Hometorius : Coming Home

chapter 31 : Breath

Margaret's Soul POV

Marylin landed hard on the dusty floor. Nobody has been cleaning it for a long time. A disgusting fat spider walked over her hand. With a squeak she brushed it as far as she could and quickly got up. Brushing herself off the dirt, she looked around the room, but couldn't see anything that was more than half a meter away from her. She didn't notice me and just went ahead in search of a way out. After a moment she stumbled upon the wall. She decided to move along the bricks. Suddenly, she put her foot on something soft, which made a strangled murmur. She had to squat to identify what she had actually stepped on.

"Lynda," she whispered intently, and grabbed her cousin's hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there. Come on, get up."

She pulled the girl to her feet and helped her dust herself off. When they were done, they started looking around the room together.

"It looks a bit like this room where I was given the survey," said Marylin after a thought.

"It looks a bit like where Vic held me," Lynda threw in her two cents and went ahead in search of a way out.

Marylin moved in her footsteps. After a few steps she bumped into the table. Two wooden chairs stood by it. She looked more closely into the darkness ahead of her. She strained her eyes as much as she could and saw something hanging in the air at the level of her eyes. It was a string, she pulled it without thinking and the room lit up. The bare bulb was weak, but they still could see almost the whole room. I went into an old closet that was right next to me just in time.

"It low-key looks like a basement at my home," said Marylin, examining the room.

"If that's so, where is the door, genius?" the blue-haired asked in a not very nice tone, slowly touching the wall in front of her in search of a way out.

"I said it looks LOW-key like it," Mary repeated and joined the search for the door.

They walked the room once, then in the opposite way, but the exit was nowhere to be seen. So, they sat at the table to rest a while.

"It looks exactly like the room where Vic held me," Lynda repeated with emphasis, leaning her back against the chair, her feet resting on the table.

Marylin rolled her eyes and looked away, at the wardrobe I took as my hideout. I already started panicking that she noticed me. But she suddenly frowned and looked up again. The only advantage of being a ghost was that I could hear the thoughts of anyone I wanted. Nice, right? "Just as I thought - the exit," Marylin thought, turned her gaze at Lynda and pointed her index finger to the ceiling. The girl didn't quite get what was going on for a moment, but obediently looked up. It took her a while to notice what her cousin had pointed to, but after a moment her jaw dropped. Almost as much as in cartoons. Above the table there was a hatch.

"The exit," Lynda whispered with a smile and stood up without taking her eyes off the lid. "Come, get up, we have to open it."

Then stepped on the chair and used it as a step to get to the table. She reached up and waved her arms in the air as if she wanted to fight invisible flies away. The ceiling turned out to be higher than it seemed. She asked Marilyn to lift her up, then it would be easier to reach the hatch. But it should be Lynda lifting Marylin, not the other way round.

"Maybe it would be easier if you picked me up?" suggested Marylin and also crawled on the table.

Or maybe Mary also reads minds? It was definitely easier for an average person to lift an anorexic. Lynda leaned in front of Mary, and she climbed onto her back. Finally, the attempt to open the hatch was successful. Unfortunately, the girls seemed to have forgotten that a ladder was attached to it. What's more, to their misfortune, it was the latest model - a metal ladder that slides automatically. And to their misfortune, it was brand new and worked just perfectly, so it slid down as soon as the door opened.

Marylin fell from the back of the wobbling Lynda and landed hard on the floor with a dull thud. Right after her fell the blue-haired, followed by the ladder. Lynda somehow managed to twist her body as she was falling (I don't know by what kind of a miracle) and avoided falling at Mary. The ladder, however, didn't, and one of the metal legs stuck right into the thin stomach of unconscious Marylin. Blood started pouring right away. I felt a sudden urge to taste it, but I took control. With difficulty.

"God dammit!" Lynda exclaimed (I bet it was in English out of her habit) and in vain tried to get her cousin out from under the ladder. "Mary, don't leave me alone here."

She brushed her jet-black hair from her thin, pale face and patted her cheek gently. Then she put two fingers to her neck to look for the pulse. She sensed it and breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Marylin's stomach. It was still bleeding. The ladder stuck in so hard that Lynda feared the worst. It could break through and damage her spine! She didn't even want to imagine it. And I couldn't do anything to help until Marylin called me.

"Marylin, don't leave me here alone," she repeated in a breaking voice. "I know that this life is a nightmare for you, but it's not yet time to wake up from it. It's too early. We need you. If you give up now... we can't make it without you. Victuvius will kill everyone. Even the innocent, non-magicals. Girl, don't think I'll let you go this easily! Pain demands to feel it... Don't forget. You have survived so much. Will you let some stupid ladder kill you? You met at least twice with Victuvius, he could've killed you both the times. But he didn't. Marylin, you must kill him. And it's not going to happen if you give in to this stupid ladder. You did an amazing thing. You broke the charm of the Ice-Blooded, and it was one of the most powerful ones on top of that. And this ladder wants to take it away from you with impunity. Because I won't put it in jail, will I? Eh, okay, I know, you don't hear me. I'll bring help soon. Don't go anywhere."

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and touched the still-flowing blood. "In case they don't believe me". Good idea. She stood up, brushed herself off, and slowly pulled herself up though the hatch.

The lid closed behind her with a thud.

At the same moment, the bulb went out, drowning the room in complete darkness.

The breath of dying Marylin Contilia Freeze died away.

THE END OF PART 1