He lay in the bed, darkness surrounding him as Meia lay beside him, her arm reaching over him as her head rested on his bare chest, sleeping silently, warm breaths caressing his skin. He was still awake, still too exhilarated to sleep. After they had made love they had just lay there, exhausted, collapsed in each others' arms, holding each other close as if the instant that they no longer touched meant it had never happened. They didn't speak a word, their hands doing their talking for them as they slowly and lazily caressed each other, savouring the moment, the intimacy.
Meia had finally drifted to sleep, leaving him to gaze at the ceiling with all these thoughts and sensations whirring through his body. He had been amazed about how easily that they had fit together, how little awkwardness there was for saying it was their first time, his first time ever. But his treacherous mind marred the marvel of all this as it crept up on him and reminded him of what was still out there, what he still needed to do. He gripped Meia tighter as he tried to ignore all this, trying to keep the memory of this night fresh in his thoughts and lock it inside him forever. He closed his eyes willing himself to sleep, waiting for the adrenalin to leech away and let the oxytocin do its job, the curse of all men post coitus, the lull of sleep.
He awoke without even realising that sleep had come, the pale light of dawn creeping into his eyes as they opened, his body still wrapped up in Meia as she slept. There had been no dreams, just blackness of the seemingly instantaneous passage of time. Things had changed between them now in a way that was so good he couldn't describe. He had given himself over to her completely and she had taken him, giving herself back in return. They were bonded by more than lust and love, by need and desire. He lay listening to her breathing, the slow thumping of her heart against his chest as she lay on him, his mind overwhelmed by the sensation of this intimacy with her, something that had been kept from him for a long time. Then came the dark creeping up and reminding him of what was to come and how that would disrupt this sense of peace he had found with her.
He slid out from under her gently, leaving her to sleep peacefully as his mind whirred in paranoia. He wanted to be there when she awoke but he had this strange feeling that he would have to leave her again, this thing becoming some sort of destructive habit that he wanted to break.
He couldn't get rid of the creepy sensation that caressed his spine making him shiver and so he dressed, deciding to walk it off.
The corridors were silent now but how long would that last once Seifer was finally free to walk them too? He had proved his innocence yet at a dear cost… no doubt Garden would want his recklessness punished, maybe they would hate him like they hated Seifer?
That thought made him shiver, indifference had always been a better option than hatred to him when it came to the way others saw him. He could feel it in the air, something was going to happen and it would be soon. Either the students would come for Seifer or the murderer themselves would finish what they had started. Either way Jayson felt powerless against this wave he felt approaching. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop it crashing down on him; he'd just have to hope that he could stand as it tried to wash him away.
The silence faded away as the sound of waking voices drifted into the corridors. The inhabitants of the dorms were rising and they knew what had happened by now, Seifer was proved innocent but a girl had to die and it was his entire fault. He couldn't just shrug the guilt off, not even by realising that he had no doubt saved the lives of countless other girls now that there was no reason to believe that Seifer was guilty. The murderer had failed in bringing Seifer down if that had been their intention but they still had other means of destroying him.
Jayson wanted this all over now; he wanted Pandora or whoever was pretending to be that bunch of lunatics gone, their shadow no longer looming over him but he knew that would never be unless either they or Seifer were dead and Jayson wouldn't be able to rest unless he could see Pandora's bodies himself.
His head was down, looking at the metallic floors of the corridors of Garden as he let his feet take him wherever they felt they wanted to go, unaware of the space that opened around him as he steeped out from the dormitory, unaware of a pair of eyes that watched his steps for a while and then left him to himself once more.
'Jayson!' a voice called out to him as he continued his aimless wandering.
Jayson finally looked up, woken from his thoughts and looked around puzzled, confused by his surroundings.
He saw Seifer come walking towards him, his face covered in dark stubble and his eyes darkened by restlessness.
'Finally out then?' Jayson said stating the obvious.
'Hell yeah. Thanks to what you did for me!' Seifer said smiling.
'What?' he asked as he saw Jayson's sullen face.
Jayson then told him about the girl who had died the night he should've been guarding them and that Seifer might be next.
Seifer whistled hoarsely. 'Damn, they never told me about her…' he said softly. 'They told me to keep an eye out for suspicious people, I figured they meant people here who wouldn't like the idea of me being free.' He added.
'No there's much worse out there.' Jayson said darkly.
'And we'll get them, don't worry.' Seifer said brightly trying to cheer him up.
He knew that trying to absolve him of any guilt he felt over the girl's death would be useless but provocation of anger at the one who had done it was a better tactic. It usually worked for him.
'You've never said a truer word.' Jayson said, giving Seifer a faint grin as his fist clenched momentarily.
There was a soft explosion causing Jayson to duck and roll as smoke filled the hall.
'Seifer?' he called out as the thick, black fog consumed him, blinding him.
Sounds were muffled but he could make out the faint noise of a scuffle and headed that way, flailing with his arms in the hope that they would connect with something, anything.
So this was what he had felt coming, there was no fear in his mind as the smoke enveloped all his senses, cutting him off from his immediate surroundings, only rising anger and a slight worry as he failed to locate Seifer.
Moments later the smoke cleared enabling him to see, his lungs burning as he coughed urgently. Seifer was gone, the hall empty as it had been when he had first strolled blindly into it. There was no blood, which he took as a good sign, meaning Seifer was still alive… for now.
He blinked the smoke-induced tears from his eyes as his vision cleared and he was able to see a white note pinned to the wall in front of him. He clenched his jaw angrily as he read the words written in neat handwriting.
"Come to the Quad alone or the failure of a Knight will die.
If you wish for him to live you'd better hurry"
The note was brief but it would have to be since Seifer had just been released and it was the first time he had been out in the open since he had been stabbed last night, which meant that whoever it was had been after him all along and had mistaken Seifer for him which was why they did what they did to him. But now they knew he had died and come back and who he really was. Another thought hit him as he realised all this. Whoever it was had to fit in at Garden, had to be here all the time to be able to see him and realise just who he was. Someone who had been trusted as a member of Garden had betrayed them, had been Pandora all along but who?
Jayson decided he'd may as well go and find out, even if they had set a trap for him. But first he'd need Fixxer, there was no way he'd head into a definite confrontation unarmed when he didn't know exactly what he was up against.
He strode back to his room, turning the handle slowly and letting himself in silently so not to disturb Meia. He didn't want here to know, didn't want her involved in this and hurt or to worry about him. He took Fixxer off his desk and strapped it to his thigh in its accustomed place. He was in too much of a rush to put on some gloves or grab a couple of daggers, Seifer's life was at risk, he knew it. Besides the way he was feeling Fixxer would be all he needed.
As he left the room, Meia heard him go, and feeling cold began to stir.