*Time to get up! Time to get up! Time to get up!* I lift my hand to swipe away whatever is bothering my finally peaceful sleep, only for my door to open and a weight shift the bed. The moment I feel it shift again to both sides of my thighs, my eyes fly open. Scooting up against the headboard immediately, I look down into Stacie's eyes, frantic breaths pushing from my lips,
"Oh no you don't!" That impish little grin coupled with the way she has been crawling up the covers to hover over me produces a blush so heated I can feel it in my stomach, "Whatareyoudoing!?" Rushes past my mouth so fast I'm sure it didn't make sense, lowering myself to press into the bed while she straddles my hips,
"It was my turn to wake you up, normally it takes a little more effort than that. Come on, time for school!" Giggling softly she rises... be still my heart... she is wearing the shortest shorts I've ever seen in my life, and does this girl own anything with sleeves? Sliding her long legs to remove herself from my bed, she drags her hand up the side of my blankets as she comes closer, leaning down to kiss the top of my head, "Don't forget auditions are today!" She says cheerily, and I shoot a glare her way as she opens my curtains to let the sun in, "Come on! Up up up, your burrito is going to get cold." I continue to glare at her back as she leaves,
"I'm not going!" I announce with a bit of a whine, I hear her descend the stairs without hesitation, "Don't even sing.. mrr..." Flopping back into the bed I rest my arm over my face to block out the sun, "Dude... I'm posing a very philosophical question... if I don't go to the class is it still boring?" I snicker to myself, but then from the bottom of the stairs I hear,
"I will get Amy, you mark my words Beca if you aren't up in the next five minutes..." I think the way she hears my feet hit the ground as I scramble up to get clothes on is satisfying enough of an answer.
When I descend the stairs, Amy is waiting for me, offering a burrito and a to go cup of coffee. I smile softly and take them with a small 'thank you' before I am wrapped up in a tight bear hug. Wheezing a bit I gently pat the larger woman,
"Okay Ames, don't break me in half..." She chuckles and pulls back, holding my shoulders almost like a proud parent might,
"Stacie needs my help today, so I don't get to walk you to school half pint... so remember, stay safe, and know you can always summon either of us at a moments notice... though I forgot to tell you the other day you can just say our names, I just wanted to see if 'the tank' would work..." Chuckling softly she shakes her head right after, her voice is uncharacteristically serious, and I find my brow lifting in slight confusion,
"Alright Amy, I will be careful around the vicious college students." At being released I lift my hands in a claw motion, hissing a bit for effect. This pulls a laugh from the rambunctious woman, and she gives me a light slap on the arm... maybe not so light... Lifting to rub the spot I cradle my breakfast in the other hand, and she only laughs more,
"You're already late, get out of here, and don't forget auditions, right after your classes!" With a nod, I move out the door, working through my breakfast and coffee before I step into my first class, unscathed and unbothered... wonder what she's so afraid of.
After the professor dismisses us from the last class I tuck my pack over my shoulder and look at my watch. I have about half an hour before auditions, after much insistence from all of these sources I may as well try out, right? Moving down the road I find my body slows, and suddenly there is no one around me... and odd feeling rising in the pit of my stomach,
*We... we have teleported? To... what?* She sounds like she is struggling, and I open my hand to summon the sword forth, walking further as the crushing realization takes over that perhaps there was something to be afraid of. *Straight ahead... there's something...* I look up, sword at the ready, and I find a black sphere, possibly the size of a basketball... the terror that fills my chest is immediate, reminding me too much of that sword from my nightmares... *Step back... see if we can get out of this... there is a wall... almost as if it's just a gap in our original realm.* I do as I'm told and find I hit a physical wall instead of being able to step out of the space. Hearing an awful sloshing sound I look back to the ball, finding it growing arms, plopping to the ground in an audible 'splat' that makes ooze billow around it. My heart rate increases and I find even if I've trained, I am not prepared for such a thing as this. It crawls at increasing speed towards me, and I dodge around it just as the thing barrels into the wall I had been against, splatting hard into it, *At least we know it can't escape either, run!* Not needing to be told twice, I run the other direction and find I want to observe it, watch as it moves, but it's not giving me any time, this ball of pure... *Corruption...* My sword answers for me, *We need to kill it! Turn and face it!* I slide to a halt and turn towards the armed ball just in time to dodge,
"Were those teeth?!" I nearly shriek, bringing my sword to the ready as it rolls around to attack again. It almost looks like it could smile, those sharp, fang looking items on display. I dodge again, but bring the flat of my sword down on the top of its head, significantly slamming it down into a puddle. Relaxing a bit I turn to walk off, a burning pain filling my leg as I yelp out and try to get away from the source. Looking down I find the little ball has bitten me, and slowly oozes down my leg and shoe. Crying out I slam the blade down right between it, the ball slicing in half almost like butter... it feels too easy... but the ooze gurgles loudly and releases into a, now boiling, mass of nothing. I hobble away swiftly and when I can't stand the pain any longer I collapse in the grass near one of the homes that had been trapped with me. When I look up again it seems everything is... back to normal? I don't see the ooze it had left behind, and I do see another walking... even the ooze that had covered my leg was gone, though the pain was still there. Rolling my pant leg up I grunt softly, the punctures of its bite black divots, the veins on my leg having slowly morphed a little to the blackened color also. Standing I realize it doesn't bleed, but the ooze feels like it's slowly pulling from me...
*Like it was trying to corrupt you? But because it didn't fully take hold now it's leaving your body?* We both question, but I don't want to think about it anymore, all I know is my leg fucking hurts, and I was supposed to make it to auditions. I let my sword morph back into a ring, resting on my finger once again, *We need to make it there, and we can talk to Amy and Stacie.* With a firm nod, I wince at the first steps, limping heavily, but I slowly work to make my way to the auditorium.
