Warning: Sexual assault in this chapter
Nora's P.O.V
Fresh fields in roaming winds that flushed against my body as I frolicked free-spiritedly through the feverous grass, that's how it felt whenever I took a whiff of the delightful bouquet Elijah had given me. They were powerful and mesmerising, but I knew fully well that my boss took them from the garden I was sitting in. Taking another whiff of the flowers, I studied each one with a curiosity that matched a child. A subtle smile made its way onto my face as I thought back to the scene that had just occurred. I wanted to fight and scream at Elijah just to show him I can't be won over that easily but when he showed me a side to him that I knew he'd never show anyone else, well, that was all it took for me to understand that his hard exterior led to a mushy, romantic, and overall cringy interior.
I could say I hate him all the time, could try to be just as cold-hearted as he is sometimes, and I could ignore the exploding feelings growing whenever I was near him, but I didn't want to. Elijah was toxic there was no denying that but there were reasons behind his actions that he wouldn't reveal until he was comfortable to tell, and, in a way, he reminded me of a criminal and the broken windows theory, where people were shaped and influenced through their environments and lack of order and parental figures. Elijah was never shown love, so he wasn't sure how to show it back, he wasn't used to caring for someone either especially when he bossed everyone around and treated them poorly.
'I'll be there, I won't leave you alone, you've been isolated for too long Elijah,' it was a promise I aimed to keep.
My boss was right with his last comment though, it was too cold to be sitting outside in the chilly air, the goosebumps and shivers were getting so frequent that my fingers were turning purple and numb. 'Let's head back to the party and maybe the rest of this night will be pleasant', that's what I hoped with a cross of my fingers.
I stood from the lonely bench, the bouquet of flowers hanging loosely in my right-hand whist I started my way through the peaceful garden. Those rare beauties were coming back with me to the hotel to be showcased and admired all day, every day until they wilted, or I had to go back to New York. It was truly serene being out in the garden, with the starry sky twinkling above me and the trees swaying magically in the breeze, a stark contrast to Leon and his personality. Even the security guards patrolling the area were friendly with two catching sight of my presence and nodding in my direction before they moved on and rounded the corner of a bush maze.
Entering the mansion was a blessing especially when the heat of the hallways hit my skin and melted the shivers right off. Looking around I realised it was surprisingly empty with the area sublimely peaceful, yet further inside were loud commotions as it seemed most people had entered the grand hall. The sounds of announcements and freshly dished out food were noticeable. Standing in the empty hallway I cringed in embarrassment at the dawning thought that crossed my mind, 'All those tears probably turned me into a slobby mess', so I located a nearby bathroom to touch up my makeup.
Inside the bathroom, the reflection staring back at me in the mirror was unrecognisable with smudged mascara and eyeliner, the foundation trailing in streaks and the once subtle blush now hidden from the redness my face had swollen with. I placed the flowers down to remove the mess on my face and reapply my makeup with what little products I had brought with me, but it wasn't until I was almost finished that I was overcome with the alienating feeling that I didn't want to be here any longer. It wasn't even about the party, it was Las Vegas in general, I didn't want to be anywhere that wasn't home. I wanted to be back with my family and friends, to go back to the normal routine of being in the office, and the passing scenery of New York with its skyscrapers and bright green parks, not the neon lights and constant casinos. I needed home.
Finally managing to be presentable I picked the flowers back up, tightening my hold on them as the warm feeling in my heart grew and I headed back out into the hallway. I tried to concentrate on finding Elijah so we could enter the grand hall together but the sudden contact of someone grabbing my hand from behind had me jolting in shock and when the force hurled me towards one of the walls, my back strongly collided with it, knocking my breath away and dazing me for a few seconds.
'Oh no, the flowers!' I panicked, feeling that they were no longer in my hand and instead were now discarded on the floor in a mess, 'I need them back!' The person that had caused me to drop the rare show of affection from Elijah was slowly leaning in with a disgusting grin plastered on its Frankenstein face. Leon stood in front of me completely ignoring the flowers as he moved a step closer and stomped indignantly on the bouquet whilst placing both his hands on the wall behind me trapping my petite figure.
"My, my, my, what do we have here? I haven't seen you in so long Miss Jones", Leon sultrily commented, his breath mingling with my own to the point I wanted to hurl vomit from the obvious signs of his alcohol adoration, "We should go inside a private room and catch up, just the two of us."
