Lost In Lucidity

Little Blots of Nothingness

Claireese finishes sweeping up glass behind me as I stick the last few inches of tape over the garbage bag covering her window. Well, what used to be her window...

"I'm not ungrateful," She grumbles as she carries the dustpan to the trash and tosses the shards, "I just wish you didn't have to break my property to get my attention."

"Well, look on the bright side." I tell her, "Maybe now it won't always be so hot in here."

"You're the one wearing hoodies all the time." She smirks, turning back to me. When her eyes meet mine, she purses her lips. The sundance is almost fully faded now, although her snarkiness could have told me that. She's serious as she continues, though.

"Thank you, Wes... Really." She mutters in almost a whisper. The flower may have numbed the experience quite a bit, but I can tell she's still clearly rattled by what happened.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Claire nods. She hugs herself and skirts her eyes off to the floor before pivoting to face the couch, "Um, you too, Romero... Thanks..."

Val, who's been awfully quiet for the last few minutes, lifts her head from a vacant stare and clears her throat, "Oh, um, yeah. I didn't really do much, but... I'm glad you're okay."

"I can't believe I almost fell for it..." Claireese sighs, falling back onto the couch and burying her face into her hands. "If you guys hadn't been here, I would've probably... The door; I would have... and if I hadn't been high, I-"

"It knows how to get people." I say, crossing to sit beside her, "It can read thoughts. Even if you hadn't been high, it would have found something else to lure you with."

"Wes and I have both almost fallen for it before," Val tells her.

Claire's eyes flicker with fear, "Has it really been in the neighborhood that many times?"

Valentine, so eager to reassure, realizes her mistake, "Oh, um, not really, don't worry. It was back at the beginning, you know?"

"Oh, well... good." Claireese nods before resuming her staring contest with the vinyl tile. A stillness comes over the space for a long time before she smashes it with a gut punch, "Been a while since we've all three been together like this, huh? Just us, I mean." I can feel a sharp air fill the room, but it's not necessarily malicious. It's more of a shocking revelation that she's right.

"Yeah..." I agree.

Val just hugs herself and nods.

Claire smiles, "If only Leigh were here to see it. Little brat would be so tongue-in-cheek about it. Even with the circumstances. 'It really almost killed us to be in a room together again, huh?'" she mimics.

I can't help but smile too, "Yeah. She would have."

"That was the thing that did it, wasn't it?" she asks. Claireese looks up at me to reveal teary eyes that sap the remaining orange tinge away. "That was what killed her?"

I swallow hard, and Val turns her attention to a nearby window, "Yeah." I tell her, "It was."

Claire nods and hesitates, clearly also feeling the pain plaguing the room. Still, I think she's so emotionally compromised that she can't help but ask, "What does it do if it catches you?" I divert my eyes from her and open my mouth to respond, but nothing will come out. She wipes her own and quickly sputters, "S-Sorry, that was stupid- I shouldn't've asked that; I was just... I've spent so many nights wondering how she went, and now that I've actually seen what did it, I just... I don't want her to have gone painfully..."

I instinctively reach a hand out to touch her but catch myself before I can. Instead, I turn my posture toward her so she knows I mean my words, "It's okay, I understand..." With a deep breath, I steady myself, then ask, "You don't know the story, huh? No one ever told you?"