Morrigan’s tears left clean streaks on her muddied face. She was still leaning on Juro when they arrived at Alyssa's home; Juro stuffed his blistered hand into his pocket to hide it from both Morrigan and himself. The pain was barely manageable, but Morrigan needed him more.

They knocked on Alyssa’s front door, no longer worried about her parents, and they could hear Alyssa’s feet patter down the staircase before the door flung open.

“Morrigan, where were you?” Alyssa demanded with thrilling scorn until her eyes drifted over to her exhausted face. She sighed and her shoulders drooped as she walked over to lift Morrigan.

“Ah, wait,” Juro said, lifting up his normal hand to stop her. “Morrigan’s fire power is gone, and her other one is uncontrollable right now. Don’t touch her bare skin. I’ll take her up to her room.”

Elizabeth was standing at the top of the stairs, her arms crossed as she glared down at Juro struggling to help Morrigan. “You’re awfully weak.”

“Do you want to do it instead?”

Elizabeth remained silent, only moving to the side when they finally reached the top.

“She has a headache and is disoriented. After she takes some medicine she should be fine,” said Juro, clearing his throat.

Bruno quickly interjected. “I’ll go get her some medicine for her headache,” he said, rushing to the medicine cabinet and scouring through all the different labels.

Morrigan groaned when she collapsed onto her bed, shoes still on. “I’m really not that upset,” she said, “I was just disoriented. I’m seriously fine now.”

“Then can I lecture you on running away and locking your door?” Alyssa responded, a tinge of bitterness leaking through her melodic cadence.

“Actually, I’m feeling super ill. I should probably stop talking.”

Alyssa rolled up Morrigan’s pant leg and removed her shoes and socks to avoid the dirt from rubbing into the white bedsheets.

“That’s disgusting” Elizabeth interrupted, her nose wrinkling as her face contorted with disgust. She still stood with her arms crossed behind them, and her thick, furrowed brows made her look even more intimidating.

“Well, someone has to put them away,” replied Alyssa, throwing the socks behind her straight at Elizabeth’s face. “Bathroom to your right in the laundry bin,” she chimed.

Elizabeth angrily grumbled but complied, throwing the socks away. “I don’t get why I have to do it when Juro is sitting right there,” she angrily gestured, but a part of her was glad to finally be given something to do.

Juro was spinning in a chair, using his foot to slow down whenever he got too dizzy. He still hid his hand in his pocket, but he was preoccupied with questions about Morrigan — how could her mood have changed so drastically? A few hours ago she was enraged and ready to kill M.r. Brown and Adam, but now she was cracking jokes with Alyssa. Could it have something to do with the voice in her head? This was getting far too supernatural for even Juro’s outlandish theories.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

He got dizzy again and slowed himself down with his foot.

Bruno finally walked in, holding a cup of hot tea and a drug dealer’s stash in the other. “I wasn’t really sure what to bring, since there are twelve different bottles for headaches,” he said, dumping all of them next to Morrigan.

She laughed at the sight and rolled over onto her side. After taking the weakest pill, she sipped on the warm tea. Bruno and Elizabeth continued to entertain and comfort her while Juro and Alyssa stepped out of her room, shutting the door behind him.

“Alyssa,” Juro began, “do you want me to explain what happened today, or would you prefer to have Morrigan do it?”

Alyssa continued to walk down the hall before splaying herself across a muted blue couch. “Would it upset her if we brought it up in front of everyone?”

“Well, I don’t really know if she remembers everything clearly. It seems like she wasn’t really in control of herself, you know?”

Alyssa laughed, and the joyous ring seemed to fill the room. “We’re a lot like babysitters, aren’t we?” she said, still giggling as she hugged a pillow between her arms.

“We are babysitters at this point,” he agreed, leaning back into an adjacent chair. “I’ll explain everything to you, then. I don’t think Bruno or Elizabeth need to know, though. It’s probably best if less people know. I’ll stay the night to watch over Morr, but we should wait a bit before asking her about it.”

So, Juro explained everything to Alyssa — well, almost everything. He left out his relations to Mr. Brown, but he mentioned how he planned to meet Josephine tomorrow. He explained Morrigan’s attempt, her sudden breakdown, and his blistered hand.

“Oh my gosh,” she cried, jumping up at his grotesque hand. “You need to get that bandaged quickly before it gets infected.” Despite the concern in her face, a lack of authenticity seemed to echo within her words, as if she were preoccupied with questions swirling around her own head.

“Thank you,” he hesitantly replied, curious about the influx in her intonation. “We do need to tell the rest of them about going to the fundraiser the day after tomorrow.”

She nodded slowly while bandaging his hand. “And… you need me to get you in?”

“Yes. I do,” he replied assertively. Alyssa could only respond with a small shake of her head to reassure Juro.

When the pair reentered, Morrigan’s laughing eyes turned toward Juro; the old, radiant light was now reignited in her eyes and burned consistently. Yet, something else within them begged a question in their judgment. How much did you say, Juro? They seemed to ask, but Juro simply avoided their gaze.

Alyssa explained the fundraiser situation to the group while drawing out a logistical plan for transport.

“It’s best for all of you to stay here for the next two nights. Bruno, I know your grandmother needs you, so please head back when you need to. We will need you for the fundraiser event, though. I’ll provide all the attire.”

Before Bruno could answer, Elizabeth slammed her hand down on the table. “So we’re stuck here for a few more days?”

Alyssa politely nodded.

“Then let’s get wasted.”