Chapter Six | Unease and Illness
Ashlynn didn't let herself sleep in the next day. As much as she wanted to stay under her gathered fragment scraps and blankets, she wanted to get the work for her new bed under way as fast as possible. The moment she was upright, she got to work sewing the edges of the fabric fragment together on the sides, leaving a gap just for her to be able to fill it properly.
She didn't gather nearly enough fluff, sadly, but that was what tonight was for. Ashlynn's plan was to return and gather not only more fluff from the discarded toy, but also cotton balls from the cabinet under the sink. It would take several trips, but it would be well worth it.
So, that's what she did. The Borrower woman sewed the cloth together on either side, leaving a gap, and then gathered up her belongings to head out for the place under the sink. If she was right, the boys would be spending time playing and would have no need for anything in the bathroom except to wash their hands after they did their business. This time, however, she remembered to wrap her hands so the twine wouldn't scratch her to ribbons. She wasn't about to have another set of massive cuts on her palms if she had anything to say about it.
The trip down the walls was, in a word, uneventful. She made her way down the twine line and into the bathroom cabinet in record time. Her backpack and side satchel were both stuffed to the brim with cotton balls by the end of her trip and she was on her way back in a jiffy. It was on the way back as she passed by the familiar electrical cover leading down into the kitchen when she picked up a fragment of conversation that chilled her to the bone.
"Where'd you put it?" asked Rey.
"What is it now?" Soren replied.
"The little pocket thing and the tissue piece."
The younger boy, Rey, said those petrifying words so casually that Ashlynn nearly missed her next step entirely. It was a pure miracle that she managed to catch herself on a bundle of wires as her head snapped to the place she could listen into the human world. With clumsy caution, Ashlynn crept up to the edge of her hiding place and listened harder to the words of her human roommates.
"Oh, that? I tossed them. Why? Did you need them?" asked Soren.
"No, I was just wondering. I was going to look at it a little longer and try and find what it went to," Rey replied.
Instantly, Ashlynn's mind started reeling.
Pocket? What pocket? What tissue piece?
That couldn't be… Ashlynn's heart stopped as she scrambled to slide her backpack off of her back, mind swirling at a nauseating speed as she spotted that a sewn pocket she'd added that housed the piece of tissue she'd used the night before to stop her bleeding hand.
"No," she breathed, speaking aloud completely involuntarily. "No. No. No." She clasped her hand over her mouth and backed away from the hole in the ceiling. Everything in her body screamed to run. To flee and hide far away from this place.
I'm such an idiot. How could I be so stupid!? I should've checked my pack! I shouldn't have gone down there. They know! They know! I left a whole freaking pocket from my pack just because I got spooked. I should have just moved slowly and carefully. I shouldn't have run!
As Ashlynn's mind continued to spiral, she swallowed the tension in her throat as she began to try to come to grips with the fact that she'd have to leave as soon as possible. The Borrower woman, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, was about to turn and run back to her area when she heard the one human, Soren, speak up.
His words alone gave her pause.
"Well, I don't think those went to anything, bud. It was probably just part of something that you forgot you had. With how messy your room gets and all the weird places I find both of your toys, I'm surprised anything is still in your room," stated Soren. "It probably just got caught on something of mine and you haven't noticed until now. As for your lion, I don't know what might've happened to the patch, but we'll go get a new one if you really want it fixed today – after you finish cleaning."
"You mean go to the craft store?" asked Rey eagerly.
"Yes, and undoubtedly you'll want to visit the electronics aisle. So, get rid of twelve things that you haven't been using, Dorian too, and we'll make a little field trip of the afternoon. Okay?" proposed Soren.
"Deal!" Rey practically vaporized out of his seat as he darted back to his bedroom to clear out his unneeded items. Dorian wasn't far behind. Ashlynn watched from the safety of the walls as the older human, Soren, stood and stretched, his hands nearly reaching halfway to her hiding place by the ceiling light, and continued to stay motionless until he left to continue whatever task he was doing before.
