Just bad dreams

*Tick tock, tick tock* the clock ticked loudly in the wide hallway.

A girl stood in front of the clock, staring at it as it moved, her eyes darting left and right as the ball inside the clock moved. Her gaze remained focused until the clock struck 2:45 pm and stopped moving.

A heavy boot sound slowly approached her from behind, and the owner of the boot came to stand next to the girl, also staring at the clock she was looking at.

"You seem to like this particular clock that malfunctions," the man commented, slowly shoving his hands in his pockets.

The young girl shook her head. "I don't like it," she replied with her small voice. "I just wanted to check what time it is."

The man stared down at her, his dark eyes observing her intently.

"But you know that it doesn't work," he said, with furrowed brows, while the girl shook her head again.

"It works very well. But not in the way you adults want it to," she replied before facing the man who now had a confused expression. "It's time for my session, right?" The girl asked, and the man nodded before taking her hands and leading her away.

When they were far gone, the clock started ticking again, but this time it was moving backward. The ticking sound increased so rapidly that soon the empty hallway was filled with its sound.

*Tick tock, TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK...*

Leah jolted awake with a loud gasp, her eyes widening in panic. She scanned the bright room, as if searching for the clock that had haunted her dream, but found nothing. Her hands moved to her chest, feeling a sharp pain that made her clench her fists tightly.

The pain slowly subsided, and she got out from the bed, making her way to the bathroom. She turned on the faucet, letting the cold water run. She scooped some water with her palm and splashed it on her face.

She tilted her head to the side, examining the plaster on her neck before ripping it off, she did the same thing with the one on her wrist. This was one of the perks of being a hunter—their wounds healed quickly.

Feeling the need to wash away the remnants of her restless night, she stripped off her clothes and stepped under the shower, turning the knob. The water that cascaded down was frigid, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin, but Leah didn't mind.

The chill somehow managed to clear the incessant ticking sound that was still plaguing her thoughts. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the sensation of the water trailing down her skin.

After bathing, Leah dried her body with a towel before using the same towel to dry her hair. She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her naked body with a dazed look. She dropped the towel and slowly turned around, pushing her hair to the side so she could examine her back through the mirror.

Her gaze settled on the tattoo in between her spine on her upper back. The tattoo was a skull head with two daggers intersecting it from both sides - a menacing and intricate design etched permanently into her skin. The skull's hollow eyes seemed to stare back at her, reminding her of the memories and emotions that led her to get this tattoo. Leah traced her fingers over the outline of the tattoo, lost in thought.

A knock on the door snapped Leah out from her dazed state and she quickly wore a robe before going to open the door.

"Good morning, ma'm." The maid from the previous night greeted with a small bow.

The maid was carrying a tray in her hands.

"Master asked me to bring your breakfast to your room," The maid said, her eyes settling on Leah's neck before moving to her face.

Leah nodded and moved aside so the woman could come in before closing the door.

Leah was grateful that the maid brought her breakfast up to her room, at least now she wouldn't have to go down and the maid could help her in parking her things, since she would be leaving that morning.

...

Just opposite the room where Leah was, in Lucius chambers, William was seated on Lucius bed spinning a pen, with a concentrated face, While Alexander was sipping from the red liquid in his glass as he stared at Lucius who was scratching his right wrist like he wanted to peel his flesh off.

"You should stop doing that." Alexander said. "You're only making it worst."

"The cuffs feel tighter today," Lucius commented as he finally stopped scratching his wrist.

"And whose fault is that?" Alexander asked, with a neutral tone and expression.

Lucius glanced at him before standing up and leaving the room without replying to his question.

"What he did yesterday was very reckless," William commented, still spinning the pen.

"You would have done the same thing, William. So don't blame him," Alexander replied, maintaining his poker face.

William stopped spinning the pen and faced Alexander.

"I would have done even worse to them, but..." William paused. "Draining that vampiress to her death wasn't necessary. It was a very dangerous move."

Alexander sighed. William did have a point. Lucius wasn't supposed to drink that amount of blood because he was restricted from drinking too much blood, but that wasn't the major problem. It was the source of the blood itself that was bothersome.

...

Leah was already done with her meal, and now she was applying a light makeup on her face to cover the dullness around her eyes. The maid had just left to bring some pain killers as Leah had requested.

Leah stared at her reflection after she was done applying her makeup, before sighing. She had been trying to ignore her recent nightmares but it seemed like it was only getting worst.

These nightmares had stopped years ago after her family's death but for some reason she started having them the day she started working for Maria.

The sudden knock on the door startled her, giving her a little jump scare. Leah closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling before opening her eyes back.

'You're in the real world, those nightmares are just bad dreams.' She coaxed herself before going to open the door.

Her face turned sour when she saw who was standing there. She left the door open and returned back to the dressing table to work on her hair.

Lucius closed the door before going to sit on one of the couches. His eyes observing Leah as she straightened her hair. He was about speaking but Leah beat him to it.

"I know you've been lying to me," Leah said. "But it doesn't matter anyway because you are going to take me back to my apartment in LA, and we can both forget about all of this ever happening," Leah said without looking at him.

Her full attention was on her reflection in the mirror.

Lucius remained calm despite what she had just said, as if he did not hear her. He threw his head back, resting it on the couch. He had already anticipated that she would say something like this.