Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
"Y ou don't know what underwear is?" I frown.
She slowly raises her gaze to meet mine as she shakes her head.
"This is a bra." I point to my chest. "It helps support your, ehm, breasts." I clear my throat. "And these are panties and, well..." I pause. I'm not even sure what exactly they do.
"Fascinating," she whispers, sparing me the painful explanation of what panties are. "I need one of these bras ," she says, her hands cupping her breasts and lifting them higher. Going back to the mirror, she checks her reflection, nodding to herself. "Yes, I need one as well."
As I button my purple dress, Thea rummages through the wardrobe in search of a bra, somehow finding a red glittery one to fit her. She's so happy about her find I don't have the heart to tell her that's a bra for an adult show, not one you'd normally wear under clothes. Discarding her blue dress, she soon finds a pair of red boy shorts that she puts on in an effort to emulate my lingerie.
"What do you think?" she asks as she admires the way her breasts sit higher and perkier than before.
"Uhm, you look good?" And she does. More than good. With her voluptuous figure, she looks like a model.
"I never knew of this contraption before, Luce. This is revolutionary," she marvels at the lingerie.
Shaking my head, I tie a belt around my midriff, going to the mirror to check how it looks. The dress is made out of silk, the color the lightest purple, complemented perfectly by the darker color of the belt. I turn right and left, a smile creeping on my face.
It's...pretty. Even better, the long sleeves and high neckline cover all my marks.
"You look so beautiful." She comes up from behind me. "This color suits you."
"Thank you." I smile faintly. Memories of Nikki and his little purple gifts intrude in my memory and make my heart clench with longing.
A lone tear falls down my cheek, but I wipe it away before Thea can notice it—although with how enraptured by her new finds she is, I doubt she would.
Oh, Nikki. If only you were here...
I may be thrilled to find out that there's a world beyond our knowledge, beyond the visible or even the fathomable. But without Nikki, it's all moot. I would love nothing more than to explore all this new and arcane knowledge, but it will never be the same without my best friend—without the only person in the world who completes me.
A sigh escapes my lips as I try to regulate my pulse.
It's okay. I'll have him again. I'll fight this until the end, and we'll be together again.
A strangled noise makes me turn around, my eyes widening as I see Thea on her knees, her eyes red, her claws extending.
"Thea?" I ask tentatively.
She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. She brings her clawed hand to her neck, the sharp tips penetrating the skin and drawing blood. Yet her blood...it's not red. It's a swirling silver that drips down her skin, shiny particles sparkling in the dimly lit room.
"What's happening, Thea? Is it the demon? Is it here?" I get to my knees in front of her, my features a mix of worry and helplessness as I watch her without knowing what I can do to ease her suffering.
She shakes her head.
"C—" She opens her mouth. "Ce?—"
"Your brother? You want me to call your brother?" I quickly ask.
She gives me a pained nod just as more of the silvery liquid pours down her neck, nestling into her cleavage.
Panicked, I get to my feet, dashing out the door as I call out for her brother. I feel the pressure of the barrier for a brief moment before it dissipates and I'm out of the dressing room.
"Cer?"
"What are you doing here?" he asks in a low, chilling voice as he appears in front of me—almost as if out of thin air.
"It's Thea. I don't know what's wrong with her..."
His eyes flash for a second before he dashes into the dressing room, finding his sister writhing on the floor.
"Damn you, Erithea," he rasps. "Didn't I warn you this would happen? You little fool."
She raises her head slightly, letting out a throaty groan as she reaches out with her clawed hand toward him.
Shaking his head, he bends to gather her in his arms, her claws automatically lodging deep into his skin.
"What's wrong with her?" I ask, biting my lip in worry as I take in the drastic change in her appearance. That silvery liquid continues to flow out of her wounds, her face losing color. Where she was so lively just a few moments ago, now she's barely alive.
"The meat. She knows she's not allowed to eat it, but she does it anyway. And this time..." He stops himself. "You foolish girl. This is what you deserve for stuffing yourself with that bacon."
Thea releases a choked sound, which some might take as agreement, but knowing she hates agreeing with her brother, I'll interpret it as a protest.
"What can we do? How long will this go on? Is she in any danger? Do we need to call an ambulance? But we can't get out and..." The questions pour out of my mouth as the most awful scenarios fill my mind.
"She'll be fine," Cer grits out. "Wait in here while I tend to her. And don't leave the room. Understood?"
I blink, slowly nodding. He doesn't acknowledge me as he storms out with his sister in his arms.
What does he mean that he needs to tend to her? Why not do it here? Where are they going? The questions fill my brain as I stare at the open door.
Taking a deep breath, I plop myself on the chair, folding my hands in my lap.
What just happened?
Why was there silver flowing out of her wounds?
Too many questions and no answers.
Around half an hour of pure worrying passes before I decide I can't stand still anymore. While Cer tends to Thea, I can at least take care of my little ghost problem. Thea said that it's harder to initiate contact with new spirits, but I don't have anything to lose. In fact, the mere thought that Nikki could be attached to me, wandering around the halls of the theatre, all ripe for plucking by that damned demon, makes me want to hyperventilate.
"Nikki? Please, if you can hear me, give me a sign," I say aloud as I pace around the dressing room.
I'm not even sure if a spirit can leave the object it has attached itself to, but at least I can warn him about the danger.
"Nikki? Are you there?"
Minutes on end pass as I utter plea after plea, but they all go unanswered.