"No thank you, please let me leave", I tried to politely and professionally say but Leon was one stubborn and ignorant man.
"Don't worry, Elijah won't even notice you're gone, and I'll do a better job of looking after you then he ever will."
"I don't consent to any of this, let me go", I ordered him with a stern voice, hoping that the newfound courage I'd developed from working under Elijah was now paying off.
Leon scoffed, trailing one hand up to my arm and grabbing a small strand of hair to twirl in his finger as he replied, "I don't like disobedient women, Miss Nora, so you'd be wise to submit to me."
Fear flashed through my mind as I remembered the rumours about Leon and the constant danger, I was getting myself into. Without thinking too much I screamed at the top of my voice, hoping that if it was loud enough then someone would hear me and rescue me from my captor's strong clutches. I managed to get Elijah's name out into the open air before Leon forcefully clamped my mouth shut with his hand, stifling any future pleads and moving down to kiss my collar bone with aggression.
The sound of ripping ricocheted through the hallways and the onslaught of chills crept across my chest as Leon destroyed the top half of my white dress greedily. He was moving with speed knowing that we were out in the open and someone could come here any second. As he continued his attack, his other hand moved from the wall and started to painfully grab my body wherever he could. His lips shifted from my collar bone, where I was convinced he had left an ugly hickey, and made them meet my own, his tongue weaselling its way through to explore.
Even after pushing Leon multiple times and kicking and thrashing, I was unable to escape, the man had barely moved away, almost as if his body was a boulder. I wanted to slap him, but he caught both my arms and pinned them above my head with a ferocity that showed how vulnerable the situation was becoming. When I got the chance, I bit his tongue forcefully earning a yelp from him as he snatched his tongue back and placed one of his hands over my lips to silence me yet again.
At that point Leon went further, one of his legs prying mine apart as he shoved it in between and tried to pull us closer together. He knew very well what he was doing but he still carried on like the pathetic man he was. He began to grind his leg closely to my private areas and dread came over me when I realised no one was going to come and stop Leon from continuing, or at least that was until a voice boomed angrily in our direction.
"How dare you touch her?!" Elijah roared, his steps speeding up to become my saviour.
Leon, at the sound of my boss, had retreated a couple of steps. His face was stricken in fear and yet there was an arrogant smirk curving his features and an evil glint in his eyes.
"We both know it was only a matter of time before Miss Jones would succumb to my dominant presence", the foul man replied but there was a slight hesitance in his body language when Elijah kept closing in on him. I was still backed up against the wall, breathing sporadically and feeling weak in the knees. My body was numb, and my mind was struggling to process what had just happened.
"You bastard, you're a sleazy dickhead that pries on innocent women because you know they're easy targets to take advantage of", Elijah spat.
"Where's your evidence? Hmm?" Leon taunted back with his arms spread wide as he looked innocently around trying to search for the details himself, "See, there is none and pretty little Miss Jones will keep her mouth shut if she knows what's good for her".
That was the last comment Leon was able to get out before Elijah was in his face, his fist colliding powerfully into Leon as he rained down hell on the prick. Leon stumbled from the force, stunned at the sudden violence before Elijah aimed again and hit him straight in the nose. The twat fell to the floor, blood seeping out from where he was beaten as Elijah got on top of him and released his rage. Punch after punch after punch, my boss was relentless never allowing Leon enough time to block the attacks. He reminded me of a matador capable of only seeing the flashing red in his irises with no awareness of what was happening around him.
"Elijah, stop it!" I tried to scream but he was in such a frenzy that no one would be able to snap the Devil out of the attack.
In seconds the blood multiplied, and Leon was slowly coughing up more blood as his arms started to slowly fall limp to his sides and his eyes were rolling to the back of his head. The scene was starting to be dauntingly scary and as much as Leon deserved it, I didn't want to see more blood than what I'd already witnessed. I backed up from the two men and looked around the hallway half hoping someone would see and half hoping no one would notice the bloodshed but it was still empty.
As if the world was working against me, Elijah reached for his right ankle, tugging his trouser up and releasing a handgun from the strap it was locked in before placing it directly in the path of Leon's forehead. My body stilled at the object grasped in his hand, it looked so relaxed under Elijah's grip as if he was used to carrying it and using it. 'Why does Elijah have a weapon on him when he's a businessman?' I puzzled, subconsciously raising my hands up in a surrendering manner as if Elijah was going to turn around and attack me with it.
