Knock... knock... knock!
Emily grunted, throwing a pillow over her head.
Knock... knock... knock!
"Fuck off!"
Emily rolled over in the bed. Her head throbbed like a thousand needles were poking at her skull.
"Emily of Leonore... wake the hell up. It's almost noon!" Rachel screamed as she banged on the door.
"Can you just give me an extra hour?" Emily replied, wrapping herself in the blanket.
"I will be back. I am going to find Sarah," Elijah said from the other side of the door.
"Okay, okay, I will get up. Anything but her."
Emily forced herself up, rubbing the bags under her eyes.
"ℐ 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒."
"Nobody asked you."
"Did you say something?" Shiyu asked, tapping on the door.
"I said I'm coming! Let me just brush my damn teeth!"
"Well, make it quick. We are leaving!" Rachel said.
Emily cursed under her breath. She lifted herself off the bed and shambled towards the bathroom. Her body ached as if she had spent the entire night drinking. She flicked the light on, then rubbed her face, then approached the sink. Her emerald eyes flickered with mulberry as she looked at her reflection.
"𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓁, 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒, 𝓈𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈. 𝒟𝒾𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝓁𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁?"
"I wish you would just fuck off. Haunt someone else or whatever the fuck you are," Emily thought to herself as she brushed her teeth.
Her reflection smiled.
"𝒪𝒽, 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓌?"
The mirror glitched around the edges.
"ℐ𝒻 ℐ 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒶 𝑔𝒽𝑜𝓈𝓉, ℐ 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓊𝓃𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊."
"So I am just schizophrenic then."
Her reflection cackled. "₦Ø₱Ɇ, ฿Ʉ₮ ₮Ⱨ₳₮ ł₴ ₩Ⱨ₳₮ ₴Ø₵łɆ₮Ɏ ₩łⱠⱠ Ⱡ₳฿ɆⱠ ɎØɄ ₳₴."
"Emily... hurry the fuck up!" Rachel yelled as she banged on the door.
"I'm coming... I'm coming!" Emily replied as she turned off the faucet.
"ł ₩łⱠⱠ ฿Ɇ Ɽł₲Ⱨ₮ ฿ɆⱧł₦Đ ɎØɄ Ⱨ₳Ⱨ₳Ⱨ₳Ⱨ₳Ⱨ₳Ⱨ₳₳!"
"I am going to go find myself a damn exorcist."
"𝒪𝒽 𝓃𝑜, 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 ℐ 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒹𝑜? ℋ𝒜ℋ𝒜!"
Emily rolled her eyes. She glanced around the bathroom.
"ɎØɄ ĐØ₦'₮ ɆVɆ₦ ⱤɆ₥Ɇ₥฿ɆⱤ ĐØ ɎØɄ?"
"I am not doing this with you."
"ØⱧ... ł₴ ₮Ⱨ₳₮ ₴Ø?"
Her reflection grinned from ear to ear. Glowing mulberry eyes followed Emily as she left the bathroom.
Emily opened her hotel room door. She tripped over her feet, gazing down an endless corridor bathed in mulberry light. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as her arms trembled. Her eyes widened as a creeping dread crawled up her skin like a million ants. Multiple doors lined the hallway, each with numbers that resembled binary code. The numbers glitched in and out of existence before revealing different numerical values.
"Oh, shit!"
A door creaked open. ℳ𝓊𝓁𝒷𝑒𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒾𝓃𝓀 drizzled down the wooden frame.
The fluorescent lights flickered like angry wasps in a jar. Portraits and statues that lined the hallway wept mulberry tears. Fake potted plants grew while water dripped from their vases. The hallway shivered like an earthquake. S̻̏tͫa͚̓͐t̀̀͢ȋ͚͜c̞ hissed through Emily's eardrums. An unnatural and jagged shadow made of stars and ink spilled onto the hallway's carpet.
