My legs shook like leaves in the wind. The steps I took were sloppy and slow, like a young child still learning how to walk. It was bad enough I had no energy, but my fried mind made it feel like the ground underneath me kept shifting.
Yet, I was determined to make it to the bathroom. I needed water and, though the basilisk caring for me was currently getting me some, I needed it now. I was so thirsty I could've drunk an entire river.
And I knew that the muck inside the bathroom faucet turned the water all murky, but I didn't care. My body was screaming for water, and I just couldn't take it.
I stopped at the edge of my bed and leaned against it. My exhaustion had become even stronger. Sweat trickled down my face, while my breath got so heavy, I was practically panting.
I tried to push past it. I took another step, only for my legs to give-out on me. Gravity shoved me to the ground. Though I was lucky not to have hit my head again, I didn't feel that fortunate. The damp, musty carpet didn't cushion my fall in the slightest.
I let out a defeatist sigh. I may have been able to take a few steps, but there was no way in hell I'd be able to lift myself off the floor. I would just have to wait for someone to come pull me up.
"Emira" I heard my caretaker gasp from the doorway. Though she was trying to hide it, her exasperation peaked out slightly. "What happened?".
"Well, you see, I thought the floor looked really comfy" I huffed sarcastically. The serpent already knew what happened. She only asked to get me to admit I got out of bed.
"Was this an escape attempt?" she went on as she helped me to my feet.
"No. I just wanted to get to the bathroom. I thought, since everyone says I'm getting better, I could handle it". When the basilisk didn't say anything, I continued. "I am getting better, right?".
"Your wound is healing really well, considering you're having a hard time keeping food down".
I shuddered while holding back my gag. Her words brought my attention to the rancid taste of throw up that permanently sat in my mouth. It was bad enough my dizziness made it hard to walk, but it also made eating almost anything nearly impossible. Honestly, I'm surprised I hadn't died of magic deficiency by then.
"But what about my head?" I pushed. "Isn't that healing?".
It took a moment for her to respond, a moment that was way too long to be comforting.
"Your speech is back to normal…" she finally replied. "...mostly. But it's an improvement".
"But my memory is still out of whack" I argued while my frustration boiled. "And I still have to be baby-sat".
"You'll get better," the aforementioned baby-sitter tried to reassure. Her voice faltered, revealing her hesitancy.
"Will I?" I snarled, all my negative emotions coming to a head. "Because there's a chance that I never will, and I'll have to live like this for the rest of my life. And, let me tell you basilisk, I can't do this for a thousand more years. My head always hurts, I'm always hungry, and the only time I ever bathe is when I can't make it to the bathroom in time".
I was too tired to try to hold back my tears. They raced out of me, anxious to leave my dull, cloudy eyes. The sob burrowing in my throat made it hard to speak. By the end of my rant, I could only say one thing more.
"I have to get better. I don't know if I can go on if I don't".
My caretaker paused for a moment. She had something to say, but she had to choose her words carefully. If she didn't her point wouldn't've broken through my hopelessness.
"You know, back when I was trapped in that small cage in the palace, I never thought things would get any better. No matter what I did or said, I would always just be some monster whose only purpose was being tortured by the emperor. And it didn't help that all the guardsmen constantly told me the same thing.
If you would've told me back then that I would've been taken in by a human, one that would accept me for who I was despite me pretending to be her daughter for months. Or that said daughter would become a witch and rise up against Belos. I would've never believed anything like that could be possible. But life changes all the time in ways that no one could ever imagine.
Your life can get better, even if you don't".
The basilisk's words didn't drive away my despondency, but they did make me feel calmer. It was a good message, a message my caretaker gave perfectly. And I have to admit, it brought me some comfort.
But, in this situation, I didn't have any patience. Who knew how long I'd have to wait for the good future the basilisk had mentioned. Between the headaches, all the ghosts constantly rambling on and on about a prophecy I already knew, not being able to walk well or remember things, I didn't know how much longer I could grin and bear it.
"So, I'm gonna have to suffer through it for now, huh?" I sighed dejectedly.
"We'll do everything we can to make it easier for you". The friendly reptile then held up a bottle of water. She untwisted the cap, helped me sit up, and gave it to me. She made sure to keep one of her hands on it in order to guide the bottle to my mouth.
I nearly drowned myself. I greedily downed the entire bottle in one-shot, not stopping a single time to catch my breath. Once I finished, I began to gasp for air, my body shaking with every deep breath in.
