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It was small, to be sure. Intimate, which made her nervous. And her dislike of small spaces would have to take a backseat to the more important issues right now.
Whoever had arranged the small room had done their best to make it comfortable. Two individual cots, with a table in the middle and a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. Fresh covers for the beds and in the corner, someone had thoughtfully hung a canvas flap taken from one of the tents to form a kind of private space.
The room had all the small attention to details that would make Amelia feel more comfortable. If she had to guess, she would say Michelle had a heavy hand in the design. She said a silent thank you to her sister, instantly wishing they could talk.
But from the look of things, she was in isolation for now, at least until they were sure she wasn’t dangerous. No visitors, other than Roan, who’s feeling were coming through as clearly as a voice. He was downright uncomfortable at the moment. But to his credit, he didn’t outwardly show it.
There was no door to the room, but a piece of plywood that fit perfectly over the open space, affording them sanctuary from the curious and prying eyes of the rest of the Colony. It also kept her contained. She wasn’t naïve.
Just walking across the main hall to their room was a spectacle. So many comments that included either her or Roan's name. Thankfully she couldn’t pick apart which comment came from which person as she felt her anger rising. The gossip was starting to really piss her off.
Inside the room and away from the noise, it was easier to focus her hearing on the quieter sounds, like their slow and steady breathing, or the burning of the filament inside the single bulb. She noticed that there had been more at one time, hanging along the cord on the ceiling, but that they had been thoughtfully removed. The lighting was dim and easier on her eyes. Again, she said a silent thank you to Michelle.
Anatole had left some time ago, Ambrose promising to keep him apprised of anything notable. Her things had been brought to their room, and some of the Colony members had generously donated a pile of things for Roan to use.
Alone together and struggling for conversation, awkward silence hung above them. “I’ll have to leave here soon, the sun’s about to be up,” Roan said as Amelia sat down on her cot.
“Oh, of course. I completely forgot about that,” Amelia said, embarrassed. “I’ll be fine. I have my sister and my mother if I need them. But to be honest, I’m tired after the long night, and it’s nice to have a place where I can be by myself. Not forced to socialize if I don’t want to.”
“I understand. Larougo are very social, but sometimes it’s nice to be by myself,” He paused. Waiting.
“Do you want to ask me anything before I leave? Anything about your Larougo side?” He asked, trying not to pry.
“Actually yes. Can I see your fingers? Or can you look at mine? Do I need to worry about that?” She asked. She tried not to think about how lightly he took her hand, or how amazingly sensitive his fingers on her skin felt to her now. Even her sense of touch was heightened, she noticed.
He moved her hands this way and that, looking under her fingernails, pressing gently on the nailbed. “I don’t feel anything like mine, here, feel,” He said, showing her where to press.
Under the skin where his nail met his finger was a slight hump. Running her fingers over it lightly she could feel it immediately.
Her head snapped up as a thought entered her mind. “Wait! I have to go with you, don’t I? Do I? Am I going to change when you do, during the day?” She asked panicking. Another thing she hadn’t thought of until now.
“That’s a good question. I don’t know, hold on,” He said standing and moving to the door. “Ambrose!” He called out through the wooden door.
Within seconds her grandfather appeared, sliding the plank over just a bit. “What’s wrong? What is it?” Amelia could finally get a read on him this time. Concern. So his grumpy ass did care, a little.
“Amelia brings up a good point. Considering that she most certainly has traits of both bloodlines, there is a possibility that she could turn come morning. Which should be soon,” Roan said.
Ambrose looked at his watch. “About thirty minutes, I would say, and we’ll find out,” He said with trepidation.
“Okay, I have to leave anyway, as we discussed earlier. Let Amelia come with me to the door of the tunnel. Leave the door open. If she does turn, she can run with me. If not, I’ll come back at nightfall, as promised,” Roan said.
Ambrose considered the options for a moment, which were few at this point. His emotions flickered between fear, worry, and concern. “Alright, let’s go. Quickly,” He said, pulling back the door all the way, letting them out of the room.
Roan grabbed Amelia’s hand, leading her to the tunnel entrance, ignoring the stares as they navigated through the crowd. They were jogging, close to running down the corridor. Waves of nervous energy flowed from Roan as they continued on. . .
“You better hurry, I can feel the sun,” He called behind him.
They were close to the door as Amelia raced past him, twisting the handle, flinging it open. The iron door landed heavily against the outside ground, but to Amelia, it felt as light as a feather.
Roan dropped to his knees just short of the stairs. As he groaned, she heard what sounded like bones breaking, and skin tearing. She turned to see him contorted, transitioning. She gasped at the sight. A look of agony crossed his face as it began to change. His body covered in thin hair, growing thicker.
