Tell No One

Chapter 38

Kiera did not attempt conversation as Mera lead them through the halls. Kiera trailed behind, lost in thought, not really thinking about where they were going. Suddenly, she reached forward and gently tugged on the back of Mera's suit. He stopped to turn around.

"Yes, Kiera?" Kiera's voice was raw from her earlier emotional outburst.
"Termination." It was all she could do to croak out that one word. She had heard the servants say the term earlier, and she wanted to know what it meant. Thankfully, Mera got what she was asking, and gave a knowing nod.

"Ah, you want to know what it is." Kiera nodded enthusiastically and rushed to keep up when he started walking again. His long legs carried him far further in far less time than Kiera's did, and she found herself exerting twice the effort to keep up. "Our time in the Abyss is limited. We stay here for a while before we enter the abyss itself. That hole out front?" Kiera gave a nod in acknowledgement. "That's what this whole world is named after. Everyone has a termination date. Most people cannot wait for it- termination is exactly as it sounds. It is the great nothingness that so many people on Earth believe in. If you're sent to the Abyss, you're given a period of stay before you die for real. You know- a period of time of which to serve Ramatee-" Kiera caught the sidelong glance Mera threw her way and dreaded to think of what service she was going to have to give to him. "But once that is up, in you go. The worse you behaved on Earth, the longer the sentence you get- except in special cases. but you know, it must be a relief..." Kiera caught the wistful gaze in his eyes and felt her heart sink a little. They walked a bit further in silence before Kiera breaks it again.

"Mera, you're not..." Kiera didn't meet her eyes. There was no sparkle in his voice when he replied.

"No. It's not anywhere near my time." He gave a humourless laugh. "I'll still be around a bit longer." Kiera gnawed on that particular piece of information in her head. Will he be around to see her 'termination'? Will she have to watch his? 
Kiera kept her questions to herself. She didn't think talking much more would do her throat any favours anyway.

***

Mera lead them to a small tucked away kitchen. It didn't look like it was meant for guests to use, but Mera hastily calmed Kiera's qualms with the argument that there were many kitchens in the Keep, and all of them were readily stocked for use at any time. It was relatively small, and Kiera had to breathe in when Mera squeezed past her to open a cupboard. The stall Kiera was perched on didn't allow her legs to touch the floor, and she felt impossibly small. The small island table that took up the centre of the room didn't leave much space to work at the counters around it. 

Mera finished in the cupboard but kept his back turned to Kiera as he inched around the table to deposit his items on the counter. He grabbed a knife and began doing something.

Kiera's curiosity was killing her until she finally figured it out. Despite her body telling her not to, she spoke;

"Mera, are you making me a sandwich?" Past the scratchiness, Kiera's voice was layered thick with amusement. Mera threw an equally amused look over his shoulder, before returning to his task.

"Yes. Why's that hard to grasp?" With a flourish, he turned around to place a plate in front of Kiera. He watched as her eyes skimmed over it, before resting on his face. "You gonna be alright getting back to your room by yourself?" Kiera nodded. "Good. See you tomorrow." Mera gave Kiera's hair a friendly ruffle before leaving through the door.

Alone, Kiera looked at the sandwich in front of her. Pulling it apart, she was surprised to see what looked like to be salami inside. She didn't know why she found it odd that there was something so.... normal inside. She guessed she struggled to picture a pig in this place.

 Smushing it back into place and taking a huge bite, Kiera's suspicions were correct. She was still surprised that this place even had stuff like that, but her coherent thought was quickly washed away with the flavour exploding in her mouth. It was such a perfect sandwich, but the scratchiness of the bread scraping down her throat left her cringing at the thought of eating the whole thing. However, not eating didn't become an option as her stomach let out another loud growl. Giving a heartfelt sigh, she resigned to eat the whole thing.

***

Getting ready for bed that night, Kiera decided to take the bandages off. The windows showed that it was well into the night, the sky a blacked charcoal with only the brightest of stars shining through. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, the flickering candle warped her face. Her eyes looked hollowed out, lines appearing on her young skin that weren't there before. Her surroundings faded out as she stared at her reflection. Picking up the scissors, she lifted her chin up. Lifting the scissors up, she flinched at the coldness of the metal held to her throat. The feeling dredged up a memory, to the last time way back when, when that thug had decided to end her life. With one smooth snip, the wrappings released their grip on Kiera's throat and fluttered to the floor. Kiera's neck, once a smooth collum of unblemished skin, was now forever besmirched with a sickening pinkish brand of 'his' ankh. The innermost part was pinkish, still slightly wet. But the outlines that traced the shape of the ankh were stained black, almost ink-like. It appeared to be moving in a slow claim of the brand, the skin smoothed where the black had touched it. She had expected a such- everyone's brand was black. She hadn't expected it to heal this quickly, but honestly, that shouldn't have come as a surprise. Exiting the bathroom, the candle was snuffed out behind her. Climbing between the crimson sheets, Kiera didn't bother rewrapping her neck and was quickly chased into a dreamless sleep.