"Feel better?" my caretaker asked.
"Yeah" I puffed as my breathing slowed back down. "Thank you…um…snake".
"You don't remember my name, do you?". I shook my head, and then horribly regretted it a few seconds later. "My name is Vee," the snake continued.
"Like the letter?... Huh… I won't remember that, but thanks for the water".
While… the snake person… did something…my mind went blank. I had completely forgotten everything I knew in that moment, where I was, who I was. All I could remember was this one thing Vee had said while trying to comfort me. I didn't know why it stuck out to me, hell, I didn't remember it sticking out when she first said it, but soon it was all I could think about.
"You're not a monster" I uttered, stopping the basilisk in her tracks.
"Huh?" she questioned as her head slightly tilted.
"You said everyone called you a monster before you went to the human… place," Well at least I was close that time. "But you're no monster".
Vee was very careful about how to respond. She didn't want to scare me by saying she disagreed. Yet she didn't want to push what I said to the back of her mind, either. I could tell by the look in her light blue eyes that she wanted to know where this would go.
"Well," she murmured. "There's a lot of people who would say otherwise".
"They don't know a monster when they see one then. But I do. I haven't known you for long… I don't think… but a monster doesn't care about who they're hurting. Sometimes they enjoy hurting people and sometimes they force or trick someone else into doing it for them. That doesn't sound like you".
"That sounds more like Belos," Vee added while pondering over what I just said.
"It's amazing how many people can become the bad guy when something bad happens" I carried on with a humorless laugh. "I mean, look what happened after Amity died. All people ever do anymore is blame themselves for it. It's Luz's fault for getting kidnapped. It's Gus's fault for staying with her. It's Willow's fault for leaving Amity alone.
But when you get past all the finger pointing, one thing remains. She died because the killer attacked, and she chose to risk her life to fight back. Sure, other people's decisions were involved; they helped pave the path that led to disaster. But the killer was the one who chose to walk down it".
"And so was Belos" Vee finished. She gave me a soft yet grateful smile. "Thanks, Emira".
Belos? Since when were we talking about Belos? In fact, what were we talking about? One second my healer's snake child was getting me water and now she was thanking me… Whatever. Just say you're welcome and be done with.
"Sure thing" I rasped.
"Blight and Bane will be melded into an amalgamation of beauty".
"Really?" I snarled, surprising the basilisk besides me. "It's late at night".
"Those who bear fabric flesh must befriend ink".
"I know! You've only said it a million times!".
"We don't want you to forget," one of the spirits surrounding me explained. As my anger quickly rose my voice began to get louder.
"So that means you've gotta bug me right before bedtime?" I barked.
"Like you don't pull all nighters all the time" another ghost joined in.
"Yeah! I used to! But I'm injured, remember?! Now I've got to sleep whenever my head isn't bothering me!".
"What you've got to do now is listen to the wind". The phantom's voice thundered through the room, relaying their urgency. "It has an emergent message that only you can hear".
The sound of the breeze pounding on the balcony doors brought my attention to outside. Because of how the moonlight hit the barrier, it was painted a foreboding hellish red.
"Fine," I groaned. "Tee? Can you take me to the balcony?".
"Well, she almost got it" she mumbled to herself before answering with, "Why do you need to go to the balcony?".
"I don't know," I grumbled. "But I do know that the family worm buffet isn't gonna leave me alone till I do".
Once Vee made it over to my side of the bed, I sat up as much as I could manage to. I hollered in pain in the process. Mother titan! Did every move I make have to kill my head?! Couldn't I just not be in pain for one titandamn second?!
The ten-foot walk to our mandatory destination didn't take as long as I had expected. Though I kept having to stop and lean on my caretaker for a few seconds, I ended up making it to the balcony doors in record time. Perhaps I truly was getting better.
"Okay," I wheezed to my dead ancestors. "What is it you want me to see?".
The wind once again pushed against the two glass doors. They both rumbled, begging me to open them. I moved to do just that, but the doors themselves beat me to it.
They both flew open as the impatient gust of air burst inside. It was as powerful as a gorenado, yet it didn't threaten to topple me over. Following the gale were a bunch of leaves that fell off the viney plant perching on the side of the building. All of them were dry. The life once inside of them had dissolved leaving nothing but a crusty husk.
