antebellum [t. riddle]

xxvii.

december 1944

the potion was perfect. as perfect as it possibly could be. 

after sicaria had pulled the glass out of her skin and closed all the wounds, her room was still in complete disarray when she woke up in a pool of blood on sunday morning. 

the comedown was always worse than the withdrawal, so she always made sure to be asleep during it. the potion was designed to get her through the withdrawal. she uncorked the vial and downed it quickly. it tasted like lemon juice, and somewhat made her throat tingle as it went down. 

she held her breath, waiting for the potion to take affect. for a second, she felt absolutely nothing but disappointment, thinking that it hadn't worked. only a moment later, her body felt so tired for a minute that she started to panic, searching for a bezoar because she thought she was dying, but then, the feeling in her limbs returned, and her body felt completely normal. 

she smiled, widely. this was the best gift the universe could've given her. 

she waved her wand quickly, reorganizing her bookshelf, repairing the ripped parchments scattered about, banishing the dried blood, getting rid of the glass, and repairing her ripped skirt. she peeled the dirty, sweaty clothes off her body and stepped into the shower, cleaning the night off of her as she tried to recall everything that happened the previous night and morning. she stuck her head out the shower and looked at her watch, seeing that it was 3 p.m. on the dot. she decided that she might as well skip dinner as well. she was starving, but she had no desire to leave her room at the moment.

while the potion cured all the physical effects that would come with a withdrawal, it did nothing to improve her mood. she found herself being gradually dampened as memories from the previous night began to flood in. 

she was sitting on her bed, lazily writing an analytical report for macusa when a memory from last night killed her contentment entirely. 

explain why you told me to ask her instead of taking her yourself.

so many options on how to explore this little plot twist. she found herself turning over her options, but all of them seemed to end in another fight and since they'd be spending christmas together, being in a fight would be the last thing they needed.

still, she needed a why. why did riddle ask rosier to take her? why did rosier oblige? why didn't riddle ask her himself?

she sighed, running her hands through her hair in frustration. know when to choose your battles. she pushed all the anger into the back of her mind and decided that unless they screwed up again, she'd just let it go. for now.

the following morning was a monday. she felt her stomach collapsing in on itself.

"morning," she said, slipping into her seat at the table. surprisingly, riddle was here before she was today. they all looked shocked to see her. she did her best not to react as she felt the cloud of dark magic once again hovering around them. she wondered if they had been experimenting, or doing a set of rituals, but she killed her curiosity immediately. if they were diving into dark magic rituals, she didn't want to know.

"mor-" nott started, but was cut off by rosier. 

"where the hell have you been?" 

she looked at him questioningly. "in my dorm?"

"for two days straight?" he continued when she nodded. "what about food?"

she pointed her fork at him. "hence why i'm eating right now. have i missed anything important?"