Moonlight Sonata

23. Curious

My room was filled with warm sunlight from outside, reflecting off of the snow and bouncing in through my window. It took me a while, but I finally blinked awake, my body feeling heavy and weak all at once. I buried my face in my arms for a moment, relishing the early morning comfortability of staying in my blankets. I debated sleeping for a little longer, but I knew that all the food would be gone if Sergei was already up-

Sergei's dead.

I bolted upright, practically scrambling to untangle myself from the sheets and falling to hit the floor. It didn't take long for me to collect my clothing and just as I was stepping into my shorts I noticed something in the room; my blankets were crumpled, sure, but not just on my side of the bed. My heart thudded a little bit in my chest when I remembered last night and I was shaken out of my thoughts suddenly when a figure made himself apparent from the other side of my doorway.

"Nolan, mother of God!" I snapped, trying to take a deep breath and calm myself as he held his hands up and leaned in the doorway. A cup of coffee was in one hand, and it looked like he was feeling pretty smug.

"Good morning?" he laughed, "are you okay?"

"I had a nightmare," I gripped my chest gently, feeling my heart pounding away in my rib cage as I tried to calm it, "I remembered Sergei was gone and I freaked out and...give me some of that."

"No, go get your own." He stuck his tongue out at me, and when I reached out to grab it, he lifted it above my head to where I couldn't reach.

"You're the biggest asshole on planet earth right now." I scowled, snapping my fingers and  holding out my hand as the cup fell from it's now broken handle.

"Hey!" He took a look at the remaining ceramic in his hand as I took a few gulps, glad for the extra caffeine.

"How's our guest doing?" I asked him as I handed the cup back.

"She's downstairs on the couch, Margo stayed up all night and watched her. Apparently she's pretty talkative, so...it's sort of a good thing it was Margo she was talking to."

"How's she holding up?" I questioned quietly as we walked out into the hall.

"Better than you'd think. I'm sure having something to do when we got back made it a little easier for her."

We got to the bottom of the steps and I found that I was the last one to really get up for the day. Crowe and Margo were cooking at the stove while Devorah watched the news; Medusa, Kaage, and Libra were all sitting at the island, seemingly debating something important. Medusa was waving her hands in front of her face, smiling as she tried to dismiss something.

"Well, I think we should take 'em out." Margo said suddenly, turning around and dumping scrambled eggs onto a plate. "She's not going to be any help if we leave 'em in."

"It really isn't a good idea-"

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked, and Margo looked up at me.

"Aye, what the bloody hell is that on your neck?!" She practically screeched, and my hand flew up to my throat to try and scope out whatever it was she was speaking about. Her smile perked up triumphantly. "Ha! I fuckin' knew it! Crowe, you owe me twenty!"

"Damn, you're kidding?!" He laughed, turning around and taking a look for himself, "no, you weren't! Jeez Agnes, you guys really make a ruckus."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" My eyebrows furrowed, and Margo raised one of hers.

"Those damn love bites on your neck, that's what I be talkin' about!"

My face flushed red and I looked up at Nolan, who only covered his cheeky grin with his hand. I felt incredibly embarrassed but obviously that's not how everyone else in here took it. Crowe pulled a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket and slapped it down on Margo's hand, who gladly shoved it in the pocket of her shirt.