Carpathia 03

--- 03.

>A blanket is pulled over your head.
>Only a bit of your face sticks out.
>Enough to breathe and stare at your bedroom wall.
>Behind you, you can feel them.
>Those glowing crimson eyes are burning into the back of your head.
>Derby seems to have one setting when it comes to personal space.
>Magnetic.
>Wherever you go, Derby follows.
>Always asking you to please not leave her.
>She crawled up into your bed when you went to lay down.
>Because of the instruction manual being in Chinese (and having no damn diagrams), you don't know where Derby's power switch is.
>Does she even have one?
>How long does her battery charge last?
>For twenty minutes now, Derby has sat behind you, watching you try to sleep in your blanket cacoon.
>Just staring at you.
>There's got to be some way to change her settings.
>Tomorrow, you will mess with that.
>But for now, you need to sleep.
>You have work tomorrow.
>As you think of work, your eyes begin to slowly close.
>"Anonymous."
>The soft melancholy voice snaps your eyes back open.
"What is it, Derby?"
>You feel her weight shift behind you.
>Your cell phone charging on the bedside table creates enough light to cast a shadow of Derby on the wall in front of you.
>You can see that she is stretching her wing toward the ceiling again.
>It's an ominous sight.
>"Derby thought you were leaving."
>You sigh and pull the blankets tighter around your face.
"I'm just trying to go to sleep."
>Silence fills the room.
>"Please don't sleep. Derby will be alone."
>Damn it.
>You sit up suddenly and grab the TV remote off your bedside table.
"How about I let you watch something while I sleep?"
>The glowing eyes stare back at you in the dark.
>You turn on your small bedroom TV.
>The History Channel is on, showing a documentary about The Titanic.
"How about this?"
>You look back to Derby.
>She stares at the tv, both eyes focused.
>It seems like she's entranced.
"Derby?"
>You wave a hand in front of her face.
>She keeps on staring straight ahead, focused on the show.
"Nice."
>Laying back down, you pull the blanket comfortably up to your chin and sigh.
>Finally, some sleep.
>You stare at the ceiling.
>Looking one last time at Derby, your breath catches in your throat.
>Her head is turned back toward you.
>Those red eyes glow like embers.
>"I like this. Thank you, Anonymous."
>You move your feet against each other under the blankets.
"Uh, that's good. You should keep watching then."
>Derby just smiles at you.
>The glow from the TV behind her makes the sight even more unnerving.
>"Goodnight, Anonymous."
>Her head turns back around and she is hypnotized by the tv again.
>You reach over to your bedside table once more, this time opening the drawer.
>Pulling out your bottle of cough syrup, you open it and take a quick swig.
>You want to fall asleep as quickly as possible.
>Deeply asleep.
>The faint noises of the Titanic documentary carry to your ears for a while.
>Then the effects of the diphenhydramine start to take hold.
>You feel Derby rest her wing on your leg.
>As you fall into a drug-induced sleep, you feel a twinge of guilt.
>It feels like you are leaving her, in a way.

-

>The sound of your alarm wakes you up.
>You turn it off and groan against your pillow.
>A dreamless sleep.
>It's time to get ready for work.
>First, a shower-
>You go to move, but now that your mind is slowly waking up, you notice a weight on your legs.
>Between your legs.
>You look down and are met with a red-eyed stare.
>Derby lays curled up between your legs.
>The TV is still on in the background.
>Derby smiles at you.
>"Good morning, Anonymous."
>You yawn and hoist yourself up.
"Mornin'. Did you sleep, Derby?"
>Derby's eyes wander off.
>"Yes. Derby slept for three hours, fourty-six minutes and eight seconds."
>You chuckle and rub your eyes.
"That's pretty precise. I hope your sleep-mode was enjoyable."
>You get out of bed and stretch.
>"Derby had a dream."