Once Iryz returned upstairs, just as she had expected, Zeres had yet to move from the exact same spot that she had seen him in when she had left earlier on. He put the book that he had been poring over in his hand down into his lap again and looked at her upon sensing her presence entering into the room.
"What pose do you want from me this time?" he asked, his voice flat and uninterested. He presumed that she must have come up to get him to pose for her drawings.
Iryz smiled awkwardly at first, feeling a little embarrassed at having to disturb him. But her expression quickly brightened up when she justified her actions with her earlier hard work and approached her desk to grab her sketch pad.
"It's okay, you don't need to move from where you are sitting." She quickly told him as Zeres began to move. "I just need to draw you in a different angle and in a sitting position as well. You can continue looking through the book."
She pulled out her chair and sat down at a good distance by his side and without wasting a moment longer, Iryz began to draw him. No matter how excited she was right now, Iryz could not help but feel a little bad deep down. More so now, when she was seeing him not stopping at all from going through the book.
However, Iryz was confident that they were going to find the book. They just needed to be more patient in going through the tonnes of books that were here in this bookstore. And this was why she was able to shrug off the little guilt and determinedly continued on with her plan. She knew that once they found the book, she might never see this angel of a man again.
After some time quietly working on her drawing, the piece of art was done. A big smile was plastered on her face as she marvelled at her own artwork. "Ahh! So beautiful! Perfect!" she showered her own work praises while Zeres looked at her like he just could not figure out what she was so happy about. Iryz noticed his gaze on her and turned to look at him.
"Do you want to see it? Look!" she excitedly turned the artwork towards him, hoping that he would be somewhat impressed with her work.
Zeres lazily tilted his head as his gaze fell on it. His non reaction was quite expected and Iryz did not take his response to heart and continued being happy all on her own. It was fine if she was impressed with it!
"Once this is coloured in, it will look even more beautiful!" Iryz stood and swirled around so happily as she lifted the sketch pad high up into the air. "I've never drawn something so beautiful before! Thanks to you!" she faced him flashed him a very sweet smile.
When Zeres remained silent, only looking at her without any ripple of emotions on his handsome face, Iryz nodded to herself and walked towards her desk and placed the sketch pad there with much satisfaction. Then she left the room, telling Zeres that she had forgotten to take something downstairs earlier.
She returned with a large mug of coffee and a small plate of cookies in her hands.
"You must be hungry. I have not seen you eat anything since you started looking through the books." She said amicably and placed the tray before him. Then she picked up the mug of coffee she made and gave it to him. "Let me know if it's too sweet for you. I'll go make another one."
It took him a short while of blinking at her and the mug of coffee before accepting her offer. "Thank you, but you don't need to bother about me."
"Here, taste this too." Iryz offered him the cookies as if she had not heard what he had just said at all. "This is my way of thanking you for modelling for me, even though you hate it." she added, grinning at him.
Zeres looked down and picked up a cookie before taking a bite. He knew she would continue hounding him so might as well give in and try one.
"How's is it?" she asked expectantly, eyes bright and lively.
"Not bad."
She nodded, seemed relieved with his answer. Then she took her own mug and walked over to her desk.
"It's time for you to sleep." He told her when he saw her start picking up a book on the floor.
"I'll clock in for over time tonight." She replied with a wink and pointed to her own mug and as usual, the two of them continued with their search until Iryz fell asleep on her desk again when she no longer could keep her eyes open.
When Zeres finished all the books that were stacked up next to him, he stood, planning to go downstairs to pick another stack of books he will check next. He halted at the sight of the girl sleeping, her face buried in the pages of the open book.
Sighing softly, he gathered her and tucked her back into her bed. Then he stood there, staring at her peaceful face. His hand moved and when he placed it over her head, he uttered a spell and his palm glowed.
Suddenly, her innocent eyes, those sweet smile… they flashed in his head and Zeres abruptly clench his fists tight.
The magic disappeared and his hand trembled. He tugged at his hair hard and left her room in haste, as if running away for his life. What was he doing?
Zeres could not believe what he was just about to do. He was about to attempt in reading her mind. How could he… how could he do that?!
His back hit a shelve and he slid down on the floor. His hands were still trembling as he tugged on his hair. What was happening to him? He was starting to feel scared now… of himself. Of what he would actually do next. He felt like… he was falling… falling into a vortex of darkness.
"Please…" he whispered through his gritted teeth. "Someone… save me…"
