The Devil's Smile

Chapter 37

“Red,” I will finally started cutting her off mid range. “I am so sorry for disappearing on you and trust me it was not my decision full I would never have left you without telling you first if I had a choice. Something happened with the Cursors well we ended up a long way from the center ring and had to walk back. It…”

what else could I tell her? I had no idea who was listening and there was number safe place to talk about the chords and what had happened in Elysium.

She opened and closed her mouth looking like she was gulping for air but maybe she was trying to speak and couldn't wait to get around her shock full I beat it patiently my hand now on my chest as I rubbed it in slow circles. It didn't ease the pain.

If anything then the pain was getting worse. Crap the Cursors had finished their meal and while leaving the dining area. Which meant that they were probably going to their rooms. It looked like we were about to test our distance that I could handle.

My head spun as the sharp stabbing sensation in my chest increased. It was almost like my heart was being pulled through my ribs shredding it in the process.

“Charm are you even listening to me?” Red must have been started talking again but I missed what she said her eyes were narrowed on me now the colour darkening.” Are you okay Charm? You don't look good.”

I crouched forward and narrowly missed vomiting on her shoes. All of my delicious dinner was exciting my body and it was the worst thing to have happened to me this week. Including being hit by a godbolt.

“Charm what can I do? we need to get you to a healer...”

I shook my head stumbling away from her my hands raised like I could keep her back. I didn't want her to make a grab for me. She would use her super muscles to drag me off to the nearest healer and unless it was in the direction of the Cursors there was a good chance that it could actually kill me.

“I am sorry, Red,” I choked back through the pain and stumbled back into the dining room.

They were moving fast. I could feel them now drawing further and further away. I spun on my feet narrowly missing a passing dweller and sprinted through the dining hall towards the back doors. People jumped out of my way but the furniture wasn't so intuitive. I smacked hard into the side of the table with sent me spinning in the opposite direction. I went over a chair and then my face was slamming into the ground. Dark spots flashed over my eyes the pain seizing up my body into small convulsions. I could hear red screaming my name. She was getting closer.

I forced my head to clear forced my body to stop shaking as I drew myself to my feet and as I drew myself up I was struggling towards the door again. There was a cut on my leg blood dripping down my car. It reminded me that I wasn't wearing pants only drowns shirt which admittedly looked like a dress but still.

“Charm”. It was only a statement. Not a question. An acknowledgement. I need help and my best friend was going to give it to me.

She linked her arm through mine and I leaned a good deal of my weight on her raising a shaky finger to point towards the back door. She started to drag me that way her head tucked down and her stride purposeful as though she would be able to do the trick to the surrounding demigods and dwellers into thinking that there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. It almost seemed to work too. Some of them turned away from us going back to their meals.

We cleared the dining room and I pointed again showing red the way to the Cursors dorm rooms. It was much faster with her than it was to work on my own. I gained strength which is step which means that we were moving in the right direction if nothing else. When we were in the hall outside their rooms I tugged on Reds arm and we stopped moving I drew her to one of the supply closets unable to work on my own now and I gently pushed her inside full we sent 2 of the cleaning carts in the hallway to make room and then close the door sitting against it in the darkness.

“Charm?”

“I am okay.” I sighed dragging my hands all over my face. “I need a bath and something to wash out my mouth but I'm ok.”

“Are you can tell me what's going on or I can sing corporal Thomas stupid settlement anthem until years ears bleed. Your choice.”

“Harsh.” I cringed but followed it with a laugh. It was almost nice to think about corporal Thomas and make all of his hair brained plots to make the dwellers much more like demigods. Life had been much simpler than. “I snuck into Elysium and then one of the gods specifically the God of chaos Rani hit me with a weird smoke ball of light and I think it did something to me. Also I stabbed someone but it was an accident. And I met a cool slave named Jeff. You would have liked her. She was a stickler for rules. I'm pretty sure that we become Jeff and Jeffreys when we die. Just saying. I mean it makes sense. There only half of what we are. It like the creator plugged them on their way to death and then set them in Elysium where they would have to continue to serve. For return 80. So when teacher stole us that dwellers had a steam to be slaves and have no purpose outside of their slavery he really wasn't kidding. Do you know what happens when Jeff does something bad? They sent to banishment gave. They are bound to it. They turned into this creepy twisted shadowy things and they are just their amassed there must be thousands of them in there. Maybe more. Holy s**t. I didn't have time to think about that until now…”

“You can stop rambling. I have processed the first thing you said. Mind telling me why you snuck into Elysium?” Red’s tone was dry, almost sarcastic but there was a hint of hysteria to it.

“Well technically I did not want to. But the Cursors made me they wanted me to steal a cup.”

