Strings - Camp NaNoWriMo 2017

«Castle in the Woods - 3»

Neither awake nor asleep. Not quite feeling, yet not quite senseless, either. When was night, when was day? What was a dream, what was reality?

Aurel couldn't tell anymore. The next few days (Weeks? Months?) passed in a blur of colors, emotions, and whispered words. She drifted off into a state of in-between. All was safe, all was warm. She avoided the burden of having to commit to one side or the other. Asleep or awake - it didn't matter. What was inside the room was reality. Everything else wasn't relevant. Herself. Selphie. The rows upon rows of books, scrolls, potions, and tonics. That was home.

When Aurel did wake, she never knew what was in store. Multiple times she had been aroused by a sudden, stabbing panic, one that gripped her and bound her with searing chains. She never knew the cause of the attacks - only that Selphie would always be there, at her side immediately, before she even had a chance to cry out. "Sh-shh..." Selphie would whisper as her fingers danced in the air. Her eyes were closed as she weaved and pulled at invisible strings, easing the pain.

Twice Aurel awoke curled up next to Selphie's sleeping figure. She had a smile upon her face as she rested, tucked in close for warmth. Aurel paid her no heed, simply shifting to accommodate and going back to sleep.

The two talked a lot, as well. Most of the time, Aurel was content to listen. Selphie's words lifted veil after veil of mystery, and things that once dumbfounded her now seemed ordinary and plain, simply everyday occurrences.

"You don't see the strings," Selphie would explain, "but I do. They connect me to you, you to me. I've done all I can to strengthen them, and add more." She trailed off. "Now... you're like my puppet. I can make you feel anything, do anything." Selphie smiled mischievously and reached her hand up in the air, using her thumb and forefinger to tug gently. All of a sudden Aurel was filled with the unbearable urge to please, to do something for Selphie, and make her proud. "You know, you're a really great listener," commented Selphie, and Aurel surged with pride. Selphie laughed. "See."

As the days wore on, Aurel began to gain back her consciousness. Things became more clear, her thoughts less hazy. She came to know the creature in the corner, the one that resided in a small, battered birdcage in the corner of the room. "Biscuit," Selphie called him. She would call, and he would fly at her, perching on her outstretched arm.

Biscuit was a peculiar creature, a cross between a lizard and some small woodland bird. He was missing a front leg, and his tiny, scaled head was scraped and scarred. A pair of brown wings protruded from his back. "Isn't he pretty?" Selphie would say. "I made him myself."

Aurel didn't know what she meant by that, but smiled anyway, stroking the reptile's back. The little creature was quite friendly, and held still while being handled, sometimes climbing onto shoulders and across laps.

Sometimes Aurel would wake up alone. Everything would be still, not a sound to be heard. She would slip out of bed, and weave her way through the objects littered all over the ground, and try the door. It was no longer kept locked.

One day Aurel stepped outside, her bare feet making no noise against the carpeted floors. Deciding to venture out farther than she was used to, she pattered down the steps, entering the kitchen. To her surprise, Evelyn was there, making herself a kettle of tea.

"Hello," said Aurel, coming closer.

Evelyn turned around, startled. "Oh. Hello." She gazed at Aurel with her large, soft eyes, an almost worried expression on her face.

"Do you know where Selphie is?" Aurel queried with a friendly smile.

Something resembling concern flitted across Evelyn's features. "You could leave right now," she said softly. "You could walk away, and never return. Go back to your family, your friends. Why do you choose to stay?"

Aurel tilted her head, confused. "Family? Friends? Why would I leave? It's nice here. It's warm, there's food, and I have a place to sleep." She fingered a lock of hair. "Selphie already said I could stay. She said I could stay forever."

"Aurel? Aurel, are you there?" called a voice just as Evelyn opened her mouth to respond. Selphie rounded the corner. "Oh, there you are." She was wearing her work clothes, brown shorts and a loose-fitting green tunic that brought out the color of her eyes.On her waist rested a thick leather tool belt. She was holding her hair up with her hands, attempting to tie the mess into a ponytail.

"Do you realize what you're doing?" suddenly burst out Evelyn, sounding close to tears. "You're robbing her of her entire life. She had friends. A family. But you've stolen it all. She lives here now, obeying your every command, lying still in that little laboratory of yours so that you can play your silly games." Then she tore her gaze away, going back to what she was doing before as if the outburst had never happened.

Selphie's hands dropped. Her chestnut-brown hair spilled over her shoulders. "Like you've ever cared about morals," she growled. Aurel flinched back.

"What are you saying?" countered Evelyn, just as fiercely.

"You know what I mean," sighed Selphie, letting some of the malice in her tone drop away.

Evelyn scoffed, reaching for a cutting board. "Do you really want to start this argument again, Selphie? Whose power is the most ethical? Don't you forget what got us banished in the first place." She began to aggressively chop a cinnamon stick into fine bits.

Selphie threw her hands up in a sign of defeat. Then, after a moment's hesitation, she walked closer to Evelyn. She placed her arms around her, wrapping her in a loose but gentle backwards hug.

"Don't," warned Evelyn. "We're far past those days, Selphs."

"Yet you still call me by my old nickname," said Selphie, drawing away with a sigh. She began to head back, draping an arm around Aurel's shoulders. The gesture calmed Aurel down a bit from the riled mood she'd been in, caught in the middle of Selphie and Evelyn's passive-aggressive argument.

"Don't waste the cinnamon," called Selphie over her shoulder as they walked away.

"Um..." started Aurel. "Is everything ok with you two?"

"Never mind that," said Selphie, brushing it off with a smile. "Today is going to be about you." They entered the familiar room.

"Today we're starting something special."