I was stuck in the car with Solanine's head resting in my lap until night finally fell.
The others had long gone hours ago; and even though he could, Solanine refused to follow after them back to the Base.
I didn't want to be stuck with him, but the others quickly made themselves scarce so I had no choice; giving me the bag of mushrooms to take. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCba5ziFRXY
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Solanine wasn't going to let me go either. His claws were firmly wrapped around my leg while he fought through his pain.
I could see Solanine had a weakness after all. He was putting himself through all this pain just so others wouldn't see him in his natural form. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpunSrFY0a
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He didn't want anyone to view him differently or as this weak thing cowered and shaking here. He was going to wait until the Base cleared at night and then drag himself to the hospital inside.
He was a bloody wreck when he bit through the pain to leave the soaked backseat of the car. I walked behind him as he hobbled along ahead. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WfqIuGMvW
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It was the slowest I had ever gone. One of my steps easily covered four of his shuffles, but he wasn't going to be the one to let anyone help him.
A steady trail of blood marked our path through the Base and to the hospital where Scalpel was sleeping in the bed closest to the entry without the shower curtains around it drawn around. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWaeQTQxrK2
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYjIUv7baS
He was quick to wake at the sound of Solanine's gritted whimpers and slide from the bed so he could order me to haul him up.
"What on earth happened to him?" he gasped at his state, prodding the end of one of the quills "i'll need the pliers for these."
"We were in a Mission" I began while Scalpel hurried away to rummage in a back room "the one to get the spores for you."
I saw Scalpel's eyes light up at the sight of the bag I held and quickly traded me the pliers for it so he could hurry it away.
"What am I supposed to do?" I called out.
He poked his head from the back room while still trying to attach a mask to himself.
"Pull them out!" he pointed "we can't have one of our best in pain like that!"
One of the best.
They have some really low standards around here.
"Don't keep him waiting!" Scalpel urged "get to it!"
I really should just leave him here and go to bed but Scalpel wasn't going to let me. He watched until I gripped the first one and yanked on it to make Solanine scream out and snarl at me.
Oh! This was great!
I gripped another and tore it from his side to get another wave of howling agony. I didn't even let him recover when I went for the others beside it that had lodged along his ribs. I even missed a few times on my pulls and only managed to wrench it painfully out a few centimeters.
"You don't want to kill the poor bastard!" Scalpel warned from the room "or keep my other patients awake!"
I had forgotten anyone else was here. The closed shower curtains and grumbling complaints that came from them reminded me that I couldnt be as vicious as I hoped.
"Here."
I felt a hand on my shoulder and moved from the bedside to let Scalpel move in. He lifted Solanine's gums with his gloved hands to shove a wedge of mushroom into it that he tried to resist, before spreading his fingers around the next quill and gripping it firmly near where it pierced.
"Slow and firm" he spoke to me as it slid from Solanine's skin "if you yank, you can tear something."
"How come he won't just change back then?" I frowned down at the claws griping the bed while Scalpel went for another.
He paused as he gripped the quill, smiling at Solanine who yelped when he wasn't ready for the retreaval.
"Solanine is a Flawless Dredge. The seams in his Skin don't show when he is Turned, which his kind hold to a very high standard. You've probably noticed he only shows this side when he isn't around others. Showing a splitting Skin is to drag himself down to the same level as a Flawed Dredge, which might as well be exile for him."
Solanine growled at Scalpel but could barely move his head. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth, and his fierce claws grew slacker by the second until he was limp on the bed.
Scalpel handed the pliers back to me and collected the extracted quills.
"The Cap will keep him occupied" he whispered to me "pull them out while he is, and then I'll help you take him to his room."
I saw Solanine's head press to the bed, his eyes fogged over and milky white.
His breathing was ragged, but he looked like he was enjoying whatever hallucination that was dancing in his mind. His mouth peeled up into a twitching smile.
I was more worried about what could happen to me through my contact with the mushrooms earlier as I pulled more quills.
Was I going to fall over and lose myself in some crazy trip like Solanine? I had been breathing in those spores and picking them with my bare hands. Scalpel had to use a mask and gloves around them; I should have done the same.
Solanine barely reacted when I plucked him. There was a whine and whimper when the quills sliced thier way back out of his body, but then nothing. Just a drooling mess laying there like a damn corpse.
It would have been funny if it wasn't so serious. All of this made me feel like I was responsible or being punished for letting this happen.
He trusted me and I wanted to leave him behind. Right now, he had no clue what was happening to him. He was placing all his trust into me, and I only wanted to leave him to the actual doctor.
