a slightly manic chuckle that made my blood chill.

“I know who killed Kyle,” Sean snapped, suddenly becoming serious. “It was your boyfriend. He’s a murderer.”

I stared at him, too dumbstruck to speak at first. My voice felt like it had become lodged in my throat and I managed a shaky breath before talking again.

“You don’t know that. You have no proof,” I hesitated before saying the next bit. “Sean, maybe we should take you to the campus doctor.”

“No!” He shouted, it echoed off the walls.

He moved towards me and I shook my head, turning and grasping the door handle. It jiggled, but the door wouldn’t open. Meanwhile, Sean was advancing towards me.

I ran away from the door and into the aisles of books, hoping to give him the slip somehow. I ducked behind a shelf just as one of them collapsed.

“Come out, come out wherever you are.” He giggled.

He pushed another shelf and I was forced to roll out the way and round a corner. Across the way I spied the help desk. A phone was sat on there. I crawled towards it and glanced back. No sign of Sean.

I reached the desk, grabbing the receiver and keying in the emergency services. There was no response. The line had been cut.

My hair was grabbed and I was wrenched to the floor. Sean was standing above me, grinning manically. He twisted his wrist, causing me to yelp, tears sprung to my eyes.

The sound of water droplets made me stop squirming. Sean let go of me and I used the opportunity to try and disarm him. I grabbed the, now useless phone and struck his face with it.

He grunted in pain and I rushed to the door, trying to wrench it open again, but having no luck. I knew there was a fire exit in here somewhere so I moved towards it.

Sean seemed to have regained his composure and gave chase. The door handle on the exit had been snapped off and I knew I was cornered. I turned to face my assailant.

He gripped my arm in a vice like grab, squeezing until tears nearly blinded me. I opened my eyes just in time to see a dark claw shoot out of the wall, knocking Sean away from me.

I was helped to my feet and I had never been so happy to see Jinxx. He looked angry though and was glaring at Sean. I wondered if Sean was all right, though. The way he went flying looked painful.

He seemed fine because he stood, taking laboured breaths, but still managing to glare at Jinxx. He raised a hand and pointed.

“You,” He seethed. “You killed my best friend.”

Jinxx remained calm and he cocked his head, observing Sean. His blue eyes were mocking and this served to infuriate Sean.

“Did I now? And who told you that?” Jinxx smirked.

“I have it from a reliable source.” Sean laughed again. It further served to creep me out.

“A reliable source? You mean my master? Does he seem like a trustworthy guy to you, human?” Jinxx replied, sounding slightly more annoyed now.

I looked at Jinxx. He had a master? I always assumed he was a free agent. Unless during the sacrifice something else had happened.

“He’s more trustworthy than you, freak,” Sean spat out. “He gave me powers and he said if I got rid of you I could have Ellie.”

I felt my entire body temperature drop at those words. Fear, icy and bleak shot through me. Sean had practically made a deal with the devil.

“And you think you can kill me, human?” Jinxx raised a brow, seemingly unafraid of Sean’s words.

Sean didn’t reply and lunged forward. He reached out, but his grasping fingers only grabbed thin air. Jinxx appeared behind him, kicking him roughly and sending him tumbling to the floor.

Sean lunged again and Jinxx kept avoiding the attacks, making Sean dance around the room like a puppet.

“Quit playing games,” Sean yelled, anger lacing his tone.

He was grabbed by the collar and lifted into the air. I had no idea that Jinxx was that strong. He was holding Sean up with one hand as though he was a rag doll. Sean dangled there, trying to fight to get away.

“Who’s playing games?” Jinxx grinned. “I just don’t see you as a threat.”

He sighed and dropped Sean to the floor with an unceremonious thud. I stood and rushed over, hugging him.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” I asked, pulling back to look at him.

“No, of course not.” Jinxx chuckled, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

Something behind us grunted and we both looked over to see Sean standing up. His body was swaying and he seemed disoriented. His breath was coming out in harsh pants.

I glanced at Jinxx. He was watching Sean calmly. Sean’s breathing was growing more rapid and I frowned. It was odd. That thought froze in my mind when Sean started screaming. It bounced off the walls, reverberating round the room.

As though sensing danger, Jinxx pushed me behind him. He was shielding me and I tried to look over his shoulder to see what was happening.