As she sat there, bag clutched to her chest and her heart racing, she knew she had a decision to make.
She'd been noticed. At the very least, the humans had taken notice of her activities. It didn't sound like they suspected her specifically, but they definitely knew something was a little off – especially the youngest.
She cursed at herself for being so bold with her borrowing.
It was the cloth! It was that cursed cloth. All because I wanted a bed to sleep in. I should've waited. They're cleaning everything today. I could've gone through their discarded items when they were done. I'll bet they were getting rid of clothes too. Why didn't I just wait!?
She began to question everything. What other times did she mess up? Was she slipping? Losing skill? Getting careless because she was on her own now? Was she as good of a Borrower as she thought she was? Nothing like this had ever happened before, and the fact that it happened in the first place felt like a punch in the gut.
Ashlynn didn't realize how hard she was shaking until the felt a cramp starting up in her leg and the rigidness in her body making her feel sore. Every thought felt clouded and distant. It was like a haze settled over her. It wasn't the right time for her to have sluggish judgment. She shook her head and focused on the problem at hand.
The decision was a very cut and dry one – stay or go.
Considering the circumstances, Ashlynn figured she should just cut her losses and go as fast as possible. She hadn't quite settled in. She'd had a little bit of time to rest. The items borrowed would get her through the next week and a few days if she rationed correctly. It was the safest option because now all three humans suspected something was a little off.
On the flip side, things could work if she stayed. The weather wasn't optimal for her to leave. There were other apartments to borrow from. Plus, the dad, Soren, seemed to dismiss the notion that anything was off or weird about the patch of cloth missing and the bag pocket she'd lost from her bag.
It was a hard decision. Both could prove dangerous for her. In circumstances like this, she would sometimes flip a cracker fragment or simply air on the side of caution and go with her gut and spare crumbling the cracker fragment further. This time was different. Both circumstances were just as dangerous and she had no one to bounce ideas off of.
It was a lonely feeling. It forced an uneasy sickness into her midsection that chased away her hunger and made her want to hide. Every question she'd ever had an answer for was called into question as she silently debated the best course of action for her and her survival.
Unease clutched Ashlynn's mind as she made the fateful decision to stay.
It was risky and she still wasn't sure if it was the right decision, but based on the circumstances she thought it might be best. The youngest was easily distracted and wasn't giving the pocket he'd found a second thought. The older brother didn't seem to care and the dad, Soren, seemed to have the same opinion.
For the moment, she decided to not go down into the apartment below for a little while. She had supplies and there were other apartments that she could go borrow from. None of them were as optimal as the one with the human boys, but there was nothing she could currently do about that.
It was a terrible waiting game, and Ashlynn was a reluctant participant. It was all she could do.
~~~^*^*^~~~
Two weeks. It had been an entire two weeks since the incident where Ashlynn had been noticed; or, at least, when something seemed off in the apartment to the humans who lived down below. Her borrowing missions had been infrequent and scarce because of the other apartments she decided to visit and pickings were slim to say the least. Twice she'd had to tighten her belt, and she was eager to get back to the original apartment.
The initial unease was obviously warranted, but now it was like nothing had happened. The dad, Soren, had fixed the one toy and never mentioned anything weird going on in the apartment again. The two boys also seemed to drop the issue, but the few times Ashlynn dared to linger by the light and observe the youngsters made her question whether or not Rey had actually dropped the issue entirely.
It maybe was her imagination, but Ashlynn could have sworn that the gadgets and "inventions" that Rey was making functioned like traps and cages consisting of pressure plates and trip wires. The thought about getting caught by one of the youngest humans in the apartment complex was bone chilling, but now little else could be done.
She had to risk it.
When she'd made her previous conviction about not going back down to see the trio of humans down below, she didn't take into account that the different families would be leaving for days on end or inviting other humans over for elaborate dinners. Sadly, leftovers were scarce, and it wasn't until one night after she'd tumbled behind a box of empty crackers with a carrot fragment tucked under her arm that she reluctantly admitted to herself that she was being just as risky with these humans as she was with Soren and the other two youngsters.
