Eunomia stared into the cloudy water of the bathtub. She blinked a few times, trying to clear the black spots from her vision. They kept appearing, crawling like bugs when she kept her eyes open too long.
“You ok in there?” Chloe called from behind the thin door.
“Yes.” Eunomia answered.
She was not alright. She was not even remotely so. She could feel it crumbling inside of her; her safety, her home. And she didn’t want to let them ruin it. She held on tightly to the side of the tub. She could see the wallpaper; peeling. The hole in the wall oozing. She could sense them, crawling about under the floorboards, behind the walls. She stamped her foot, waiting for them to crawl out from the woodwork, but instead they just sat there. It was not their place. It was her place. And she would hunt them down and destroy them.
“Hey, I can’t really offer you much. You’ve got the sofa to sleep on, and I can give you a t-shirt or something to sleep in.” Chloe said, watching as Eunomia walked out from the bathroom dressed in her bloody clothes still. She stood up, to get the t-shirt immediately. “I’ll try and wash those, but you know what blood’s like…well, maybe you don’t, but that stuff never comes out.”
Eunomia grabbed the hem of her jumper and touched it tenderly. “Amelia gave me this.” She said quietly.
“Who’s Amelia?”
“Bailer’s…she is Bailer’s…I do not know the word. They love one another.” Eunomia said.
Chloe got her the t-shirt and ushered her in to change.
Eunomia walked the corridors, stalking like a beast. She would find them; she would have them gone. She heard scrambling behind the walls and she sprung, tearing the wall as if it was paper. She heard a cry; a filthy word. She grabbed for him and he slipped through her fingers like smoke.
“Hi. I’ve got a lost…artificial here. Eunomia Nova…I wasn’t sure what to do?” The silence on the other end of the phone was daunted. The woman who answered sounded terminally bored.
“And how do you spell that?”
Chloe didn’t know. She had to ask Eunomia. Eunomia had to write it down. The woman on the phone sounded severely short-tempered by the end.
“Ok. Eunomia Nova; registered to a Mr Charles Bailer. We can contact him right away and let him know.” She didn’t say bye, and hung up.
Chloe looked at Eunomia. “Well, that’s that sorted. I expect we’ll be hearing from this Bailer before long.”
Eunomia, who was chewing on a bagel and sipping curiously at a cup of tea, acted as if she hadn’t heard. Chloe shrugged, deciding to check out those news reports she had seen yesterday but hadn’t followed up.
In a few minutes she was left concerned. She read about Child, and Stern, and began to wonder what was going on. She began to look at the frail girl differently.
The call hadn’t come by five o’clock. Chloe was getting worried. Eunomia was sitting on the sofa, watching television idly. Chloe tried to call the woman from earlier back. There was no answer. And then the phone rung and Chloe almost dropped it as it warbled shrilly by her ear.
Eunomia looked up over her shoulder. Chloe looked pale. Her hand was covering her mouth. Eunomia rose up from the sofa.
“Oh my god. Oh…Oh…” Eunomia could hear the sound repeated, echoing in the kitchen. The conversation went on for several minutes more, and then all was quiet. Chloe walked back in.
“I’m sorry. They just told me…there’s been an incident. A woman and a child were killed.”
Eunomia blinked. She didn’t understand.
“They think its Bailer’s wife, and his son. They wouldn’t tell me anymore.”
Eunomia understood.
She cleaned the blood out of her nails, looking towards the hospital. She had not enjoyed her work last night; mainly because of the kid. She worried, because her colleague had not contacted her. They had had an agreement. She did not mind working alone, but she did not like being lied to. She had called her employers, informed them of what had been done, and had been told what was next. Her phone buzzed.
They had found out what had happened to her colleague. They had seen the security footage from a camera over the road. They wanted her found.
“But what about Bailer?”
Unimportant, came the response. She was to search for the artificial at once. She withheld a groan; they could only tell her the rough direction the girl had gone in. Nothing more. She hung up and turned on her heels.
Chloe stood, staring at empty space. Eunomia had been there, moments before. She had told her about Bailer’s wife and son and then she had been gone. A soft blue glow, and she had blinked out of existence. When the initial shock passed, Chloe was relieved. Still, she called for Eunomia, and then she gave up. The house was silent.
Continued in Part 15 --->
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Moth's Tales
Since I tend to turn my avatars into characters, I thought I might expand on the whole idea a bit. Comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.
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