# Skyfall Chapter 24 -I'M SO SORRY FOR THE UPLOAD SPAM. UPDATE SCREWED ME OVER.

Author: Abyssa
Tags: Abuse, Anthro, Fantasy, Gay, Human, Male, Relationship, Wolf

24
 I
woke from an uneasy sleep early in the morning. The sun had barely started to
rise, and most of the world outside was still black. I tossed and turned in my
bed a few times and tried to become comfortable again, but I wasn't going to be
able to fall back asleep. Drowsy, I sat up and stretched out my sore muscles. I
still felt exhausted, but my mind was growing restless.
I stood and searched for some
warm clothes in my room. I found a pair of pants and layered a shirt underneath
a jacket this time. I wanted to be sure I was warm today; it looked quite cold
outside in the dark. I thought about my dagger, and I turned and stared at the
drawer beside my bed for a moment. Slowly, I opened it.
There it was, the blade of my
dagger, shimmering in the faint light. I carefully picked it up and examined
it. The violet blade looked flawless when I searched for any chips or cracks,
and the blue veins within the violet seemed to be glowing. I placed the dagger
in my pocket in case I needed it. The blade felt more like a symbol than it did
a weapon, and it made me feel like the goddess was close by. I had a feeling I
might need her guidance today. 
My mind wandered back to Misha, and
I tried to focus on my downloaded information. There were many creatures here I
still knew nothing about, and I had to find out what Misha was. My mind focused
on nymph momentarily as I remembered Fleur.Woodland creatures, a type of fairy...they have an intricate knowledge of
nature and plants. They are skilled healers because of this knowledge. 
I sighed as I walked out of my
room. That must be what got Fleur trapped
in here... 
I continued towards the dining
hall. My mind ran through the other types of creatures that I was aware of via
downloaded information, but none of them seemed to have fitting attributes to
Misha. Misha did know a lot about herbs and plants...but I couldn't see the other
attributes of a nymph fitting him. What were his attributes? 
I knew he could heal back to
perfect condition even if it didn't happen right away, but the only other thing
I could think of was his obsession with sex. Could that be a hint? What about
the fact that my hatred towards him had melted back into a deep curiosity? Was
that just me being foolish...or was there something more to it? I suppose that
could also be due to the magic compulsion...But even before that had happened, I
was obsessed with him for reasons I never understood.
"Two-fifty-seven?" I jumped at the voice,
and looked over to the information desk attendant. "I have a note for you."
I wandered over to the desk
absent-mindedly. "Thanks." I mumbled as I took the sheet of paper from the man.
With a sigh, I glanced down at
the paper. The note said to meet in Hale's office at a specific time later this
afternoon. There were no other details, and my stomach twisted as I became
nervous at the idea. I only had a few days left...I was suddenly afraid Hale somehow
knew of my plans, but I quickly dismissed my fears. I tossed the paper in the
trash can as I tried to clear my mind, and then continued down the stairs.
I made my way to the dining hall
and sat at an empty table. Only a few other guards were up and eating, and it
looked like they had just put the food out. I wasn't particularly hungry, but I
decided to wander over and get some anyways before my thoughts made me lose my
appetite. 
One of the guards glanced over
at me suspiciously as I picked out some fruits and eggs. I recognized his scent
from yesterday, and wondered what he thought of me. I was too exhausted to
engage in conversation, though, so I ignored him. 
I sat back at my empty table and
ate my food while my thoughts began to stir. My mind couldn't resist thinking
about Misha and what he was. Maybe I can
get information out of Hale today. I thought to myself. That's probably a really, really bad idea...
I finished eating but remained
at the table, quietly fumbling with the blade in my pocket in case it would
offer me any wisdom. The energy in the blade felt still and quiet, and I
couldn't seem to get a reaction from it. I wondered where I could find the
information I was seeking. The control center. My ears pricked forwards. I could gain access to Misha's file, and also maybe learn how to
control the system. That information could be helpful during my escape.
I glanced around nervously.
