"A whisper, a whisper, a whisper, a whisper I hear the sound
A whisper, a whisper, a whisper, a whisper
I hear a sound
The ticking of clocks
I remember your face
Remember to see when you are lost
The ticking of clocks
Come back and look for me, look for me
When I am lost"
-A Whisper, Cold Play
~* Paranoia *~
Amon exited his room silently and walked the few paces to stand outside Robin's door. The large windows on the far end of the hallway let in the silver rays of moonlight, lighting up the second story of the house. He stood motionless for a few seconds, trying to hear any sounds that indicated Robin was still awake, but the house was completely silent. Deciding it was safe to check on his young charge, Amon opened the door just a crack to glance inside the room.
The moonlight illuminated the room in the same manner as the hallway, revealing an empty, perfectly made bed in the quiet space. Amon furrowed his brow as he opened the door fully and stalked inside, his eyes scanning the room for any sign of Robin. Her full suitcase sat neatly at the foot her bed. A half read book lay open on the bedside table. Nothing seemed out of place.
He walked towards the small bathroom next to the bed. "Robin?" He opened the door, without bothering to knock, to reveal more emptiness.
Panic began to set in. He had seen her go into her room and had not heard her come out at all. His eye caught the fluttering of the white silk drapes on the open window, looking like white ghosts dancing in the moonlight. His heart froze.
"Dammit!" His mind raced with countless questions. Could hunters have taken her from right under his nose? There were no signs of struggle, no signs of forced entry and he hadn't heard a thing as he lay awake just across the hall. Had she escaped of her own free will? Why would she leave all of her things behind? She had left everything untouched, items laying casually about the room where she had used them.
His eyes fell on the towel lying crumpled between the bed and the window. It was the only thing out of place in the pristine room of a compulsive clean freak.
It had to be hunters. They could have hypnotized her, lured her out, they could have fucking possessed her for all he knew!
He raced back to his room and pulled out the gun that he kept on his nightstand. He searched the first floor of the house, gun ready to shoot at any intruder, but everything was perfectly still and quiet.
He ran outside, his eyes searching in the half darkness for any signs, anyone, anything. His rented car was parked in its usual spot, the earth on the driveway completely undisturbed. He would have heard cars coming in; his window looked right out onto the road that led away from the cabin.
Before he could realize it he was running down the only other escape route; the forest trail leading down to the lake.
He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, hear the sharp intake of his breath as he raced down the path. It only took him 5 minutes to come within view of the water.
He heard a small splash in the dead silence of the night. His body sped up and within seconds he was in full view of the lake at the edge of the short stone drop off a few feet above the water.
His body came to a sudden stop, frozen in place by the sight before him. Some distance off from the shore, surrounded by the silver halo of the moon's reflection, a young girl floated lazily on her back on the water. Her arms moved gracefully in small semi circles beside her head, her feet kicking gently against the surface, creating tiny ripples around her.
All of his fear forgotten, Amon stared mesmerized at Robin's beautiful form. Her body was covered only by a black shirt that ended mid thigh; her pale skin reflected the light from the moon, giving off an ethereal silver glow of its own. Her golden hair fanned out around her, flowing on the water surface. The scene before Amon looked like something from the pictures of a fairy tale book; she looked like a water nymph, a wood spirit… A goddess, Amon thought.
Her limbs moved so gently that she did not move on the water, she merely floated there, suspended on the moonlight, looking so delicate and small in the vastness of the lake that Amon thought she would disappear completely if he so much as blinked.
His musings were brought to a halt when Robin suddenly changed position, her lower body sinking into the darkness. With her back turned to him, her shoulders and head hovered above the water as her arms made wider movements.
The spell she'd held on him finally broken, Amon's mind resumed its previous train of thought. What was she doing out here, in the middle of the night, alone and unprotected?
Robin let out the air from her lungs and he saw her form disappearing completely below the surface. As seconds went by with no signs of movement, Amon's thoughts from earlier that night returned all at once. Just as it had disappeared, fear crept suddenly back into his being.
The change in her attitude, the obvious sadness, the hopelessness in her eyes, her self-imposed solitary confinement... the fact that she'd sneaked out on her own was so uncharacteristic, so drastic…
Robin did not re-emerge; almost a full minute had gone by. Could she have taken something? Could she have left her room tonight with the intention of not returning home? Could she attempt to drown in the depths of the lake? could she really have been that deep in her despair?
Again his body acted of its own accord, not willing to wait for his mind to decide on an answer. Amon ran to the edge of the rock and dove into the water, swiftly swimming across the distance from the shore to where Robin's body had disappeared.
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Robin let out all the air from her lungs, letting her body sink slowly. She hugged her legs to her chest, curling into an up right fetal position as she sank deeper into the water. She let the gentle current rock her back and forth, feeling safe in the familiar embrace. Her "quick dip" had stretched on for almost an hour and the temperature had dropped significantly. After floating on the surface for a long time, her skin exposed to the cool night breeze, she'd felt the need to enjoy one last full body dip before she made her way back to the shore and ended her little midnight adventure.
She'd stayed submerged for almost a minute, and now her lungs were protesting the lack of oxygen. Just as her body uncurled itself to start the short trip to the surface, her ears registered a loud splash beneath the water. Startled, she turned around, her eyes unable to see beyond two feet; the moon rays that filtered through the water became too dim at this depth. Her lungs began to scream for oxygen now and Robin's legs began to kick for the surface when she felt someone grab her by the waist.
Hunters! her mind screamed. How could she have been so careless? Confused and frightened, she tried to pry the arm from her waist with her hands only to feel one muscular arm tighten its hold on her and the other wrap over her arms to pin them down against her chest as she was pulled towards the surface. Seconds later the two figures emerged from the water, Robin took in a wheezing breath and finally managed to turn around, her emerald eyes glowing amber, ready to destroy her attacker with her flame. Instead she found Amon's furious dark gaze staring back at her.
"Amon!?" She managed between coughing fits; she'd nearly chocked when he'd startled her.
Instead of answering her, he grabbed a hold of her wrist and began to drag her as he swam back towards the shore. Once they'd reached the rock platform and climbed up onto it, both Robin and Amon sat down and tried to calm their labored breathing.
After a short while, having regained her breath a bit, Robin turned to face Amon. "Amon, why-?"
"What the hell were you doing?!" he screamed at her, fury burning in his black eyes.
"I was only going for --"
"Shut up," he hissed and got up, yanking Robin up roughly by her wrist with him. Without another word, a still stupefied Robin was dragged up the forest path and back towards the cabin.