I didnt want this responsibility. It was clear that helping Solanine was what took priority. He couldn't be in pain because he was important around here.
And now I was lumped with the repercussions if something happened to him.
I was so damn nervous I could feel my hands start to tremble when I moved to the more delicate areas around his face and thighs.
I wonder if he would do the same if it was different?
Solanine was still in his drugged dream when the quills were cleared up and he was bundled against Scalpels body. He made sure Solanine's head was gently resting into his shoulder and his tongue was hanging down over it before covering him with a blanket and getting me to gather a bucket, some teatowels, and a tube of cream.
He really cared for Solanine. I watched Scalpel gently carry his shielded body out into the empty Base and wait for me by the first set of stairs. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlTc6YtxeV
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3hl97SZq0
Whether or not he was doing it out of friendship or fear was what confused me.
There were no words spoken on the way to Solanine's room on the top floor. All Scalpel's focus was on the dark surroundings and on protecting Solanine from what could be lurking in them. Mine wandered to thinking about what had been stalking me the night Poison turned his back on me for good. The strange feeling was back; like hundreds of eyes were watching me now.
Solanine's room was safe. I was only following Scalpel so I could advantage of his status to keep me safe for tonight.
"Now, you need to stay with him as he eases out of the trip" Scalpel broke the silence when we found the door and were safely inside "it's going to make him twitch and make some weird noises until he does. He's not having a seizure or dying; he's just reliving a good memory."
"Is that what it does?"
"Usually, it's meant to help ease Souls who are dying; that's why I needed more on your Mission. The Cap itself is very potent, but the spores as well can help trigger the trip and make it more realistic. You can see and hear things from people you miss the most."
Scalpel only paused when he nudged open Solanine's bedroom door and lowered him onto his bed, uncovering him.
"He misses his mother."
I felt the sting of familiarity. I had barely been here and I was already missing my own mum, her shitty meals, and crazy theories she was always so gullible to believe.
"Hell..." Scalpel forced a smile "...I miss mine too. She's been dead for years now, but I still think that I'd see her doing her silly crosswords if I ever was on the other side of a Cap."
We both looked to each other, understanding the feelings of what was being left unsaid between us.
"I need you to help him pull through it. You'll have to clean him up with the teatowels and a bucket of water, then get the cream into all of the holes; not too much otherwise it'll mess him up when he flips back around the right way."
Flips around. I laughed at the expression and how true it was.
Scalpel took the bucket to fill it while I sat on the edge of the bed, just watching Solanine twitching and groaning.
How come it looked so painful if he was meant to be somewhere happy?
His claws opened and closed on his sheets. They clutched at them but searched for something else as his face creased in stress and his clouded eyes grew glossy.
"You'll want to hold him" Scalpel advised when he returned with the bucket "it's not going to hurt."
He helped me onto the bed and under the covers. They were cold on my body that shivered in response until Solanine was placed on my lap and had his claws guided to my hips that they instantly dug into.
His head nuzzled into my stomach he hugged tightly. His other hands wound around my legs to keep me there.
I narrowed my eyes at Scalpel who snickered and put the bucket up beside me so I could dip one of the teatowels in and wring out the excess water.
Scalpel made sure I was dabbing down Solanine's bleeding wounds properly and carefully. He watched for a moment then was satisfied enough with my care to start to head back.
"How long will this take?" I blurted out to him "I can't be stuck here with him when he snaps out of it! You know what he's like!"
"You don't have anywhere to be" Scalpel smiled back at me "you'll be fine! Should be a few minutes at the most. He's usually very good with these things. Have fun!"
"Wait!" I shouted out, only to hear a little laugh and Scalpel's footsteps descending to the door.
I ran the wet teatowel over the top of Solanine's head, grumbling under my breath as I did.
It only seemed to make things worse. Diluted blood streamed down his body and onto mine until it soaked the covers and sheets under me.
These clothes were going to be ruined. Fucking great.
I didn't want to be here at all. Not with him.
I placed the teatowel into the bucket and worked on wedging Solanine's claws from around my legs. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4oRugmMYQ
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They only tightened around my prying fingers, cutting into them and causing me to drop his arm that snapped back into place.
Maybe I could drag him out of his trip another way? Find my freedom then?
The wet teatowel slopped back onto his forehead, pouring over his face and down onto my lap and legs. I didn't wring out the cloth, letting it drench the blankets and my clothes.
Surely, he had to be feeling something. It had to be creeping into his hallucinations and making him realise something was off.
Digging the cream into the quill gouges did nothing either. Solanine only squirmed and grimaced at my forceful fingers trying to stab pain back through him and get him to release me.