I am late... of course, I'm late, and I flinch when the door slams heavily behind me, having listened to the last audition,
"Wait! There's one more!" I hear Chloe yell out, and I find I'm having trouble breathing, my energy spent. I move my way out to the middle of the stage,
"I... didn't know we had to prepare that song..." I breathe softly, and I think I see a twinge of worry behind both sets of eyes in front of me, probably just wishful thinking. Thankfully the redhead is there to save the day again,
"That's okay, sing anything you want." Her smile is radiant, and I offer a small one in return. Slightly collapsing against the stage, I make it look... as normal and not awkward as I can, crawling up to their desk. Biting back the pain I point to their yellow cup, full of pens,
"May I?" At the affirmative nod, I gently dump it of the contents and sit back, breathing through the blur that my leg tries to press in front of my eyes. Chloe continues to smile, and Aubrey looks... less than pleased, but I can't read her feature, perhaps annoyance? When my voice lifts through the silence of the auditorium I let my eyes stay on the cup, moving fluidly through the song and the claps. At the last knock of the cup against the wood floor, I find myself blinking back the misty pain that could make itself known through tears, "Uh... thanks..." I push from the ground and limp heavily away, needing to get home, I don't know where anyone is... my head hurts, my leg hurts worse. Shoving through the doors and out to the grounds I collapse in the shade of a tree, getting a few odd looks, but nothing I'm not already used to. Rolling onto my back I whimper softly, eyes closing underneath the cool shade as I lull into a fitful sleep.
"She never let one bite her before! I don't know how to handle it! She's going to be okay, right?!" I hear the frantic voice, and my fingers brush against the ground. However it's not the ground I had fallen asleep on, instead of grass I find blankets, and it smells like me... must be at home. The sweat that rolls from my body makes me uncomfortable enough that I open my eyes, finding four blurry visions above me,
"I should have walked with her! I knew I should have!" Amy, beating herself up apparently, "Ah, Beca I'm sorry!" I feel her weight upon me and I struggle to breathe in the crushing hug,
"A-Amy... Amy breathing!" She jumps up so swiftly it's surprising, and I jolt upwards as I feel a swipe to my leg. Yelping a bit at the pain I look down to a sympathetic Aubrey, a cool cloth cleaning up the ooze that's rolling from the wound that has been exposed. It surprisingly looks better than it had before, and I find that stressful thought easing away from my mind as I look over to find Stacie and Chloe both holding onto my arm and leg on the opposite side,
"You were jerking and yelling... Becs, why didn't you summon us?" Stacie explains at my confused expression, and I only shake my head,
"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't any of you te-...Ow!" I cry as Aubrey again swipes at the open wounds. She has the semblance to look apologetic, and I lift both hands to run through my hair, "You want me to summon you when I'm afraid for my life, fighting a... I don't even know what it was!" My frustration boils over, "I may have you two at my disposal but when I don't know what's going on, and I'm transported to a whole different existence how am I supposed to do anything but defend myself?" They have the decency to flinch at my tone, and I cross my arms, "And what are you two doing here? Tell me you are supposed to be helping me also..." I shake my head and pull my leg back, "Move." I command, stepping from the bed to look at my watch. A gentle hand rests on my shoulder, and I look up to find Chloe... practically in tears... and I find it melts me a little bit,
"W-we aren't allowed to tell you, Becs. We aren't allowed to tell you what is coming, just as much as he isn't allowed to know what is coming for him. I know you're overwhelmed, but don't shut us out... I can't watch what happened again..." And now the tears stream down her face, and she is immediately upon me. Her arms wrap around my neck, and she hugs me so tightly, but it pushes me to fall flat on my back on the bed, holding her crying form gently. It scares me, and I almost want to push her off, but then a memory flashes through my mind, one of them all... us all, in a group hug... and I've never felt so happy in my life. There are a few others, though their faces are blurred, it's enough to get me to calm down. Her scent envelopes me, cinnamon with a hint of vanilla, and I find my body relaxing further in her presence. So I lay there, and I let them dote on me, Amy fixing my body back onto the bed, Stacie running her fingers through my hair, Aubrey seemingly helping the healing on my leg along while she cleans it up, and Chloe... well she holds onto me like her life depends on it, "I'm sorry, I know right now I am a stranger to you... but I need this, okay?" I merely nod, how could anyone ever say no to this beauty? Slowly, my hand runs up and down her back, attempting to quell her tears and fears, it seems to work for a while, that is until Stacie finally speaks up,
"Since you two have decided not to move in until Beca feels more comfortable, it's about time to go, she needs to rest and we need to talk." The three above nod slowly, but it takes an extra second for the redhead to do so, quiet sniffles following. When she pulls back I feel a soft kiss pressed to my cheek, my eyes widening as she scurries off so her tears don't begin again. Aubrey gives a small wave, her eyes becoming teary as well before she turns rapidly to follow Chloe, "Better get used to that, short stack, she very much invades your space at all times." Stacie chuckles, and Amy looks down at me for a long while after the brunette had left, "We are sorry Beca, we don't know how to handle this... you are always so powerful and mysterious... it's really throwing us off having to re-teach everything. But we will get better, mark my words, we will figure this out, together!" She is the last one to leave, shutting the door behind her. Rolling to my side I find my leg does feel a lot better, though the sting of the actual puncture wounds still resides. I try to find sleep, and my body is exhausted enough that it should come easily, but when it finally finds me, I know it's already the early hours of the morning.