People were filing in the dining hall now, mostly guards and a few doctors who
I didn't recognize. I would have to wait until I visited Hale to have an excuse
to walk past the control center, though. 
Finally, I stood up as the
dining hall became crowded. I cleared my space and let others sit as I wandered
out towards the lounge.
I stopped walking and stared
towards the medical wing. I watched a few doctors come in and out. For a
moment, I wondered if Misha was still in there, or if he had healed already. 
My eyes wandered to the hallway next
to the medical wing. There was a library over there that Misha had told me
about when he gave me my first tour of the facility. I had never had the chance
to explore the library before, but it seemed like the perfect place to learn
more about this world. I headed down that hallway for the first time, cursing
myself for not thinking of this sooner.
The hallway was dim; most of the
lights were still turned off. I walked through the glass doors with the letters
"LIBRARY" printed on the front and entered the dark room. The room was large
and looked empty in the darkness. 
"Can I help you?" A voice to my
right asked. I jumped and looked over to see a man sitting behind a desk with a
dim light illuminating his workspace.
"I just came to read up on some
things." I said nervously.
The man clapped his hands and
some lights flickered on to reveal tall bookshelves in rows across the entire
room.
"Sure thing, go right ahead." He
said, gesturing towards the books. "Have you been here before?"
I shook my head and stared out
towards all the books, wishing I had more time to explore the sea of knowledge
before me.
"Is there anything I can help
you find?" He asked.
"Oh." I paused, wondering how to
phrase what I was looking for. "Magical creatures...I need to learn more about
them. Perhaps a bestiary of some kind?"
The man nodded. "Sure thing." He
said as he stood up. "Follow me."
We wandered into the vast rows
of paper and wood, and my jaw dropped at the vast collection of books upon the
shelves.
"You're an assassin, right?" The
man said with a smirk. "Need to learn how to kill your victims?"
I swallowed hard. "Right." I
said. 
I hadn't thought about that. I don't know that killing Misha is even
possible, what if he's some kind of immortal creature? I paused for a
moment and considered the other creatures I had encountered. But...I've seen two werewolves die, one by my
own hands. They must have weakened them. Werewolves aren't supposed to die so
easily, right? I scanned my downloaded information, which assured me that
was correct. Other werewolves have the
potential to kill werewolves. It's more about strength. I glanced at the
tall shelves around me as I thought. Immortal
just means age does not affect them, and usually they have the ability to heal
rapidly...So there's probably a way to kill Misha. That last thought made me
feel a bit ill. 
We arrived in a quiet corner of
the library, where the man pointed to the shelves. "Here's the section you'll
want, then." He said as he pointed out a few books. "These describe the best
methods for killing canine types like yourself." He winked at me. "And here are
some typical bestiaries."
"Thanks." I mumbled, glancing at
the rest of the books. I don't want to
kill Misha, though. My mind seemed irritated with me. But I suppose I might have to.
"If you want to take any with
you, just come see me at the front desk." The man said as he walked away. 
Once he was gone, I pulled out one of the
bestiaries. The front cover was illustrated with a large snake that appeared to
be transforming. It must have been a slithurm. The book was large and heavy,
and I had a difficult time holding it up and flipping the pages at the same
time. In the corner of the room I saw a few chairs and a table. I picked up a
second bestiary and headed towards the table.
Once I reached the table, I sat
the books down. They slammed against the wooden table with a loud thud that
echoed through the empty library. I cringed and slowly sank into the chair. I
traced my fingers along the thick, leather cover for a few moments as I delayed
opening the book. There was an intricate design around the cover...swirling and
dancing to create a border of deep emerald green. 
With a groan, I shook my head. No more stalling. I told myself as I
flipped through the pages. The creatures I saw in the bestiary intrigued me. I
saw beautiful drawings of unicorns, griffins, and werewolves. I stopped and
read through some of the information quickly, taking note of the fact that
certain herbs and metals were toxic to werewolves. It also mentioned vampire
venom as a potential threat to werewolves. I flipped the pages and looked for
the section on vampires.
