Janab's body remained sunken amidst the sheets, trapped in a sleep deeper than usual. The unconsciousness was profound, preventing a natural awakening. Isaiah made his voice resonate within her mind, in an attempt to force her to open her eyes.
It was not an external sound, but an internal vibration that shook the foundations of her consciousness, pulling her toward the surface without permission.
The room was plunged into darkness; the curtains blocked any glint from the outside. Time stood still, tainted by the supernatural presence. Janab sat up with a racing heart, not understanding why she felt that something had changed in the air she breathed. Her pulse pounded in her ears, rhythmic and violent. The sheets slid from her shoulders, leaving her exposed to the sudden cold.
—It seems you have seen a ghost.
The deep, close voice made her turn slowly. Isaiah was there, motionless, so present and impossible, merged with the shadow until he decided to be seen. The temperature dropped, and silence penetrated her senses. Janab's breath became a brief vapor before her lips. She did not respond, clinging to the instinct of looking toward the door she always closed with care, while her fingers sought the fabric of the sheets to tighten her grip.
—It appears I shall be trapped because of you once again.
Isaiah found nothing strange in her initial silent reaction: the surprise, the nervousness. He was an uncertain danger, a threat... but also a fascination. He remained standing, hands at his sides, without blinking, merely watching the biological reaction of fear in that small body.
—I want you to go to Zheir —he declared directly, moving his thoughts between memories and an uncomfortable silence that stretched for seconds.
The order floated in the air, strange, inevitable. Isaiah experienced a certain curiosity seeing her so desperate to understand something that went beyond the literal. His dark eyes did not pull away from hers, exerting pressure.
Janab lowered her head, controlling her uncertainty, guided by her intuition. Her hair fell over her face as she sought a more comfortable position.
—Dan... Debellis.
The name sounded as barely a raspy whisper. Isaiah gave a slight nod. The movement was almost imperceptible—a lowering of his chin by a few millimeters.
—Across from a government tower, there is a blue building. The largest in the city. You will have no difficulty finding it.
His voice was flat, informative, eliminating any room for negotiation. He extended his hand toward her. His long, frozen fingers waited, held out with a calm that was also a threat. His palm was open, inviting contact while warning of the cold of death.
—Come closer.
The order admitted no delay. Janab moved around the bed with bare feet, responding to his voice as if to the force of a magnet. The wooden floor was freezing beneath her soles. When she was near, she met that expressionless face... she would never know how insecure he felt at that precise moment before her short and insignificant figure.
—From now on, I want you to carry this with you. Always. Where it is impossible for others to see it.
Isaiah's hand closed slightly before opening again. In his hands rested the metal box that shimmered faintly in the gloom. The object seemed to pulse with its own light, contradicting the darkness of the room. Janab took it cautiously, brushing against the vampire's lifeless skin. The contact was like touching dry ice, burning with cold. Inside, the necklace shone with a hypnotic glow: the Imdugud standing tall, wings spread, and the lion's trunk open in a hinted roar.
The metal was engraved with ancient runes. Blue ones. She contemplated it with wonder and looked up at Isaiah, unable to decipher the reason behind such a gift. The weight of the object in her palm was considerable, much greater than its physical size.
—I know you know nothing of that place, but I see in your eyes that you wish to go. Are you not afraid?
The question disconcerted her. He already spoke as if she had accepted, as if her destiny were sealed. The intensity of Isaiah's gaze made feeling observed a physical experience, as if he were reading the surface of her skin. How could he claim her eyes revealed what she herself had not yet decided? Or perhaps, her mind had already yielded from the moment Isaiah showed interest in Zheir. Feeling dragged toward the inevitable.
She held her breath before responding. The air remained trapped in her lungs, her chest tightened by tension.
—I should be able to pay my debt as soon as possible.
Her voice came out firmer than she expected, an affirmation born from the need for survival. Isaiah smiled barely, incredulous at the naivety of this woman. And yet, he found in that instinct something that intrigued him more than any resistance. The smile was brief, vanishing before it could be confirmed.
♱⏾⋆.˚