Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Fourty-Four: Storm in the Offing

My scream ripped from my lips as tears flowed down my cheeks. Sebastian wasn't here. He was vapor, an object that was made only to torment me. That had to mean this wasn't real.

I reached for him again and the ghostly mist of his body broke apart, disappearing before my eyes. I screamed louder, tears still flowing down my cheeks.

I couldn't breathe for the fear.

Then there were eyes. Not the brown I so desperately sought, but cold and grey-

"Abbi!"

My eyes sprang open, my own scream still echoing around the Scriptorium, as I felt myself attempting to thrash, my face streaked with tears. I looked around wildly, searching for him.

I found him in an instant. His brown eyes met mine, his strong hands holding me by my arms, his fingers clutching painfully to me as though he'd been shaking me. I took deep breaths, forcing myself to gulp down air as my chest heaved rapidly. The cold air of the Scriptorium hit my lungs, reminding me of how very real this moment was.

Sebastian was my grounding force. His skin was still bare, his chest covered in freckles, shoulders clenched tightly as he held me desperately in his arms. His eyes were dark brown and full of concern, not red, not blank and unseeing. They searched me rapidly, desperately, and my stomach dropped.

I launched myself forward, wrapping my arms around his neck as I sobbed and he instantly folded me into his body, stroking my hair as he whispered sweet nothings to me.

"It's alright, it's alright," he soothed. "I'm here."

I'm right here.

The twisted voice of myself rattled through my brain, making me sob harder into his shoulder. He continued to rock me back and forth, his lips pressing into the side of my head every few seconds as he comforted me.

"I-I-I don't- I don't understand," I sobbed into his chest. "Am I a monster?" 

Sebastian pulled away enough to force my eyes back to his. Thumbs wiping my tears, "You aren't a monster, Abbi. What happened? Please, tell me what happened, love." 

I shook my head, terrified. I had controlled him, wiped him of every emotion and turned him into an empty shell. I had done it to Ominis. I was going to do it to Poppy. Nothing made any sense, but I knew I was terrified to see it come true. 

"Did-Didn't you-" It hit me like a wall. Of course he wasn't afraid of me, of my power. He hadn't seen the dream. "You didn't see it?" 

"See what?" Sebastian pleaded, his own face growing dark with concern. 

"The dream- the nightmare-" I said, concern flooding my body. If we were having different dreams, that was not a good sign. There had definitely been the familiar sparkle that there always was in our shared dreams. That subtle but definite sheen to every surface of the dream. It was what helped me distinguish real memories and planted nightmares. 

I tried to stand, but Sebastian was stronger than I was. He held me still, and demanded an explanation. 

"Abbi. I need you to talk to me." 

His voice was hard, like he was angry with me. I told him as much as I could, recounting the way the dream had the similar shine to it as our shared ones, how he had kept telling me to come back to him and to stop listening to something. How I kept telling him that I was right in front of him, and couldn't he just see. 

My voice cracked and broke as I told him what I had done to Ominis and him, how I was about to succeed in doing the same to Poppy, when something else shifted. 

"It didn't make any sense. You were calling for me, but your lips weren't moving, and when I touched you, you vanished. All I could make out behind where you were was a pair of cold grey eyes before you woke me up." 

His jaw was locked, his face twisted up in anger, before he pulled me back to him in a crushing hug. 

"Those things won't happen," Sebastian said, his voice steady. His words so matter of fact that you couldn't help but believe him. 

"I want to believe that, but what-" 

"I won't let it happen. We agreed that Poppy and Ominis would never know. They'll be kept far enough from it. You won't hurt them, and you won't hurt me." 

He was rocking me back and forth, his lips pressing onto my head gingerly. I sighed contentedly, but the anxiety filling me hadn't gone. "You really aren't afraid of me?" 

He chucked here, his chest vibrating underneath me. "Oh, princess," he laughed. I blushed at the name. "How could I be afraid of you?" 

I frowned, looking up at him, but not pulling away. It was warm in his arms, safe and peaceful. I was protected as long as I stayed in them, I knew that, and I didn't want to leave the embrace. "Seb, I took away your free will." 

"It was a dream, love. And besides, you said yourself that you didn't want to," he reasoned. "I know you, Abbi. You wouldn't do that to me. We just need to explore more of Slytherin's books. There's bound to be loads in here we haven't uncovered yet." 

I glanced around the room, looking up into the towering shelves crammed full with books. He had a point, but despite this, I was still nervous. There was ample time to discover the way to control this power that Slytherin and I shared, and now we had a better idea of where to start looking. The Restricted Section would be nothing compared to the dark knowledge Slytherin had stored out of sight of the other founders. 

There was something about those eyes that I just couldn't let go of.

"I think it's still a dream we should be concerned about." It seemed important that I stress this fact. He needed to hear me, and understand why this dream made me so nervous. 

It was one thing when I shared them with him. 

It was entirely another when he was left out. 

"Yes," Sebastian murmured, smoothing my hair from my face. "I agree with that. I just think you don't need to worry about hurting any of us. All of this," he gestured to the dark chamber, the books, the powerful wand I had recently acquired, "is to protect us. We'll learn together how to control it." 

His hand held my jaw up and his lips pressed tenderly to my own. A shiver ran through me as his lips danced with mine, both of us still completely naked from our earlier rendezvous. I shifted, wanting to reignite that earlier flame, longing to feel that ecstasy again. But just as I moved to kiss his neck, he pulled away, grinning at me as he did so. 

"Tease," I whispered, shooting him a glare. 

"It's late," he said, smirk pulled up on his lips, helping me to stand. "Ominis will be back soon and I'd rather not hear an unfounded lecture from him tonight." 

"Right," I agreed, a smirk of my own forming on my lips. "If we're going to get an earful, it might as well be for something we've actually done." 

"Exactly," Sebastian laughed, winking at me as he moved to gather my discarded clothing.  

Sebastian helped me dress first, taking his time to run his fingers over my skin, his lips pressing gentle, loving kisses to my body with each piece of the garments that were returned to my body. I pulled my cloak on over my uniform, and Sebastian dressed rapidly, before taking my hand in his. 

He led us from the Scriptorium, just as he had led us in only hours ago, our hearts fuller, my knees weaker, but my mind more twisted and confused than ever before.