Atlantian

Becoming Atlantian [9]

Chapter 9

Aubrey awoke with a splutter, a shiver racking through her body as she tried to blink water and sleep from her vision. For a moment she was a little disorientated at the abrupt awakening but she was unsurprised when she failed to recognise anything around her. Staring at the plain walls, she let her eyes roam around the room to find the source of discomfort but her eyes quickly skipped over the only possible perpetrator.

Tiberius stood in the doorway, a jug dangling from his fingers as he stared at the red head without the slightest hint of emotion. Aubrey almost discounted him because any normal person would be laughing but he seemed impervious to comedy. The rare signs of emotion were nowhere in sight as she stared up at the unforgiving man in the doorway.

“Sorry about the water,” Tiberius lifted the jug as though she hadn’t already gathered it was him that had woken her so abruptly. “I’ve been trying to wake you for a while but you were sleeping too deeply. It appears the process took a greater toll than I expected.” He mumbled the last part to himself so Aubrey decided to ignore his words and their possible meaning.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she stretched her arms above her head as a yawn escaped her lips. Quickly though, she drew the thin damp blanket around her body when the chill morning air hit her skin through the flimsy chemise. Glancing down, a frown formed on her brow at the thin material that she wouldn’t choose to wear if her life depended upon it. It was something a grandma would wear and even being the shy librarian that she was, she always had better taste in pyjamas – even if her own taste stretched as far as snoopy nightshirts.

Taking the time to glance around the room, Aubrey noted that the room was considerably bare. The only furniture occupying the personality free room was a wooden chest of drawers in the corner and a rather flimsy looking chair that was standing feebly against the wall. Tiberius noted Aubrey’s wandering gaze and nodded to the drawers.

“Find something comfortable to wear. You have a lot of training to do before nightfall.” Tiberius informed her, his eyes following as she heaved herself up from the bed and shakily walked the three steps between the bed and the dresser. He lingered for a moment, his feet hesitating in the doorway before he retreated from the room and shut the door firmly behind him

Aubrey, who had been busying herself by riffling through the top drawer, paused as she listed to the retreating footsteps. She felt her hands tremble slightly and when she could no longer hear Tiberius heavy gait, she dropped down on to her knees before the dresser allowing her head to thump forward against the solid oak. Tears began to stream down her pale freckly cheeks but Aubrey wiped the away with puzzlement clearly upon her features. So many thoughts were flicking through her mind at that moment that her eyes were darting back and forth beneath her eyelids which were squeezed tightly shut.

There was no particular reason for the mini meltdown, Aubrey just felt as if a giant weight had been placed upon her shoulders and there was nothing she could do to lighten her load. Only a week before she was a librarian with a boring and mundane life spread out before her and now – now she was looking at an eternity of uncertainty or most likely her own death. She had already died once and Aubrey couldn’t help but think it was unfair that her second life might also be lost to her before she even lived it. She was to become so powerful that she would no longer be Aubrey Winters – she would be an Atlantian.

Pulling back the sleeve of her sodden nightdress, Aubrey stared at the mark that was shimmering through a multitude of colours with a mixture of awe and repulsion. Bile rose up in her throat at the realisation that this mark was her now, it was all they cared about and it would be the thing that defined her for the rest of her life - however long that life was to be.