"Give me one good fucking reason why I shouldn't blow your brains to smithereens", he ordered sternly as he slowly applied pressure to the trigger.
"Elijah, just calm down, it's alright just put the gun away", I tried to reason with fear shaking my voice. My feet crept towards him slowly hoping I could convince him to get rid of the weapon I was sure he was going to use on Leon.
"Are you goddamn serious? He sexually assaulted you for crying out loud! How is any of that alright?" Elijah yelled back. He didn't bother looking my way but just glared daggers into Leon's skull.
"It's not alright but there's other ways justice can be served and taking a life away isn't justice it's giving them an easy way out whilst you end up in prison serving a sentence you'll hate."
Elijah haltered his movements on the trigger, his breath heaving loudly as he debated what to do next until his voice whispered quietly, "He deserves to die and for you I'd go to prison for the rest of my life if it meant you being safe."
So quiet was his statement that I almost didn't here it but when the words registered, I rushed to his side and forcefully grabbed the gun from his hand, hiding it in between the ripped material of my dress to make sure no one could see how far Elijah was willing to go. I secured the rest of my dress with my hands, pulling and tugging to cover up the most modest parts of myself whilst Elijah glared up at me from his position still on Leon.
"We can go back to the hotel and call the police and let them handle Leon lawfully not this way..." I trailed off pleadingly, adding a last attempt to convince him, "Please?"
At that my boss shifted his view to his target, glaring ten times worse, until he sighed, slowly standing up. I thought Elijah was going to leave him alone and follow me to the hotel but Leon on the other hand tried to focus on the environment around him and when he realised that Elijah was about to leave the idiot started laughing maniacally. Elijah hearing the sound of humour straightened his posture and raised his legs, repeatedly kicking Leon in his ribs, his chest, his face, anywhere that would hurt and make him bleed more. I gasped, shocked at the aggression and violence I'd witnessed from a man I thought was only capable of harsh words and cold personalities.
Leon continued to laugh, mixed with his huffs and pants of pain. I wasn't sure whether Elijah had hit him one too many times and caused him to lose some brain cells but when Leon focused on something somewhere behind us, he sneered. His eyes rolled to the back of his head before it slumped from tiredness and his laughter turned to seizures of coughing with more blood choking him.
"You wouldn't dare kill me Elijah, not here and not anywhere else, look behind you", that was all he replied with, with that irritating grin of his.
"What the fuck are you on about?" Elijah asked with gritted teeth until he turned his head to stare at the scene Leon was talking about. My bosses face faltered with an unrecognisable emotion, so I turned to see what was going on, shocked to find that lingering in the hallway was a small crowd watching the scene unfold.
I crossed to Elijah in a rush, grabbing his hand forcefully and tugging it to make him leave the mansion and the other witnesses that had seen this fight. Luckily it seemed no one had seen the gun he was holding before, and that observation alone made me breath out in relief. The crowd consisted of women that had their mouths covered with their hands as small gasps left their lips when they saw the damage that had been dealt to Leon whereas the men were wary to try and break the fight up. One man manned up the courage and stepped forward from the party, shoving Elijah harshly away from Leon, breaking up the fight and kneeling down to check on the host of the party. The man looked up at me and when he noticed my clothing the puzzle pieces clicked and he glared at Leon, his mouth in a tight line but otherwise silent.
"Come on Elijah, let's go now", I went up to him again, tugging his hand so that he'd start moving.
My man was stubborn, he looked down at Leon and spat at his face before promising, "If you ever do anything like this again, I'll make sure you get what you deserve and no amount of luck from the crowds showing up or Nora's nice words will stop me."
I gaped at Elijah, letting the silence from the crowds engulf the moment. He seemed hellbent serious on delivering his promise and I wondered how a businessman could instantly lose his patience and turn into a threatening killer. Even Leon seemed to have become sane because he didn't utter a single word after that, 'Probably took the threat seriously', I noted. Finally after what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, Elijah shrugged his blazer off and draped it protectively over my body, hiding the ripped-up material from view and letting me lead him from the mansion where we went straight to the car and sat inside.
