Chapter # 5

He gazed at the passed-out face of the girl in his arms, "should've waited to get acquainted first." he mumbled, picking her up in his arms.

He walked to her bed laying her down, "now what?" he pulled the wooden chair sitting under her desk and set on it I'm front of her bed, "let's wait for her to come back to her senses."

His eyes darted to her neck, which was covered in bandages, Aurelius had an urge to inspect the wound. But refrained himself, he wasn't a Physician.

He looked out of the window, letting out a cold breath. Only hoping for the morning to come soon.

"I'm starving..." the girl mumbled in her sleep, tossing and turning in her sleep.

"Hey, wake up."

"No, my chicken sandwich... And lemonade."

The girl sleepily turned to face the man sitting not so far from her.

"Are you the delivery guy?" she muttered, still half asleep, "where is my sandwich and lemonade?"

"I don't know?"

"If it wasn't for the fact that I'm dreaming, I would have complained of your shitty service." she was convinced it was all a dream, "anyway, conjure something for me to eat."

"Mam, you are not dreaming,"

"How come?" he had no choice but to pinch the sleepy girl as hard as he can, "YOU ASS!!!"

That got her out of her haze like magic.

She slapped his hand away, "you asked for it, Mam."

She mumbled something under her breath, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I said why am I still alive?" he was puzzled, "you were expecting to die? I'm sorry but I don't know why that is so surprising to you---"

"You attacked in the alley almost killed me, see?" she pointed at the bandage on her neck.

"And I said before, I did not attack you. Yes, I did meet you at the bus stop that day," he answered, hoping she will somehow believe him.

"So who was it? Your evil twin? I want an explanation." she wrapped her arms around herself, looking at the strange man with suspicion, but she was also curious to hear what other absurd explanation he can come up with other than being a ghost.

"My evil what..." he looked conflicted, with several moments of hesitation he mumbled, "what if there was an evil twin involved."

"Huh! Now you are stealing my ideas!" she stumbled out of her bed, "get out of my house!"

"But I was here---"

"Don't care, get out or I will call the police!"

"Just try to listen---"

"Just leave!" Zubie yelled, her tone harsh and hostile.

The man sighed, "as you wish, Mam." he looked disappointed, and with a last glance her way he left.

Zubie fell on her bed, burying her face in her hands, "what if he was..." she stopped, "of course not, he might hurt me again. I wonder what Isabelle will do in this situation..."

But why didn't he hurt her when she was at her most vulnerable state, passed out?

(---------------------------)

After the morning incident, nothing of particular importance happened all day. Zubie almost forgot about the absurdity going on around her. She called for a takeout and decided to clean the spilled milk from her mentor's carpet.

She entered the room carrying a mop and bucket.

She started moping the sticky liquid from the carpet but it was proving to be rather difficult as most of the liquid was soaked up by the carpet.

Bent down to clean the area from under the dresser. Zubie found the opened wooden box on the other side of the dresser. The box was supposed to be on the table, surprised she did not notice the absence earlier she picked it up. It was open, curiosity spiked in her. She moved the lid open.

A sparkly silver bracelet was laying inside, she picked it up. An Amethyst was engraved into the silver chain. A sun and moon pieces were attached to the chain as well.

She studied the piece of jewelry placing it on her palm. Her eyes fell back inside the box, there lay a book. The cover of the book was bounded in tinted leather. Zubie picked the book, it was a very well-designed book. But to her dismay, it was locked.

She struggled to open the book but it wasn't working. Giving up she placed the book back in the box.

The front of the cover had a grove on it, as if a piece of it was missing. Zubie's fingers skimmed the cover, trying to find any clue on how to open the book.

She picked up the box and stood up and placed it on the dresser. She looked down, the bracelet has fallen from her lap and was now laying on the carpet.

She picked up the bracelet, planning to place it back into the box along with the box.

Zubie glanced at the cover again and back at the bracelet in her hand, "wait this appears familiar..."

The grove and the pattern of the Scarlet-tinted Amethyst looked identical.

"Maybe, it's part of the book..." she seated the Amethyst on the grove, and to her surprise, it fitted perfectly. With a little click, the lock unlocked.

"What the hell..." the words left her mouth unscathed.

Zubie's decided whatever was written inside the book was worth checking out. But she also did not want to invade her dead mentor's privacy.

"what the hell am I thinking? I shouldn't do something so terrible to a dead person. What if it's her diary?" shaking her head, she closed the lid of the box. Picking up the abandoned mop she started working again.

Zubie heard a familiar meow, it was the neighbor's cat sitting on the window sill. The cat licked its paw, waiting for Zubie to bring her some snacks for just existing.

"did you throw the box on the floor?" Zubie asked.

The cat just meowed.

"I'm expecting that's a no? Or yes?"

She scratched the cat over its head, the feline purred in contentment. Zubie let out a small laugh. She went to the kitchen grabbing the leftover pizza for the feline.

When she came back, the cat was still on her spot she was at previously, "Do you wanna come inside?" it was getting dim outside, signaling the end of the day. Zubie glanced at the cloudy sky, leaning on the open window, "do you think it'll rain today?" she tore the slices into smaller pieces for the cat to eat.

"I think it might rain." the cat did not waste any time digging into the meal, "or perhaps, it'll storm? Who knows."

Her eyes darted into the distance, not focused on anything in particular, "how awful it is I don't even know your name, Isabelle used to feed you every day."

The cat looked at her at the utterance of the familiar name, "do you miss her?"

The cat meowed, "I miss her too,"

In the corner of her eyes, she saw a shadow, "is that who I think it is?" she turned away from the window, picked up her phone, and dialed the police department number, "I've had enough of this creepiness."