Her Fated Haunting (Mad Protector Series #2)

~Chapter 5~

AN: Hey, wonderful people! This update brings more insight into Elyse's past. Azrael will make a strong appearance next chapter, just be patient. ;)

Thank you for reading! :') Leave your love if you like it,

Fearsome Hamster

After enduring a well-deserved scolding from Madame Tildi for wandering the streets, Elyse finally returned to her dorm. She was exhausted and more than ready to let sandman wash away the terror of the day. But first, some precautions had to be taken. She could not risk the demon visiting her again. Not while she was helplessly asleep.

Looking at the resting occupants of the beds near her, she took out the bottle of holy water the priest had graciously offered. The sleeping quarter was shared with fourteen other orphan girls whom she had come to care about over the years. Elyse would not let them get hurt either. Fumbling in the dark, she diligently poured the water around the room.

She watched the last drop seep into the wooden threshold. Having witnessed the demon's destructive powers, the holy water seemed a poor obsolete guard against them. Yet, she prayed on her every lucky star that it would work.

Good should always defeat evil. But am I truly good and is Azrael truly evil?

She banished the foolish thought away as she nestled into her uncomfortable narrow bunk. More than ever, her legs painfully revolted against the hards lumps under the bed sheets. She used to sleep in the bigger room of the orphanage, the one with better mattresses and where it was warm even during winter time. That cosy time was abruptly cut short by Marcella who had one day taken her place and had banished her here, like all the pariahs of the institute.

Look back on the past but do not stare, Elyse. Those were the words of a wise man. She had to remind herself of them every once and a while. With patience, perhaps even the demon catastrophe would be forgotten.

She fell asleep murmuring a prayer for protection, unaware of the eyes watching her.

It was answered.

....................................

It was Sunday.

The awaited day in the week had finally arrived, bringing with it a timid sense of hope for those in the orphanage. It was visiting day, the one chance they had to be adopted into the loving embrace of a family.

The small babes were attentively looked after by the attendants, their soft cries echoing their confusion- the little ones carried the weight of having been abandoned so tragically early, but also the blessing of not remembering it. Doting parents would most likely soon take them into their care. Meanwhile, the young girls were dancing around in joy, their carefully braided locks untangling in their game of tag. The real possibility that it might be their last game together until one of them was adopted only made the chase sweeter and more nostalgic. On the sidelines, the older teenagers, the ones on the brink of adulthood, were solemnly watching with wistful eyes. For them, the hope was small, but maybe someone, someday, would take them under their caring wing as well.

Only a few were missing from this enthusiastic gathering downstairs.

And one of them was little Elyse. She was still in the dorms, staring dejectedly into an old mirror while toying with her her golden locket. At nine years old, she was probably too young to feel hope disappearing.

She wanted desperately to be adopted, but not by anyone. Elyse wanted her grandfather back. She searched for his blue eyes in every person she met. All these years at the orphanage, every Sunday she had waited only for him. Yet, he never came back.