Even when he wasn't aware, he was still set on keeping me captive.
"Get off me!" I grunted and shoved at his body when my options ran dry "let me go, damn it!"
My fist found his back and the base of his skull. It pummelled enough sense into Solanine to make him whimper and retract from my legs.
Finally!
My hips were still his. I used my legs to kick out at his body and push him from me. His claws held steady around me, cutting and digging when I pried them open and threw them away.
I scrambled off the bed before he could reattach himself to me. His claws pierced through the sheets that he pulled towards himself, snapping at the air.
He was still completely out of it. His milky eyes searched the room while his legs tried to force him upwards on the hunt for who had interrupted his peace.
His arm swung for the bedhead then collapsed under him. He looked like a drunkard wobbling and squivering on the bed with no clue on how to function.
I felt like I had some sort of sick justice. He was completely helpless; someone people around here considered important enough to be given special treatment and hindsight to his every action.
He had gotten away with everything. And now he was there...
I darted for the bedside and snatched up the bucket that Solanine's head swiveled towards.
His curled lip quivered in my direction before I threw the soaking teatowel across his face with a satisfying slap. It smothered him only for a moment until he swiped it off and was promptly drowned under the bloody water.
There was so much more than I expected. I held the empty bucket, stunned and unsure of what to do as I just watched Solanine choking and gasping on the bed. His exposed muscles quivered from the shock, and his sawing breath snorted and gagged on the water that had flooded his nostrils.
There was no reason to feel sorry for him. None at all.
I threw the empty bucket at him, seeing it tumble from his side and clatter to the ground, before storming for the bedroom door to slam shut behind me.
What did I do now?
I didn't want to be here when he snapped out of his fever dream. The water had to have diluted most of it from him for sure.
I couldn't just go back to Scalpel either. He would just bitch and moan that I had hurt his precious Soul and how much it was going to affect me if he got so much as a scratch on him.
Like fuck he mattered to me. Everyone seemed to think I was his friend or something by the way he hung around me.
I needed to end that now.
I didn't run. Instead, I started myself a hot shower and got some clean clothes, ignoring the pants and whines from Solanine as I did. Then, I searched the cupboards for something to eat and drink as I pulled up a seat for myself at the table and waited.
I watched that door like a hawk. I didn't want to be caught unaware when it eventually opened. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl48fTCNNnI
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pViamSIHd
Solanine was an unforgiving monster. He knew exactly how to punish me, and I was prepared.
I had let the last sips of my hot chocolate go cold when I saw the door crack open. I steadied myself at the table, gripping the steak-knife I had prepared to defend myself with.
Solanine was still a drugged mess that wavoured around the door frame. I saw he had forced himself back to his Skin, clutching his middle and trying to put on a stern face that peered up at me.
"Sit" I ordered with the knife to the other chair opposite me.
He dripped a trail across the floor and collapsed into the chair. I could hear him still trying to choke up the water through his rattling breaths.
I wouldn't get an opportunity like this again. He was weak and had no choice but to listen to me.
"There is nothing between us" I threw at him "I'm not here to look after you just because you are more important than me. I'm here to tell you to stop whatever sick dream you have about me and to let me go. I don't want to be with you, and I never did."
Solanine focused on breathing. His eyes narrowed at me, but his gaping mouth needed to purge the water from his lungs that he coughed up.
"I'm going to leave this room and I'm never coming back" I pointed my knife to the stairs "I don't want you showing up in mine or tracking me down. I want you to leave me the fuck alone!"
"Or what?" he snorted out "you'll.... go to Eagle?" he laughed until he choked "you can't do.... anything about it. I.... track you, and.... you be thankful.... you have someone looking.... out for you here."
"That's not how this is working!" I hissed "not anymore! I'm not yours! I'm not anyone's! I am me, and I'll always be me! I'm nothing to you!"
"You can run" Solanine leant back so he could thump his chest to bring up the last of the water "but I'll find you. We are.... tied. Nothing you can.... do about that."
I wanted to punch his shit-eating grin right off his damn face at how true he was. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBzFnMaSwO
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWYK7DALri
I could run as far as i wanted, but he was a creature bred specifically for the task of hunting and capturing. He'd find me no matter where I went.
And where would I go?
I only had this place now. The same one he lurked in.
I had to find someone to shelter me. There was no way I'd survive if I went straight back to my own room and acted like my words alone would keep him away. Solanine knew no boundaries. He would let himself in and make sure I wouldn't ever believe I would escape him again.
Fucking prick!
I rose and scowled down at Solanine who snorted out a laugh at my determination.