My search ended abruptly when I
froze on a magnificent phoenix drawing. I stared at the blackened page that had
a flaming bird painted across it. The bird was flying off the page as it
ascended to the skies. I carefully took my eyes off of the drawing and read
through the text. Susceptible to cold...extremely skilled with fire energy...form very
exclusive social groups. I paused there. Perhaps that was why Kato was so
afraid of leaving on his own...maybe he did not think his kind would accept him
again. I wondered how young he had been when his life was stolen from him. 
My mind wandered back to the
text as I searched for the next thing I was curious about... Lifespan.
"Contrary to popular belief,
many phoenixes never live through their first rebirth." I read the text in a
whisper, shocked. "It is extremely difficult for a phoenix to journey through
the reincarnation process. If they do not have a strong enough will, they will
be consumed by the ashes and burn to nothing. If they succeed, they will retain
their memories and their physical body will reform to its peak age.
Reincarnation can potentially happen any time a phoenix dies, not just from old
age. But the older they are, the greater chance of survival." 
I looked up from the book as I finished
reading and stared off into space for a moment... Kato seemed much more
vulnerable now. When I tried to turn the page, I realized my hands were
shaking, and that I was afraid. 
I quickly turned the page and
kept looking through creatures. I put the thought out of my mind as I focused
on Misha again. I was having difficulty concentrating as I glanced at the different
creatures on the many pages, and I knew I would never be able to make it
through the entire book. I flipped to the back pages in case it had an index.
There was no index in this book, so I pushed it aside and moved onto the next
book. This book's cover was a man spearing a werewolf through the chest with a
bright blade, and the leather was embroidered with the title "Creatures of the
Night: Powers and Weaknesses".
The images were much more
violent in this book; they all focused on the creature either dying or killing
something else. I swallowed hard as I looked at the table of contents. The
creatures were categorized by "how they feed on their victims". I took my eyes
off of the book and glanced around. Was I crazy for looking this up?
I decided I had to look for
sexual desire. That was the only thing I knew Misha did to others...so I scanned
the list.
Under "lustful desires", there
was one creature listed...Succubus. I clawed at the pages quickly as I searched
for the page it was on. My heart raced despite my pathetic attempt to calm
myself. Finally, I reached the page.
"Succubi are dark, female spirits that feed
on sexual energy." My eyes slowly moved across the words, and a sick feeling
filled my body. I forced myself to continue.
"Typically they do not pose much
of a threat. A succubus will take the form of an attractive woman, seduce a
man, have intercourse, and move on. Males are the primary victims. Because most
supernatural creatures carry stronger energy than regular humans, succubi seem
to prefer werewolves and other shifters. Vampires and other "undead" creatures
are not typically preferred because their energy is harder to harvest and
utilize. Typically these creatures are also able to sense subtle changes in
their energy, making them more dangerous to feed on." My mind raced as I read
the pages. I thought about the image of Hale and Misha together for a second,
and then forced myself to keep reading. 
"Succubi can lure their victims
in various ways. They commonly manipulate emotions, use attraction, and create
a mysterious aura about them that compels the victim to approach them. Succubi
are only known to have a human form, and have never been seen transforming into
anything. They can make their victim's see different features in their faces or
body to appeal to them more, but the illusion does not last forever. The only
consistent physical feature is dark eyes. Many have reported them to have brown
to black eyes that darken when the situation is emotionally intense." 
The image of Misha's black eyes
against his pale skin flashed in my mind...his eyes were black when I saw him in the snow. I cautiously continued to
read. 
"After the encounter ends, the
victim often feels disoriented and exhausted, but does not have any serious
side effects. This is what makes succubi incredibly hard to track and study. As
far as lifespan goes, all that is known about them is that they have
regenerative abilities, and can heal themselves from most injuries as long as
they have enough energy stored. There is no known way to kill them. They may or
may not be immortal."
I shivered and took my eyes off
of the book. I hesitated to keep reading, but forced myself to do so. 
