Status: I'm Sorry I'm So Indecisive. (:

Lilith

Chapter Six.

I jerked my hand away before he could stop me and scrambled away as carefully as I could, placing my hand in the middle of the glass in the process. This time I said "Ow," when my back hit the door. I stared at him, scared. He moved closer and I got to my feet with my good hand.

"Don't," I snapped as seriously as I could, but I knew my face was pale and I probably looked like I'd spent the afternoon with a bunch of ghosts. "Don't come any closer." I glanced at my hand. The first cuts were almost closed up now, no more blood. The newer ones had complicated that though, and they looked deaper than the first ones. He'd healed me.

"Woah, woah," he reeled, surprised. "I was just trying to help."

"No!" I cried, stepping back until I could feel around for the doorknob. He stopped. "You can't do that," I told him, in hysterics. "You can't do that." I gestured to his hands.

He looked puzzled, but he kept his gaze on mine. "It's okay," he said calmly. "I didn't mean to--"

"I don't need your help!" I told him, staring wide-eyed. "Not that way."

"'Not that way?'" he repeated, and then it seemed to hit him. "You're the Alchemist's daughter," he said. "You're afraid of the magic." He whistled like he'd just solved a murder.

"Yes, and--and you're going to be in big trouble," I said, trying to threaten him. I'm sure I was very intimidating. I knew his kind though; at least I'd heard of them. Lissa was one of them. They were among the very small handful of Moroi who had specialized in the spirit element, rather than earth, air, fire, or water. Spirit users could do special things, like walk in other people's dreams, read auras, and even heal people. But it took a lot of energy out of them; spirit users in history went insane. Lissa and Rose had discovered all this when she found out a few years ago--it was one of the mysteries that Alex had helped them uncover, and that's why I knew so much about it.

He took a step forward in one of those "helpful" positions, but I snapped at him again. "Okay, I won't do it again," he insisted. "At least let me take you to the infirmary."

I stared at him, trying to figure out how I'd get out now because I couldn't find the damn doorknob. "You're a spirit user," I mumbled, glancing down for just a moment and grabbing the doorknob.

"Yes," he said, and I met his gaze again. I realized suddenly that my hands were cut up pretty deep, and I would need bandaging. I didn't know where the infirmary was. I calmed down faster than I'd expecting, and I debated on just walking out and telling someone I'd tripped, but I was sure to get some odd looks for that. They'd surely point me out to the infirmary or take me there themselves. Right?

Instead, he had a good argument. Although my first impulse was to run out of there and find Alex, I asked the stranger to take me to the infirmary. "Just, walk over there," I mumbled as he followed me down the staircase.