Hunter Academy 2: In The Dark

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Liz burst into the room, her eyes immediately settling on Erik before she ran forward and hugged him. I guess she had seen the text I sent her fairly quickly. She pulled away and inspected Erik, seeming relived when she saw he looked better.

“I was so worried,” she said, sounding like she was going to cry. Indeed there were unshed tears in her eyes and she was barely restraining herself.

Erik seemed to notice this too because he said, “It’s okay, I’m alright, you don’t have to worry about me anymore,” he assured her. “I am freed from the magically induced coma brought on by my thoughtlessly done spell. I really should have taken more time and not rushed in blindly. I was arrogant and I thought I could do it. I need to revaluate my skills.

I could tell Liz wanted to believe her but the hunter in her was prepared for the worst. She nodded and controlled her emotions, looking more put together now that she realized her calm façade wasn’t working.

“I’m glad your back. You were really missed; it was so strange not having you around. I just wish I could have done something to help you, to make sure your spell never went wrong. I think everyone wishes that.”

“Thanks,” Erik chuckled sheepishly. He ran a hand through his hair messing it up, parts of it stuck up and I felt like laughing.

Erik yawned and Liz looked sympathetic noticing the dark shadows under his eyes. “You should get some sleep, you’ll feel better. We can always talk about this some more after you’ve had some rest and recuperated.”

Erik shifted, uncomfortable all of a sudden. “I feel fine. I don’t need to sleep.” At everyone’s doubtful expressions he rolled his eyes and told us the truth. I don’t think I want to, or can,” he admitted ashamed. “After that time I spent in a coma, sleeping is too similar and I don’t want to experience that right now, not knowing if I’ll wake up in the morning.”

Erik’s father nodded understandingly. “You don’t have to go to sleep if you don’t want to. I’ll stay with you and keep you company so you don’t fall asleep.”

Erik smiled at his father and I took that as my cue to leave. I heard Liz follow me out into the hall. She shut the door quietly behind her and then breathed out a sigh of relief. Erik being in a coma had obviously been hard on her.

“Well it’s been a long day, and now that Erik’s awake and that problem is solved I think I’m going to catch some sleep,” I called over my shoulder. It was a lie, I didn’t feel the slightest bit tired but I got the feeling she wanted to talk to me, and I wasn’t up for that right now.

“Wait,” she replied quickly. “I need to talk to you.” I resisted the urge to sigh in annoyance. “Please? It’s important.” It likely wasn’t important, it could wait until tomorrow but Liz had always been impatient.

“Fine,” I said, finding no tactful way to decline. I held the door open to my room for Liz and then closed the door behind us. She stood in the middle of the room shivering slightly because of the cold getting through the boarded up broken window. I sat on my bed. “What is this about?”

“I wanted to talk about what happened between us,” she whispered slowly before her eyes met mine. I couldn’t tell what she was feeling because her face was a mask and no ounce of emotion penetrated her eyes. There were times I could read her like a book; this was not one of those times. She was trying really hard to not convey what was going through her head.

“Yeah, I figured,” I began. I opened my mouth to say that I hadn’t thought that through and that it was a mistake but sat beside me, our legs touching and she interrupted me.