Morning seemed to have come too fast, as Allan felt that only a couple of minutes had passed since he closed his eyes. The clock on the stand next to his bed marked 6:00 A.M.
The sun was already hitting his face through the window of his room.
He tossed around on his bed before sitting up at the edge. His mind was a mess…he felt like he hadn't rested at all. Many things were crossing his mind. He was being hunted by unknown creatures, a shady being living in his soul, and the fact that even after a whole month of cohabitation with it, it still refused to give him any explanation of what was happening to him.
Allan stood up from his bed to get ready for school. As he stepped out of his room, heading for the bathroom, a voice suddenly resounded inside his head.
"Good morning, sunshine! How was your beauty sleep?" The voice sounded too excited to be this early in the morning.
A deep exhale came out of Allan's mouth as he rubbed his temples, trying to soothe the headache forming in his head.
"Why are you so loud so early in the morning?"
"I'm not loud; you're just not an early person at all," the figure defended itself in his head.
The conversation happened in Allan's head as he entered the restroom to bathe, and the figure, who had been floating next to him the entire time, stayed behind.
They had agreed that when Allan was bathing and relieving himself, the figure would allow him privacy. Naturally, the figure had agreed to this arrangement, since it wasn't interested in violating his privacy in that regard.
One had to keep in mind that it was literally living inside Allan's soul, being able to read his thoughts and emotions, so a few minutes of privacy would not hurt anyone.
Allan finished getting ready and stepped out of the bathroom to get breakfast; the smell had already reached the hallway as he walked out.
While walking to the kitchen, he heard his sister's bedroom door opening. Turning around, all he saw was his sister walking out with a blanket still wrapped around herself; her puffy eyes and the bit of dried drool still clinging to her face told him that she had a very comfortable sleep.
'At least she didn't hear all the noise'
"Good…*yawn*...morning," she said as she walked past him. Her yawn was so deep that she almost hit a wall without noticing.
"Hey, mornin'" Allan responded.
Both siblings were walking to the kitchen, with Allan a few steps behind Maya. The kitchen lights were already on, and the scent of eggs and coffee filled the air. Their father was already sitting at the table with a coffee mug in his hand.
Marcus was the complete opposite of his children; he was the very definition of a morning person. Not a hint of sleepiness showed in his face.
As both siblings sat down at the table, their mother placed a plate of scrambled eggs with a piece of toast in front of them.
"Good morning, both of you. Did you sleep well?" Elena asked, placing a plate in front of Marcus as well.
Marcus smirked while looking at Allan. He felt a cold shiver run through his back and turned his head to glare at Marcus with a face that hinted at him to not say anything.
Marcus, of course, did not care. "Well, I'm pretty sure someone here had a great night. Am I right, son?"
Both Elena and Maya turned to look at Allan, confusion written all over their faces. It was clear that Allan did not have that great of a night, judging by the bags under his eyes.
"Uuuuhhh…well, yeah, I slept well," Allan said as he looked around the table like a cornered animal, looking for an escape.
"I just stayed a little later than usual finishing a report for school, ha, ha…ha"
His father had an amused expression on his face as he sipped his coffee.
Maya was oblivious to the meaning of the conversation, as her sole focus lay on devouring her breakfast. It seemed as if sleeping for eight hours straight had taken a toll on her body, and only the food on her plate was capable of alleviating her sorrow.
Elena, for one, had a feeling that there was something else going on with her husband and child. She raised an eyebrow in confusion as she looked at Marcus for an answer.
Marcus only shook his head at her; the smirk still present on his face.
"Ugh, I'm going to puke…." the figure said on Allan's head.
The figure, as always, had been present during the whole exchange. Catching on to everything happening in the room.
It knew Elena didn't buy Allan's explanation, and the way she looked at Marcus told it the conversation between them would not end there. It knew Maya was oblivious to it all; after all, she was only 14 years old, and hadn't even been paying attention to begin with.
The figure was standing in the middle of Allan's soul space, a place that looked like a peaceful lake. The water was clean and shallow; there were clouds here and there above it, in what looked like a made-up sky.
There was not a single blemish on the water, and the sky was clear; well…the entire place looked…peaceful. The only thing disrupting that peaceful balance was the figure itself.
The water reached its ankles, and it looked like it was deep in thought and moving its head from side to side as if it was examining the space.
'I think it's time…his barrier is strong enough for now' the figure thought without Allan hearing it.
'I just hope that I'm not wrong this time…'