"There has never been evidence of
an incubus, but these are the male counterparts. Because women often release
far less energy during intercourse than males do, it is theorized that Incubi
also target males. Males are easier to harvest energy from. Support for this
theory can be found in reports of men who claim to have been assaulted by
Incubi, but there is no solid proof. As far as supernatural powers go, it is
unknown exactly what they can do. If they do exist, they are even less common
than succubi."
My head snapped upwards at the
sound of footsteps. A few other people were wandering around the library now.
With my eyes squeezed shut, I took a few deep breaths and tried to soothe my
nauseous body and mind. I took a few moments to recollect myself. 
"These might not even be real."
I whispered with shaking breath. "Calm down."
I shut the books and carried
them back to their shelf before quickly walking out of the library. The
bookkeeper said something, but I felt too ill to respond. I shoved the glass
doors open and began to walk down the hallway towards the main entrance. When I
passed by the medical wing, I thought about whether or not I should see if
Misha was around, but my thoughts were interrupted by another source of fear. 
My body froze when I saw Hale walking
towards the medical wing. His cold, liquid eyes washed right over me as he
flashed me a smirk. My hand clutched my stomach as the urge to vomit
intensified with my terror. 
"See you this afternoon,
two-fifty-seven." He said as he passed right by me.
I turned and began to walk far
away from the medical wing, still fighting the nausea. I staggered for a few
steps before stopping at the main entrance doors. Fresh snow had masked the
pits Misha and I had left in the courtyard, and I took a moment to absorb the
perfected image. The sun had risen, and it was late morning by now. 
"Hey!" A sharp voice called
after me. I jumped and turned to face Kato. 
"Where have you been?" He asked,
looking agitated. "I've been looking all over for you!"
"Kato!" I said in a hushed
voice, still shaken from my newfound knowledge, as well as Hale passing by. "I
need to sit down...I need to talk to you."
"Is everything alright?" Kato
asked, any hint of irritation now gone and replaced with concern. I nodded as
he led me over to the lounge area.
We sat down on at a table and I attempted
to calm my mind. I still felt like vomiting, and I wasn't sure I was going to
be able to say anything.
"Hey, what happened?" Kato
pressed, staring into my void eyes.
"I have to meet with Hale later
today." I sighed. I decided to start with that issue first. "I have no idea
what I'm going to say to him...what if he finds out?"
"Decipher, you have to calm
down. Everything is going to be okay." Kato whispered. "Did something happen to
you? What's wrong? You look like you're going to puke..."
I swallowed hard again. "Let's
just focus on Hale."
"You're clearly bothered by
something. What is it?"
"I went searching for
information about Misha!" I confessed loudly. "...and I think I found out what he
is."
"This is about Misha again?"
Kato asked. "What he is? He's an ASSHOLE, Decipher!" 
"No, Kato...I-" I stuttered,
afraid that I had upset him. "I was reading a bestiary...I came across something
called a succubus and-"
"And what?" Kato yelled with a
look of betrayal. "Not only are those extremely rare, they're also always
female. Why are you looking for excuses, Decipher?"
"I'm not looking for excuses,
but Kato!" I pleaded with him, "I don't know...I've met with the Goddess several
times now, I just can't help but feel I need to do something for him...I can't
seem to escape him."
"Stop, Decipher." Kato said as
he glared at me. "Misha is a terrible person, but that's it. If you can't
escape him, that's something YOU need to work out. The Goddess couldn't have
asked you to try and help him! He can only help himself, Decipher!" Kato rubbed
his head in frustration and furrowed his brows. 
"I'm willing to help you escape
Misha, but you need to meet me halfway and at least try and focus. Misha is
responsible for everything he does. Even if he somehow was a succubus, why does
it matter? He still made those choices!" Kato paused for a brief moment and
panted. His angry expression softened into fear. "Do you even want to escape
him?"
"Of course!" I whimpered. "I
just want to understand why..."
