Moriah watched for a while, then stood up and went back to her spot. Kage for some reason followed her and sat beside her. Immediately he did, Moriah stood back up, simultaneously pulled out a handkerchief out of her dress pocket and pressed it against Kage's face.
Immediately she did, he fell down and soon started breathing normally, indicating he was asleep.
•••••
"W-what the h-he-heck did you d-do to him?!" Morani sputtered looking at the unconscious body of Kage, shocked.
Moriah only stared back them then walked back to her spot.
"Is there sleeping liquid in that handkerchief?" Ramone asked her.
Moriah turned to them, giving them a yeah-duh?-Any-problem? Look.
Morani and Ramone looked at each other then at Moriah as she lied back down.
"W-we-well, a-atl-atleast we know h-he-her heart's n-n-not made e-entirely out o-of stone, some p-pa-parts' are a-app-apparently fleshy, although b-bla-black and putrid," Morani walked to Moriah and 'borrowed' some of the blanket on Kage then on herself.
Ramone only stared at Moriah thinking about something then walked towards them. And too took a portion of the large blanket.
Other than the blanket, a silence was also drafted over them.
Morani was getting a little warmer under the thin blanket and so wanted to lighten the atmosphere.
"When I was little, 5 or 6, I used to have this really annoying uncle...."
Moriah suddenly let out an exaggerated sigh interrupting her.
"Haven't you people done enough? Must you take away my sleep also?"
Morani sighed and shook her head vigorously.
" I....Used to have this uncle, he was huge with a really small head and had a reall8y huge and bushy moustache, he looked like Deadpool without the cool mask,"
Ramone coughed hiding her amusement.
" My dad used to say he was born with the moustache and a Kentucky smile."
Ramone smiled.
" He was really rich but was a miser. He was really bad at relationships, married like going to the grocery store, I remember one time, when he came back from his honeymoon, he said he was sorry that I couldn't go, it was because no kids were allowed, my mom said I told him, 'don't worry, uncle, I'll go to your next wedding'"
"Well apparently it really hurt him, but on the bright side I did go to his next wedding,"
Ramone chuckled while Moriah kept mum, it seemed she was asleep.
"There was a time when he decided to go gay. He took me with him on a date with the guy and that was the most weirdest 30 mins of my young life, I had to pretend I really had to go to escape that traumatic experience,"
Moriah turned around.
Morani sighed.
"But the most part I remember about the guy, was a time when he was being really childish, he'd moved me from my spot on the couch and change the station! Then he took my snacks and told me to play with dirt outside and it was raining then, I was really hangry, and I threw a tantrum but he didn't hear of it, but then i really wanted to pee and tried telling him but he wouldn't listen so I just took a hike to the kitchen and peed into a glass..... "
Ramone let out a laugh, Morani laughed too as she tried continuing her story.
" And then I took the cinnamon bottle to use as a toy, ha ha! He had this maid in his house whowas half blind and when, hee hee-when he said to give him his weird daily dose of cinnamon water, she-ha ha ha-she used the cup I'd peed in and poured water into it! She didn't even check if there was anything else inside! And when she took it to him, he was like 'hmmmm, wow maid, this is the best cinnamon water you've made, keep on the good work! '" she mimicked his voice and Ramone laughed uncontrollably while Moriah only chuckled.
" I laughed so hard that they thought I was possessed, it wasn't until a minute later that my uncle found his water was really spicy, apparently the 'cinnamon' the maid had poured into the water was really hot powdered pepper! "
She stopped to laugh then continued.
" And my uncle was deathly allergic to peppers and immediately his face and neck swells up like a freaking pufferfish! He looked so ridiculous, but immediately he's rushed to a hospital and is treated but unfortunately lost his voice forever, but because you know rich people and technology, he gets this machine that can read his thoughts or something,"
" Wait a minute? There's a machine that can read your mind?"
" Yeah! I saw it with my own eyes....."
" It.... doesn't read your mind,"
Both Ramone and Morani sat up immediately.
" What?"
" What?"
"It doesn't read your mind, it's a device that you attach to your throat and through the vibrations it receives when the user tries to talk, it interpretes what you're trying to say," Morani continued calmly and explanatory.
Morani gasped, " Oh my gosh, your heart really does have flesh in it! You were listening! You can say things other than things that are authoritative, insulting....."
" Enough, enough,"
" Morale crushing....."
" Enough!"
" Okay, okay, so what is the worst thing you've ever done? Hmm? I've shared my fifth worse...."
Ramone burst out laughing and Moriah chuckled.
" I accidentally tried to kill my uncle, so would either care to share?"
Ramone rolled her eyes and Moriah coughed.
"We do not do that here,"
Morani frowned. "What?"
"You've shared a funny story, you've made us smile a little longer today, you've lightened the mood and you've accomplished your mission, now let's keep it that way and sleep with lightened moods,"
Morani nodded, 'such inspirational words,'
"So does this mean we're friends now?"
Moriah coughed again and shifted away from the impossible and uncomfortable closeness of Morani.
"Well we'll have to survive, 'the gauntlet' by tomorrow, so if I'm not dead by the end of it, then..... Just acquaintances, I guess,"
" Yes!"
Morani yawned then greeted, " Goodnight guys,"
" See you in the day,"
•••••
Back in the underground,
The boy laid on the floor, under the moonlight next to Elliam's casket.
He had his eyes shut tightly, his palms clenched to fists, he turned and twisted and changed his lying position often, he was sweating profusely as if having a nightmare.
Suddenly he stood up, rubbing his arms and tummy often and walking about the place quickly. From his groans it seemed like he was suffering from pain. "No no no no," he mumbled repeatedly.
The strangest thing of this scenario would be that he was with a corpse but the other strangest thing would be that, all the while the boy's eyes were closed as if he was still asleep and yet he maneuvered and turned the other way when there was an obstruction before him, as if he could see where he was walking into.
All the while also the boy avoided the moonlight but suddenly an unknown force pushed him forcefully under it and as soon as it hit his eyes, he knelt and stared at the moon, his eyes had come open now, he stared it motionlessly for an amount of time then suddenly felt a cold body brush against his hands.
He snapped out of the trance immediately and turned to looked at the casket, her hand was out of the casket as if reaching out to him.
He heaved a sigh of relief and lied again beside the casket this holding tightly onto her hand.
Aboveground, in the 'room', the children unconsciously huddled close together, under the blanket, with Ramone's torchlight switched on, casting a spread light on their sleeping bodies.