somnium

five.

Piper tried to calm the kick-drum beat of her heart, ringing in her ears, but she couldn't. She'd almost drowned. She'd almost killed herself.

She shivered as a stiff breeze washed over her, sticking her soaking wet clothes to her body. She met the eyes of the figure at the opposite end of the boat. This person, whoever he was, had saved her.

That didn't seem to matter anymore though. What mattered, was the fact that she was absolutely certain that there hadn't been anyone in the boat with her when she rowed out. And he couldn't have swum out, because his clothes (black trousers with a black long-sleeved jumper) and hair were not wet.

She swallowed, her mouth surprisingly dry for having just swallowed huge gulps of water, and edged backwards once more, bumping into the front of the boat, nowhere else to go.

The strange person wasn't saying anything; he only continued to watch her, his lips parted in what appeared to be shock, and his expression incredulous.

"Who are you?" she repeated again, her voice shaky.

Her new companion shook his head, looking dazed, and met her gaze. "It's a...little hard to explain," he said. "But never mind that for now. Are you alright?" He was standing now, and taking a step towards her.

Piper attempted to move away from him, but only managed to bump into the front of the boat once more, sending the small craft swaying crazily. The boy remained unfazed however, keeping his balance seemingly with no effort.

"I'm fine," she said, shortly. "I just...I fell overboard and I couldn't swim." Her heart hammered in her ears as the stranger drew near and knelt down on the bottom of the boat in front of her.

"Fell, hmm?" he said, shaking his head, as if he didn't believe her. She got the distinct impression, then, that he knew. She felt ashamed.

"Yes," she snapped, defensively. She wondered if he could tell how afraid of him she was.

He didn't take his gaze off of her, even as he backed up and sat down on the bench, retrieving the oars and beginning to row back to shore.

She observed him, trying to decipher some sort of clue...any sort of clue...about who he was and where he had come from. He looked, in body, to be about her age, perhaps nineteen or twenty at the oldest. However, his dark eyes held an expression of soberness and seriousness that seemed to belie his appearance of youth. The breeze blew a few wisps of his dark hair across his forehead, and while Piper shivered in the cool air, he didn't seem to have noticed the chill.

The boat bumped against the shore and Piper disembarked as quickly as she could, backing away from the boy.

He got out as well, grabbing the rope attached to the boat and pulling it forward, tying it securely to the neighboring dock.

She started backing away.

"Scared?" he said, without looking up. She jumped at the sound of his voice cutting through the stillness of the morning.

"N-no," she lied.

He had come to stand across from her now and, at her lie, he laughed shortly, tilting his head a bit. "I know you're lying," he said, simply, his eyes serious. "You're afraid of me."

"I'm not--"

"And well you should be," he added.

She swallowed hard, her hands absentmindedly pulling at the hem of her damp shirt, twisting it anxiously. The sick feeling of anxiety was starting to twist her stomach in a similar manner. "Y-you never told me who you are," she said, trying to sound unbothered by his statement.

"Ah," he said. "My apologies, Piper." He bowed his head slightly. Her mind was still snagged on the fact that he knew her name. She'd not told it to him; she was almost one hundred percent sure of this. "Allow me to introduce myself," he continued, frowning. "I am Fear."

Just as a note: this story is set in England, so I've used words like trousers (pants) and jumpers (sweaters). If I use any other words that mean something else in different places, I'll be sure to leave a note. 

Anyways, I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Thank you to anyone who is reading.