Subterra Heart

Chapter 14: Tess Ritty

Tess's head hurt. It was like a terrible wound had opened up behind her eyes and festered. The pain was down to a dull throb for now. She couldn't stop coughing. After falling down the stairs, she'd crawled as far away from the statue as possible until she'd found a rubble-filled corner to curl up in. Her ankle wouldn't support her weight. It'd swollen up like a grapefruit.

She was scared. She couldn't process what she'd just seen. That massive statue and the box of black dust – what were these things? The memory brought up a wave of nausea and chills, but under that, intense curiosity. She tried to piece together the images that were already fading. Quickly fading. There were fractured pictures of a cat-person, and Bug jumping into the dust. Living dust. Why were her memories fading? Tess doubled over in another fit of coughing. The movement jarred her ankle and sent hot, throbbing pain up her leg.

Why was she here?

It wasn't like Tess had tried landing herself in this mess. She was just too stupid to keep herself out of trouble. Why hadn't she caught Bug for the vet, or refused to follow Garret, or...or... Her memories were slipping again. She couldn't remember what else she'd done before coming to this cavern. She didn't know how much time had passed. The digital clock on her shae band was too bright to look at. Maybe she'd blacked out at some point, but she couldn't remember. Another fit of coughing wracked her chest, and when it passed, Tess leaned back against where the pile of rubble met the cavern wall.

Is this bloodrot?

Tess screwed up her face and shook her head.

"No," she whispered, "Not happening. No more stupid pity parties. Tess, you are not going to cry," she told herself. Even so, she couldn't help but whimper a bit. Tess knew precious little about Cynwrig's bloodrot, except that people could catch it by leaving Heart. Flores Greens hadn't had a case in years. Nobody talked about it, except to tell stories to frighten children out of exploring too much. But, what else could this be?

The headache flared up again behind Tess's eyes, and she clapped her hands against her skull with a gasp. This hurt. Everything hurt. She coughed again, curling up even tighter into her corner. The nausea got stronger, and her heart started racing.

"Meow."

Tess froze at the sound. She switched on her shae band's light, and the thin bit of brightness burned her eyes. But the outline of a cat was clearly visible before her. Tess was hit by an overwhelming sense of wrongness, and her body tried scrambling away before she had a chance to think. Her ankle throbbed again, and Tess cried out in pain. The cat before her took a step closer as Tess fought to control herself. It was definitely Bug. What had happened to her?

"Get back!" she hissed.

Bug flicked her tail. She flashed her very white teeth in a cat-like grin. Tess's heart felt like it would thump out of her chest. She started coughing again, and Bug purred. The cat was toying with her.

Somewhere up above, a rock tumbled loose, clack, clack, clacking its way down. The noise cut through the silence like a knife. A soft grunt followed, and then words.

"Who's there?"

It was a tenor male voice – he must have heard her. She held her breath, and her body shook with silent coughs. The voice sounded familiar, but she was having trouble coming up with a name.

"Bug?" he called out.

In response, Bug gave a trill little meow. She stepped closer to Tess, flicking her tail back and forth. For a split second, Tess was tempted to strangle the cat. Instead, she collapsed further into her corner. Bug was Marina's cat. Tess should be happy to see her. But there was a reason to be afraid – not just afraid. Terrified. Disgusted. And Tess couldn't pinpoint why.

More rocks tumbled loose from above, and the voice called out again. Tess had nearly forgotten about him.

"Bug?" he said. "You in here?"

A pair of boots landed on the floor, and Tess could hear them thud their way towards her. A yellow light strobed through the air, and Tess squinted her eyes shut. It was bright enough to hurt.

The boots stopped a short distance from her, followed by a quick gasp.

"What the – Tess?" said the voice. "What are you doing here?"

So he already knew her. Tess let her shoulders relax a bit while Bug purred happily at the newcomer. Even so, something about him still felt off. She kept her guard up, and kept her eyes sealed tight against the light.

"I don't know," she admitted. Her voice sounded hoarse. There was a rustle of clothing directly in front of her, and the stranger's light hit her face, turning the backs of her eyelids bright red. Tess sucked in a quick breath. It hurt.

"What happened to you?" he asked. His voice was close to her face. Tess shook her head and turned away. She had the urge to cough again, but she held it in.

"I can't remember," she said through gritted teeth. "I don't even know who you are." She waited for an answer, but there was none. A short burst of static interrupted the silence.

"Yeah, Lenny," muttered the man, "I'm here – no thanks to you. Hang on a sec." He must have had a radio – and a strong one too for it to work this far outside of Heart. That wasn't good. There was more static, but the man cut it off quickly.

"Yeah? Well guess what, now's not a good time," he said. Tess was listening carefully. The name "Lenny" was so familiar it hurt. She frowned. Lenny...Leonard...Leonard Rocha. Which meant...

"Your name is Connor," she said, abruptly. "You are the man that Marina Ritty speaks of...Matteo Rocha's grandson." Her words sounded foreign against her lips – like they didn't belong to her. Strange. She didn't think she was supposed to speak so mechanically.

Connor took a moment to respond. "Um, yeah," he said. He sounded uncertain. Tess wasted no time.

"Get the cat away from me," she said. "There is something wrong with her."

There was another silence, and then the rustling of clothes as Connor stood up.

"Yeah..." he said. "Stay here, I'll be back."

She waited quietly, listening to Connor's footsteps fade away as he took Bug with him. The nausea faded with them. She had to remember what was wrong with him. It was important. She wracked her broken memory until it came to her. Just a fragment.

"Connor Rocha for parlin, thirty doses of a half mil each...Rochagorosis?"

Satisfied, she stood up. The pain in her ankle was gone. She had what she needed to know, and now it was time to leave.