Sleep with the Lights On ✔️

2. Sleep in the Underworld

          Cassie woke delightfully rested but the chill that had settled in her body made her feel a little numb. She stumbled out of bed and padded her way down the hall. She felt alert and rested, something she hadn't felt in months. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept so soundly.

          She could hear someone moving around the apartment and assumed it was Peros, her saviour from the day before. She couldn't help but beam from the absence of dread and fear she had usually woken up with. She knew she still hadn't fully come to terms with her situation, but at least Peros seemed to want to help her. Maybe now, with her refreshed outlook, she'd be able to comprehend exactly what was going on.

          Cassie heard the whisper of a tune and followed it. Someone was singing as they cooked. There was a doorway off the living room that seemed to lead to the kitchen. She poked her head through the door, "Good morning, Peros" She said brightly.

          "Peros isn't back yet" a reedy voice sang. A barely humanoid looking girl stood before the stove. She was well over six feet tall, but as thin as an insect. Her eyes were insectile as well, they were faceted like a house-fly and glittering dark blue. Her creamy white skin was without a blemish or wrinkle but seemed to be on a little too tight. Her light blue hair was arranged around her head like candy-floss, just as thin and just as fluffy. She looked ethereal and stunning. She was terrifying. Cassie opened and closed her mouth in awe, she didn't know what to say to the girl. "I'm Essylt." The girl said, putting a hand on her bony hip. Her arms and legs seemed to have too many joints, but she moved like a ballerina.

          "I'm Cassie," Cassie replied.

          "You're the human," Essylt stated. Cassie nodded, unsure of what else she could do. "After I make lunch we can talk about your ... situation." Her voice lilted with an unusual rhythm and her eyes flicked down, giving Cassie the once-over.

          "I don't mean to be rude, but what are you" Cassie said gingerly, careful with her tone and trying to sound polite. Cassie winced, she definitely sounded rude.

          Essylt simpered, shifted her weight and shook her shoulders to reveal clear film wings unfolding behind her narrow shoulders. "I'm a Sprite," She sang pridefully. Cassie stared in awe at the unusual girl. Her wings were iridescent and so fine that at some angles Cassie could barely see their shimmer. Essylt seemed to tire of Cassie's amazement and abruptly turned back to fixing lunch.

          "Cassie?" Peros' flat voice called through the apartment.

          "Yes?" Cassie answered as she slid into the living-room to see Peros holding an unmarked plastic bag. 

          "Here's some stuff for you to blend in better," Peros said throwing the plastic bag at Cassie's chest. He offered a small smile. She caught the bag and thanked him. Cassie stared into the bag and shivered. "That cold that's got you, it's the underworld. The longer you stay, the colder you'll get." Peros said, his shoulders hunched and his pale eyes intently staring at Cassie.

          Cassie shivered again and hurried past Peros to the door she hadn't opened yet and assumed was the bathroom. She was right and found a shabby bathroom in the same dreary gray colour scheme. She rummaged through the bag and found a shirt a pair of pants and a sweatshirt. 

          She hadn't seen much of the fashions of the underworld, Essylt had been wearing a tattered sort of sundress while Peros wore a sort of henley shirt and black jeans but everything seemed to be constructed differently.

          The sweatshirt was simple but unlike anything Cassie had ever seen before, The hood was huge and buttons ran from the left shoulder to the bottom of the sleeve, while the pants were strangely-panelled jeans. The material of the items was soft and thick but not like cotton or fleece. Cassie put the clothes on and examined herself in the mirror. She still looked like herself, her long dirty blonde hair was bed-headed and her hazel eyes were still shadowed with dark circles.