The moment the doors snapped shut, I reached into my dress and pulled out the gun, holding it with my forefinger and thumb as if it was a parasite I didn't want to catch. My boss stared at the gun, his eyes blazing into it before he snatched it away and shoved it back into the holster on his ankle. Tugging the blazer to cover myself even more, I noticed just how much I was revealing to the outside world. It was a horrible sight to see, from the scratched marks riding all over my arms and chest and then the bruising trails of kisses that Leon had forced on me, even my hair and makeup was dishevelled in ways that made it look like I'd fought with a tornado, but the worst part was just how ruined the beautiful dress was.
Elijah stewed in anger from beside me, avoiding all eye contact and, letting the silence boil us awkwardly alive. 'I should ask him about that gun and why he has it', I pondered but when I looked over at him again, it was clear to see him that any attempts would result in my demise and frankly I didn't want to be left on the road or killed from his temper or even humiliated by his harsh words. I just wanted to scrub my skin until it was blistering red so that the sickly feelings of Leon's hands roaming everywhere were gone. Elijah's blazer did little to comfort me as well, his scent simply minimalised today's effects but it didn't comfort me, nothing could. The devil magically read my mind because once I'd secured the material over my body and strapped myself in, he roared the car to life and sped off at a speed too illegal to allow.
The journey was undisturbed the entire ride, bordering on explosive it made me tremble until the hotel was in sight and then I managed a sigh of relief. Elijah was still pissed; his shoulders were tensed, his spine rigidly straight, and eyes narrowed on everything that moved like a bullseye's laser target. It was horrible to say the least but when he parked, he simple stepped out and slammed the door. He didn't wait for me or speak to me or even look behind him to check if I was going to follow him. He hadn't even bothered to check up on me and ask me how I was doing, it was like he didn't care about my wellbeing and that hurt. Elijah simple walked away and it wasn't until I huffed and did the same as he did, slamming the door in irritation that he brought his car keys out of his suit pants and locked the car with his back still to me.
I couldn't make it in time to enter the elevator with him, but he didn't try to stop the doors from closing in either and almost as if the fates knew we needed some space from one another they managed to pry us away from each other's sight. I patiently waited by the elevator doors until it came all the way back down to me and slowed me to follow Elijah's example of reaching our floor. He was already inside his room; since there were thrashing sounds and knocked over items tumbling to the ground with thuds.
Avoiding his rage I entered my room and closed the door, leaning against it as tiredness overcame all of my senses. 'Shower, shower, shower, right now', I programmed myself, stripping in the hallway of the room before heading straight to the bathroom and turning the shower on. The water immediately turned scolding and the steam in the closed space twirled elaborately onto every surface it could cling to. 'The memories won't leave but the burning water will take away the roaming hands', the convincing voice informed me before I stepped in, and pain overtook me.
The sensation of the beating droplets drummed out every thought process I was experiencing. Leon was pushed out of my mind; Elijah was ignored and the faces of the crowd of people that had watched it all unfurl became blank when I kicked them from my memory. Once I was sure my skin had melted and I'd turned into a titan like the AoT anime portrayed, I stepped out and changed my clothes, opting for baggy clothing that could free the chains on my body. The memory still haunted me; it seemed the shower was only a temporary solution. I headed out of the bathroom letting the steam follow after me.
It was all shoving its way back to the forefront of my mind. 'Leon tried to sexually assault me, and Elijah came at the right time to save me with a gun and his fists and plenty of blood', I sank to the floor at the realisation, not caring that I was flailing like a drowning victim, 'This all actually happened, Leon is a predator and Elijah is a psychopath with murdering intents and a bloodlust that needs quenching. His true devil like nature came out but maybe he isn't the worst devil in the world.' I was grateful for Elijah, although he screwed the night up partially, he still saved my life and if it weren't for him, who knows what the outcome of tonight would have been?
'I should thank him, it's the least I can do', was what I deemed with a determined nod of my head and a push towards my door. Not bothering to pick up my ripped clothing or the jewellery I had pulled off my body, I took my keys from the coffee table and made my way to my boss's room. There was a slight hesitance to knock on the door, my hands shaking in nervousness especially when his voice just barely reached my ears from the thick barrier between us.
"Take Leon down by any means necessary. Buy his company off of him or drill it to the ground, threaten his family or just create an accident, I don't care how you do it but just fucking do it!"
