Corrupted Timelines

Patching Together

Ina didn't live with her parents. Her parents were both Korean and had moved back to their home country last year. So Ina lived alone in a small-ish apartment near the middle of town. It wasn't that small, it had two separate bedrooms and a full kitchen and bathroom. There was even a living room that contained a nice couch and tv. Amelia had been over a few times, but now was different. She'd probably be staying here for a while.

The car ride to her house had been mostly silent. In the few words that were said, Ina said that she had the rest of the week off, but Amelia had as long as she wanted. Amelia appreciated the time Ina was taking to help her out.

Amelia sat on the edge of the bed for a long while. The fear of her own dreams kept her from sleeping. The horrible laughing from the Priestess filled her mind during every silence. She wanted to drown it out with music, which Ina supplied until she inevitably went to sleep.

Eventually, she fell into a mostly dreamless sleep. A few sounds and images haunted her, but it only made her wake up in a cold sweat the next morning. It wasn't actually the morning, though, it was two in the afternoon. She must've been up extremely late the night before.

She didn't hear any movement outside of her room. Making her way out into the living room, she didn't see Ina anywhere. Amelia was thankful that her friend had let her sleep so late, but where was she now? She wandered into the kitchen soon after.

On the kitchen counter, Amelia saw a note that read, "Ran to get some more food, didn't have Inaugh food for both of us:)" A smile crept onto her face for the first time in a while. Ina always had a way to cheer her up. Amelia turned on the TV for some background noise and tried to distract herself the best she could.

The door to the apartment eventually opened later in the day. Ina was back from her shopping trip. She was being careful to not make too much noise in case Amelia was still asleep.

"I'm awake now," Amelia recoiled slightly from how coarse and rough her voice sounded. All that crying last night had done a number on her vocal cords.

"Oh, how are you feeling Ame?" Ina called back out to her. Amelia got up from the edge of her bed and walked out to the living room again. Ina saw how disheveled she looked. "I'll take that as not very good."

"Heh, I'm at least feeling better than last night. It's amazing what a night of sleep can do."

"More like a night and morning of sleep," Ina joked back. Amelia smiled.

"What'd you buy?" Amelia made her way over to the bags Ina had brought in.

"Some ramen, chicken, pork, a bunch of vegetables, and a box of those energy bars you always bring to school." Amelia thought about how weird it was for her to have paid attention to the last item, but understood that it was out of kind observation and nothing malicious.

"Sounds good, " she replied. Ina's expression shifted to one of nervousness.

"The police called earlier, they asked if you wanted to grab some things from your house," she explained, "I told them that you would probably not want to go back there and I would give them a list."

"Yeah, you're right," Amelia said quietly. She began to think about what she would need.

"I'm sorry for kinda making a decision for you..." Ina's voice faded as the words left her mouth. She was pretty guilty about her actions.

"It's fine, you know me well enough, so I would've done that anyways," Amelia calmed her friend's nerves. Ina smiled warmly.

Amelia was very thankful to have someone so caring and friendly, like Ina, as a close friend.