Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 98-

Day: 125 (Blood Moon)

Days Left: 5355

Lives Saved: 0

In the last few days, both Harmony and Corinna worked on recording their memories in their own way in the evenings, lying sprawled on the floor or hanging upside down from the armchairs, talking to one another as they wrote. During the day, Corinna continued improving Ivette's garden, making the final touches to the update on the irrigation system and the rainwater collector. Meanwhile, Harmony spent her time scavenging the Land of the Lost for anything to help retrieve her mask, hoping for some sort of scuba gear. She knew her mask was out there in the ocean. She could feel it. Corinna was doubtful, recommending to wait until another mask appeared. It was too dangerous with all the water nymphs. But what else was she to do? Without her mask, Harmony wasn't strong enough to escape. As the days went by, Harmony often caught herself staring out to the sea, where her mask should be.

*

Corinna stirred awake as the bed shifted, the weight on the other side disappeared. Blinking, Corinna rolled over, finding that Harmony had gotten up. She nestled back into a comfortable position, assuming that Harmony had gone to the bathroom.

Something creaked.

It was the front door.

Bolting up, Corinna rushed out of bed, grabbing her spear. She pulled aside the paper-screen divider, knocking it over, then darted to the open front door.

"Harmony?" Corinna turned frantically, trying to search for her roommate but she wasn't anywhere to be seen, fortunately, neither were there any intruders. Hoping that Harmony was just in the bathroom or in the basement, Corinna went to close the door when she saw a figure outside, walking away from the house.

They were tall, with cool amber skin and short dark curly hair. It was Harmony.

"Harmony?" Corinna stood out on the porch, calling out to the young woman, but she continued walking, never looking back. Spear in hand, Corinna jogged over to Harmony's side. "Hey, why are you-" She paused, seeing Harmony's glazed over eyes, grey and clouded instead of her usual radioactive green.

Even when Corinna was right beside her, Harmony remained unresponsive, her face unchanging, her eyes unblinking. She just kept on walking.

"Harmony, it's not safe out here!" Corinna held onto Harmony's shoulder, attempting to stop her, but her roommate passively brushed it off and continued on her route. "We need to go back to the house! Now!" Corinna stood in front of Harmony, blocking her way.

Harmony stopped. After a moment she walked around. 

Corinna caught her hand and clasped tightly onto it. "I'm not letting you go!"

The entranced Harmony gave little resistance. She tugged weakly to be released, wanting to get back on her journey but failed and remained still, waiting until she was free to return back to walking.

"Come on," Corinna cooed as if she was persuading a stubborn cat to come back inside. "We're going to go into the house... and we're going to stay there. Okay?"

Harmony did not respond. Her eyes remained focused on her destination.

Corinna realised where she was trying to get to. "Your mask..." She remembered Ivette explaining how on blood moons everyone is drawn to their masks. It would call them to wear it, no matter how far away it was. Harmony's mask... it was still out there, in the ocean, and she was being called to it.

It was too dangerous. There were all of those water nymphs in the sea, let alone that it was a blood moon. All of the monsters were out to play. In her current tranced state, Harmony couldn't even win against Corinna, who was effortlessly holding her hostage by clutching onto her hand.

They had to get back to the house.

Dragging Harmony by the arm, Corinna managed to get them both inside. She rummaged through her rucksack, finding a bundle of rope. It was thin, but if she wrapped around enough times, it would be strong enough. Corinna turned to see that Harmony had managed to open the front door again and wandered outside.

"No, no, no!" Corinna hauled Harmony back in, then tied her hand together with the rope and attached it to one of the armchairs. Afterwards, she locked the front door, finding the key in Harmony's satchel, then barricaded it with the bookcase.

That was when the idea popped into her mind.

"Music!" Rushing over to the gramophone, she wound it up and flicked through the records. Harmony had mentioned before that dancing and listening to music always helped her control herself during blood moons. Perhaps it would work now?

The record-player now fully wound up, Corinna played one of Harmony's favourites.

"You remember this song, Harm?" She glanced back, seeing that Harmony had somehow chewed through the rope to freedom, her hands still tied, and was now heaving the bookcase out of the way.

With the door unblocked, Harmony pulled at the handle, but it wouldn't budge as it was locked.

Corinna smirked. "What're you going to do now, huh?"

Harmony banged her shoulder against the door with such little force that it barely made a sound. She then did it again. It would take years for her to finally knock down the door at that rate.

"Come on," said Corinna, guiding Harmony over to the centre of the room. "Focus on the music. You like this song a lot, don't you?" Harmony's hands still tied together, Corinna placed them around her waist, then wrapped her own arms around Harmony's neck. She led the tranced Harmony through the routine they had made for the song, only a lot slower and with a lack of arm movements.

The music appeared to be working. Though Harmony was still unresponsive, her eyes clouded and vacant, she no longer attempted to escape. Only occasionally would she look outside through the window, but was brought back to the music by Corinna humming along.

Corinna continued to dance with Harmony, gazing up at her expressionless face. It was like having a mannequin as a partner like it wasn't Harmony standing before but an empty shell. Breathing in time with the music, Corinna sniffed away the tears, forcing a smile even though Harmony would likely not be able to see it. Despite attempting to stay positive, the blood moon's power still influenced Corinna's mind, creeping its way in there, causing doubt, even trying to suggest abandoning Harmony to her own fate. But Corinna fought back against it, diverting her eyes away from the red light that seeped through the windows.

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Recommended Song for Chapter

Song: Never Let Me Go

Artist: Nancy Wilson