Teraphobia (ONC 2024)

Twelve

I awake to the sound of nightingales.

My body feels heavy, and my eyes are struggling to open. I can feel someone running their fingers through my hair. The motion is comforting, and relaxing, and reminds me of my mother. After the haunted house, I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. The sound would wake my mother in the next room, she would run in and lie down. She would bring me into her arms and run her hands through my hair. She'd sing softly chasing away the lingering fear that would nestle itself inside of my chest. It took time for me to fall asleep after one of my nightmares. It didn't matter how long it took. She would stay, she would sing, and she would run her hand through my hair until peace found me.

My eyes flutter open. I recognize the Medical Attendant, remembering her from when I first came to Mother's Eve tower. I take in my surroundings. I'm back in my room in the tower. I feel my hair being moved off my shoulder, and featherlight lips brush my collarbone. I feel a pinprick sensation at the base of my neck. My body relaxes, and my inner voice reassures me there is nothing to fear anymore. We are home. We are safe.

"I did not see you at dinner last night." Mother Eve whispers in my ear.

I can feel my heart stutter in my chest, and Fear's Phantom coil wraps itself around it. My conscience screams at me to remember what she is. My conscience begs me to remember what she has done and what she is capable of. It pleads with me to remember what Sparrow told me. I am the Virtuoso; I have the power to stop her. I can feel tears in my eyes, they're not from the pain. I can't feel pain anymore.

Yet another thing she has taken from us.

I choke back a sob, the Medical Attendant looks at me with concern in her eyes, or is it worry? I can't tell, my brain is having a hard time trying to decipher my emotions. I can feel their absence, my remaining emotions are struggling to compensate for their absence. I wish I could tell them there's nothing that can be done.

"I will confess, this is my first time being stood up." She continues.

"I'm sorry." I look down at my hands.

Sparrow's betrayal has left me hollowed out. He'd been my bodyguard for years. He'd been the first one to make me laugh. He always brought a smile to my face. He was the one I went to when the Fear became too much to handle. I was having difficulty processing why he would go to such extremes to pursue his revenge. I jump, feeling Eve place one hand on top of mine. The other tips my chin up her eyes look like purple spirals now and I fall right in.

"I did not know of Adam and Waylan's connection to Doctor Huxley." She states. I can hear the truth in her words. In the brief time I had known Mother Eve, I had come to a few conclusions of my own. She and I were kindred spirits, we had our voices stolen by men who sought to use us. Eve was always honest with me. She kept her word. Could I forgive her for taking my emotions away from me?

"Did you know?" I ask quietly.

"I'm afraid you're going to need to be more specific." She caresses my cheek. Her touch is soothing, it's awakening something in me that I've never experienced before. I lean into her touch, I want to know what this feeling is.

"Did you know that I am the Virtuoso?" The moment the words are out of my mouth I wish I could take them back. Her hand vanishes, she rises from the bed and begins to pace.

Her hands are trembling now, she's speaking so fast I can't catch a word. I slowly get out of bed, searching for the emotions I have left. I felt no devotion towards the woman in front of me. If the prophecy was true, then I could end this. Vampire lore was self-explanatory, a steak to the heart or decapitation. I was certain there was a weapon somewhere in the apartment.