Her Fated Haunting (Mad Protector Series #2)

~Chapter 9~

AN: Hello, wonderful peeps! Hope all is well! Sorry for the MIA status, but university is currently kicking this hamster's fluffy posterior. Good news though, I have already drafted the next three (!) chapters so expect more updates the following days *gasp*! And put on your seat belts for what is coming! *evil laugh* XD

Until then, I invoke the sacred plea of "fingers crossed",  thank you for the support. :>

Sending peace,

Fearsome Hamster

"Elyse."

Someone was softly whispering her name. Quiet, so very quiet that she would think she was merely imagining it only to hear it again, spoken in the same tender, hushed manner, as if one would utter a prayer beseeching for a miracle.

Her name had never sounded so sweet. Or perhaps it was the voice which made it so. It was familiar, that she could tell. And it was a he. Some hidden instinct assured her of this.

"Elyse."

There it was again. Something intangible, as if the source were underwater. Yet, whoever he was, he was far away. A distance her mortal mind could not comprehend. It seemed like eons of time or realms of space separated them, keeping them from each other. Someone had told her it was so for her protection, her mind provided.

"No, let me in," he said. 

Would it be so wrong to do just what the mystery person had suggested? It was hard to find a reason to deny him, especially when she was not awake. Only in dreamland could her right leg finally stop hurting. 

"Elyse, set me free. Let me help you."

More warmth spread to her being, the elusive voice now sounding closer. It seemed the longer she allowed him contact, the more powerful he became. A warning bell set off in her head. That was wrong. Someone had warned her about this. 

"No, Elyse."

She remembered now. This had happened before. The connection needed to be severed. As the nights before, she willed her mind to awaken, to escape this deceiving sense of peace. Concentrating hard, imagining her real self sleeping in the chilly dormitory, her legs tangled underneath her warm blanket, the feet always stuck outside the bed, she focused on her toes. She just needed to move one and she would free. Her strategy had never failed so far.

"No."

She had previously done this, but for some reason it was becoming harder and harder to escape him. And he was always there, lurking and getting closer. She tried severing the connection between her and the mystery person, but he would not let go. Elyse gave it another try, giving her all. This time, she could feel his hand grasping her own before she – 

Elyse jerked up, wide awake. Hands still shaking, her fingers automatically found the cloth she had prepared the evening before on her nightstand. It was used to wipe the sweat on her forehead, as she had learnt from past experience.

"That was low even for you. Entering my dreams where I am at my most vulnerable," she murmured to the demon. His ghost was always present for a few moments just after her awakening. His intrusive presence slowly vanished from her thoughts and she breathed a sigh of relief.

According to Sister Ann, Azrael should not have been there at all, the banishment supposed to tide her over for at least a few days, hopefully even a fortnight. She had lied to herself that his image in the mirror that day had been just some inertia of the HeadMistress' spell, some small gap of time until it started working.