So I'm not used to how much fuel I need.” I closed my eyes a second and felt the black magics in her. They tasted so much like Ella's. Did Ella somehow... make her? Share her curse? Who would do that to someone they loved? But then again, I didn't understand human nature very well, I spent so little time of my existence as one.
Red then announced that we needed to sleep, as per Parker's orders. She looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand between the beds. It was close to noon. “We can regroup at four o'clock to debrief.” Four hours? Did they not need to sleep much like me? She seemed to answer my unasked question. “We can't indulge too much if we want to sleep tonight. We need to get back into a normal sleep pattern for the rest of the month.”
With that, Gretta and her... pack... left to the next room. Ella and Parker claimed a bed. I stood near a corner, but Daria curled up on the floor at the base of a bed and Mari laid down on the floor, using the wolf as a huge fluffy pillow.
I looked at them all and moved haltingly toward the other bed. I looked at them all and they didn't say anything as I reached out and felt it with my hand. I sat in the middle of it, marveling at how soft it was. I had always slept in the mountains on beds of leaves or more recently, in the DOD base, a suspended concrete slab with no blankets. It had been so long since I slept on a proper bed.
Parker stretched and asked, “You want to go first, Rose? If not, I got dibs on the shower.” Go first? First what? Was there a social convention to sleeping? Did I forget so much? She prompted as she pointed at the door at the back of the room. “Shower. To get cleaned up before you sleep.”
Oh yes! My cell had running water. A sink and outhouse in one fixture, and a pull chain for cold water showers over the little brass drain in the concrete floor of my cell. It was the only thing I enjoyed about my voluntary imprisonment.
I smiled and hopped up and went to the door and looked inside. This may be a seedy inn, but it was much nicer than my cell. After a minute, I figured out the shower, and the water was hot! I stood under the water and soaked the heat in, it was amazing. Finally, I shut it off and grabbed a towel and dried off. I looked at my clothes and smelled them. Rank. They smelled like me. Smelly, poison, yuck, stink.
I started the shower again and piled my clothes in it. I often wondered why my clothing and mother's cloak had not disintegrated over the centuries. Was it the contact with my cursed skin? Like how they never tore when my vines exploded through them and me. I scrubbed them then put them all over the rail to dry.
I grabbed one of the two robes hanging on the door and pulled it around me and looked in the mirror. There was the monster. Pale, almost white skin, eyes glowing violet and my lips looked almost green. Sickly was the only term for the girl I saw. She was almost pretty, if it weren't for all the unnatural tones and how she was looking at me with her head cocked more like a bird than a human.
I ran my fingers through my wet tangles of hair to look a little presentable, then I stepped out of the small room and scurried to the bed, remembering not to use my vines to move. They were all staring at me as I pulled the covers up on me.
They were looking between the Red Hood and me. Daria was too, then pawed Mari's shoulder, who just nodded and said, “I see it.”
Parker said, “The resemblance is uncanny.”
I was feeling self-conscious and Ella caught onto my unease. “You're a bloody vision, Rose. A true beauty. If we didn't know better, we'd say you were Red's sister. You look almost like bloody twins.” I looked at Mari, who removed her red cloak and look at me. She was so pretty. I blushed. Did I look like her? Were we in some way related? I know we both shared Romanian heritage. I
Red then announced that we needed to sleep, as per Parker's orders. She looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand between the beds. It was close to noon. “We can regroup at four o'clock to debrief.” Four hours? Did they not need to sleep much like me? She seemed to answer my unasked question. “We can't indulge too much if we want to sleep tonight. We need to get back into a normal sleep pattern for the rest of the month.”
With that, Gretta and her... pack... left to the next room. Ella and Parker claimed a bed. I stood near a corner, but Daria curled up on the floor at the base of a bed and Mari laid down on the floor, using the wolf as a huge fluffy pillow.
I looked at them all and moved haltingly toward the other bed. I looked at them all and they didn't say anything as I reached out and felt it with my hand. I sat in the middle of it, marveling at how soft it was. I had always slept in the mountains on beds of leaves or more recently, in the DOD base, a suspended concrete slab with no blankets. It had been so long since I slept on a proper bed.
Parker stretched and asked, “You want to go first, Rose? If not, I got dibs on the shower.” Go first? First what? Was there a social convention to sleeping? Did I forget so much? She prompted as she pointed at the door at the back of the room. “Shower. To get cleaned up before you sleep.”
Oh yes! My cell had running water. A sink and outhouse in one fixture, and a pull chain for cold water showers over the little brass drain in the concrete floor of my cell. It was the only thing I enjoyed about my voluntary imprisonment.
I smiled and hopped up and went to the door and looked inside. This may be a seedy inn, but it was much nicer than my cell. After a minute, I figured out the shower, and the water was hot! I stood under the water and soaked the heat in, it was amazing. Finally, I shut it off and grabbed a towel and dried off. I looked at my clothes and smelled them. Rank. They smelled like me. Smelly, poison, yuck, stink.
I started the shower again and piled my clothes in it. I often wondered why my clothing and mother's cloak had not disintegrated over the centuries. Was it the contact with my cursed skin? Like how they never tore when my vines exploded through them and me. I scrubbed them then put them all over the rail to dry.
I grabbed one of the two robes hanging on the door and pulled it around me and looked in the mirror. There was the monster. Pale, almost white skin, eyes glowing violet and my lips looked almost green. Sickly was the only term for the girl I saw. She was almost pretty, if it weren't for all the unnatural tones and how she was looking at me with her head cocked more like a bird than a human.
I ran my fingers through my wet tangles of hair to look a little presentable, then I stepped out of the small room and scurried to the bed, remembering not to use my vines to move. They were all staring at me as I pulled the covers up on me.
They were looking between the Red Hood and me. Daria was too, then pawed Mari's shoulder, who just nodded and said, “I see it.”
Parker said, “The resemblance is uncanny.”
I was feeling self-conscious and Ella caught onto my unease. “You're a bloody vision, Rose. A true beauty. If we didn't know better, we'd say you were Red's sister. You look almost like bloody twins.” I looked at Mari, who removed her red cloak and look at me. She was so pretty. I blushed. Did I look like her? Were we in some way related? I know we both shared Romanian heritage. I
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