Thanks to Rinny Z for reviewing.
Enjoy the last chapter!
"Devi?"
Someone was touching her face with a cold cloth. Devi groaned, squinching her eyes shut.
Wait a minute...
I'm alone!
All alone!
She paused, venturing forth in her mind.
Sickness...?
Nothing.
I'm alone! I'm me!
"I'm alone!" she woke herself up.
Lydia and Trochee were crouching around her.
"Something to drink?" Lydia offered her a glass.
Trochee pulled her up. Devi stood carefully, sipping the drink.
Lydia watched her carefully, then smiled. Trochee did, too.
"Uh..." Devi didn't know what to say.
Lydia squealed and hugged her. "You did it!" she said. "Sickness is gone!"
"Oh, I know. I, uh." Devi still didn't know what to say.
"It's okay," Lydia said. "Don't be embarrassed. Sit. Relax. You are your own."
"Huh." Devi sat, sipping her drink. Another waitress stalked up.
"You know, Lydia," she said snottily. "It's not like we need you or anything. Greasy Jim's gonna fire your ass if you don't get back in the kitchen." She slammed Devi's salad onto the table and stomped away.
Lydia gave Devi a quick glance that said sorry-I-gotta-go and talk-to-Trochee all in one. She left.
Trochee sat across from Devi. She picked at the salad with her fork.
"So... do you know everything about me, like those telepathic people in the movies do when they go scurrying around in other people's heads?"
"Nope," Trochee pulled the book out of his jacket.
"How did you know about Sickness?"
He placed the book on the table. "I felt it. Saw it, actually. As a nasty ring around your head, turning black when it talked to you."
Devi could not believe how hungry she was. Between forkfuls of food, she asked, "Is this your day job, or something?"
Trochee laughed. "Day job? No, only at night. And I don't get paid, either." He waved his hand over the book. It flashed silver. It was a knife.
Devi's eyes bulged. "I KNEW it! I wasn't just going crazy! Wait, I was crazy, I guess-"she shoved more salad into her mouth. The dressing was good.
"I have Talent," he said, shrugging. "What you see is not always what is actually there."
She nodded expressively.
"But before you ask more questions, know this," he said, leaning forward. "You are free now. You have to find something to do with yourself, something that proves what I did wasn't without reason. Don't dwell on the past, use your art to do something great."
"I get a life lesson with the meal?" she asked.
"Yes." He tossed the knife around. "For free. Your creativity will return as soon as you are inspired. Live off of what you love."
"What did you do with... it?"
Trochee caught the knife and twirled it in his hands. "Destroyed the boundaries of its essence, thereby allowing me to feed off it and its energy source."
"Okay." Devi ate the rest of her salad in silence. Lydia stopped by again, refilling her drink.
"Do you have... Talent?" Devi asked her.
Lydia smiled. The menu in her hand shuddered, and a giant black and blue butterfly appeared.
"Cool."
Lydia let go of it, and it flew out of the room.
"Welcome to The Sacrifice."
All done. Thanks for reading! Please review. :D