She did a physical inventory of herself, feeling her face, and running her hands over her smooth skin. She wasn’t changing. At least she didn’t think she was.
Roan continued his torturous transition, writhing as the sun from the East hit her eyes, causing her to seal them shut against its brightness.
All at once the sounds of pain subsided and she dared to squint into the light. She caught sight of Roan’s dingo form as it shot past her into the day. She stood squinting and watching him run, waiting to see if anything might still happen to her.
Several minutes later, she turned back to the stairs. She grabbed the door from the ground and swung it over the top of her as she headed back into the ground. She made sure to secure it before heading back toward the heart of the Colony.
She was grateful for not having to change. She felt sympathy for Roan, who seemed to be in agony while he made his transition. She did check her fingernails again, and to her surprise, she now felt the small lump beneath the bed of her thumbnail. They were longer than they had been before too.
She also tasted blood. Feeling inside her mouth carefully, she did feel one set of sharp teeth. The ones in the front, not the Garkain teeth in the back.
As she slowly made her way, deep in thought, a shape caught her attention further down the tunnel. Ambrose, she realized, making sure everything was alright.
“Amelia?” He asked cautiously into the dark.
“It’s me. I’m ok, I didn’t turn,” She said continuing on but not rushing. Even from this far away she heard him exhale and felt his relief.
“Roan is gone, I shut and secured the door behind him,” She said as she passed him, on her way back to her room. She felt like being alone right now anyway. The only person she could have contact with was gone. It would be just her in the closet all day.
Ambrose let her pass without a word. Maybe he could sense her lack of wanting to talk right now. Whatever the case, she made it back to her room and pulled the wooden door back into place.
A wave of exhaustion hit her as she realized she hadn’t slept since yesterday. If she calculated right, she’d clocked maybe six hours of sleep total for the two days. Not exactly well-rested. And she felt it.
She had to concentrate to block out the noises from the main chamber, but the wooden door helped a little. Because of the sheer exhaustion from both her time awake and the events of the past two days and nights, she fell into a deep sleep within minutes.
What must have been a gentle knock at the door sent her springing from her bed. Her first instinct was to hide, to press herself against the back wall. Some danger she was, she thought snidely.
“Who is it?” She said softly, as her ears adjusted.
“It’s me, Michelle. Can I come in?” She asked cautiously.
“I think, I mean, it’s okay with me. I’m okay,” She stuttered.
Michelle slowly slid the door over just enough to squeeze herself through. Amelia squinted against the light from the great hall, streaming in through the crack.
“Eyes are still really sensitive, sorry,” She said as she opened them again, blinking and letting them re-acclimate. Michelle hung by the door. An unmistakable wave of wariness emanated from her.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Amelia said.
“I know,” She paused, then moved a little closer, sitting on the very end of the bed nearest the door. She was still guarded, scared, and cautious. “We haven’t seen each other since you Unbound. I just wanted to check on you.”
“A socially appropriate answer would be the typical ‘I’m fine’. But honestly, I’m anything but fine. I’m really scared. And I know that Ambrose is too. He’s hiding something. I can’t feel his emotions like I can yours and everyone else’s,” She confided.
“Ambrose is rare. He’s spent decades and more putting that wall in place. No empath can get through it. Not my mother, and not me, even now. You seem to have an even stronger gift than we do, and if you can’t get through, no one can,” She said simply.
“I can, a little, at times. He’s worried and concerned. I think he does care what happens to me, or at least I feel he does. Can you feel what I’m feeling now?” Amelia asked her sister, a little afraid to hear what she would say.
“I can feel your fear. I know that you’re scared about something. But you have a bit of a wall too. That could be the Larougo side of you. Garkain can’t use our gifts on any of the Larougo pack. I can sense bits from you, but not a full feeling, it’s like a fractured picture,” Michelle said. “Everything is kind of half and half it seems. At least from what I’ve picked up from the conversations.”
“What is everyone saying?” Amelia asked, not really sure if she actually wanted the answer or not.
“Mostly generic observations, about the Unbinding. How no one’s seen anything like it. Speculations that you have superpower hearing, everyone’s been whispering, thinking that you can hear and see through walls,” She laughed. “Nothing bad, just idle gossip,” She said with a face.
“Yeah,” Amelia said. “That’s kind of starting to get to me to be honest with you.”
“I don’t blame you, and believe me, I shoot them the evil eye when I hear them talking about you,” She said smiling.
“There is something new. Here, let me show you,” Amelia whispered, moving closer to Michelle and sitting in front of her. She felt her sister’s anxiety skyrocket, her fight or flight response in overdrive. “I wish you weren’t so afraid of me. It makes me sad,” Amelia said as she started to tear up. Being close this whole time, she wondered if she’d ruined that, when Unbinding was only supposed to bring them closer together.
