Hi! It's night for me right now but I realised I didn't post anything last Tuesday. So here I am.
Also, small note, in this chapter, we have some informations about Cassie's past. It might feel confusing and maybe ridiculous, but it will make sense later.
Cassie was burning from the inside.
It seemed to her that her skin had become a real fire, sweat stuck her clothes. She had a sore throat, and had difficulty breathing.
Lying in bed, she remained motionless, vainly trying to ease the pain. Anya approached, annoyed to see her still lying down.
"Come on, get up, Skaigada. What are you waiting for?"
"I'm not feeling well," Cassie replied in a hoarse voice.
Anya frowned, walked over and reached out to put her hand on her forehead. Squinting at her fingers, Cassie asked her:
"Am I dying?"
Anya snorted a laugh.
"Unfortunately, no. You caught a cold," she said, pulling away.
"I'm hot," Cassie protested. "In every sense of the term."
"It means you are sick," Anya sighed.
"Oh. So I'm dying?"
"No. It's just a cold. You'll get over it in a day or two. You just need rest and fluids."
She straightened up and pulled away.
"Where are you going?" Cassie sniffed.
"I'm going to get you something to drink. You better not move."
"I don't think I can," Cassie replied as Anya exited the room, closing the door behind her.
The young woman was left alone, burning with fever, one hand hanging on the head of the bed. She could barely change position, and it was all so frustrating that she might well have burst into tears. Yet she did not. If Anya came back and found her crying, she would just kill her. No whining. People didn't cry when they were sick, they didn't show their weakness, Cassie had learned it the hard way.
After a long moment of staring at the door, she noticed that her vision was blurring, her eyes were stinging.
"Okay, I'm just ... I'm just gonna close my eyes for a second. Just for a second."
She closed her eyelids, and fell asleep.
She was back on the Ark. Except she could see the trees swaying in the wind and the clouds when she was looking out the window. She walked peacefully down the hall, passing some people who, for some reason, could only walk backwards. Still, Cassie wasn't disturbed, as if it was perfectly logical and normal. No less than the pictures of horses lining the walls.
Next thing she knew, Raven was running in her direction screaming at the top of her lungs, her hair messed up, looking terrified. She grabbed Cassie by the arm and tried to drag her away with her.
"Run, run!" She cried.
"What's going on?" Cassie asked, distraught.
"He's coming, he's coming!" Screamed Raven. "Come on, run! He's coming!"
"Who's coming?"
Raven never had time to answer her. A figure appeared at the other end of the hall, moving at an immense speed. Cassie could never have hoped to escape him. She pushed Raven back, yelling at her to run away, to leave without looking back. But Raven wasn't there.
Trembling with terror, Cassie turned to face the man walking towards her.
"Skaigada," he growled in a voice that was not his own.
"No, please, no!" Cassie sobbed. "Please, don't hurt me!"
"Wake up!" He insisted.
"Please! I'm sorry! Please, dad-"
"Wake up."
Cassie opened her eyes with a start. Her white hair was stuck to her forehead and neck with sweat. Anya was leaning over her, her brow furrowed. She was holding a goblet, and a pitcher sat on a table a few feet away.
"Drink, Skaigada."
She helped her bring the cup to her lips, and made sure she drank all the water in it. It was hard, and her throat was burning, but Cassie obeyed, falling back onto her pillow when Anya pulled away from her.
"I left her there," she whispered.
"Who?" Anya asked as she put the cup back on the table.
"Raven."
Anya turned to her, hesitating to ask her to clarify her thought. Cassie gave a sad smile.
"She doesn't know anything. He can't hurt her. But I still left her there. All on her own. Well, not totally alone, she still has her dumbass of a boyfriend Finn."
She let out a small laugh, which tore her throat and made her wince. Cassie sighed.
"I think the fever makes you delirious," Anya muttered, putting a hand on her forehead.
"Probably," Cassie admitted. "I hate nightmares. You know why?"
Anya shook her head.
"Because there is always some truth in a nightmare."
"I think you should go back to sleep."
Cassie buried her cheek in her pillow.
"Are you ... Are you gonna leave me alone?"
"Do you want me to leave you alone?" Anya asked, raising an eyebrow.
Cassie swallowed hard.
"No. I want you to stay. You're my friend, even if you hate me. And you're pretty impressive to scare the nightmares away."
Anya rolled her eyes.
"Go to sleep, Natshana."
With a smile, Cassie closed her eyes again.
When she woke up a second time she noticed her throat wasn't making her suffer as much as before, and that she had stopped burning. Delighted, Cassie straightened up on her bed, both fists raised in the air, screaming:
"I'm better!"
Anya, slumped against the bed, woke up with a start and looked around in panic, before heaving an annoyed sigh as she realized it was just Cassie. The young woman noticed that, for the first time since arriving on the Ground, her hands were not tied, which added to her euphoria.
"What is wrong with you?" Anya growled, massaging her scalp.
"I am free!"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
Sighing, Anya stood up and went to fetch a bowl from the table, bringing it back to Cassie.
"Come on, you have to eat something."
Cassie looked down at her bowl of soup, thoughtful.
"What are you waiting for? I didn't poison it," Anya growled.
"No, it's just ... It's been a very long time since someone took care of me."
She took a sip of the soup.
"You know what? I had such weird dreams! I dreamed that you were queen of a country except that your scepter was made of candy cane and that you spoke in German. I don't even know what that was about. "
Anya leaned on the bed at her bedside.
"You are such a strange person, Skaigada."
"Yeah, but I'm your Skaigada, right?" Cassie replied, swallowing the rest of her soup.
Anya smirked.
"So it would seem."
Cassie frowned, but Anya closed her eyes, ordering:
"Shut up or I'm selling you at the next slave market."
Cassie smiled.