Like Walnuts and Black Licorice // The Countess x Ramona Royale

The way you haunt my dreams

The soft touch of lips, light as a feather pressing against her forehead stirred Ramona in her deep sleep. The sound of an all too familiar heartbeat and her favorite scent, black licorice, began to permeate her senses as she slowly came to.

"Good morning," Elizabeth's voice greeted her softly, prompting her to slowly open her eyes to the brightness of the day and smile at her girlfriend who was tenderly stroking her arm.

"Hi," Ramona whispered and met Elizabeth's lips in a soft kiss, followed by a tender "I love you" from Elizabeth.

"I love you, too," Ramona replied, a warmth spreading in her heart. "How is Bartholomew?"

"Bartholomew is good," Elizabeth answered enthusiastically and smiled. "He's waiting downstairs. I made you breakfast. Come join us?"

"Of course," Ramona nodded and got up out of her bed, putting on her robe as she followed Elizabeth out of her bedroom and down the stairs of her house into her kitchen. The white walls made the chandeliers glisten in the sunlight that shone through the stained glass of her windows.

As Ramona walked into the kitchen, she saw Bartholomew sitting in a highchair holding a rattle and gave him a kiss on top of his head. Bartholomew squeaked in excitement and shook his rattle, bringing a smile to Ramona's face. She had never seen him in an environment this bright.

"Here you go," Elizabeth rasped as she placed a glass full of fresh blood in front of Ramona.

"Thank you, baby," Ramona responded and picked it up to take a revitalizing sip.

"I'm so glad you're safe," she added and sighed in relief before bringing the glass to her lips again.

The smile on Elizabeth's face faded as she stared at Ramona. "But... I'm not."

Ramona let out a confused chuckle. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not safe," Elizabeth repeated.

"Why?" Ramona asked and put the glass down.

"I have AIDS," Elizabeth stated as if this was a fact that Ramona should've been well aware of. But Ramona's heart dropped, an immediate cloud of anxiety swallowing her as she tried to remember when Elizabeth told her this before.

She shook her head. "No, no. That can't be. You were careful. You were always careful. We were both always careful," she stuttered.

"Not careful enough," Elizabeth retorted matter-of-factly.

For a moment, Ramona couldn't feel anything at all. Her senses went numb, replaced by a quiet but tenacious ringing sound in her ears, before she snapped back to reality.

"It's fine, they can treat it. There's medication for it now. I read it on the internet. We can keep you alive," Ramona remembered.

But Elizabeth's expression turned into a frown. "Ramona. It's 1985. There is no medication."

What? Ramona was even more confused than before. This couldn't be true. What was going on? She turned around but she was no longer in the kitchen. She was standing in the middle of Elizabeth's penthouse at the hotel.

"Elizabeth?" she asked panicked and walked up to the bedroom to look for her but she wasn't there. "Elizabeth?" she repeated as she checked the bathroom, the closet and every other room, too.

When she still couldn't find her, she paced towards the elevator and went down, stepping out into a random hallway when it stopped. But the doors on each side did not look like hotel room doors. As she walked down the hallway to look into the rooms, what she saw were hospital beds instead.