Chapter 20
“Moooooooooorning!” Katherine throws the front door of her cousin’s house wide, and radiates an extremely bright smile as she steps through the entryway. “HEYYY! FINNI-oh… the Hell are you doing down there?”
Samuel issues a small growl as he brings a palm up to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Despite his attempts to sleep on any of the three couches, each of the chairs, the examination table, and two different area-rugs, he’d finally decided that to merely sit propped up against the interior partition of the hallway. “Nnn… why? Where would I usually sleep?”
The redhead raises a brow as she watches her teacher slowly collect himself. “How the Hell should I know? You were always awake well before dawn.” Shrugging the matter away, she then holds up a basket in her hands, but inwardly hopes that her new outfit was the thing that he paid attention to more. Her mother had stayed up until nearly mid-night to hand-stitch a dress that revealed her shoulders, and hung just above her knees. A daring thing to do, of course, lest she enflame his manly passions… but she knew that if he did do anything, then he would later take responsibility. Heh. “I, uhm… brought some eggs, ham, and fresh bread…”
“Huh? Oh… uh… good…” the long-haired doctor winces against the sunlight streaming in through the main entryway as he scratches the side of his head. “Shall I get started on breakfast, then?”
Allowing her jaw to drop, in both surprise and indignation, the green-eyed girl then quickly shakes away her thoughts before slamming the door shut and hurrying towards the kitchen. “N-NO! I’ll make it! You just… whatever!”
The wiry apothecary issues a hearty yawn before turning in the opposite direction. Well… if he wasn’t allowed to sleep any longer… then neither should his Master. Pushing open the door that hid the other half of the hall, he shuffles all the way down the length, then rounds the corner with a slightly-evil grin on his lips. “Angie? Time to wake up, dearest.” Blinking his vision clear as he comes to a stop, he surveys the expanse of empty mattress, then pans his gaze the short distance to the sitting-area before heading over and hesitating in the entryway to the bath. “Uh… Mistress?”
Holding his breath for a dozen seconds as he waits for a response, he then incrementally pokes his head inside, expecting a massive gout of flame to fry the hair from his head. But the only things he finds are an empty bathroom, and neatly-aligned vials of perfumed oils on the shelf above the metal tub.
Turning back into the sleeping-area, he glides over to the bed, and slips a hand beneath the covers and mattress. Cold. Meaning that she’d left it hours ago. Luggage… not here… windows.
Moving quickly over to one of three divided panes that provided light to the room, he pulls it open and leans out over the side of the sill to scrutinize the grass. Prints in the dew. One direction. Placing a foot onto the bottom ledge, he slips easily through the frame, and jogs across the small expanse of backyard, then around the small outcropping of the examination-room before finding that the tracks led back inside… but then another set came out, took exactly six paces… and then disappeared.
Deciding to inspect the interior first, he pushes through the door leading into the painted-white examination-area, and slowly pans his gaze around the space. Everything appeared to be in the same position as it had been last night… hmm…
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Aegis and Order: First Light
Fantasy"It’s shoulders were wide and powerful. At four metres in height, it was almost as large across as it was tall. The arms of the hulking beast hung nearly all the way to the ground, and were thick with rope-like muscles that bulged with even the sl...
