Ever Lost

5

I fumbled with my sapphire bracelet, the moon rose over my window tonight, and the stars coated the sky but I found no comfort in the sight. It was another sleepless night, the dreams I did have were plagued with nightmares of the past offering me no rest. There was no escape from nights like these, not even in slumber. I pulled myself out of bed, if I could not find sleep on my own, some tea wouldn't hurt to try. I pulled my school issued jacket over me, and slipped into my slides, lighting a candle. The school was darker at night with no sun to cast its light down on our halls, another light source was necessary to get around at night. I snuck out of the room without disturbing Alice who found herself deep in sleep. I liked to think she took all the sleep for herself. The mage dormitories were only quiet at night, everyone abided by the school's curfew and many were in bed before the hour came to pass, so this late at night I was like a dead bush in the desert.

Moving throughout the school this late at night was easy, few teachers roamed the halls to say anything, but I was counting on finding at least one. The problem was the paranoia. Every student felt it, disobeying the rules took great courage, the punishments were not terrifying in the slightest, it was simply the idea of breaking the rules that most students would turn away at. There was no point, no reason to undergo the mental battle.

I glided into the main building, careless about the noise I made as if I were walking around as early as dawn. I wasn't necessarily the noisiest person during the day to be sure, but any noise echoed down these corridors so even the gentle close of a door could draw attention. Hopefully though, it'd be from the right source. I trudged down the hallway, groggy from my exhaustion. I heard a muffled noise from one of the doors, it led to a storage room but no one, not even the nurses were permitted access to documents after hours. I held my candle to the window, but the glass wasn't entirely clear, making it harder to see through and in this light, I especially couldn't see anything in the room, so I pulled the door open, hoping to find a nurse. I did not find a nurse, what I found was much worse. I jumped back, "Apollo?"

"Audrey?" He whisper-shouted. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" I questioned. "That's none of your business, now get lost or you'll get me caught."

"I'll get you caught? You're so loud I could hear you from downstairs." I snorted. His jaw dropped, "Seriously?"

"What are you doing in here anyway? You're breaking so many rules." I murmured. He gripped a document folder in his hand, his stance grew defensive when he saw that I noticed. I eyed him, "What's that?"

"It's none of your business." He said. I shook my head, "That's not good enough, what is it?"

Apollo didn't respond. He grew focused, zoning in on our surroundings. I turned around, the shadow of a man bolting past the door startled me and I let out a small scream. Apollo cursed, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into the room. He shut the door behind us and we both ducked below the window, he held onto the doorknob, locking it this time. "The hell was that?" He whispered.

"I- I don't know," I replied. "You almost got us both caught, there's someone coming."

"Well let me out, I'm not doing anything wrong." I said. Apollo sneered, "You think just cause you're blessed now you can do whatever you want? That's not how it works."

"I'm getting tea, chamomile. There's a difference between trying to get some rest and whatever the hell you're doing."

He chuckled, it was a low, dark sound. No humor resided in it, only malice. "Of course." He said. I bit my lip, "But you saw that right?"

"Saw what?" He asked. "The shadow?" I stammered, unsure of myself now. Apollo's eyes widened, "Shadow?" He repeated. "What?" I asked. "Hold on." He said. "Seriously, what?"

I put my hand over her mouth, silencing her and blew out her candle. A silhouette passed over the door, it paused before the window, clearing searching for the source of whatever disturbance the two of us may have caused. It didn't find us though, and continued walking. I dropped my hand, motioning for Audrey to stay silent and glance from her to the window for a minute. Her breathing became shallow, and she waited for my signal. Even if it was begrudgingly, I was still thankful she had sense enough to shut up. A few moments passed until the halls quieted. About as soon as I noticed, Audrey did too, and she immediately started up with her questions again, only a lot more quietly. "You're seeing shadows?" I asked. "I saw a shadow." Smart ass. I rolled my eyes, "Do you have hallucinations?"

"I don't think so." She said, unsure. "Any family history of it?"

"What are you, a doctor?" She scoffed. "Do you want my help or not?"

"Not particularly." She replied. "Great, then you're free to go now get out of my storage room."

"Your storage room?"

"I was here first." I shrugged. "You dragged me in here, and I couldn't leave even if I wanted to." She said, "And why not?"

She moved her face closer to mine and tilted her head, whispering, "You're still in my way." My cheeks turned red and I released my grip on the doorknob, standing up. I had what I needed, if anything else was here I could come back for it later, but it was too much of a risk to stick around tonight. I looked over at Audrey who was still crouched over, not making any effort to move. "What's your excuse now?" I asked. Her candle sparked alive, and she stood, gesturing to the candle before walking out the door like it was nobody's business. I waited around a little longer before following her lead.