Him (Part I)

Her steps were frail as she made her way back to the house to finish doing what she had started previously.

The beauty she had noticed a while ago was now non-existent as she focused her sight on the ground and didn't bother looking up.

And Eva didn't know how, she didn't know when either.

Since when did she start looking down at the ground instead of the sky?

When was the last moment that she had seen the Moon and the stars with a smile on her face and peace in her mind?

She swallowed, rubbing her arm as the familiar grounds came into her sight. Wrapping her hands around the rope once again, she made her way quickly up the cloth. Her arms were aching when she grabbed onto the rail and hoisted herself up on the cold balcony floor.

Breathing out, she dragged her hand across her face and rubbed her eyes feeling more exhausted than ever. All she felt like doing was going to sleep and never opening her eyes again.

'Get up...'

'I still need to complete that research.'

Grabbing the wall for support, she heaved herself up and made her way toward the door but not before untying the firm knot and pulling the rope back up. Eva thought of undoing it but then stored it at the back of her closet where nobody would easily find it.

'It'll help if I decide to go on more detours...'

Releasing her hair from the ribbon, she let it flow freely around her shoulder and back as she exited her room with determination flashing in those brown orbs.

She briefly wondered what Gwen and Kai had given her to make the fever fade away so quickly. The fatigue was still there somewhere but other than that, she felt perfectly okay with only a dull ache in her temple.

Fiona met her on the way and Eva paused her steps to greet her. "Eva! What are you doing out of bed?! You should be resting-"

'When have you ever done anything I asked you to do? Hm?'

Eva jolted at the deep voice that echoed in her head, as she frantically glanced around and returned her eyes to Fiona who now stared at her with even more worry.

'So he's going to haunt me even when he's not here?'

'...'

"I'm fine, you don't have to worry." she plastered the widest smile on her face and then nodded. "Where are you going?"

The anxious look still hadn't left her face but Fiona only spoke, "Oh actually Gwen had asked me to search for a specific sort of medicine for her. I was just going to the nearby infirmary to fetch it."

Eva gave her a small smile and pat on the shoulder. "All the best!"

Fiona giggled and departed off first, thankfully not asking her where she was going. She surely would've informed Gwen or somebody else that she was going to the library which was certainly not good for her mental condition right now.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, she increased her pace and in a few seconds, she was standing in front of the library door.

Twisting open the knob, Eva stepped inside and shut the door behind her. Her senses immediately heightened because this time, something felt different the second she placed her foot inside the wide room.

Looking around, she noticed that some of the shelves had been shifted from their original position to another one. She had no clue where the book she was previously reading was. Muttering a silent curse, she wandered around the area and searched for the shelf that she had memorized from its look.

Turning around a corner, she found herself at a dead end but her eyes didn't fail to catch sight of something peculiar that she hadn't noticed on her previous visit.

Nearing the wall, Eva crouched down on her knees and touched the small empty space in the wall which resembled a cell's opening. The railings felt rough to the touch and she wondered what was behind the wall.

Curiosity wasn't a sin but it was one of her flaws. Straightening up, she placed her hand on the wall and scanned the area for some sort of a button or handle that she could pull to make the wall disappear.

She had read enough books to know what such places meant. The back of a shelf was facing her but a few books were placed haphazardly in the wrong direction. It could only mean that one of these was the key to the entrance of the wall.

Eva started pulling the books one by one, getting more impatient with each passing second which yielded no result. Her frustration grew and she resisted the urge to kick the wall or use brutal force to break it open.

"Bastard..." she muttered and stumbled back in surprise when the wall gave in and slid back to reveal a slim path of the entrance. The blocks had shifted horizontally and she cautiously placed her hands on the wall to approach it.

'Really? That was the passcode?'

Squinting her eyes, she found no source of light inside the darkness which greeted her. Her interest rose higher and she cast a final glance at the library before venturing inside the dim place.

She thanked the heavens when she found that there were no stairs but all signs of her relief faded away when a jerk sounded and she turned in time to see the wall slamming back into its place. She was left with nothing but darkness as a companion as she could only curse herself for her impulsive actions.

'Well, no use in going back now...'

Squaring her shoulders, she closed her eyes and tried to conjure up her power inside her palm just like she had seen Theo do when they entered the Underworld. Remembering the time she had spent training in the forest, she thought of him and that was all it took for her anger to be lit aflame.

Opening her eyes, she couldn't help but grin openly at the sight of a miniature but visible flame of chaos lighting up the surroundings faintly.

Not bothering to look back, she wandered inside the welcoming darkness in search of something she didn't have a clue about.