It hurts. It hurts so bad. I claw at my arms, and I can feel my skin burning and it smells of white lotus and rose, it feels like someones clawing from the inside of my veins trying to get out and it won't stop. It just keeps going and burning away and I shake, whipping my head from side to side trying to get it off get it out I want it out. Charlie why? How could you do this? I hear a beep in the distance but all I can see is pain and I can't-
"Emmy? Em! Lyn! Love, are you okay? Oh my god." and I black out.
_______
I suck in a breath, slamming my hands on the surface I'm laying on. It's a bed. My mind runs wild and in circles and I chase after it, trying to make sense of the images it plays before me. The Caltrital. Oh my god. I'm a Caltrit now. Nia. I have to find Nia. She'll help. I get up, stumbling towards the door. I'm in Kaden's room. I don't know how I got here, and frankly I don't care at the moment. I hear the shower running through the ringing and fuzziness that is the world around me. I some how find my way back to the room Crystal and I were introduced in.
"Nia! Nia!" I call, swaying back and forth. Two cold hands grab me and guide me forwards, I can't see or hear, but for some reason I trust these hands.
"E**lyn****C****Hear****me******************* how********." The voice fades in and out and I sway, after a second in limbo my knees give out.
________
I once again find myself in a room that is not mine, this one's not Kadens or Crystals or anyone else that I know.
"I see you're awake, my dear." A velvety voice echos around the room and then my senses turn sharp. I can hear everything. It's a woman. She's close, but not too close. I know exactly where she is without even looking but then I hear the ringing and the noise- I cover my ears, gasping from the impact of all of that sound. "Shhh, my dear. It will all be fine. You're just... Adjusting." I yelp, her voice suddenly far too loud and the previously soft comforter suddenly too sharp. "This will only hurt a little." The woman says, and I feel an excruciating pain shoot through my neck, but then it dulls, and the rest of the world does too and I can see and feel without it hurting so much. "There. Good as new. Now tell me why you came running to me, darling? And don't worry. I won't tell. I'm a friend of Charlie's. The little minx told me to keep you safe, so I will as much as I can." She sits down next to me, taking a hold of my chin. She tilts my face side to side, then lifts my left arm, examining it. That's when I see the markings. Green and purple pulse through my arms to the rythum of my heartbeat. I stare in awe. "So where did you get one of these devils?" Nia questions, tracing the ever pulsing lines. I shrug.
"It just sort of... fell in my lap, you could say. I didn't mean to let it imprint on me, it just sort of did." I murmer. Nia sighs.
"Caltritals will do that sometimes. Don't worry about the markings. They'll go away after you calm down. You just can't let your emotions run too wild." My memory flashes back to the night Kaden and I pulled that prank. He used a flashlight to light our way, but thinking back? I can only remember him carrying the supplies needed to set up the trap. Not a flashlight. I shrug it off. I probably just have a bad memory. We sit and talk for a while, and she explains how Charlie was involved in planning an uprising. My anger at Charlie grows, but I can't stop thinking about him. Kaden.
"Nia?" She hmms in response, and I take that as a cue to continue. "Do you think a Caltrit could be able to use the light to sort of... I don't know. Make light? Like a flashlight?" Nia gives me a puzzled look, frowning.
"I guess a Caltrit could do that, Emberlyn. Why?" I freeze, stiffening.
"No reason."
"Okay, honey. Just know you can always tell me anything."
ns 15.158.61.19da2