"WHY?" Kato snapped. "There is
no 'why'! His past turned him into an awful man, but he still chose to take
that path! I want to know why you can't just focus on getting out instead.
Forget about Misha, you'll never have to see him again. Fuck, you can even kill
him before we go if you want...I don't care!"
"I don't want him to die!" 
"You can't save him!" Kato
yelled as he stood up, "I have to go. Get yourself together. We'll talk at
lunch." 
"Wait, don't go!"
"I have to. Try not to act so
suspicious Kato snapped as he walked away.
Kato deserved to walk away from
me, and I knew that, but that didn't ease the pain of the situation. My body
began to shake as I watched him storm off. I felt horrible for saying anything.

I wasn't sure what to do with
myself now. I took the dagger out of my pocket and glanced down at it.
Suddenly, I felt exhausted and weak. I coughed a few times and came close to
vomiting. 
I glanced over at the hallway
that led to the medical wing. Despite my fear of running into Misha or Hale, I decided
I should ask a doctor for something to soothe my stomach. I wandered through
the doors absent-mindedly. 
I approached the desk and leaned
over it. "I need to see a doctor." I said.
The receptionist looked up at me
and smiled. "Sure. What seems to be the problem?"
"Nausea, fatigue..." I mumbled as
I clutched my dagger. "I think I'm going to pass out."
The receptionist typed a few
things into her computer, and waved down a nurse behind me. I turned to her as
the receptionist handed her some paperwork.
"You can come with me." She said.
"I can give you a few things to help you relax."
I nodded and followed her into
one of the empty rooms, placing my dagger safely inside my jacket. The room
didn't have a bed, but I wished it did. I sat down on the paper-covered,
cushioned table instead. 
The nurse flipped through the
papers and glanced up at me. "I'll need to check with someone before I
administer any treatment." She said. "Just relax here."
She left, and I laid back on the
table and closed my eyes. I tried to take steady breaths, but my body felt
horrible.
I closed my eyes, and fell
asleep for a few moments before my nausea intensified. I jerked upright and
found myself facing Hale.
"Two. Fifty. Seven." He smirked
as he said the numbers, slowly and evenly. "You seem surprised to see me here."
My ears laid flat against my
skull. I didn't have a response. Anger and fear clouded any sort of rational
thinking.
"You're feeling sick, I hear."
Hale said, glancing down at the paperwork. "I think I have a solution to that."
I was suspicious, and confused.
I sat up and looked into his eyes. "What do you want from me?" I asked, trying
to mask the rage I felt. Hale's dark, crimson eyes were looking past me, and
his smile remained. I had no idea how to interpret his facial expression.
"You're an all or nothing kind
of guy, aren't you?" He asked, folding his arms and looking down at me. "You
just keep finding ways to exhaust all your resources. But I need you up and
alert for the eclipse, dog!"
"What do you expect me to do
during the eclipse?" I asked, wondering why he would want me to be alert during
the eclipse...maybe he really had no idea that I wanted to escape.
"I want you to die."
"Then kill me."
We both fell silent. The lack of
emotion in our words made the air tense. At this point, I was happy to hear
that Hale wanted me dead. Death was far better than the other options...and maybe
if I played along I could figure out what he was up to.
"In due time." Hale laughed. "I
see you're done with this planet."
His laugh made me ill. He leaned
closer to me. I breathed out as steadily as I could. "What do you want from
me?" I repeated my question. 
"I got what I needed from you."
He said, his liquid eyes shimmering. "The Goddess loves you, doesn't she?
Expects big things from you...But of course, we all have a choice. Play her game,
or start your own."
My chest tightened at the
mention of the Goddess. I gripped the dagger blade in my pocket. It remained
still and quiet.
"You think you can rebel against
her by destroying something she favors? That's your game?" I asked in
disbelief. It was difficult believing Hale was that petty; he seemed too
powerful to be that foolish. 
"You're right. I am playing my
own game." His grin vanished. "If you don't want to play my game, then why
should I bother keeping you around?"