He couldn't follow me, at least for now. He groaned and gripped his sides when he tried to stand again, leaning back to lift some of the pressure.
"I'll see you soon!" Solanine chortled out when I stomped for the stairs with my little steak-knife "I'll find you, Xylosma!"
Great. Now he was going to use my own name against me and make me hate it as much as i hated the stupid nickname he had crafted from my real one. He was going to make sure I hated every part of being a Soul Stealer if it wasn't by his side.
I didn't have anywhere to go, and it slowly dawned on me as my anger dissipated the longer I marched along the deserted levels with my knife in my pocket.
I couldn't be out at night. I didn't know why exactly, but I wasn't willing to find out just yet.
But, where would I go?
Poison wasnt my friend anymore; if we actually were to begin with, and I had completely snubbed Tooth in his invitation to celebrate with him before he left to some Wall place. He would be gone by now, for sure.
I had Trypano I could try. She was my Captive and had helped me out before. She would help me out again. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwA7a3VXBv
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnc2ecfOVNu
But, she was also someone Solanine wasn't bothered by. They were chummy, so there was nothing stopping him from just pushing past her to get to me; just like he had done with Ox and Verge's demons.
They had just let me be taken. Even when I was screaming and literally begging on the ground. I couldn't return there.
Just the thought of the two demons sparked another idea in my head. A very dumb one, but maybe a plausible one. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfycEiURez
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6XYVJNJzl
My eyes locked on the bloody circle on the other side of the Base on the upper floor I crossed towards. Climbing the stairs, all I could think about was how a simple name had sparked fear into those two demons.
Agnosia.
Even Trypano warned me against it. And if she was afraid of the Soul and its demon behind that door, maybe Solanine was too? 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8rXHXTboq
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPjBBiBNDg
Even thier own kind avoided them. And Solanine wouldn't expect me to go chasing another Blood Demon like that one. It would throw him off my trail hopefully until I could figure out a new plan in the morning.
How was I going to convince them to let me in? 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHEBlTEF0F
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I didn't even know what this person looked like, let alone anything about them besides a name.
I could feel my nerves jittering through me when I approached the door and peered up at the bleeding circle. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qiErN28yX
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dc5HV278G
It looked fresh. Smelled like it too.
I cringed when I knocked on the door and waited.
The sound seemed to echo into the darkness around me.
I stood there, waiting, before a rattling scream pierced the air from the other side of the Base.
WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!
I couldn't see a thing when I knocked in the door again, louder this time.
How was I meant to check for danger when I couldn't see it?!
"Agnosia!" I whimpered, swallowing the name when the scream echoed out again, closer and from the lower floor "Agnosia!"
My fist hammered on the surface now. It was relentless and fearful while I cowered against the wood to try and protect myself from the approaching beast.
Another scream warbled from somewhere near Eagle's office when the door opened and a man stood there with hard red eyes firmly pinned on me. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJtA888sJx
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfr7YYL2cz
He looked like he was still trying to wake up, blinking back at me.
"What?" he grumbled "do I know you?"
He paused, frowning to himself.
"Do you know him?" he muttered under his breath before pausing again and looking at me "he doesn't know you either. What do you want?"
What... WHAT DID I WANT?!
Was he fucking serious right now?!
I could hear claws on the ground. Each nail swiped the concrete as they powered toward me from below. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnSqSordua
97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThgnVT1wQw
The beast had to be only a few meters from us. No doubt it would be agile enough to clear the railing and launch itself straight for me.
"Just help me!" I grabbed at Agnosia's shirt that he pulled from me by stepping back "I don't know what that is!"
"Well, good luck with it" he grumbled and closed the door in me.
No!
"Agnosia!!" I hammered again, crying out when I heard the claws snap around the metal railing as something was launched into it "AGNOSIA! HELP ME!"
"You'd think you were dying!" he complained again when he opened his door again and stepped aside when I barged in, falling against the stairs.
As soon as he closed it, I heard claws rake down the surface and another scream tear through the air.
"Should have led it somewhere else, idiot" Agnosia stepped around me to head upwards with grumbling under his breath.
I scrambled upwards to the light that was flicked on and washed over the top stairs in a welcoming glow.
I looked back down the stairs to see black ooze trickling under the door. Hurrying from it, I almost ran head first into Agnosia standing in the doorway at the top of the stairs.
"So, who told you you could come here?" he scowled with his hands on his hips "did the big blood symbol on the door not tell you anything?"
"I...well..."
Agnosia's eyes suddenly darted to my Band that he flicked a finger to.
I raised it so he could read the name.
