Breathing felt labored. It felt like I was being squeezed by the Warden again. The air came in small bursts. My vision became blurry. Linette I feel like I'll be sick…
I vomited. I stood still feeling like my world was crashing around me. I didn't even have the energy to wipe my mouth. It felt like if I moved an inch from the spot that I was in, the Warden would come crashing in yelling "Long time no see Prisoner 267!". I stood in my pile of vomit noticing how it spread out around my shoes. I didn't feel disgusted seeing it, just felt disgusted with myself. I could feel Linette shrink even further inwards. We shared that mentality shrinking in on ourselves. It felt like she was the lucky one. I was stuck on the outside while at least she had me to protect her. There was nothing protecting me. Linette lashed out with one of her tendrils pinching my insides.
Ouch! That hurt Linette. She did it again. Pinching me from the inside. Stop it! I could feel her flare up and then sink back in on herself. I'm sorry Linette. I was just panicking. Please don't be mad with me. You're the only one that I have. If you're mad at me then I'll truly have no one. Milinda probably hates us too now.
After standing still in that room for what felt like an eternity, I could hear footsteps outside. My insides lurched again reminding me that there was still probably those honeyed breads in there somewhere. The footsteps came up to the classroom door and then they opened it.
"Oh Sweetie, are you ok?" Milinda had a start seeing me standing there, but after seeing my face she came rushing over to me. She either didn't notice the pile of vomit or simply didn't care. She crashed into me, hugging me into her chest.
"Everything's going to be ok. I promise." She clutched me to her chest while I could feel the need to sob burble up. "It's ok Sweetie, let it out. I'll be here." She clutched me even harder. Damn. She gives great hugs. I sobbed into her arms. It felt like I was a child that was being consoled by their mother after falling down. I sobbed until there was nothing left to shed, soaking her dress in the process . I kept sniffling clasping onto her garment even tighter. "Don't… leave me… Milinda." I clutched onto her as tight as I could, but Milinda hugged me back harder. "Never baby."
We stayed like that for a while longer until she said that we needed to go get cleaned up. She laughed the whole time causing my worry to lessen. After taking me back to my room and changing me, she led me to the Mess Hall. Nothing looked appetizing. Every time I looked at all that food I simply picked at it. I couldn't stop thinking about Kris. That scene of the blood pouring from every orifice really did a number on my appetite. I think Milinda noticed this since she leaned down to my ear.
"If you eat your food maybe we can go see Young Master Kris." I ate everything on my plate. I walked sheepishly behind Milinda while she took me to go see Kris. Every horrible thought kept bursting into my mind. If she's bringing us to him maybe that means everything will be ok?
Milinda opened the door to the small nurses office. I stepped in behind Milinda who approached a very plain looking woman. She was sitting in a wooden stool mixing a concoction of different looking herbs. The vial looked like a vibrant green in nature, but even from where I was standing I could feel a familiar hum of energy. The nurse looked up from her concoction greeting Milinda. They engaged in short chatter while I stood looking around for Kris.
"He's doing much better now." The nurse acknowledged me, causing my eyes to flick to her. "Is… he?" I took a deep breath. Feeling my shoulders sag in relief. Linette unfurled herself bringing warmth as she did happy dances inside of me. "Can I… see him?" I asked sheepishly.
"Right this way." She moved a curtain showing a sleeping Kris. Besides a few labored breaths he did in fact look fine. I could see some crusted blood here and there but ultimately he was in fact breathing. Seeing his face looking fine really set me at ease.
Look! He's doing fine! Linette licked at my fingers trying to reach out to him. It felt like she wanted to apologize, but I snuck my fingers behind my back keeping her far away from him. I didn't want another accident to happen. Seeing Kris like that once was enough. "When… will he… be awake?" I looked from Kris' face to the nurses.
"Hard to say. His heart took quite a beating," she looked at my worried face and added "but he should be able to go back to class tomorrow." Milinda gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Thanks Mandi! I knew you were the gal for the job!" Milinda behind me smiled at the nurse. The nurse gave a curt chuckle. Then looked from her face to mine.
"No more experiments please Little Lady." The nurse gave me a stern expression. I nodded in enthusiasm.
"Let's get you back to your class." With that Milinda dragged me from the Infirmary and took me back down the hall. As we were walking down the hall I could hear shouting, but ultimately didn't think too much about it. Walking with Milinda always set my mind at ease. As we neared the shouting though I felt like I could recognize the voice. My blood immediately ran ice cold. Sweat ran down my back. My toes curled inwards. I didn't even realize my nails were digging into my skin. Didn't feel Linette uncurl all the way inside of me.
"… Seph?" Milinda who had stopped a few feet in front of me turned around. I could see her face go stern and white when she heard the shouting. She came over and knelt down in front of me.
"I need you to be strong Seph." She planted her hands on my shoulders giving them reassuring squeezes. I could tell though by the look of her forced smile on her face that she was also really scared.
"Does… he… scare… you… too?" Even though the sun was shining high above it felt like my teeth were near chattering at this point. Milinda forced a fake smile on her face. Her eyes though were stern. Very stern. Scarily so.
"I used to be Little Seph. That's a story for a different day though 'Kay?" With one final little squeeze on my shoulders she led me back down the hall. We entered a room that had sand for the flooring. The sun shone high above which did nothing for the cold sweat that dripped down my back. There in the center of the room was my one singular nightmare in this world. The Warden. He stood in the center of the arena style room yelling at the children who were running laps around the outside. As the kids passed by the entrance of the room I could see those wolffish eyes look onto mine. Then he smiled.