Before I could respond, he
grabbed my arm and swiped the dagger from my jacket. He brought it close to my
face and slid the blade down my cheek, over my eyes. I resisted flinching away
from him. 
He stepped closer to me and
touched my neck with the dagger blade. I shivered; it felt so icy in his hands.

"Say I tell you to stab yourself
in the eye," He said with a flash of his wicked teeth. "Would you?"
I pulled my lips back. "What
point are you trying to make?" 
"Of course you wouldn't...Unless I
added something to the equation." 
My ears flicked in annoyance. I
wasn't sure what he was trying to tell me. 
"Like Kato! If I said,
'Two-fifty-seven, stab yourself in the eye right now or else I will kill your
phoenix.', you might change your mind!" 
"What's your point?" I growled.
"My point is nothing stands in
your way except for you." Hale said. The words would have normally been
encouraging, but his bloody eyes made me sick and I didn't want to hear
anything he was saying. Why was he telling me this?
He moved the dagger down to my
forearm. He slipped my jacket sleeve up, and sliced the flesh over the black
markings. The black markings did not glow this time, and deep, red blood
streaked out of the incision. 
He dropped the dagger at my side
and grabbed my face. "You," he smiled again, "are no longer scientifically
intriguing. You've become no more interesting than a child of the Goddess...and
we can always find some of those to study now and then. The only problem is, we
would never dare sacrifice one of them."
Hale must have been confident of
his plan to reveal any details to me. I swallowed hard and listened as my blood
flowed from the wound. He wants to
sacrifice me. I thought, more annoyed than afraid.
"You, however, are probably far
less important to the Goddess. I have a higher chance of not inducing wrath on
myself if I kill you." He laughed again. "I mean, look at what she let us do to
you! She doesn't care about an alien, you aren't her child."
"So you want me to just sit
quietly and accept my death?"
"Of course I wouldn't expect
that from you." Hale winked. "You're a fighter. Sure, you're fucking terrified
of everything, but you have this built-up rage within you that finds the worst
moments to escape." He laughed. "I like that about you. I'm not too concerned;
your poor timing is often quite convenient for me."
The wound throbbed. I carefully
brought my hand up in attempt to stop the bleeding.
He shoved my hand away from the
wound and gripped onto the side of my arm. My eyes went wide as I felt his
energy wrap inside my markings. My body became paralyzed as his energy moved
through my blood. What is he searching
for? I asked myself against the struggle. I felt my muscles tense and relax
as different emotions flooded my mind. After a few moments, I decided he was
trying to ensure the magic compulsion he and Misha had over me still intact.
With a scream of pain, my mind
locked onto his thoughts involuntarily. I was tempted to pull away, but I
realized now was the only chance I'd ever have to search his memories. 
I focused onto his mind and felt
his unguarded thoughts dance around in my head while he was preoccupied. I
searched for the most emotionally intense memory involving Misha, and the image
filled my mind instantly.
There was blood everywhere.
Misha was covered in lacerations that his blood rained from. Hale violently bit
and sucked at his blood, draining him. Misha leaned against Hale in response,
clutching onto his body tightly as he whined in pain.
I began to regret focusing on
the memory, but now I couldn't escape it. I had to watch. Misha's face was
desperate and began to grow weak. When he collapsed on the floor, Hale shoved
him over and crawled on top of him...Hale removed his own pants and...
I closed my eyes and avoiding
the thought the best I could as Misha began to suck on Hale's dick. As he did
so, his wounds began to heal underneath his red-painted skin. My mind wandered
back to the first time Misha had violated me...he had been wounded. Sheila had
sliced his neck open, but it was gone the next day. How had I not noticed that?
My mind snapped back to the memory as I
heard Misha groan in pain.
"You take too much energy..."
Misha's voice sputtered as he coughed. His body seemed to struggle to heal
itself. 
Hale moved off of the top of him,
wiping the blood from his black coat. "There are plenty of other options. Go
suck someone else's dick."