'Wait, what did he mean by an accident?' I wanted to ask him but when he groaned out in frustration, and something smashed against a wall in fragile sounds I decided it was best to be blissfully ignorant instead. 'Get it over and done with, Nora', I decided, knocking on the door in three rapid successions.
"Hold up someone's knocking, I'll call you later and by then I want it over and done with. Do you understand?" He threatened warningly, I gulped as sweat started to bead on my forehead my hands clamping and unclamping from the stress of being near his presence.
"Get inside already, Jesus fucking Christ", his voice yelled back.
By the time I had entered he had hung up the call. The entire room was a mess with the furniture broken to pieces, the walls scratched, and the paintings ripped apart. The lights above us were sparking from damage and his bed was thrown to the floor, his mattress flipped, and his pillows shoved somewhere on the balcony. Even the clothes that were immaculately placed in his closet were now littering the floor in suffering mess and it made me question where I should have come here in the first place.
"What is it, miss Jones?" He sternly asked me.
I looked over to him, noticing a few of his shirt buttons undone and his wrist buttons completely undone and hanging loose on his arms. My boss's shirt was untucked from his trousers, completely different from his usual perfection and the black suit trousers were now hanging loose on his waist, the belt dangling dangerously from the loops of the material. Elijah's hair was dishevelled, as if he'd just experienced the same tornado I had before but his eyes were now quietly raging in tumultuous waves instead of the usual stormy and crashing ones I was used to.
"I wanted to thank you", I quietly respond whilst my fingers tremble and I fidget to hide them from Elijah's sight. My eyes avoided his own when I looked down at my feet, suddenly feeling smaller than I was. 'Where was that confidence I had when I was first dealing with him in the garden and then with Leon?'
"What am I going to get in return for saving your life?" He questioned me.
"Before we get to that, tell me why you had a gun on you at the party and why you threatened Leon with an accident and his family?" I blurt out, covering my mouth instantly after I'd said it. Regret crossed my features, but it was too late to back down now.
Elijah closed his eyes, his patience waning thin as he battled the storm within himself, "Miss Jones, if you know what's best for you, you will drop this interrogation."
"I asked you a question, answer me", I barked out trying my best to imitate his business-like mode.
"The police won't do shit since he's got power and money and influence. Did you honestly think that the law would be enough to take him down?" Elijah laughed sarcastically, "You're so oblivious to just how dangerous he is so sometimes to win you have to fight fire with fire and if that means threatening his family or scaring him with near death then so be it."
"And the gun?" I persisted. So far, what Elijah was saying checked out. The personal assistant who he'd raped had lost the court case and was never heard of again so it made sense for Elijah to say the police wouldn't win and neither would the courts but to go as far as to threaten his family and risk his life was extreme and that didn't sit right with me. 'Then again what had Leon done to silence his personal assistant?' A niggling voice in the back of my mind quizzed me.
"Self-defence, he's a deadly maniac and there were plenty of women surrounding him, so someone needed to protect them", he instantly replied. Suspicion arose inside me having heard him state this perfectly as if he'd rehearsed it a few times. A lie was easier to slip off the tongue than to reveal the hidden truth.
"Fine, but next time tell me these things so that I don't look like an idiot scared for my life", I submitted in defeat, my head hanging loosely in shame.
As quick as the interrogation began it dwindled just as fast and Elijah seemed to sag his shoulders in relief, it was fast, but I caught it, nonetheless.
"How are you feeling, miss Nora?" Elijah asked him in a whispered tone.
I looked around the room and then back to him tilting my head side to side before I replied, "I've been better, if I'm being honest but thank you for asking."
"If you need to take a break from work when we get back to New York, tell me and I'll arrange it for you."
"I'll hold you to that, I'm not sure of my answer right now."
Elijah nodded thoughtfully before he returned that infamous smirk of his and cryptically stated, "Anyways, back to the more important things... I gave you something so now you must return the favour."
I frowned in confusion wondering what he was talking about and noticing the shift of his behaviour. It was unpredictable and confusing that it almost felt like whiplash, but I made my thoughts known, "What do you mean? I don't get it."
"Life is compromised full of business opportunities, miss Jones. I saved your life, to me it was a business opportunity, so what am I going to get in return?" He carefully dealt, eyeing me with that glint in his eyes I was slowly becoming accustomed to.
"A business opportunity?" I stumbled to understand. 'So all this time I thought he was doing it out of the goodness of his heart and here he was acting out of business?' I wanted to rage but his temper was worse than mine and I'd had enough anger today.
