And I just can't take it anymore.
I'm already moving before I know what I'm doing, and my knee - the same knee he nearly destroyed - my knee is already lifting up, and even though I know it's pointless just like the professor said, I can't help it—-
I knee the man in the groin as hard as I can, and electricity crackles in the air.
What have you done?
A part of me was expecting my knee to simply pass through the man's body, but instead I feel and hear the sound of my knee crushing his balls, and I stagger back in shock just as the man falls to the floor, writhing and screaming in pain.
His red eyes fly up, and when I see myself reflected in his gaze, fear turns into panic and I unthinkingly snap my fingers—-
DID YOU JUST FREEZE TIME AGAIN?
The fury in the professor's voice is unmistakable, and it has me mentally running around like a headless chicken in search for an excuse.
Don't even think of lying.
Shit.
Did you or did you not freeze time back there?
I give up trying to think of another lie. "Yes, I did, and I know it's stupid—-"
Fuck!
The cuss word makes me grit my teeth, but I tell myself it's something I deserve to hear because I did give him my word...and ended up breaking it.
"I'm sorry," I say stiffly.
Since you've already frozen time, you might as well take advantage of it and search for more clues.
The professor's words make me feel terrified for a moment, but then I remember what he's done, and anger starts to grow. I remember how he's cold-bloodedly killed all of those people, and my anger keeps building.
None of them had to die.
None of them!
And it's this thought that ultimately kills my fears, it's this thought that keeps me from shaking as I slowly crouch down to study him.
A man with red eyes.
A killer without a soul.
And one day, I promise him silently, one day I'll make you pay.
Starting now.
I study his inert form as thoroughly as I can. With his features contorted in pain, it's hard to distinguish anything remarkable about his face, and it takes me a while to notice what looks like dried flakes around his skin.
My gaze moves down to the rest of his body, and it's then I notice something odd.
"Professor?"
What?
"He's molting."
A few moments pass before the professor speaks again.
You're sure of this?
I peer closer, and I'm absolutely sure I'm not mistaken now. "I'm sure. And..."
I draw my breath sharply when I remember yet another odd trait that this man displayed earlier.
I remember how he moved earlier, and the more I think about it, the more it makes horrifying sense: a man who molts and would rather hop than walk...is no man at all.
"I saw how he was moving earlier, professor. He was hopping from one person to another as he killed them one by one—-"
Get out of there, Halyna.
"But—-"
If what you're saying is true, then that man may be part-god...and because those are his memories, too, then he can enter the same world this very moment.
Shit.
I rise to my feet in clumsy haste just as electricity suddenly starts cracking in the air again, and I know right away I'm in big trouble.
"EROTES!"
I yell it as loud as I can, knowing that time is of the essence. A moment later, the man starts to move, and just as our gazes collide one more time—-
I'm out of the memory world in a flash, and I'm back in the professor's office.
Also, the professor kissing me just like he said he must.
Because I've used the safe word, and this...is how he saves me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The professor is kissing me.
I'm on my back on his office couch, and the professor is half on top of me. His lips are welded to mine, his breath hot, and his grip on my arms punishingly fierce.
The! Professor! Is! Kissing! Me!
The truth of this finally penetrates my mind, and I gasp out loud...which proves to be a huge mistake as it allows his tongue to slip inside my mouth, and something between us ignites.
No!
I shove him off, and his fingers instantly loosen.
Shit, shit, shit!
I scramble to sit up as soon as he moves back, my mind still in disarray, my heart in shambles. A shadow falls over me as the professor straightens to his full height, and I can't help but shrink away.
Even if it's only his damn shadow, it's still a part of him, and after what just happened...
It just feels all sorts of wrong to have any connection with him. The kiss may have only lasted for a few seconds, but they're still a few seconds more than there should've been, and guilt starts to eat me alive.
"Halyna..."
The sound of my name on his lips is the audio embodiment of torment. It sounds right and wrong at the same time, and after what just happened—-