𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. LII - 《possession and other shenanigans》

whatup babes, i was sick for a long time and didn't have the energy to write, but i'm back and feeling healthier!!!!

oOo

Sitting in the darkened, candle-lit room, Felix was confused as to why they needed so many witnesses or even why the farmer's daughter was being added to their squad; was it because she and Glenn were a thing? It just didn't feel right to keep letting more and more people in on Diana's whole creepy thing – even though he'd almost spilled the beans to T-Dog earlier that day. Some might take it the wrong way, and they didn't need a repetition of the infamous history of Salem.

He and his sisters sat on their new bed, Maggie and Glenn sitting beside them in a semi-circle, and Daryl had taken up to standing, leaning against the wall with arms crossed, his skepticism over Maggie's presence open and transparent on his face.

Maggie herself seemed confused; green eyes taking in each face with a question in her mind that hadn't slipped past her lips yet. Glenn looked equal parts eager and terrified. Daryl and Felix's sisters were the only actual ones to have already witnessed what they were about to attempt since he'd been in and out of consciousness from his fever back then. Well, what Diana was about to attempt, the rest was just there along for the ride.

Felix himself had only heard from Alice what a disturbingly cool experience Minerva's possession had been, and he couldn't wait to see it. I mean, zombies were one thing, their origin could be biological or whatever, but what was happening to his sister and this mystery woman was another thing entirely. Theirs was the story that video games were made about.

Great, now he couldn't stop imagining that concept; it'd probably be an FPS, open world, survival horror game. It sounded awesome when simplified and desensitized like that. Damn, he missed gaming.

"I don't mean to sound rude and ungrateful, but why am I here?" Maggie asked above the quiet whispers of planning. "And what's happening exactly?"

"Yeah, why is she here?" Daryl asked snidely with a narrow of his eyes at the stranger and then frowning inquisitively at Diana.

The latter shrugged one shoulder while adjusting her crisscrossed legs. "We might need allies."

Daryl was unconvinced. "For what? It ain't gonna be her to stand between us and her people if it comes down to anything."

Diana pouted in that way she did when things weren't going her way and she was figuring out how to turn it around. Felix knew his sister too well. In the end, she simply shrugged loosely again and said, "I trust her. Besides, it's my secret to tell."

"What are you guys doing here? And why would I need to defend you?" Maggie was growing upset, even more when her questions went ignored.

"But you don't trust Rick? Dale, T-Dog? Diana, you barely know this woman."

"This woman has two perfectly functioning ears and wants to know what the hell is going here!"

Felix sighed deeply, irritated by the overlapping voices. Glenn was pulling Maggie by the arm so she'd sit again, but she shook off his hand and only sat reluctantly when Alice promised an explanation once the two lovebirds finished their spat.

Right on cue, Diana countered Daryl with passion, "I trusted you back then too, and I barely knew you! You're saying that was wrong?"

"Yes," Daryl spat out, and even Felix winced at that, also feeling second-hand embarrassment on Diana's part that their quarrel had an audience.

An uneasy silence fell over them. The hurt on his sister's face was badly disguised, he could already see the shine of tears in her eyes, but the regret was evident on Daryl's. Felix couldn't help but wish there was a hole he could hide himself in.