"Yes, exactly, now you're getting it."
"What do you want, sir?" I forced out with a snap to my voice. I was upset and he could see it plain as daylight.
Elijah tauntingly closed the space between, grabbing my chin and pulling me closer to his chest so that I was looking at him, "I want you to call me Elijah from now on. I don't want the formalities except for when we're inside the company or doing work."
"What?" I asked him with pure bewilderment and wide eyes. 'Is he on drugs or is he drunk? Why is he requesting this off me?'
"You heard me. I want to hear you say my name without the formality, Nora."
My name being wrung out like that in such a manner had my face heating in a blush and my mouth drying in desperation for water. 'Holy shit', I noted.
"Elijah..." I trailed off watching his eyes flutter and his mouth part before he took control and genuinely smiled at me.
"Help me change my character and attitude Nora, can you do that by my side?" My boss asked with radiance. His right hand had lowered from my chin to my jaw, cupping it delicately as his other hand-held my right arm in place. It was a feathery type of touch, the kind that held a special amount of passion. 'What is going on? I don't believe this is happening, why would Elijah want to change?' I urged to find out with shock evident in my eyes.
"Is this some kind of joke? Why would you want to change your character and attitude Elijah?" I finally responded.
Elijah chuckled in response, his eyes alighting and his crows' feet crinkling, "Because, Nora, when I'm around you I want to be a better person."
Silence. That's all I reply with whilst Elijah grins and drops "Now if you don't mind, I want to change my clothes..." He trailed off before cheekily winking in my direction and adding in a low tone, "You can either help or you can leave, the choice is yours."
My face blushed yet again but I didn't wait to let Elijah dwell on that. 'This was my boss acting like the most bipolar person I'd ever met and there was no way I would ever understand who he was.' It was also utterly ridiculous that I was reacting in such a girly and embarrassing way after all that I'd seen him do today but that's the kind of power he held. My boss, the devil, took everything I possessed and fried it to a crisp shoving the societal expectations of women relying on men right into my face and unfortunately, I was depending on him more than I would have liked.
"Erm, I'm going to go now", I stuttered shakily, turning around, and hurrying to leave his room when he interrupted me.
"Goodnight, Nora", he dreamily purred, and I almost caved to turn back around and run straight into his arms longing for more than just a boss and a worker relationship.
I face-palmed my head and groaned in annoyance, 'Get yourself together, girl!'
Closing the door I headed back into my own room, finally accepting that the entire ordeal we'd just experienced was definitely not a dream. 'Elijah must have been possessed by an angel, it was like an opposite version of himself', I scoffed in disbelief, 'What is his motive behind this? God I'm thinking way too into this.' My head was beginning to hurt, the start of a migraine forming as a cesspit that would worsen over time. All that thinking wasn't doing me any good and if I didn't stop, I'd be a zombie the next day, so I moved over to the bathroom hoping I had packed a set of pain relievers in one of my toiletry bags.
My room was still a mess, but I wouldn't dare clean it until the next day since I was fully drained from energy. Finally locating the pain-relievers I walked over to the nightstand in the bedroom, grabbed my bottled water and gulped down the tablet with the heavenly liquid. 'It'll take some time before the tablet kicks in', I shuffled annoyedly towards my bed, slumping down on the edge of it and raising my arm so I could rub my temples in circular motions to alleviate the pain. That's when I noticed a small cut on my arm, now scabbed over, but still red and sensitive. 'Must have been when Leon attacked me', I realised cursing him to infinity and beyond and yet relieved to know that tomorrow we'd be leaving Las Vegas and heading straight home to New York, my home.
Heading back to the bathroom I found some sanitiser wipes and plasters so that I could clean the wound from future infections. I didn't want Leon and his traces of the attack lingering in my system and ruining my health, who knows how many sexual infections or diseases this man had. Thankfully, I'd get to see mom and my sister, Nina, and they'd be able to check my wound for any signs of infections, my mother was always the expert in these situations.
The bed coaxed me to enter under the duvet and succumb to a peaceful sleep. I accepted it graciously and let the magic take over me complyingly. Crawling over to the bed, I slump into the material and allow my muscles to relax its tight strain over my body. Sleep was the only thing that would help me now and that's exactly what it did when it got to work and transmitted a blank void-like dream.
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