She shouldn't have been surprised to find one of the bracelets missing when she woke the next morning, she figured one of the brothers would've came to check on her at some time, the thing that did surprise her was the sticky note stuck to her forehead.
Cyrena carefully peels it off, the sticky side having lost most of it's stickiness it came off pretty easy and she looks at the short note lazily scribbled on the paper, 'Cy, we're at work cya later'
"Maybe I should get a job…." She smiles at the note and sets it aside then frowns, she really should get a job, the brothers are letting her stay under their roof so the least she can do is give them some sort of pay right?
You've never had a steady job, the last job you had you got fired from cause a bunch of stray cats kept getting into the store and sitting around. Venus speaks up from his spot on her bed, the feline has all his limbs tucked under his body and looks more like a bread loaf than a cat.
"I didn't have a good hold on my magic at the time," Cyrena argues with a frown as she stands and pauses, oh crud she didn't bring any clothes….."I need to go back home," She mumbles moving to the door.
And get captured?! Stay here, one of the skeletons can go back or Toriel can retrieve your clothes for you.
"And be even more of a burden on them? I can sneak into my house just fine, if you're so worried you can come with me," She offers fetching her tennis shoes she sits on the carpet as she pulls them on and laces them up, ignoring the glare pinned to her back, "If it makes you feel better I'm going to take some precautions,"
Precautions?
"I'm going to change my hair," Cyrena answers standing and moving down the hall to the bathroom, the house feels far too quiet and empty and she glances over her shoulder a couple times before she directs her attention to the mirror, her reflection stares back at her, her mess of locks a tangled mess around her face and she scrunches up her nose at the sight.
Holding her hand up she summons a hair brush and gets to work on the knots, gritting her teeth against the pulling at her scalp as she tries to make quick work of the mess, mumbling under her breath she finishes quickly and sets her brush aside, wishing that she could summon all of her items so she wouldn't have to go back…..
Blowing out a breath she fixes her gaze on her reflection and stares intently, "I can do this…." She breathes raising her hands up to her scalp she presses her fingertips to the top of her scalp, they buzz with energy and she closes her eyes as she drags her fingers down through the frizzy locks, a cooling sensation spreads over her head as the magic seeps into the strands.
She pauses once her fingers make their way all the way through her hair and the cooling sensation fades, opening her eyes she stares at the mirror and frowns slightly, she decided to go with black, it doesn't look terrible but the effects of her Soul shine through more than before, looking more solid than before.
Maybe she should cut it too?
"Enough stalling…I should go," She tells herself fiercely as she reaches into her pocket for a hair tie, bundling up her frizzy mane into a low ponytail she makes her way out of the bathroom and looks towards the guest room to see if Venus is waiting to join her…..but the cat is no where to be seen and she digs her teeth into her bottom lip as she turns away from the hall and makes her way down the stairs.
She can be alone for this, it's probably for the best, she needs to get over her fears.
Cyrena is almost done, she's made it through her house and has packed a lot her vital items into her endless bag…..she just needs to get back to the window where she got in.
Below she can hear a few eerie unfamiliar voices drifting up the stairs, her ears strain to keep tabs on them as she quickly tip toes across the wooden floors towards the one guest room, the window's hatch there has been broken for along time and she's always sworn to fix it but now she's grateful she hasn't.
Easing the bag out of the window she flinches when it hits the ground instead of the bushes below, the soft 'thud' from the impact makes the hair on the back of her neck prickle, she waits a second and holds her breath as she listens intently for the voices to pick up in volume or for the sound of footsteps on the stairs but it's still silent.
Cyrena eases her leg up through the window and ducks her head, she's halfway through the window when a clawed hand suddenly buries into her hair, yanking her back she bites on her tongue to hold back a shout of pain, the iron taste of blood fills her mouth and she stumbles as her attacker pulls her away from the window.
"I knew you'd come back," Another hand curls under her chin, sharp claws pricking the soft skin there as they turn her face up to meet theirs, ice rushes through her veins and she feels all color drain from her face as she meets very familiar yellow orbs.
The reason why Cyrena is never thrown off by the sight of monsters is because humans tried to make their own….the distorted human-like face is covered in harsh black hairs and the short muzzle is a twisted mess of flesh and teeth, he grins wickedly down at her, short sharp ears that stick out from the side of his head twitch as he sees the realization upon her face.
"So you remember huh? Good, it'll make taking you back so much sweeter, you should've known you can't trust anyone in that hell hole," He growls low, words warbling between grunts and snarls it's nearly impossible to understand him.
"O-Owen….why?" Cyrena speaks past the firm lump in her throat, trying to calm her pulse as she reaches back to grasp at the hand still buried in her hair.
"You LEFT me, you freed yourself and left me to ROT!" His voice rises in pitch and he yanks her back sharply, she feels a few bones in her spine ache as he tosses her clear across the room, the breath is knocked clean from her lungs as her side collides roughly with the wall and a framed painting, the glass shatters on impact and she feels the shards slice through the thin cotton shirt and into her flesh.
She hits the floor with a pained groan, the back of her head burning from where some hair was ripped free, she hears his feet against the wood and keeps her face to the floor, pulse racing rapidly as her side screams and she feels the sticky hotness of her blood dripping from a few deep slashes running along the side of her ribs.
Her Soul burns hotly as she clenches her hands into fists, magic energy bubbling beneath her skin as that clawed hand comes back to her scalp, he doesn't get the chance to take another fistful of her hair, her hand whips out and grabs hold of his ankle.
He screams in surprise and pain, taking a stumbling step back and she lurches upward, releasing his ankle to thrust her hand forward, grabbing at his distorted face she digs her fingertips into his flesh as he reaches up to try and rip her burning palm from his face.
