Monsters Only Come Out at Night

A Test of Trust

"On second thought, maybe I do need some help," Elise told Ashna. "I'm starting to see things"

"You're not seeing things," the illusion of Dhan corrected. "I figured you'd manage to find another way to get injured within the next few hours, and I believe I was right given the way your knee has swollen and your pupils are dilated beyond belief"

"Really?" Ashna's bright green eyes bore into Elise's soft violet ones. "I don't think they're that bad"

"Well, Ashna, you don't have a medical degree and an ability to see the past events of a person, and let me tell you she hit her head pretty hard-"

"Most importantly," Elise cut the kind nurse off. "I no longer believe Dhan is an illusion because Ashna is talking with her, unless I'm in another coma and this is all a dream"

"I can assure you, you're not in a coma," Dhan indicated to Ashna –and Lucas, who Elise had forgotten was there– where to lay Elise down. "I just had a feeling you'd find a way to get yourself into even more trouble before P.E. Thursday, so I came down here and offered Martha an extra break"

"Now, please lay down –but don't sleep. I'm going to run a few tests so we can see just what it is we're dealing with. Ashna, Lucas, why don't you two head out? It's about time you start heading to class"

"Take care of her for us," Ashna told the lady, and though she was smiling, Elise could sense it was just a cover for a grimace, making Elise feel guilt beyond words.

When the twins left the only way she could manage to see them off was with a small wave smothered to do with false joy. Afterwards she wished them a nice time in class under her breath.

"So..." Dahn brought her to attention. "This is why you refuse to eat meals with your peers?"

"Can't you see my past?" Elise questioned, not wanting to get too deeply into the topic.

"I can see past events that have happened to you, yes," a pitying look crossed her face momentarily. "But I cannot hear your thoughts so the logic behind everything you do is unknown to me, though I should've guessed, given how bad it was"

Elise nodded and Dhan came over with a small flashlight, waving it around in front of her face and asking Elise to follow it with her eyes. She was pretty sure she failed that test and childishly requested her mom not be told of her mistake, Dhan assured her she wouldn't be.

The rest was pretty boring. Dhan was asking her questions about what happened, how she had hit her head, what caused the fight –though Elise agreed with Lex that it was more of a beating– and how they got out of there. Elise did her best to answer the question but had to improvise on many of the sentences, not fully remembering the events and order they occurred in. She couldn't even remember where she was first kicked, like there was a layer of fog over the memories that kept her from fully recalling everything. A similar thing had happened the last time she had gotten a concussion, though it took her much longer to notice then since she was never directly asked, and she made sure to compliment Dhan for remembering that part of the testing.

It was like before, when she didn't have magic abilities and could play tag with the little boys and girls. When nightmares were only of zombies and skeletons instead of her mother's voice. Before she was always starving but not hungry, when she wasn't plagued by demons and cursed to remember everything with a painful clarity. It made her feel home, so much so that when Dhan finally allowed her to return to the dormitory –with Ashna guiding her of course– she almost wanted to stay despite her hate for hospitals.

The rest of the day she spent in a daze, not tired enough to sleep but not lucid enough to be awake, it felt like purgatory. The only thing that truly caught her attention was Ashna getting out of bed routinely throughout the night to fill up a cup, then emptying it in the sink moments later. This cycle continued for what felt like hours before Ashna brought the cup over to her instead of dumping it in the sink.