One of the leaves, that was much larger than the rest, gently landed on my shoulder. I cautiously plucked it off of me and held it up to examine it. It looked just like the others swarming the room but this one… smelled? It smelled both pleasant and sour at the same time.
"Dammit" I cursed under my breath.
"What's wrong?". Vee shifted to where she could support me more. "Are you doing okay?".
"It's Amity. He's murdered her again" I sighed as I sunk in dejection.
"You got that all from a leaf?".
"Can't you smell it? It's got a bitter-sweet scent, the same scent I noticed when I was first shown her human form". I took a moment to let the news sink in a little more before I went on. "Help me to the stair place".
"The stairwell?" the young serpent gasped.
"Whatever it's called, take me to it" I pressed, my irritation pecking at my patient.
"You're not gonna try to go down them, are you?".
"What else would you do with stairs?". The basilisk remained silent causing me to add. "I have to get to my sister. I'm going to bring her upstairs with me".
"The killer won't allow that" Vee argued. She noticed my legs were getting tired, so she led me to the closest bed. "Besides, you can't walk to the bathroom on your own. What makes you think you'll make it down the stairs?".
"You might have to carry me a bit, Kee, but I'll manage".
The look the scaley child gave me in response perfectly relayed her hesitancy. I could see she was drowning in her memories while her worry spilled out like a flooded river.
"But what if someone sees me and tells the emperor's coven I'm here?" she squeaked.
Oh, right. I forgot about that. Vee wasn't allowed downstairs for that very reason. Well, she wasn't the only one up here with me. My dad and the owl lady mostly stayed on the third floor all day while everyone else living on it went back to their rooms frequently.
"Then go get my dad. He should be fine on the first floor".
Vee did what I asked. She wasn't happy about it, but she did. In the meantime, my heart was pounding. Uneasiness shot through me, making me itch. While I was lying in bed waiting for an escort, my little sister was lying lifeless somewhere, waiting to be reanimated.
The tons of claws scratching against the floor outside of my room weren't helping. Each sharp thud they made hit me like tiny darts. That damn rabbit really needed his nails cut… wait. That's it!
With all the energy I had, I wriggled to the other side of the bed and slid down onto my feet. My trek to the bathroom may have been unsuccessful, but I had to make it to the dust bunny before he left my part of the hallway.
I crashed into the door and shoved it open. Just a little way down the hall was the dangerous beast guarding the third floor. He had stopped to chew at his paw, tugging at the fur between his toes in attempts to groom it.
I was about to do something I would've called insane a few months back. I remembered back to my twin brother's ramblings about the bat he obsessed over. He had found the thing while me, him, and Amity were visiting the knee for the day. He was first going to eat it, as disgusting as that sounds, but he ended up taming it instead.
Poor Edric. He was really sick, yet nobody believed it, not even him. But I knew he was. I saw those diseased bugs fly into his airways so they could burrow in his lungs. They even left blue footprints when they climbed into his mouth.
If he doesn't get help soon… No. I had other things to focus on at that moment.
It took me a few tries, it was actually harder than it should have been, but I loudly whistled to get the hare's attention. His ears perked up while his stare shot towards me. I stretched one of my arms out in front of me and offered him my hand.
It took a minute for him to realize what was happening, and even longer to decide what to do. But finally, he slowly trotted up to me and touched his nose to my palm. From there, I brushed my hand up the side of his face, careful not to get too close to his eye, before I reached the top of his head.
When I touched his ear, he jumped back slightly, letting out a snort while doing so. I didn't dare flinch. I had to get this beast to trust me, so I had to trust it. I placed my hand back on the top of his head. He tensed again but, instead of shying away, he leaned into my touch. Finally relaxed, the rabbit laid down and flattened his ears.
There was my chance. Before he could get off of the ground, I latched onto the dust bunny's fur. It shifted in my grasp. The dust it was made out of made it slick and greasy, but I still managed to hold on.
He quickly shot to his feet, tugging me up with him. I used the rising momentum to swing onto his back, then grabbed two tufts of fur on the back of his neck. I expected him to try to shake me off of him, but the rabbit settled when I had found a good spot to sit.
I did it. Son of a hellhound, I actually did it!
I began to cheer, but quickly stopped. Now that I wasn't too busy moving around, the pounding in my head crashed its way back into my attention.
I gritted my fangs together and tugged at the dust bunny's pelt. I would have to ask Mrs. Camila for some more meds later, but first, I had a sister to go see.
