Not too much.
Just enough to cut a hole through the net.
The rest of it can stay.
A scream cuts through the silence as I begin to siphon their power, drawing my gaze to the bright, white light coming closer.
Yes, I know her.
“Come back,” the whisper rises from the depths again. “Come back to me.”
It’s nothing to release the power in my grasp.
I sink down, down, down, until I can feel the cold rain and mud coating my skin. Until the scent of petrichor fills my lungs.
And then I’m nothing.
I want to stay in the nothingness of my dream, but awareness assaults my senses as I rise from the depths of sleep.
There’s a rhythmic beeping coming from behind me.
A lightweight blanket covering me.
A warm weight in my lap.
When my eyelids finally crack open, it takes a few moments before I recognize the ceiling of the Medical Center.
Why am I in the Medical Center?
Why is there a fucking cat on my lap?
The thing looks like it’s recently lost a fight or twelve, but despite the scars and dents on its white fur, it starts purring when I jostle it trying to sit up. A nurse opens the door to my room as the beeping behind me picks up, illuminating the cat’s eyes.
One blue, one green.
Huh.
“Oh, you’re awake. I’ll get Dr. Mercer.”
“Wait—” but she’s gone. I lean back on the bed, and the cat lays its head on its paws, kneading the thin fabric. I take inventory while I wait: no broken bones. No cuts. I’m not feeling nauseous or sick.
I’m… fine?
The cat’s still staring at me when Dr. Mercer knocks and walks in. She frowns at the animal in my lap as she shuts off whatever’s beeping behind me and helps sit the bed up.
“Nyx,” she says with a tight smile as she starts taking my vitals. “How do you feel?”
“Uh, fine.”
“No headache, dizziness, anything like that?”
“No?”
“Okay, great.”
“Why am I here?”
“I’ll let the Headmaster explain once we clear you for visitors.”
