Discoveries | TMR | Three

5:0

Sunlight streams through a narrow gap in the window, piercing Adeline's dreams as it dances across her eyelids. Stirring in her sleep, she turns her head on the pillow, only to be met with a blinding flash of light that jolts her awake. Her eyes squint shut, and her face contorts in response to the fiery rays assaulting her vision.

With a groan that echoes the frustration of being roused by an explosion of orange and yellow, she instinctively pulls back, muttering a curse under her breath. "Fuck," she hisses, finally opening her eyes wide and raising her hand to shield herself from the relentless brightness.

A flicker of movement at the doorway draws her gaze, and she squints in that direction. There's Maggie, or at least the back of her, crouched by the door, rummaging through her backpack while munching on something.

In that moment, the air thickens with an unsettling tension, heavy enough for Adeline to feel a constriction in her throat. With deliberate slowness, she sits up, carefully pushing the quilt aside as she swings her legs over the edge of the bed. Her knees bend slightly, instinctively preparing for confrontation, and she quietly retrieves a knife hidden beneath her pillow. "M-Maggie-."

Maggie whips around with such intensity that Adeline swears she hears a crack in her neck. The blonde's legs crumple beneath her as she stares wide-eyed at Adeline. "What?"

Adeline barely registers Maggie's response; her arm instinctively thrusts the knife forward, bringing it dangerously close to the girl's head. Time seems to freeze as Maggie's eyes widen in shock, and she instinctively recoils.

"Jesus fuck, Addy, calm down!"

A deep, trembling breath escapes from Adeline, echoing in the stillness around her. She releases her knife, letting it clatter to the ground, and sinks down until her hands grip her knees tightly. "Damn it, Maggie," she breathes, her eyes fixed on her own feet. "I thought you were a fucking Crank."

Maggie, her mouth stuffed with food, replies, "Nope, I feel just fine." She gulps down the granola bar - Adeline's granola bar - almost in a single bite."And anyways, if I were a Crank, don't you think I'd go for you instead of this?" She holds up the empty wrapper and wiggles it.

"You forget our conversation already?" Adeline asks, a wave of relief washing over her as she raises her eyes to meet Maggie's. "Cranks don't go for me."

Maggie gives a casual shrug, one shoulder lifting slightly. "I reckon I would've."

"Funny." The words come out as dry as dust in the wind.

She settles onto the floor, legs crossed, just a few feet from Maggie, her inquisitive yet wary eyes darting over the girl. The wound on her shoulder has been neatly bandaged, hiding the scars of whatever harm was done, but there are no ominous purple veins snaking across her skin. No signs of warts or blisters forming around her neck. Her green eyes glint like shards of glass, devoid of any redness creeping in from the edges, and her demeanor?

Surprisingly... cheerful, if Adeline were to be frank.

"Why'd you keep looking at me weird?" Maggie's voice slices through the stillness.

"Because you were fucking bitten?" Adeline retorts, her tone laced with confusion. "And you saw your-."

"Ah ah ah," blonde interrupts, playfully wagging her finger in Adeline's direction, her smile stretched a bit too wide. "We ain't gonna talk about that."

"But Maggie-."

"Addy, I swear to fuck, do not make me hit you again."

"Sorry."

"And anyways, I feel fine."

"Do you?" Adeline raises an eyebrow, sensing that the girl might be teetering on the edge of madness, rather than 'fine'.