“Who did the cup belong to?”

“Someone called DoD?”

“It was too dark to see Red’s face but she was frowning so hard that I could almost sense her frown.

“There isn't a God by that name Charm.”

“Oh yeah thats what Jeff said to… ohh wait Jeff said something about sacred Abel or the trophy of Shalini or Sakriti or safe something.”

“Sephul?” The hysteria in Red’s voice was definitely becoming prominent now. “The trophy of Sephul? You stole the trophy of Sephul?”

I clapped her hand over her mouth trying to muffle her shriek I answered reflexively, “maybe. Why?”

She gave a muffled answer and I realised that I was still holding my hand over her mouth. I pulled away allowing her to speak again.

“You don't know who Sephul is, Charm? Seriously you couldn't pay attention in class for that much?”

“I knew that it sounded familiar but you have to understand that despite of what you tell me I am not from around here,” I grumbled feeling defensive ,”is it the God of food or something?”

Red groaned her head making a thudding sound as she knocked it back against the door. “it's the creator the original creator Sephul. And sacred Abel he is the God of trickery. definitely not someone that you want to be messing with.”

“I didn't want to be messing with any of them.”

“And yet you stole the cup from the creator. Tricked the God of trickery. Stabbed someone and probably someone important. probably the God of vengeance.”

“Do you think they know it was me?”

“of course not. How will they know you? You are a dweller from the 7th ring of Vandelay.”

Red launched into me hugging tightly. “I'm so relieved you are back. what was happening back there in the dining hall? And why they hell are we back in the supply closet?” She drew back from the hug, her hands still on my arm. She shook me slightly as though she was going to be able to dislodge the answers from me by force.

“Rane’s magic. It knocked me out and then when I woke up there was this pain attached to my chest rubbing my fingers over the muted thud of pain that was still present even now though it was no longer trying to rip me apart. The further from the Cursors I go the mood it hurts me. If I am touching one of them I don't feel it at all.”

“You need to tell them,” she shouted panic riding her tone. “Maybe they know….”

“They were all there. They saw it happen. I don't want to tell them about this. It is enough that they can hear some of my thoughts and that I have to follow them around during the day I don't want them to find out that I need to be around them for the entire day. I don't even want to be around them all the time. I'm sick of them. I'd never even want to see them again. Except are more. He smells nice. And Dron because he is so strong I'm pretty sure not even Rane can guess in the past him. I don't need others. Except Silas. I'm pretty sure he hates me but he is really good at catching maybe before I just face planted into something but the others I don't need them. Not at all.” I pause my bra following my mouth pursing and then I blurted quickly. “Except Cronas and Yeti. Because Cronas is really good at making decisions and if I leave out him then he will probably haunt me the hell down and haunt me.”

“That’s all of them,” Red interrupted smoothly. She did not sound panicked anymore. Now she sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

After Red snuck into some food into my closet she disappeared to finish her chores. Chores which I had no chance of doing unless one of the cursor brothers decided to help me out with them. Instead I sat in the dark picking at a plate of normal dweller rock bread my chest thumping painfully. When the world grew so quiet I would have been able to hear a bird squawk from the forest I knew that night had fallen.

I opened the door a crack peering out. I looked one way and then the other.

All clear soldier! The stress was reversing my mental development.

Slipping down the corridor was difficult it felt as though I had left my internal organs back in the closet and just before the pain became unbearable I reached the bathing chambers for that floor of dorms I ran inside and slammed the door behind me locking it securely. The pain drop of condensation code all around me and this team assaulted my face driving me back against the door for a moment fill my senses were on an overload and screaming out of pain from being so far away from the Cursors. I thought my way past it pushing off the door and heading into the steam. The wooden boards beneath my feet wet damp and warm and sending me comfort head right up to my belly somewhat easing the way of the raw bread was now turning up around and threatening to come up because of the pain.

I had no idea what to expect from the bathing chamber since the dweller chambers were in the dungeon and the water ran cold. Up here there seemed to be a series of experience rooms to walk through. Bathing experience. I entered the first room by passing the beneath the wooden archway. There were several wooden cubes all empty. I stayed beyond the room through the next student archway full all that was visible was a fine mist as water that rained down from the ceiling. I guessed that the cubes were for the demigods clothes. I quickly whipped off Dron’s shirt and then stopped it into the cube and then lost my boots and using one cube for each board because why the hell not? Next I tore of Jeff slave garb and clicking it on to the floor because I broke into a demigod bathing chamber and therefore I was a rebel of the worst kind mind as well starting acting like it. I stepped through the next start subway passing into the fine misty water. It caressed my skin so softly dripping condensation all over my body.