"So, he is named" he mumbled, eyes back on mine "shame."
"Are you going to help me or not?" I whimpered out when he turned his back on me to head to the kitchen to scrub something in the sink "or are you going to keep talking to yourself?"
He laughed, ignoring me otherwise.
"Solanine is after me" I began "and whatever that thing was. I can't get away from him, and I really don't know what to do!"
I saw Agnosia's head turn at the mention of his name, but he did nothing when I broke down in tears at how helpless I was in this whole situation.
For all I knew, the beast on the other side of the door was Solanine right now, hunting me with some other life-threatening ability I had no clue about.
"Ew, don't do that" Agnosia wrinkled his nose up at my noisy whines "I don't want to hear about how miserable your life is. I get it, being here sucks, but I'm not getting dragged into your bullshit because you made some obviously bad choices to land you here. Just take yourself back down those stairs and head back to your own room. Only idiots go walking around at night."
He was blowing me off like I was some disease that had been dumped on his doorstep. Everything about him screamed hatred for someone he didn't even know. He was too cautious to even let me explain myself, or just simply didn't want to hear it this late at night.
"I've got nowhere else to go" I sniffled "he'll find me."
"Do I look like a charity?" Agnosia growled in dissapointment that I wasn't moving "go harass someone else! Since you like danger so much, why don't you go knock on the pretty circle door downstairs, hmm? I'm sure they would want to hear all about your sad life and give you a place to stay."
He smiled slyly at his deception and went to his bedroom door before I took a step into the room to halt him.
"But, I jus.... I can't go back to them! They didn't help me the first time!"
"So why should we?" Agnosia snapped now, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration "Just fuck off! Get! We don't want you here!"
No. I needed his help. This was my last option and he had to see that.
"Please!" I begged "just let me stay the night! I can't go out there!"
I heard his frustrated growl and saw his teeth bare at me. His blood-red eyes bore through my very skin. A glimmer of darkness flooded his mouth until blood came snaking out the side of it and down his chin.
"GET OUT!" he screamed with flecks splattering the floor between us "JUST FUCK OFF! DON'T COME BACK HERE OR I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FU..."
"Whats with all the shouting?" I heard a new voice moan from behind the bedroom door that slowly opened to another copy of Angosia rubbing its eyes "its the middle of the night!"
Two of them?! Ox or Verge hadn't mentioned anything about this!
This one may have looked the same, but he had bright silver eyes that blinked in the sight of me with a small smile and tap on the shoulder of his copy.
"It's just a kid" the new one reassured "he's nothing to get worked up about. Plain eyes and no confidence, see? He's fresh; probably lost his way or something."
"I need to stay the night!" I blurted again "please, Other Agnosia!"
It chucked at my name I had given it and shrugged its shoulders.
"I thought Zolin was the mothering type" it teased the fuming Angosia "the kid can sleep on the couch. Then we can kick him out in the morning. No harm done."
Agnosia was lost for words at how easily I had bypassed his murderous rant and gotten what I wanted.
"You can't just let every person in here you feel sorry for!" Agnosia hissed under his breath to the other "anything could happen! It's not right!"
"What's not right is letting a new Soul like that be torn apart by Cosmo" he snapped back before lightening up "relax, it's not going to be like last time. Let Zolin out if you are so worried about him. I'm going back to bed. You need sleep too for your trip as well."
Agnosia glared murderously back towards me and grunted as he motioned to the couch.
"Blankets are underneath" the copy pointed "get cleaned up in the bathroom over there. Ag can lend you some of his clothes."
"Like fuck I am!" he snarled just before some were thrown to me from inside the bedroom.
A pillow was thrown out as well that I pressed into the arm of the couch gratefully.
"Thank you."
"First thing" Agnosia warned me "then you fuck off, Freshie."
I just nodded, gathering the borrowed clothes together.
"And you take those with you" he added "they are yours now."
"Aww, look at you sharing!" the copy cooed.
"Fuck off" Agnosia grunted back and shoved his way into the bedroom that closed behind them.
I could still here disgruntled mumbling when I went to the bathroom to strip off.
It was pattering out when I emerged in the borrowed clothes and headed to the kitchen to carefully slide open the utensil drawer.
I slipped my steak-knife into it, thankful I didn't need to use it tonight.
They could have it now. Against a fully aware and energized Solanine, it would be useless and only used against me.
The couch smothered my back while the blanket I pulled from under it billowed around me. I was wrapped in comfort and surrounded with the smells of warm linen basked in the light twinged scent of blood.
I felt safe and secure here; tucked blissfully away from the dangers lurking just outside the door downstairs.
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