"Look, class! She finally decides to join us eh?" He started running over at a brisk jog. He stopped a few feet away from us sauntering over. Milinda next to me stiffened as he approached.
"Hello there little Mindy!" The Warden called out to Milinda. She straightened her back, plastering a fake smile.
"Hello Sir Maveson!" Her hand clenched my shoulder painfully at this point, but I didn't want to show this wolf that I was in any sort of pain. He knelt down in front of me, putting his face a few inches from mine.
"You're late. Run." He shoved his thumb behind him. I didn't want to leave Milinda alone with him, but the fear of the Warden was rooted too deep. I started running.
"If I come back and everyone isn't running then I'll have to do something to convince everyone to try harder!" The Warden shouted at the room. I was too busy trying to run to even think about what his words meant. I could hear the labored breathing of everyone around me. I didn't even want to think about how long they had been running for.
One lap. My legs are screaming at me. Two laps. My lungs feel like they're collapsing in on themselves. Three. Everything hurts.
I could feel Linette trying to touch the sore spots across my body, but the damage was too great. I was swinging my arms trying to encourage my legs to work just a little longer. After what felt like an eternity I could hear the Warden shouting from the entrance.
"Come get some water you fucking pests!" He shouted from the entrance. I looked over and didn't see Milinda anymore. I ran in the pack with everyone else to go get the water that was promised.
"Well it seems like everyone did a good job running, but…" He grabbed the first water. I could see small glints of ice in the water causing me to lick my lips. "Someone…" He tilted the water pouring it into the ground.
"Wasn't running." He made us watch as he grabbed the water pouring it into the ground. With each word I could feel Linette shrink in on herself. I could feel the energy from the group shrink in on themselves as well.
"What are you waiting for? Get back to running!" He shouted, causing everyone to flee. I ran with the group of kids, but everything was in intense pain. Linette went back to doing her original job, but even she seemed to be wearing out. As the sun started setting behind the building, and everyone was gasping for air, he finally called us back over.
"I'll see you tomorrow!" He then turned and left us there gasping for air. A few kids crashed to the ground gasping like fish out of water.
"God how can someone be so fucking awful?" I could hear one of the kids in the group whisper.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST HEAR!" The Warden turned back on his heel. He came rushing over to the kid that said it and kicked him in the stomach. The kid went careening into the sand clutching his stomach. The Warden proceeded to kick him in the stomach repeatedly.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?" Kick.
"You were pretty bold back there eh?" He knelt down grabbing the kid by the hair. I could see tears streaking down his face.
"I'm… sorry." The kid tried getting the words out through clenched teeth. Snot was running down from his nose.
"WHAT!? Speak up!" He slammed the kids face into the sand. He then lifted his face so he could see him. I could see sand sticking to his face where it was soaked by tears and snot.
"I'm sorry!" The kid yelled louder. The Warden dropped the kids face back into the sand standing to face us.
"I might have changed jobs from warden to teacher, but if one of you fucking rats ever say some shit like that again…" he looked each and everyone one of us in the eye stopping just a moment longer on mine. After scanning everyone's faces he continued "I'll fucking kill you." With that he proceeded back out into the hall leaving us all standing there. None of us went to check on the kid. None of us did anything but stand there, too stunned to want to even breathe. After a few minutes butlers and maids started pouring in. I waited for Milinda, but after seeing everyone pour in Milinda never joined them. Panic set in. Then finally I could see Milinda walking down the hall. Relief washed over me after seeing her. It dawned on me yet again how much I truly relied on Milinda in this hell hole of a place.
When I looked at Milinda's face though she had a grim line plastered where that smile was supposed to be. I used my sore legs to drag myself over to greet her.
"I… missed you… Milinda" I tried rising up the corners of my mouth to better match her normal face. Milinda seemed to be off somewhere distant though seeing as she didn't notice me at first.
"Little Seph…" she looked at what I can only assume as my grizzled appearance. "Let's get you cleaned up huh?" She tried smiling but it seemed to be failing her today. After getting me fed, bathed, and cleaned up she set me into the bed. The entire time she never had her smile return.
"Is… Milinda mad… at me?" I tucked the blanket up over my nose not wanting to see her reaction. What if she is mad at us? She looked into my exposed eyes. Her face still stuck in that grim expression. She let out a deep sigh looking away from me. The entire time my heart was racing. "No Seph. No, I'm not upset with you. I…" I could hear her voice cracking.
"I agree with you though. That guy sucks huh?" I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. It seemed that no one really liked him. It helped appease my feelings inwardly. "Did he… do something… bad to… you too?" I was staring at her profile as she continued to stare out the window. She turned to me, and looking into her eyes I could see that there was some darkness there, but didn't know what sort of nightmares haunted her at night. She took loose strands of my hair and tucked it behind my ear.
"Oh Little Seph…" she bit her bottom lip looking at my face. Took a deep breath and continued, "believe it or not but he wasn't that bad in the beginning. Him and I used to be friends. He's really… changed." Her voice caught at the word changed. She patted my hip signaling that she was done with the conversation, and I could feel Linette slithering inside seemingly wishing she could comfort her. Milinda stood up from the bed wishing me a goodnight. As she was walking to the door some deep urge called out to me. "Can you… kiss my… forehead?" I blushed inwardly but too scared that Milinda would vanish if I didn't keep looking at her. She stopped with her back still facing towards me. She turned on her heels, gave me a kiss on my forehead, and pinched my cheek.
"Goodnight Little One, and sweet dreams!" She nuzzled her nose against mine and left. Nightmares didn't chase me that night.