EPISODE NINE

Nina stood there with Maria as Maria cried. Her gossip had never backfired on her like this, and she had no idea how to handle the situation. Maria's crying eventually subsided, and she looked up at Nina, hurriedly wiping her eyes again.

"I'm sorry," Maria whispered, but Nina shook her head.

"N-no. I'm sorry. Maria, I can't believe those things that I said…I didn't mean any of it. I just…"

Maria closed her eyes and took a deep but shaky breath in.

"Nina, want to go get a Soda? Lyla once told me that they help calm you down," Maria said, her voice staying even as she reopened her eyes.

Nina tried to smile a little. "Of course."

---

Katie had retired to her room early. It was nearing 6:30PM now. She was sitting on her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest.

Something about what Carl had said had really disturbed her. Carl did seem like a worrywart, but he seemed dead serious when he was talking to her.

She shivered a little at the thought of this. She knew she shouldn't let it get to her, but she couldn't help but remember the look in the girl's eyes as she talked about the Harvest Goddess yesterday. Nina, she thought. The one with the pink hair. Carl had told me about the Harvest Goddess, and how important she was to them, but I never thought that…

Katie put her head back against the backboard of her bed. These people must be crazy.

---

Dia had fallen asleep again. She didn't remember ever reaching her bed, but she was now lying in it, awake and feverish with her eyes still closed.

She put the back of her hand to her forehead, feeling how hot and sweaty it was. She struggled to remember what had happened. Alex and Gina were talking about the Harvest Goddess, and then…

And then what? Dia asked herself. She couldn't remember. But she did remember what Gina had said, and she recalled those words, a strange chill went down her spine.

'They're saying that the Harvest Goddess has been turned to stone, and that's the reason why Dia's sick.'

The words "turned to stone" stuck out in her mind as her memory came back. Yes, she remembered it clearly now. But it didn't make sense. The Harvest Goddess was turned to stone? And she had had that dream of the Harvest Goddess. She had been with the woman at the Harvest Goddess Spring.

"I should go the spring," she muttered as she opened her eyes and saw purple.

A lot of purple, actually. It blocked her from seeing anything else. And it was bobbing up and down, as if it were alive and breathing. She could see a pair of pale purple eyes among the other shades of purple and violet and even a little pink.

Harvest Goddess, she thought suddenly. Purple. Is it…? She felt like she was going insane. But a thought occurred to her. Why is the Harvest Goddess here?

She opened her mouth to scream, but it was suddenly a hand was clamped over her mouth.

---

Maria and Nina walked slowly back to the Moonlight Café, Nina chattering on about random things, mainly the latest gossip---everything that didn't involve the Harvest Goddess, of course, but more of how Gwen was totally flirting with Joe, or how Ann had blown something else up because of her latest invention that she'd called "Spinach Cake." Nina knew Maria wasn't really listening, but she wanted to keep the awkward silence from returning.

"Nina," Maria said suddenly, cutting Nina off in mid-sentence, and Nina jumped a little in surprise.

"Yeah?"

"Um…well, I…I wanted to… to know…um, what flavors of Soda do they have at the Moonlight Café? I haven't been there in a while." Her question came out a little oddly, as if that wasn't what she had first intended to say. But Nina smiled slightly nonetheless.

"Apple, Grape, and Very Berry. Eve, you know, the barmaid, says that Grape's the best, but I like Very Berry better. Besides, it's cheaper than the other two."

"Oh. Okay."

Nina opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped herself. She could tell Maria wanted to tell her something, and so she waited to see what would happen. Sure enough, Maria spoke again.

"Nina, I…I want to talk to you about the Harvest Goddess."

Nina raised her eyebrows. "You…you do?"

"Yeah. It's not like I don't believe in her, I just don't…" She trailed off, looking down at her feet as they walked. "I just…I'm not sure. After my mother died, I started to…to not be so sure anymore."

Nina stayed quiet. She could admit that after her own father died, she was a little doubtful. But she knew that she could never say that the Harvest Goddess didn't exist…

…But she also knew that Maria's mother passing away struck a bigger blow to Maria than Nina's father's death did to Nina. Maria used to spend all her time with her mother, but now it was just her and her father, Mayor Theodore.

"I'm really sorry, Maria. Really," Nina said, looking at Maria. Maria nodded a little and Nina saw they had already arrived at the Moonlight Café.

"Thanks," Maria said, as Nina reached forward for the doorknob. She looked over her shoulder at Maria.

"Thank you, too."

---

Dia struggled underneath the hold of the mysterious purple thing. She tried to swing a fist towards it, but it caught her wrist. She let out a growling sound, muffled by the thing's hand, but was getting worn out already.

