Caged.

13

That night, I was lying awake in bed, the sounds that had come from the warehouse playing in my mind. The awful squishing, snapping, and crackling of Crimson killing Thunderstorm wouldn't stop. It kept getting louder and louder inside my head, nonstop. Every time I thought it had stopped, it started again, racing around my mind. Then, just as the next installment of sound was about to begin, I heard Crimson whispering, "No. No. It can't be. She can't be dead. No. Please, tell me this is some sort of twisted joke." Then she started sobbing. I got out of bed and went over to see what was going on. As I got there, Crimson suddenly shot up, and started crying. I went over to her and asked, "Crimson, what's wrong?" Crimson wiped the tears away, looked at me, put on a tough face, and answered, "Nothing. It was just a bad dream. Did I wake you?" I shook my head and said, "No. I couldn't sleep. And I don't mean to intrude, but was your dream about the day you got the news Marianne had died?" Crimson's eyes filled with tears and she looked down, muttering, "Yeah. It was. It was Firefly that found her dagger. When they gave it to me," her voice cracked, "I broke down. I kept pleading with them to tell me it was all a big joke. But deep down, I knew it wasn't. I knew she was dead. I locked myself in the dorm for a week, refusing to eat. When I finally came out, I didn't speak for about a month. In the end, it was a letter from Marianne that brought me back to my semi-normal self. Marianne had known she was going to die. She knew that Thunderstorm would kill her. So she had written me a letter and given it to Gallic, with the instructions to give it to me. I still have it." Then Crimson went silent and put a finger to her lips. There was a deep, throaty laugh from the corner of the room, and a woman's voice said, "How sweet. But I have something to tell you, darling. You'll be seeing your dear Marianne soon. Very soon indeed. And I do hope that she feels bad as she sits in the lap of angels watching you burn." Crimson glared into the corner, trying to see the woman that was there. Suddenly, the lights above us blazed to life, blinding both Crimson and I temporarily. When our eyes adjusted, we saw Sabrina standing by the light switch, looking half asleep. She stared directly at the ivory skinned woman in the corner and pointed at the door, saying, "Get out. Your mental energy is giving me a massive headache. Also, you woke me up." The woman drew herself up to her full height (which was just over four feet) and shouted, "Do you know who I am?" Sabrina answered in an even tone, "No, I don't. Now, please leave before my brain explodes. And if you don't mind, please do so quietly. My head is killing me." This seemed to make the woman even angrier as she bellowed, "I am the great Lady Annika Von Kali. Do not patronize me." Sabrina looked extremely unimpressed as she stated flatly, "I'm not patronizing you. I'm asking you to leave quietly before I lose my patience." Lady Annika Von Kali's eye twitched as she screeched, "That is blatant disrespect! I should have your head for that!" There was a sudden scratching at the door and Blondie popped her head in and glared at Lady Annika, growling, "Scream a little louder, why don't you? I don't think everyone in Mongolia heard you." Annika's face began turning red as she ranted about respect, with a few things about how she was an important aristocrat and should be treated as such. Finally, Crimson got sick of the commotion and got out of bed, striding over to Annika. She proceeded to grab Annika by the hair and drag her over to the window, which she opened with one hand while holding Annika with the other. Then Crimson forced Annika's head out the window, 60 stories up, and growled, "If I hear one more word from you, down you go. Now, you are going to leave this building. If I ever see you here again, I will throw you out this window and then burn your splattered corpse. Understood?" Lady Annika Von Kali nodded fearfully and Crimson pulled her back from the window, then pushed her towards the door, saying, "Nice meeting you, now get out." Lady Annika strode out of the door in a huff and Blondie glared at Crimson, saying, "You just attract nut jobs, don't you, you cursed weirdo." Crimson chirped, "That's why you're here, isn't it? Now, how about we all just go to bed and try to get some sleep. After all, it is three in the flipping morning." Blondie stalked out, grumbling something about Crimson and doing something with a cactus. Then Sabrina flicked the lights off and we all went back to bed.