P͍͗ͪͦ̌̆̋ḫͣ͊͢͠_y͓̹̳̠ͤ̄͟s̡̻͖̮͌ͬ̌i̋c̎s̷̴͈͍͇͆
broke
down
A girl who resembled Emily stepped through the door. She had long, wet black hair, streaked with teal highlights and scattered freckles. The star-speckled oversized black hoodie, ripped black jeans, and dirty black combat boots were identical to what Emily was wearing.
Her left eye swirled and glowed with mulberry. Flames crackled out of her glowing solar orange right eye that burned like the sun. Cracks spread across the white mask on the right side of her face, resembling porcelain glass that fell onto the floor.
A mulberry aura radiated off her body, warping reality,
and objects.
The portraits shifted
from landscapes to surreal paintings.
A
predatory down
smile walked
stretched across her face as she the hallway
Emily's heart raced. Her body trembled. A blood-curdling screech ripped down the hallway as the woman's fingers rubbed across the walls. The paintings on the walls trembled and glitched in and out of existence at the slightest touch from the woman's mulberry aura. Lights flashed overhead, bursting after the fractured masked woman walked underneath them.
"Shit... shit... shit!" Emily blabbered. She knocked over bobbles and antiques sitting on the table nearby as she tried to get on her feet. "I am dreaming... have to be dreaming."
"ⱤɄ₦₦ł₦₲ ₩Ø₦₮ ⱧɆⱠ₱ ɎØɄ," the heterochromatic-eyed woman mocked as she continued her approach.
Emily felt a pull on her body, tugging at her, making her legs feel heavy. Her body felt like it was sinking in quicksand as she tried to will herself to run, but her legs wouldn't move. Her arms twitched as she tried to reach for an item to defend herself. She then lost all control of her motor functions. Her body turned towards the fractured masked woman walking down the endless corridor.
"Wake up, Emily... wake the fuck up!"
The woman approached the front door.
Emily's eyes snapped shut.
"Oh, fuck!" Emily screamed as her eyes jolted open.
She sprang from her bed. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she breathed out through her mouth.
"Fuck... fuck.... the nightmares are getting worse.'
Emily laughed hysterically. She stared at the front door with wild eyes.
"Holy fuck... shit. Okay... I'm fine... I'm fine."
She rubbed her eyes and sighed as she leaned forward at the foot of the bed. Her eye twitched as she heard the doorknob turn. Emily turned towards the sound, eyes fixed on the doorknob. Mulberry light spilled into Emily's room as the door creaked open.
"Fucking shit," Emily mumbled. "I can't still be dreaming?"
"𝒫𝓁𝑜𝓉 𝒯𝓌𝒾𝓈𝓉."
Emily recoiled on the bed, snapping her eyes shut and curling into a ball. She rocked back and forth. She could hear the floorboards creak under the woman's boots as she approached the bed.
A sharp, burning sensation sizzled on Emily's cheeks. Her emerald eyes snapped open. She stared at Rachel with a bewildered gaze, then reached for her right cheek.
"Finally... what in the ever-loving PRIME were you dreaming about?" Rachel asked.
"This is real... please tell me this is real?" Emily asked. Her body dripped with perspiration.
"Relax, welcome back to the real world, kid. Had to bust down the door, though," Elijah explained, gesturing at the door that was ripped off the hinges. "We thought someone else was in here... heard another voice from outside."
"Another voice?" Emily asked.
"Yeah...you were talking to yourself in your sleep. We thought someone might have been in here, but it was you thrashing about in your bed like some possessed lunatic," Elijah explained as he lit a cigarette.
Shiyu approached the bed.
"Do you have frequent nightmares like that?" Shiyu asked. "It's okay, you can tell me. I won't judge you."
Emily shook her head. "It's nothing serious... don't worry about it."
"Looked pretty serious to me, kid," Elijah replied.
"I just have mental issues, guys … I haven't had a peaceful life."
"I get that … I have my own demons as well."
"Maybe we should take her to see a psychiatrist?" Rachel suggested.
"I am not having this conversation with y'all. Just forget you ever saw it," Emily grumbled.
"But Emily," Rachel replied.
Emily shook her head, got out of bed, and walked towards the bathroom. "Not having this conversation!"