"Risky no matter what," she mumbled as she bit into the carrot after pealing off her borrowing shoes and flopping down onto her bed. She chewed on the stewed carrot and stared at the beams above her head as she laid back on her bed. It would be a lie if she said she wasn't relieved that she would be returning back to the original apartment that began her borrowing adventures.
"I'll just have to be more careful. Aware. No mistakes."
The Borrower finished her meager feast and let herself drift off to sleep for the next few hours, plans of sneaking down to the apartment below looming in her mind.
Ashlynn woke a few hours later out of sheer habit and, knowing she had nothing but the simple carrot in her supply cabinet, forced herself up out of bed and dawned her borrowing bag. The occupants of the apartment down below with the three boys would be asleep. The kitchen would be unguarded. There were undoubtedly leftovers because, based on everything she'd seen before, there was always something left out on the counters or the table.
Was it stupid to go down without close observation and checks? Yes.
Was she going to do it? Yes.
It was a necessary risk. Also, if she stayed put any longer, Ashlynn knew she might chicken out and decide to not refill her pantry at the most opportune time. The lamp on her hip led the way through the dusty halls all the way back to the familiar secured line leading down into the kitchen.
Ashlynn couldn't tell if it was nerves that was making her shake and sweat or if her instincts were trying to ward her away from this place, but there was a distinct tremble to her hands as she grasped the line and gave it a tug. The shake was imperceptible, but Ashlynn still felt it as she slipped her gloves onto her hands.
Get yourself together, Ashlynn. You've done this a thousand times. That kid didn't leave anything in the kitchen. You're going to be fine! Get in. Borrow what you can. Get out.
She threw herself into the darkness and slid down the line. The feeling of weightlessness overtook her as her stomach hit the top of her throat. Instinct took over as she grasped the line tightly, the friction slowing her down to a graceful stop as her feet touched down noiselessly onto the beam by the electrical cover. The Borrower extinguished her hip lamp and tilted her ear toward the opening.
One second.
Then five.
Nothing.
No sound except for the hum of the refrigerator and the crack of the ice box. It was familiar and made her feel ever so slightly at ease. She didn't let it dull her senses though. Hands tingling with anticipation, she leaned against the electrical cover and popped the familiar piece of plastic off of the wall. She held her breath, but heard nothing but the sound of her heart thumping against her eardrum.
So far, so good.
Ashlynn poked her head out from the protection of the walls and, as luck would have it, an unattended plate of food was less than a foot away. Her eyes widened almost as big as the plate as she stared longingly at the different pieces. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans covered the plate. There was even part of a dinner roll.
Her salivary glands filled her mouth as the thought of eating filled her mind.
With nothing and no one else in sight, Ashlynn tiptoed out onto the counter and filled up the pieces of plastic wrap and foil she'd borrowed from previous adventures. She didn't want to be too liberal with her borrowing, seeing that most of the plate was still full. Still, she needed supplies and scraping a little from already cut or messed-up pieces didn't seem like that big of a deal.
Ashlynn was turning back toward her electrical cover safety when, from down the hall, there was the familiar squeak of the floorboards. Her blood instantly chilled and, briskly, she darted back into the walls rather than letting herself freeze out on the middle of the counter. The safety of the walls welcomed her, and the electrical cover was snapped back in place just as the lights turned on in the kitchen.
Based on the weight of the footsteps, it was probably Soren, not that it mattered at the moment. Ashlynn was free and clear, and she would eat well tonight. The climb up the line back to her home felt like barely a jaunt and she was back on her bed eating a candle warmed meal by the end of the night.
If she'd known or managed to observe the family of three, she might not have indulged in the easy-to-reach plate because, just in the next room, Soren was taking Rey and Dorian's temperatures and tucking the feverish boys into bed with him to monitor the rising numbers on the mercury filled tube. It was going to be a long night with two sick boys, and he would undoubtedly have to call into work the next day.
Nothing like sickness to bring people closer together right before the holidays.