After a few seconds, the thing loosened its grip until it finally let go altogether. Dia gasped for breath. The hand that had been over her mouth had nearly suffocated her.

When she looked over at the thing again, she saw it was now scowling at her and standing a few feet away from Dia's bed, and it wasn't an "it", but in fact a "she".

Dia stared at the angry girl. When had she gotten here? And who was she? And why did her eyes seem uncannily like the Harvest Goddess' from her dream? She remembered that something had happened…someone had been brought into the Sanatorium. But was this her?

As Dia looked closer at the girl, she saw that her purple poncho seemed to be rather large for her, like she was very scrawny and small. Her eyes had dark circles under them, her skin ghost-white, and her short purple hair seemed knotty under her cowboy hat. But despite this, she stood firmly, her hands clenched at her sides as she glared at Dia.

The poncho seemed familiar, and somehow Dia felt a strange connection to this girl, but Dia knew that she'd never met her. But the girl was now talking, and Dia snapped out of her thoughts to focus on the girl.

"What were you doing there? I saw you that day. The day it happened," she snapped, taking a step closer to Dia's bed.

Dia frowned in confusion. What was this girl talking about?

"Oh, don't act like you don't know. I saw you," the girl said, sounding insistent. "I saw you. Did you do it? They say you're sick, but I think it's a lie. I think you're hiding."

"Are you sick, too? Is that why they brought you here?" Dia asked, her memory still very fuzzy. The girl seemed shocked at Dia's words, but soon her angry look returned.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me! You're lying!"

"But you're sick, too, right? What happened to you?" The girl suddenly fascinated Dia. If Dia didn't have Martha to ask, she could at least talk to this girl. "Did you see her, too? The woman with the long dark hair? And the Harvest Goddess…"

"Shut up! You're talking nonsense!" the girl cried, but Dia could tell that the girl knew what Dia was talking about.

"Who is she? Who is that woman?" she asked, feeling eager now.

"I don't know that woman. I don't know a woman with long dark hair!" Dia sighed, knowing that the girl probably wasn't lying. So maybe she didn't know about Dia's dream. But still…

She looked off to the side, no longer paying attention to the girl as she spotted a basket on a nearby table that smelled a little like Cookies and she remembered that she hadn't eaten in the past day.

"Could you…please get me those?" Dia asked quietly, pointing to the basket. The girl had calmed down a little, but this seemed to get her angrier.

"No! Get them yourself. You're not sick. You're just a weak human."

"Human…?" Dia repeated. "What are you trying to say? That you're not human?"

But before the girl could answer, the door opened and Gina walked in, followed by Doctor Alex.

"Jamie! What are you doing out of bed? It's good that you're awake but you must get back to bed! You're in no condition to be walking around," Gina said, taking the girl by the shoulder and leading her over to another bed. "Jamie…" Dia murmured. She definitely didn't know the girl, and yet, she did. Maybe she really was losing her mind.

Alex walked over to her bed, looking very irritated, but tried to sound gentle. "Dia, how are you feeling?"

"What's happening? What happened to her?" she asked quickly. She could feel her sleepiness returning, and she needed to get answers. "Is she okay?"

"Don't worry, I sent in a call to Martha requesting her to come here immediately to help out. As for her…Kurt found her passed out and brought her here."

Dia turned her head to look at Jamie. She'd rolled over on her side so her back was to Dia, and she seemed like she was already sleeping.

"Doctor," Gina said in a low voice that Dia could still hear, although the nurse was obviously trying to only speak to Alex. "She's showing the same symptoms as Dia."

Alex looked back at Dia and then at Gina before gesturing for Gina to follow him downstairs.

"Wait! You said Kurt brought her here, right?" Dia asked quickly, realizing what Alex had said. She sat up, although it made her stomach lurch and her head throb with pain. "Where is he?"

Alex gave Dia a stern look as he stopped at the door, Gina behind him. "Dia, you know you can't have visitors. You aren't in any condition to see anyone."

Before Dia could protest, the two were already out the door, Gina closing it behind them.

She fell back against her pillows, feeling the tears form in her eyes. She felt horrible now that she couldn't see Kurt anymore. But maybe it was for the best…if anything happened to Dia, it wouldn't hurt Kurt so much if he didn't see her, because then he wouldn't have to suffer, too…

But nothing's going to happen, she reminded herself. It's not like you're going to die. These thoughts didn't make her feel any better, however; and so she turned her attention back to Jamie.

"Jamie?" she said, but Jamie didn't respond. Dia looked up at the ceiling. Martha. She was her last chance at finding out what was happening. If she could just hold up until tomorrow…

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