She flicked the bathroom light on and then flinched. She looked up at the glowing, mulberry fluorescent light. Emily closed her eyes, then crumbled to the ground. She curled up in a ball. Tears poured from her eyes like a breached dam.
The room shook.
Items glitched
around
the bathroom,
then phased
out of existence.
The bathroom
window and mirror
shattered.
The heterochromatic-eyed woman crawled out of the mirror.
She then looked at R̓̄e̢͙͓̭ͪd͕͙̟̜̝͌ͣ̆́̐̓ac̳͍̣͋̾t̂eḋ̹͕͑̊ͭ.
"ℛ𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶 𝒻𝒾𝒸𝓀𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔."
"ℐ 𝒶𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝒹𝑒."
"The R̝͒ͣȩ͈ͧ͊d͚ͅạ̵c̴̟̙̅̉t̸̳͓e̸͋͗d̶̥̜ you don't see."
"ℐ 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓅𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓅𝓊𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝒾𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℐ 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒."
Emily did not respond.
The bath room
ripped apart around her.
"𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝑒... 𝓃𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓁."
"𝒩𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓈 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒."
"ℐ𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉....ℰ𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓎!?"
She cackled, then grabbed Emily by her hair, dragging her across the floor.
Emily screamed until everything went dark.
A sharp, burning sensation sizzled on Emily's cheeks. Her emerald eyes snapped open. She stared at Rachel with a bewildered gaze, then reached for her right cheek.
"Finally... what in the ever-loving PRIME were you dreaming about?" Rachel asked.
"This is real... please tell me this is real?" Emily asked. Her body dripped with perspiration.
"Relax, welcome back to the real world, kid. Had to bust down the door, though," Elijah explained, gesturing at the door that was ripped off the hinges. "We thought someone else was in here... heard another voice from outside."
"Another voice?" Emily asked.
"Yeah...you were talking to yourself in your sleep. We thought someone might have been in here, but it was you thrashing about in your bed like some possessed lunatic," Elijah explained as he lit a cigarette.
Shiyu approached the bed.
"Do you have frequent nightmares like that?" Shiyu asked. "It's okay, you can tell me. I won't judge you."
Emily shook her head. "It's nothing serious... don't worry about it."
"Looked pretty serious to me, kid," Elijah replied.
Emily opened her mouth but didn't respond because another sense of déjà vu struck her.
"How about some waffles while we talk about it?" Elijah asked as he flicked the ash off his cigarette.
"Do we really have time for all?" Shiyu asked, crossing her arms.
"We can take out," Elijah replied. "Besides, I would like to get something myself. Tyrial is a few hours away, and I don't want to drive on an empty stomach."
"Are you good with that, Emily?" Shiyu asked.
Emily sighed, then nodded. She rubbed her temples. Her skull throbbed like hundreds of wasps had stung her. "Yeah... sure, whatever, but can I talk to you real quick?" Emily replied, looking up at Shiyu.
"Of course, what is it?"
"Privately."
Shiyu nodded, then glanced up at Rachel and Elijah. "Could you give us two a minute? Perhaps pick up some food in the meantime?"
"Are you"You sure? You can share anything with us. We are all a team here... you don't have to keep secrets from us," Rachel suggested.
"It's not that I don't want to; it's more like you wouldn't even understand. Shiyu might."
"Because she is a Sage, right?" Elijah asked.
Emily nodded.
"Alright, Rachel, are you coming?" Elijah asked.
"I don't see why not," Rachel replied, then glanced at Emily as she followed Elijah. "Oh, Emily."
"Yeah?" Emily muttered as she made eye contact with her.
̶"̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶t̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶e̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶s̶e̶r̶i̶o̶u̶s̶l̶y̶.̶ ̶R̶e̶m̶e̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶m̶i̶s̶e̶?̶"̶
"˙ʇnoqɐ pǝʞןɐʇ ʎǝɥʇ ʇɐɥʍ ʇno ǝɹnƃı̣ɟ oʇ pǝǝu I"
A smile stretched across Emily's face before she erased it.