I release a sigh as I fall back into the chair, watching the gossamer fabric of the dress swoosh into the air. Such a pretty dress. If only Nikki were here to see it, too.
My lips tremble lightly as I stare at my wedding ring and the commitment it signifies. I'd promised to be by his side, in life and in death. He'd promised it back, too.
So where is he now?
Why isn't he here when he promised me?
"You said you'd never leave me," I utter a broken sob. "You said you'd never leave me," I repeat, louder this time. "You promised , Nikki. You gave me your vow. So why did you? Why did you leave me?"
Breathing hard, I clench my hands, fisting the material of the dress. A light rip echoes in the air and I still, almost paralyzed. Slowly, I gaze down, noting the tear in the light fabric.
"Oh, Lord." I let out a cry of frustration.
Getting to my feet, I reach behind to undo the belt. I need to take this dress off before I do more damage.
As I struggle to untie the knot, a light, pulsating noise reverberates from the side of the dresser. I half turn, frowning. Maybe it was just my imagination. I focus again on undressing when a bang on the wall makes me jump up in surprise.
"Jesus," I whimper, half scared to death.
Not a couple of seconds later, and the same pulsating noise resounds in the room, almost as if someone is knocking on the outer wall in small, precise beats.
My hands fall to my side, the belt still intact. I take a few steps toward the dresser, parting the row of costumes to the side to reveal the wall. I stare at the blank patch, the darkness even more pronounced in this corner. When I don't notice anything else amiss, I make to step back.
Thud.
I stop, blinking.
Thud.
This time, the sound is louder and coming straight from the wall in front of me. Pushing more clothes to the side, I step deeper into the wardrobe, letting my palms be my guides when my eyes are not of much help. I feel around the wall in an attempt to decipher the odd sounds it's emitting—my foolish heart perhaps thinking it might be a sign that Nikki is near. At the same time, though, my rational side knows that I'm still within the barrier Cer had created and not only is there no way for the demon to breach it, but it stands to reason that Nikki wouldn't either.
I purse my lips, letting out a small sigh as I nestle against the wall, placing my ear next to its surface.
"Is it you, Nikki?" I ask wistfully.
My eyes flutter closed as I lean back, placing my entire weight against the wall. The rack of clothes is like a rich foliage that cocoons me inside, the light from the dressing room a faint flicker at the end of the tunnel.
I breathe in and out, calm settling over me as I rest my back against the wall, my palms hot against the cold wall. Still, I imagine a warm presence caressing my senses, wrapping me in its protective embrace and vowing to never let me go—to never leave me again.
Inhale. Exhale.
A light push and a deafening sound penetrate my eardrums. Then I fall. My mouth opens with a scream as the void swallows me up. But it's not for long as my bones crack in the eerie silence of the night. The pain is as sharp as it is sudden as I hit the ground.
I roll on my back, a low howl of pain wheezing past my lips. My eyes are wide open, yet I cannot see anything. There's only darkness—and a lingering flicker of light up above. Did I... Did I just fall from that height?
"Damn it," I mutter as I make an effort to get up. Pain erupts in my joints, and I grit my teeth against the sudden weakness in my knees.
Turning, I look right and left in an attempt to figure out where I am and what the hell happened. I don't let panic overtake me, doing my best to keep calm despite the fact that I'm in a dark room, outside of the protective barrier, where the demon could very well come for me.
"Damn your curiosity, Luce," I chastise myself, mumbling a few curses for good measure. Of course I had to investigate the sound of that noise, only to find myself trapped in a hidden room within the wall—and above ground!
Bringing my hand against my chest, I bang it over my heart.
"You foolish girl," I mumble, shaking my head at myself. So lost I was to the possibility that my Nikki would be around that I'd lost sight of all the other potential dangers— and the fact that someone could have made those noises on purpose.
A frisson of awareness goes down my back, and a sliver of fear spears through me.
Someone or something made that noise. It wanted to draw me here. And like the lovesick fool I am, I fell right into its trap.
Gulping down against the anxiety rising in my chest, I realize I need to act fast and find a way out of here. Given my dim vision, the only recourse I have is to feel my way around and hope for the best—clearly not a very optimistic course of action, yet the only one I have at the moment. I stretch my arms out as I walk a few steps forward, and my fingers graze a piece of metal. Frowning, I wrap my hands around the metal bars, realizing it's a staircase—an old, rusty, industrial-type of staircase.
Realization dawns on me. It's a secret room. God, but had I fallen just a little to the right, I would have hurt myself a great deal more than I already did.
"Thank God there's a staircase," I whisper, already raising one leg so I can climb up. Yet I don't make it more than one step up the ladder when a cold gust of wind blows against my neck, my hair flying forward.
My eyes widen just as my heart starts hammering in my chest. Without looking back, I keep climbing, hoping I'm fast enough to evade whatever's behind me.
Another gust of air hits me, yet this time it has a certain warmth to it. A light scent wafts forward, one that speaks of comfort, lightness, of... home.
I freeze.
My self-preservation be damned as my heart pounds in a mixture of anticipation and relief. And following the cues of my body, I slowly turn.
At first, I don't see anything—not with how the darkness seems to swallow everything up. Slowly, though, particles of dust light up, creating the vague outline of a body.
I blink once. Twice. I bring one hand to rub at my eyes, convinced I must be seeing things. But no. It's real.
The shimmery dust I've seen before is here again. And that means...