The next morning Nalsy woke up feeling much better. As she opened her eyes, her gaze fell on a window. It was pitch black outside which made her feel guilty for sleeping through the day. She propped herself up on the bed, and the sudden pain shot through her body. The physical pain reminded her of everything that happened. Reality dawned on her as she realised that she didn't lay in her own bedroom, but a strange place.
Her body was hurting, but it was nothing compared to the emotional turmoil of remembering what had happened to her parents. Warm tears quickly streamed down her face, soon soaking her hair and pillow below her head.
It was a while before Nalsy's tears started running dry, and the feeling of emptiness, numbness came back.
Pushing away the remnants of her feelings, Nalsy bit her lip, and she sat up through the pain. She took her pain relief, as well as she injected herself with yet another dose of her prescribed blood thinners, which were to help prevent any clots as many wounds on her body were healing.
Nalsy sat on the edge of the bed, in the darkness of the room, unsure of what to do with herself. All her goals and dreams were unimportant now. All she ever had was gone. She was left alone.
She was in a strange place, between strange people. Unimportant and a burden to everyone. She was merely a pawn in a game that wasn't her own.
Nalsy forced herself to get up. Her hope that the Earth will open below her and she will fall into oblivion didn't come true, so with a heavy sigh, Nalsy decided to get through the day, or rather night. She instead hoped that when she next falls asleep, that it would be then that her heart would stop and that she would not have to wake up to endure another day. A silent hope that she would die the next night was all that she had to get herself up. An intense persuasion in her head to make her keep going was that her relief would surely come soon.
Once the painkillers started working their magic, Nalsy stood up and started getting ready. She refreshed herself in the bathroom, washing her face thoroughly as if washing her skin was enough to wash all the intrusive thoughts hidden inside.
While refreshing herself in front of the mirror, she looked at her bruised and swollen face and sighed again. She tried to not care much about her looks, but this 'new look' wasn't confidence-boosting.
As she wasn't able to do much about her appearance, she decided to go downstairs.
To her surprise, the kitchen light was on, and the noise of clattering metal found its way to her as she walked down the stairs.
She stopped by the kitchen door, watching as Edmund pulled piles of items out of the kitchen cupboards, which were not limited to the kitchen utensils but also the most unlikely items to be found in the kitchen.
"Would you like to come with me to grab some breakfast as I'm heading to work?" Edmund looked up at Nalsy after hearing her light footsteps. His eyes gave her half a glance before he shifted his focus back to the messy kitchen cupboard.
Nalsy hasn't replied straight away, stunned by seeing the things that were falling loudly onto the floor, as this included a small telescope, books, camping gear, and even some weapons.
"Okay", Nalsy answered at last. "Will anywhere be open? It's still dark outside?" Nalsy said, looking out through the kitchen window, noticing once again the glimmering lights of the houses below but also now noticing the tall towers of the castle above the city's landscape.
"I wasn't joking when I said that it's dark here at all times," Edmund said with a hint of annoyance in his tone. Nalsy quickly noticed it, but she was unsure whether it was her, or his search for something, that seemed to agitate him. His words also sparked an interest as she realised that she hadn't seen the daylight in the past couple of days. This realisation slightly put her off, but she decided not to continue this topic further as not to anger Edmund unnecessarily.
'So what if she's becoming a lunatic, or that she might be in a coma and it is a figment of her imagination?' - She thought to herself - 'At least it's interesting. But could her imagination create someone like Edmund?' - Nalsy glanced sideways at the man who seemed cold and distant as if there was an invisible shield around him. His brows were furrowed as he pulled more and more items out of the cupboards. - 'She was known for her vivid imagination in the past, but could it create someone like him?'
She carefully studied him from behind. She couldn't see his face right now, but she knew it was still swollen and bruised to make it hard to see his facial features. She already noticed his blue eyes, bright like the clearest of the seas. But she didn't pay attention to the rest of him beforehand.
His hair was short and dark brown. His build was hidden under the loose t-shirt, but Nalsy could deduce that he was rather slim and fit. She could distinctly see a silhouette of his broad shoulders.
He was significantly taller than her, and she was already taller than average, standing at 1.80m.
He wore all black: a t-shirt, trousers, and boots.
As Nalsy pondered on Edmund's personality, she decided that she nearly hated him, or at least disliked him a lot. Not due to any particular characteristic, but rather his attitude towards her. He was stubborn and brutish, lacking empathy towards others, and it was either his way or a highway. And so far, Nalsy was leaning towards the highway.
It wasn't long before Edmund found a small object he hid in his pocket before Nalsy caught sight of it.
He straightened up and looked at Nalsy, who was quite obviously staring at him. As his eyes met hers, Nalsy flinched as she broke out of her thoughts, blushing in embarrassment as if she was caught red-handed.
Curiosity flashed through Edmund's face, but he didn't voice any of his thoughts. Instead, he gave Nalsy a nod towards the hallway so that they could leave soon.
Nalsy turned around quickly and rushed to put her single shoe on, on the only unharmed limb she had left.
"Let me," Edmund said in a stern tone as he kneeled on the floor and picked up her shoe. Without waiting for Nalsy's response, he put her grey boot on and skilfully tied up her laces. "There." He said as he got up. Nalsy obediently followed him out of the house.