What I saw made my insides freeze. Sean was panting again and seemed to be hunched over. From this distance I could see something moving under his clothes. Two spider-like limbs ripped from his back, jutting out where his shoulder blades should be.

The new limbs were needle sharp and cut into the carpet as they scratched desperately against the floor. I had to cover my mouth as I could feel bile in my throat. The sight was disturbing and I wanted to scream, but nothing would come out.

Sean lifted his head and stared round the room. His skin was ghastly and pale. He lurched forward again, but his actions were clumsy. I yelped when Jinxx picked me up. He jumped back, avoiding a stab from one of the limbs.

This served to infuriate Sean as he began stabbing the floor in quick succession in an attempt to hit us. We hit the librarian’s desk and Jinxx set me down on it.

“Go into the back room and lock the door.” He shouted.

I hesitated, but rushed to the room in time. I tried the handle, but it was locked and I felt like screaming in frustration.

I glanced round just in time to see Sean had lifted the photocopying machine. It was a large, industrial piece of equipment. He threw it through the air as though it weighed less than a feather. I was picked up again and moved out the way.

I managed a weak smile when Jinxx set me down on one of the tables. He turned round to glare at Sean. His blue eyes flickered red for a minute and then returned to blue.

“I get that you’re angry at Ellie,” He turned to fully face the abomination that was Sean. “But leave her out of this. It’s me you want to kill so come and get me.”

For a brief second I saw something akin to sadness in Sean’s eyes and with a screech he leapt out the window, smashing it easily. My body suddenly felt heavy and the world went black. I could hear Jinxx trying to speak to me then I heard nothing.


*************************************************************


The sound of voices roused me from my sleep and my eyes flickered open. I panicked when I saw the sterile, white walls. I was in a hospital, but which one.

The door across the way opened and Jinxx walked in. He smiled when he saw I was awake and sat next to me, clutching my hand.

“What happened? Why am I here?” I asked, freaking out.

“The librarian couldn’t get into the library and they phoned the ambulance when they saw you unconscious,” He brushed his thumb lightly over my knuckles.

“Can we leave? I really don’t like hospitals.” I felt less panicked, but I hated being here.

“They just wanted to make sure you were safe.” He murmured, leaning closer and kissing my cheek.

Me? But what about him? He had been the one to fight Sean and I noticed that Sean had managed to hit him a couple of times. As though reading my thoughts he stood, stepping back a few feet.

He slipped his hand into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a knife. It was small and quite discreet. He gripped the handle, pressing the blade to the pale skin of his wrist, drawing it across and creating a thin line of blood.

I soon realised what he had done and went to sit up. He stopped me and slid the knife back into his pocket. The cut on his wrist started to close up until it was completely gone.

I stared on in shock. My eyes went back to him and he sat next to the bed again. I was too stunned to speak. He healed so quickly and when I looked again there wasn’t even a faint mark on his wrist.

“That’s so amazing, I think.” I leaned closer as if to search for more injuries.

“Not particularly amazing, kinda boring.” He sighed.

I realised I had leaned in quite close. I went to sit back, but his hand shot forward, pulling me closer and pressing our lips together.

The kiss was over fairly quickly and I shifted nervously. Jinxx stood and went to leave the room. I grabbed his arm before he could disappear.

“Sorry, it’s just I don’t like hospitals. Could you stay with me?” I mumbled.

Without saying a word he sat on the edge of the bed. I smiled when he traced his fingers down my face, toying with my hair. Our lips met again and I sighed into the kiss. He was being so gentle. It made my heart swell.

The gentleness soon departed when I felt his teeth catch my lower lip. We ended up laying on the bed. I was very conscious of getting caught though and kept pulling back to look at the door.

“We really shouldn’t be doing this.” I gasped when Jinxx bit my neck.

Someone coughed near the door and we pulled apart. A rather brisk nurse strolled in. She pointed to the chair and Jinxx smirked, climbing off the bed.

“How are you feeling, Eleanor?” Her tone was kind.

“Much better. Can I please leave?” I watched her write a few things on her clipboard.

“Of course you can.” She handed me the sheet. My discharge papers.

I wasn’t hooked up to anything so I easily got out the bed and slipped on my shoes. I just wanted to get as far away from the hospital as possible.

Notes