Slumber Eight

Herself? A target? For what? Who'd want to kill some random high school kid? Aside from cheap villains in kid cartoons or YA novels? It didn't really make much sense. And she stared at him for a second. In a low voice, she said,"That sounds like utter crap. There's no way that anyone would send that thing to kill me."

"The only person I know who even remotely hates me is my roommate, Eleanor.",she continued. Who was conveniently not there at the moment. Nor did she show signs of even showing up. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip as she thought of it. There was no way her roommate disliked her that much. After all, they didn't really know each other. Bijou turned to her droid for a moment for support. But he was too fixated on the dead creature before them. His eyes scanning it for something. Turning back to Noctifer, she said,"I don't think she hates me enough to do something like this."

"Are you absolutely sure?",he questioned. Looking a bit concerned as he moved towards her. Of course, she was sure that Eleanor hadn't done it. Nothing about this made any remote sense. Before she could voice this an alarm sounded. Followed by several voices of students talking down the hall. Most talking about what noise they had heard. And the voices were getting closer. For a brief moment, she wondered whether or not her neighbors were coming. As she stared up at Noctifer, she noticed he was panicking. Watching him literally fold up his weapon into a small trinket. He started talking to himself though she couldn't hear him over the alarm. It seemed he was chastising himself for making so much noise. Noctifer hurriedly gripped her wrist as he headed towards her bathroom. Onyx following after them as they heard the voices grow nearer. Once they were in the bathroom, he started rifling through the pockets of his outfit. Bijou asked as loud as she could,"What on Earth are you looking for?"

"Transport Gem!",he answered in a loud voice. The sound of the voices and alarm making it difficult to hear him. Transport gem? What on Earth was a transport gem? Soon she got an answer in the form of the thing. It looked like a strange green toy in the shape of a triangle. As he held it, he said,"I know this is sudden, but I can't just leave you here."

"Why not? What'll happen?",she asked. Would they have to explain why the creature was there? Do they have to pay for what had happened? Instead of explaining, he let out a frustrated grunt and grabbed her wrist. Then squeezed the crystal for a few seconds. Lights came flashing out of the thing before it hummed and buzzed in his hand. Letting it go, it floated slowly to the ground. After a second, there was a portal to something strange. It looked like somewhere that she hadn't seen before. Bijou questioned,"Where the Hell are you trying to take me?"

In a strained voice, he answered,"No questions! Just get in!"

"I'm not going anywhere until you answer my questions!",she snapped at him. Onyx leaned forward to remove Noctifer's hand from Bijou's wrist. While the droid was leaned over the portal, Noctifer gently pushed him into it. Giving a slight wince when he heard him hit the floor with a loud thud. Several grunts of pain came up to them. Looking down, she called,"Onyx? Are you alright?"

"I'm alright!",he called up. As she was distracted with her droid Noctifer dragged her in. Keeping his grip firm but gentle on her wrist. Doing his best to keep their landing as far from the droid as possible. But unfortunately, both still landed rather awkwardly on their faces on the carpet a little way away from him. Letting out a grunt, Noctifer muttered,"Not the most graceful of entrances I've ever done but it could've been worse."

Yanking her wrist free, Bijou hurriedly got to her feet. Running over to Onyx as he struggled to get off the floor. He had landed on his back but other than that he seemed fine. As she helped him up, she asked if anything felt loose. Or if he felt funny. Both times he said no. And after a thorough examination of him by sight, she hugged him. Getting him to his feet as she said,"Oh thank the stars you're okay. I was so worried."

"Yeah, thank the stars we're not injured by our creepy kidnapper. Yay us.",Onyx stated in a sarcastic tone. They slowly stared at the man all in black. His eyes fixated on the ceiling as if he were looking at something. Both turned their heads to look where he was. Instead of a portal being there...there was nothing. Just a normal ceiling. The man sighed as he said,"Good. It took a little longer to close than I originally anticipated it would."

"Why did you even bring us here?",Bijou asked. Keeping her droid behind her as he turned to them. A brief look of utter confusion crossed his features at her question. Tilting his head slightly, he answered,"To protect you. Your Aunts had asked me to bring you here since they realized the school wasn't safe."

"That doesn't sound like them at all.",she said. Nor did it seem like something they would do. Her Aunts were wise. If they thought the place wasn't safe or felt something was off, she wouldn't have gone. Noctifer had to be lying to her. When he took a step forward, she took one back. Narrowing her eyes at him as she studied his features. Nothing about him seemed right. His words felt false. In a low voice, she continued,"They would've come for me themselves if there was any real danger."

"...not if they couldn't.",he said. Keeping the distance between them. That threw her off balance as he continued,"They're busy trying to find your parents. I've been instructed by them to keep an eye on you."

"I was told that if you seemed to be in danger that I should step in",he explained. Frowning slightly, he stared down at his other hand. The tiny trinket that had been a sword was still in his hand. He sighed as he said,"Didn't think I'd have to do it so soon."

"So, you weren't trying to threaten me at the cafe?",she asked. There was a brief pause before he sighed. Toying with the formerly weapon trinket, he nodded his head. Apparently not having realized what he had done was so creepy. He answered,"It really wasn't my intention to scare you. I was just trying to give you some advice. Guess it sounded a lot better in my head then it did coming out of my mouth."

"Obviously.",Onyx muttered in a low voice. He gently gripped Bijou's shoulders as he glared at the man. Then he asked,"So does this mean you're not a real teacher?"

"I am an English Literature teacher as well as a freelance bodyguard.",he answered. Giving a faint smile as he put his trinket back in his pocket. Noctifer joked,"Being a teacher is much more difficult in comparison."

Clearing his throat, he continued,"They hired me to help you. For a while, I thought it was for nothing. Then I noticed that you were being followed from time to time."

"A tall woman with long black hair, pale skin and bright green eyes.",he said. The way he described the woman made her a bit uneasy. Holding her droid's hands tightly as she frowned. Onyx said,"That sounds very familiar..."

"That sounds like Eleanor, but it can't be her.",she said. Looking up at her droid with panic on her face. This couldn't be true. There was no way that her roommate would stalk her outside of their shared room. It just didn't seem possible. Turning to Noctifer, she asked,"Are you sure of what you saw?"

"Well, it looked like her, but I don't think it could've been her.",he assured. When she gave him a confused look and he sighed. In a gentle voice, he continued,"The woman that was following you was well into her forties from what I could tell."

"So, you're saying you saw her mother following me?",she questioned. Noctifer nodded absentmindedly as he thought this over. Like he wasn't entirely sure of this. And she asked,"Well who else could she possibly be?"

"It could be a coincidence that they share similar looks.",he said. Bijou frowned at this information. Then prompted him to continue. He said,"I know that movies, books, and TV shows have kids look exactly like their parents to show that they are related. Even so far as to dress them alike. But not everything is the same in real life."

"They could just be similar looking strangers. It really isn't that uncommon.",he told her. Onyx had to agree. Despite himself, he really didn't want to. Then she asked,"So what happens now?"

"We get you situated, sleep, and then in the morning we contact your aunts.",he told her. Figuring he would have to tell them all of what had just happened. Hoping that he gets into contact with them before the school could. Otherwise he was going to have three scared magic practitioners on his hands.