I was a bit worried about the stairwell doors. I didn't think the rabbit could open them, and I didn't want to get off of him then have to climb back up. But the dust bunny had no problems with both doors. He broke through them like they were bread.
He tried to stop and chew on the third-floor door, but I drug his attention towards the stairs. Him and I were barely able to squeeze past the door frame; I had to bury myself into his pelt to avoid getting crushed. We did not, however, have the same problem with the first floor. When he slammed into the door, he took it and a chunk of the wall clean off.
Once I was on the floor I wanted, I slid down the dust bunny's side and onto the blood-stained carpet. I shakily rose to my feet, my legs being as feeble as twigs. Step by step, I hobbled down to the lobby. Like I had predicted, there, surrounded by a curious group of guests, was my little sister's human puppet. It was soaked in her own blood which was pooling from a huge gash in her abdomen.
Kneeling next to her with tear-stained eyes was her beloved human. She looked painfully devastated as if she was nothing but the grief she was feeling anymore. And hovering above the both of them was the rat bastard who killed her, both this time and the last time.
"You sa…you said you'd let her… her live a bit… a bit longer". Luz could barely speak.
"After she rejected you? She broke your heart" the killer gnarled. Suddenly that brought all of Luz's strength back. She rose to her feet before exploding.
"I still love her!" she wailed. "I just want her to be happy, and I want to be happy with her!". The young human then dropped back to the ground, once again completely drained. "Is that too…too much to ask?".
I stepped closer before the old witch could answer her. I shouted out what was meant to be a "hey" but was more an angry hiss. As soon as I made myself known, both Luz's and the killer's eyes shot open. The former rushed to my side and held me up.
"Miss Blight?" the hotel owner questioned. "Great titan! What are you–".
"Shut it!" I snarled. "If one more person asks why I'm out of bed, their heads'll get smashed in too!".
"I would just like to know what you want. You did holler after all".
"You want to know what I want?" I wryly snapped. I half successfully pointed toward the body slumped on the ground. "I want that".
"You… You what?!" the killer choked in surprise.
"You heard me. I still haven't been comen… com… pen… human!".
"Compensated" Luz finished sheepishly.
"Right! Compen-whatever! You broke my head!".
"After you broke my statue!" the killer bit back as he lit with rage.
"And Edric's working that off now, isn't he? Yet you break my head and I get jack diddly shit! I want condensation!".
"Compensation" Luz corrected again.
"That's what I meant!" I spat.
The killer didn't back down. He continued to stand tall, confident that he was in the right. And I did the same. I was sick and tired of laying around just waiting for something to happen. I wanted my sister back now!
"But she's dead. It's too late to save her now". The more he spoke the more his voice excitedly fluctuated. He was turning this into part of the show, wasn't he?
"Yeah, so? Everyone I've been talking to has been dead. Besides, you and I know what'll happen to that body in a week's time". I didn't wait for the cloaked witch to respond. My patience, which was already in little bits, shattered. "Or I could take her by force".
"By force?". As if it were right on cue, a loud bang came from the left hallway.
"Oh. I forgot to mention that me and Rusty are pretty close now".
"Dusty" the human, once again, corrected.
"Doesn't matter," I growled. "He's down here if you want to see him".
The crowd all shifted towards the entrances of the hallway. While chatter softly rose from them, some of the nosier guests began to walk that way. Panicked, the hotel owner rushed in front of them.
"Just give us a moment folks" he announced. He turned his back to his audience and looked towards me.
"Alright. You win" he grumbled. "Just get that dust bunny back upstairs".
"Pleasure doing business with you" I muttered sardonically.
The killer delicately picked up Amiyah's body while Luz grabbed my arm. The former rushed in front of us to shoo his illegal pet back up the stairs. Me and the latter? It took forever to get to the bottom of the stairs let alone go up them. After taming what was supposed to be a horrifying beast and arguing with a murderer, I had to be carried back up to my room, literally.
When my head finally hit the pillows…I would do anything not to feel that kind of pain again. Moans busted out of my throat without me letting them; my mind felt like a channel on a broken crystal ball. And there was nothing I could do about it except for wearing a washcloth on my face and wait for the pain meds to kick in.
"This'll all be over soon". My hoarse voice barely made it into the air. I turned towards my little sister, my heart aching for her. "We've just gotta hold on a little longer".