“I’m sorry, I can’t help it. My emotions are on overdrive right now too,” She said apologetically.
Amelia could understand that, but it still made her worry about their close bond that had formed. By becoming a part of the Colony, she never thought she might be risking her relationship with her sister.
“I get that, I do,” Amelia said. “But I miss you, and I need someone to talk to. I feel like a freak. Like everyone is scared of me, and maybe they’re right, I don’t know. But I just feel . . . alone.” Amelia let her emotions come through, tears running down her cheeks.
Michelle came to sit by her, hugging her close. “I’m not going anywhere I promise,” She said.
“I have to show you something. I would ask Roan, but he’s gone. Look . . .,” Amelia said as she raised her pointer finger. “My nails are longer, and if you feel, right here, there’s a gland. Under the skin like Roans.” She held her finger out for her sister to touch.
Michelle flinched and pulled away. “Amelia don’t tell anyone else about that. Okay? Trust me,” She whispered, looking around.
Amelia’s nerves were back in high gear as she moved closer to her sister, who kept inching away. “Why? What’s wrong?” She asked, still keeping her voice low.
“It’s a Larougo weapon, against us. It’s also why we keep the door shut to the outside during our celebrations, and why Garkain live far away in the city. Just to err on the side of caution. Even though we have a truce, accidents have happened.
“That gland, at the base of your nail holds a poison. If it were to get into our blood it causes a terrible madness. Hallucinations, despair, pure terror. Most Garkain don’t survive, and if they do, some effects are permanent. That is your most dangerous Larougo trait. The one they hoped you wouldn’t get,” Michelle said with gravity.
“Is there a cure? An antidote?” Amelia asked, pulling her hands back and tucking them under herself.
Michelle nodded. “The blood of the Larougo that injected the poison. But because the venom only appears when they’re in dingo form, it’s hard to tell who it was. From what I’ve been told, and you can ask Roan about this, they don’t remember much about the days when they come back into human form. So even they can’t tell who it might have been. Let’s just keep this between us, ok?” Michelle said with a shy smile.
“I heard Anatole say something about this when we were alone the other night. That I may be immune and that if Roan and I were to have children, they may be too,” Amelia said, thinking for a second.
“Hold on, and be quiet,” She whispered as Michelle’s eyes went wide.
“What are you doing?” She whispered.
“Shhh . . .” Amelia pulled her hands from under her. “How long before the madness sets in?” Amelia asked.
“I’ve never seen it happen myself. Only heard about it. But I think it’s pretty quick, maybe immediate,” She said.
“Let’s see,” Amelia said, quickly slicing through her wrist, drawing blood with her sharp nail.
“Are you crazy?” Michelle nearly said a little too loudly.
“We’re about to find out,” Amelia said as she stood and moved to the farthest wall again, sitting with her knees pulled to her chest. She looked down at her wrist, the wound completely healed up.
“Well that’s interesting,” She mused.
“Oh, we can’t die, so our wounds heal right up. But not from a Larougo scratch. Not typically. Then again, you’re not typical. Anything yet?” Michelle leaned a little closer as she kept her eyes steadily on Amelia.
“Wait, do you see the pink goblin in the corner too?” Amelia stifled a laugh as Michelle actually turned her head to look.
“Not funny, you brat,” She said stifling a laugh of her own.
Amelia was glad they could get back to a less formal conversation. She did feel isolated in this room by herself. It was so nice to show Michelle that she was still the same Amelia. Or mostly the same, anyhow.
“I don’t feel anything different,” She said. “That’s good, right?”
“I would take a chance and say yes. Considering everything so far has reacted slightly different with you, I’d wait to celebrate. And look, I’m technically supposed to be staying away from here, so I have to go before I get in trouble. You slept most of the day though, so Roan should be back pretty soon,” Michelle said, standing up and taking a chance again. She walked over to Amelia, hugging her tight, then quietly snuck back out the door.
Amelia laid back down on her bed, looking around the room, waiting. Maybe she was immune. Hopefully Roan would know more about it, have more input. He seemed to know what he was talking about at least. She wished he would hurry up. She smiled, realizing, that she did miss having him here. A little.
After another hour or so of waiting, his voice came through clearly from the other side of the door. “Decent in there?” He said. Humor in his voice, and excitement in his emotions.
Amelia let herself smile. “Yes, I’m good. Come on in,” She said. “Boy do I have something to tell you. Let’s just say, I’m glad you’re back.” He moved in and hugged her tightly. And she really wished he didn’t have to let her go.