SEVEN

~Luella 

I’ve never been so unsure of what to say. 

It took myself so much courage to bring myself here, on a complete and utter whim. Now that I’m here, facing off with the immortal I never thought would be so important, I’m unsure of what to think, what to do. He knows all the thoughts coursing through my consciousness right now, and there’s nothing I can do about it. So I simply stand in the foot of his doorway, dumbfounded. 

“Maybe I should go,” I say immediately. My best shot is to escape the situation as swiftly as possible. The last thing I need is to add to this by making an enemy with a powerful immortal. It seems so stupid, now that I think back, for coming here like this. 

Thought shakes his head, and for some reason, it’s enough to seize me into place. I’m not about to go anywhere until he tells me to. 

Is this what magic feels like? 

“Why don’t you come and sit down? You’ve drove so far to get your point across, why not join me to discuss it?” Thought offers, motioning the seat opposite him, which just happens to be perfectly situated in front of the fire. 

And I am cold. And I did drive all the way here. Turning back now would mean more days, weeks or months of worrying about this condition I have. 

Warily, I step forward, watching him through the corner of my eye, as I sink into the leather chair. Immediately, the warmth of the fire hits me, yet fails to quell the chills that plague my skin. I can’t help but be nervous. It’s even more debilitating that Thought can look into my mind. 

“Is there even much of a point me talking?” I ask, focusing on the blazing fire, watching it lick up toward the hearth, failing every time to touch it. 

“Of course.”

I focus on the immortal, fully. It’s not only striking how perfectly my mind conjured up his physical picture within my mind those two instances. I had never seen him before, but now I almost wish I had. However, what wasn’t involved within my strange hallucinations, is the aura he seems to produce from just sitting there, watching me. It’s almost cold, detached. He’s a frightening figure sitting in a perfect body, under a dark jacket and fringe of ebony hair. 

He sits forward, clasping his hands together in a smooth, defined movement. 

“It’s not as though I can read your thoughts as you speak me, so whatever you say to me is a mystery as it touches your lips. Or maybe this issue could be solved by your simply trusting I won’t look into your mind.”

I blink a few times, trying to process that information. “If that’s the case, how am I meant to trust you?”

He bites the edge of his lip and shrugs. 

It takes all the power within me not to narrow my eyes on him skeptically. I have a feeling this is how he gets his power. People are forced to blindly trust him, as there is not many people who possess powers akin to him. As he stares at me, the silver veil of mist floating around his eyes, taunting me, I almost feel resentful. 

Most prominently, I feel exposed. And I don’t like that. 

“As you are probably aware from your deep dive into my personal thoughts, I’ve come here because recently, I’ve been having strange hallucinations about you despite never having met or even seen you before,” I tell him, leaning back into my chair, letting the cool leather touch my warming skin. 

Thought opens his mouth, before closing it again. My attention suddenly focuses on the fullness of his mouth, how graceful his knowing smile is, that steals away that precious impassive expression. He seems open with me so far about his own emotions, but how truthful he is being is another case. 

“A strange phenomenon,” he comments, lazily twisting a silver ring on his finger. It glints against the light of the fire, engraved with patterns I can’t see from where I sit. 

“Well that doesn’t explain it,” I say. “You’re the master of all that is our conscious self, so you tell me why I’m experiencing this.”

Thought pauses. This one's longer than usual. 

He’s letting me sit here, letting me think about how foolish and desperate I probably come across having drove here for this issue. But of all people to understand how a matter or the mind is driving me crazy, it would be him. Yet still, he looks as though this is causing him no issue at all. Clearly he is choosing not to see my suffering. 

“I have a lot of power right now. It could be some kind of residual magic that has somehow affected you. I’m not sure,” he says carelessly, as if it can all be explained away by that simple answer. I’m almost infuriated by the insinuation that I should be okay with this now. 

“So that’s it?” I question, visibly dumbfounded. “Are you going to make it stop or what? I can’t live like this any longer.”

“I can reign it in-“

“Yes, please, because I’m not just seeing you in my dreams, but I’m also seeing some other guy who calls himself Revel,” I tell him, exasperated. I haven’t actually seen Revel in the last week, as it feels as though this dream 

Thought has been taking up most of the space within my mind recently. 

Thought taps his chin with his index finger. “Perhaps there is more to it. Have you tried seeing a therapist?”

Okay, he must be messing with me at this point. 

Standing up, I decide I’m not going to get anymore out of him. Whatever he might be keeping from me, there is no hope for me to get it out of him like this. He has a constant leverage over me, seeing into my mind as he pleases. 

As I walk toward the door, I’m suddenly taken aback as he appears in front of me in an instant. It’s jarring, making me stubble back a few steps. When I glance behind me, he’s still sitting in his seat, however. Turning back around, he is no longer there, where I last saw him. It takes me a moment to absorb that fact. 

“Never believe what you see. I can trick your mind into seeing anything I want. My suggestion, to deal with these issues of the mind, is to simply ignore it. Pretend this Revel or this Thought that taunts you in your dreams is simply that…a dream,” he tells me, as if that is going to change anything. 

I linger near the door, my arms folded over my chest. I’m only a few seconds away from walking out of here, but I’m still sceptical of how Thought will react to that. 

“It’s so real though,” I say. 

Finally, Thought stands. He’s much taller than I first assumed, with a well built body and broad shoulders. It only adds to the intimidation, but I’ve been so bothered by all that has happened recently, it doesn’t hinder my confidence. 

“What I’m saying, believe it or not, is to protect you, to help you. You wanted answers, and all I can say, is you need to move on with your life, try to push these thoughts out of your head, and I promise you, it will stop,” he says smoothly, stepping so close to me, the tips of his shoes almost touch mine. 

“You’re not protecting me. Why don’t you use your powers to take this away from me? Don’t you have infinite power?” I question. 

It’s only when the last word leaves my mouth, I realise how insane I sound.

Thought doesn’t owe me anything. I’ve come here, into his home at an unreasonable hour, and I’m demanding he use his powers to help me. 

Suddenly I feel meek, foolish for even thinking this was a good idea. He isn’t willing to help me, and he’s turning me down in the nicest way possible, by simply telling me to ignore it. 

“Luella, trust me. I know it’s not easy to do so, but I need you to know, that believe it or not, I’m protecting you. You just need to read between the lines, that’s all,” he tells me, tilting his head to look down at me. 

My entire body goes cold for a moment. I’ve heard that from his mouth before. Or maybe it wasn’t his mouth…Maybe it was in the note he left me. As I realise this isn’t the first time having heard this from either him, or the man in my dreams, I’m unsure of whether Thought it telling the truth. 

“I should go,” I say suddenly, backing away through the doorway. 

He doesn’t do anything to keep me here, however he does follow me out into the hallway. Before I go to leave, I turn around to look over my shoulder at him. He has his hands shoved in his pockets as he watches me, silvery eyes glinting in the light. He might be fascinating and enigmatic, but I need to get out of here as soon as I can. 

Thankfully, he doesn’t say anymore as I go. But as I leave, I can’t help but think Thought wanted me to come here. 

Like maybe this was his plan all along.