Saphora: vol.1 Retention (The Athena Universe) Read Free Page A

in when I woke up.”
    “Do you know what he looked like?”
    “No, but he had red hair.”
    “Okay, continue.”
    “He asked me if I knew who he was. I didn’t. And then he asked me if I knew who I was. And I said Saphora.”
    “Why did you say that?”
    “Because he said it.”
    “Did it feel right to assume your name was Saphora?” She nodded.
    “Yes. I knew it was Saphora when he said it. Then he asked me, if I knew what I was.”
    “What you were? What do you mean?”
    “I don’t know. That’s what he said. I told him I didn’t know, and he told me to go with him. But a woman told me not to.”
    “A woman?” he repeated, leaning forward. She’d never mentioned the woman before. A voice, yes, but it being a woman, no. Dr. Lupin was intrigued. She slowly nodded. “You believe the voice that spoke to you was a woman?”
    She nodded again, and he began writing in the binder again. “I see, I see. Go on. Did the woman sound young? Old?”
    “She sounded like a woman .” He nodded, and continued to write, signaling her to go on.
    “She told me to say what she said.”
    “What did she say?”
    “I don’t remember. But when I said it, the man fell back into a wall. Then she told me to run. And I left the house, and ran down the hill to hide from him.”
    He had stopped writing, and was now leaning on his desk, listening intently. She stared at him, having finished her story, and waited for a response. He looked on for a few more moments before pushing his glasses back up.
    “You… You said when you said what the woman said, the man fell back?”
    “Yes.”
    “Into a wall.”
    “Through three walls, and into the fourth.” His eyes widened a bit and his head slipped from his hand.
    “Through three walls?” She nodded. “How?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Were you hurt as well?” She shook her head.
    “I fell back on the floor, but I wasn’t hurt.”
    “How is that possible? Did you push him?”
    She shook her head, but then hesitated. She didn’t know. She couldn’t remember.
    “I … don’t know.  I don’t remember how it happened. Only that he flew back.”
    “I see… Why don’t we take a look at your back now?” he said as he wrote a bit more. She nodded and stood, making her way over to the bench in another part of the room. Once he was done writing, he closed the binder, put it back in the drawer, and took out another one not as thick, before locking the drawer. He made his way over to his leather chair, carrying the binder and his mug. Both of which he placed on an end table beside the chair, before rolling up the sleeves of his button up collar shirt to his elbows.
    “Alright, let’s see that back ,” he huffed, walking over behind her. He was always doing that. Trying to fill in the looming silence with something. He often repeated himself in order to do so. Remembering that her hair was down, she quickly twisted it around and pulled it over one of her shoulders, holding it in place with one hand. She took in a deep breath as he pulled her shirt back so that he could see beneath it. He studied the intricate, oddly designed interlocking patterns that almost read as hieroglyphics – because they were. When she had first started coming to this man, the birthmark, as they called it, was only located on the back of her neck. Since then, it has spread to her right shoulder, and slightly down that side of her back. It was off white in colour, a few shades lighter than her skin tone, making it noticeable if it was being looked for, or at. It almost looked like a white-ink tattoo, which it was often mistaken as. They were on the verge of giving it another title. He stayed quiet as he studied the area, his bare hands gently grazing over certain areas that interested him.
    She looked around the room as he took his mental notes. She looked at his desk, the photos, the plants, the chairs, the carpeting. Anything and everything that would keep her from feeling like a case study. It was