Misha rolled over and tried to
push himself up. "I don't understand why it's so hard to use your energy." He
mumbled. I became more curious...did Misha not even understand what he was?
"It's because I'm powerful."
Hale laughed as he lifted Misha's limp body upwards. "And you are not. Our
energy just isn't compatible." 
My mind raced. Was Hale keeping
Misha in the dark about what he was, somehow? Surely Misha had to know by
now...when had this occurred? When I looked at Misha, he resembled the young
doctor I had seen in the memory before. But how young was younger?
"But, Hale-"
"Stop talking." Hale demanded.
"The deal is off."
"Wait! Why?" Misha seemed
desperate. "You said my blood was potent."
Hale smirked and looked down at
Misha's shivering figure. "You said I take too much."
"I didn't mean it!" Misha
pleaded. "I was just exhausted." 
"You're such a desperate little
whore." Hale laughed before driving his fangs into Misha's flesh once more.
I tore myself away from the
memory, trying to avoid reacting too violently as I returned to my own mind.
Between Misha being an incubus, and Hale being a vampire, I had no idea what
feelings were real and what was superficial in this scenario. Was it possible
that Misha was confused by his own emotions? Why was he so desperate for Hale's
approval? Hale's energy was difficult for him to use, and Hale certainly wasn't
willing to make it easy. It was clear Hale enjoyed playing with Misha. I
wondered if Misha's blood really was potent, or if Hale had just lied to Misha
to try and justify his actions to him. Misha's reactions to Hale seemed
hauntingly familiar to how I had reacted to Misha's advances...too pathetic to
stop him from taking advantage. 
I opened my eyes to see Hale
still focusing on my arm rather intently. I couldn't feel my body, or move. I
felt numb and disconnected as he worked through my energy. How long was I in
the memory? It felt like no time had passed.
After a few moments, Hale
removed his hand from my bleeding arm and stared back at me. Slowly, the
feeling began to return to my body. I twitched the muscles in my face as I
regained control.
"How are you feeling?" He asked,
licking the blood from his fingers nonchalantly.
I tried to not look surprised, but I couldn't
help but remain silent as I wondered if he even realized what I saw. I assumed
he would have known, but his stoic expression revealed nothing.
"Nauseous." I eventually replied.
Even though it had dulled, I did still had the faint desire to vomit.
Hale turned and dug around in
the counters. I watched him pull out a vial and draw the liquid into a syringe.
He turned back to me and injected it into my arm. The icy needle stung, and he
seemed less practiced with injections. My lip twitched from the pain as he
tugged the needle out rather roughly. 
"Go to your room and rest for
the day." Hale demanded. "You are still recovering from yesterday."
I carefully stood up as the
injection soothed my stomach and cleared my mind a bit. I was suspicious of
Hale, but there was nothing more I could do. I wiped the dagger blade against
the white sheets to clean it off, but didn't bother cleaning my arm off. I slid
my jacket back into place, and took a step towards the door.
Hale's eyes were locked with
mine as we stared at each other in cold silence. Finally, I gave up on
deciphering his emotions, and I headed towards my room. Once again, my mind
flooded with concerns. 
Hale had mentioned some sort of
sacrifice during the eclipse, and my poor timing helping him accomplish his
goals. I had to find a way to act completely out of character and surprise him.
Honestly, I had changed. The fear I felt no longer controlled me. If anything,
it motivated me.
Then Misha appeared in my mind.
Misha...what was that all about? He was a fool. There was no saving Misha, but
still I felt a longing to try. This time, I had wandered into a memory without
the Goddess's help, and I had seen another instance of Misha allowing himself
to be abused. Was that all he was? The only explanation for the monster he had
become? I shook my head.
If he couldn't be saved, I needed to kill him.
I didn't want the temptation of returning to him. He was a terrible person, and
I couldn't let myself be controlled by him...why was this so hard? Even if I
could escape him, he wasn't going to change. I couldn't let others be hurt by
him. How else was I going to stop him?
Misha would have to die.

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/598546

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