But she hangs on despite the claws ripping at her flesh, gritting her teeth she shoves him back, keeping her hand flush against his face as he stumbles and falls to the floor, his screams are muffled by her rage and she hangs on as her heart pounds wildly in her chest.
She can't let go, part of her is terrified his pained cries will draw the others out, while the bigger louder part of her, the part she's hidden for so long, wants to burn the smug crooked smile off his face.
And it wins out, his cries die down and his hands go slack, fingertips slick with her blood they fall to the floor and she removes her hand from his face, not sparing his burnt flesh a second glance she darts for the window and nearly throws herself out, clutching at the vines hugging the side of her house she descends quickly as bile rises in her throat and her stomach twists painfully.
Owen is dead.
Cyrena's hands shake wildly as she picks up her bag and runs, he was one of the fellow 'residents' at the facility and at the time she believed he was her friend, that was until he gave up her plans to escape.
She was too scared to tell Sans that she spent more than a year at that place….her family already sees her as damaged, she doesn't need her new friends looking at her with that same pitied expression.
She doesn't want to see the feared looks either, she's seen far too many of those, and she's sick of it.
Cyrena is still shaking when she passes through the front door of the skeleton's home, she hugs her bag close to herself as she leans against the wood, gasping for breath as she fights the urge to slide down the wood and slump to the floor.
She's still bleeding, pushing off the door she stumbles through the living room and into the kitchen, dropping the bag to the floor she turns on the sink as she rips her shirt off, or attempts to, part of it snags on something that sends fire hot pain through her stomach and she cries out as she pitches forward to rest against the countertop.
Stained fingers move to her side where a large shard of glass protrudes from angry red skin, wincing she eases the shirt up and over her head at a slower rate, wadding the ruined fabric up she shoves the clean side into her mouth as she pours a mess of soap over her hands, she scrubs her shaking hands raw before looking to the glass.
This is going to hurt like hell.
She searches the cabinets for a wash cloth, wrapping it around the end of the shard she grasps at it firmly and digs her teeth into her shirt as more blood oozes from the wound, she's about to rip it out like how you rip off a band aid when the front door bangs open.
It cracks against the wall with so much force the house shakes briefly and the door groans on it's hinges, fear rushes through her as she stares at the skeleton standing in the doorway, she's already pale from blood loss but she feels as though the last bit of color drains away as he fixes those pitch black eye sockets on her.
Oh shit.
Oh heavens, CYRENA. Venus leaps down from Sans' shoulders and rushes towards her, she's never seen the cat so afraid and helpless, he looks over her anxiously, I told you not to go!
Sans doesn't utter a word, she barely saw him teleport, hardly felt the brief static of his magic, she can feel the adrenaline fading fast and all she wants to do is cry and confess all her wrong doings to the silent monster staring at the glass sticking out from her side.
Her shirt is still stuffed in her mouth and she's too afraid to remove it, instead she waits till his eye sockets meet her gaze and she gives a small nod, letting his boney hand replace hers on the wash cloth she braces herself against the countertop just in time.
He's quick about it, and the pain is immediate and fresh, she nearly crumples to the floor, sweat matting the dark strands of hair to her forehead as her legs quake and she lets out a shuddering breath through her nose.
The wash cloth is pressed to the open slash now and the shirt is tugged from the death grip of her teeth, he still won't speak to her and instead slowly moves her to a chair, he turns to Venus as the cat nudges her bag over.
She should have potions inside.
"I'm sorry….." Her voice is hoarse and she can barely hear herself, throat raw with remorse and pain the tears she fought to keep at bay now slide down her cheeks and she turns her face away.
"you should've let me go," he rummages in her bag with his free hand, his other still holding the cloth in place he pulls a small glass bottle from the depths of her bag and grasps the small cork in his teeth, any other time Cyrena would've been mesmerized by the sharp canines in his mouth, but her mind is foggy and she's slowly welcoming the embrace of darkness.
"please stay awake, I don't know how much blood you lost….." The lip of the glass is pressed to her mouth and she drinks a few sips of the potion before turning her head away, she's so tired….
"Not enough to kill me….just tired," She explains as her eyelids slide close and the cool brush of sleep engulfs her, she welcomes it eagerly.
She probably slept for awhile but when her eyes open again she feels as though she barely got a wink of sleep, her eyes feel swollen and ache dully as she looks around the living room, she feels a brush of panic for a split second but then the familiar weight of Venus draped over her legs reaches her tired brain and she relaxes.
A cool wash cloth slides off her forehead as she slowly sits up, the sharp aches and pains have dulled down considerably and she makes to get off the couch, the urge to cut off her hair is strong.
"you should sleep some more," Sans is there in an instant, pupils there but faint…"but first you should tell me why you had the sudden stupid urge to go back there,"
"I needed my things, I was doing fine till-" Her voice catches in her throat and she moves her arms to wrap around herself, her fingers moving over unfamiliar fabric she pauses briefly when she realizes Sans put his hoody on her, she feels a flush of embarrassment but ignores it.
"someone found you and attacked you," he finishes as he moves to sit on the couch, she pulls her legs in and sits crisscross, Venus makes a small annoyed sound and moves to the back of the couch to sleep instead, leaving a gap between them that Sans quickly disposes of.
He doesn't seem keen on giving her any space and a big part of her is thankful for it, when she used to get frightened she was always alone…..left behind to deal with her fears and panic attacks, for most they don't want any human connection when a panic attack hits but she's dealt with a lot of things alone…and she finds that having someone with her diminishes a lot of her fear.
"I-I killed him…"