Creatures and Comforts

Cassius had been worried about the person he interacted with on the internet, claiming they were going to the mines. And it seemed that they had found a kindred spirit in someone else. So, in his worry, he decided to venture out to one of the mine entrances in the dead of night, where he wouldn’t be caught by anyone that would be there during the day. He had no idea if anyone was guarding the entrance to the thing or if he was just being overly cautious, but that’s how he found himself in front of the mine entrance. Crystals sprouted all around him. 

He heard a shuffling of footsteps from behind and quickly turned around to see a woman exploring around. “I see I’m not the only one interested in what’s happening here,” he said with a lofted brow. “Unless you’re here to make sure no one gets too close, in which case I have no idea why I’m here, and I was simply lost.” He then added, knowing that it wasn’t the most convincing statement in the world, especially when spoken after claiming he was curious about what was drawing people towards the mines.

A single small crystal had arisen just outside the front door of Abigail's business, stopping the door from opening enough for hardly anybody to get through. No amount of resources or phone calls seemed to lead to a result other than wasted time and money, which forced her to take matters into her own hand. She'd heard rumors from her network of contacts about the mines being a source of the crystals, so if there were to be any solution, it would have to be there. In the deep cover of night, Abigail hadn't expected anybody to have had the same idea as her, which made her very surprised when she saw the man standing at the mine entrance.

As the stranger across from her dug a hole with his words, she responded only with silence. Abigail's ominous stare only left Cassius when she took notice of the crystals that surrounded him, the size of which certainly brought her much concern. If the crystal at her front door grew as large as some of the ones here, she'd lose the front of her club to them, with no hope of removing them using natural means. Pointed footsteps led Abigail closer and closer to some of the crystals to closer examine them, paying Cassius hardly any mind due to the apparent gravity of the situation.

Not much of a talker, Cassius thought with a raised brow, watching the stranger walk past him and closer to the crystals. He frowned, deciding to let the woman go about her business as he took a step deeper into the cave. There was nothing. His brows furrowed as he tried to possibly understand what was happening to the town, with the strange crystals popping up everywhere with wild abandon. He turned his attention back to the woman, expression unreadable. She had some intrigue with the crystals. He sighed, shaking his head. Just like everyone else in this damn town, he couldn’t help but think to himself. 

“You trying to figure out how these things work, too?” He asked, not sure if he would get a response or not. He took a step back from the entrance of the mines, taking a moment to listen around. He heard a distant shuffling, which sounded like it was coming from inside the mines. “Do you hear that?” He then asked, narrowing his gaze as he listened closer. The shuffling stopped after a moment, which left Cassius with more questions than answers. He knew this would be a bad idea. He knew this would be stupid. But even so, he retook toward the mines, hearing shuffling again. 

After pulling her large knife from a boot-mounted sheath, Abigail slowly dragged the sharp tip along the edge of one of the massive crystals, applying mire and more pressure along the arc. Just as she'd expected, not a single shaving or shard came off. These things were hard and dense, closer to stone than crystal in terms of hardness. It was only after Cassius spoke to her once more that she pulled away from the formations, prompting her to direct her attention to him. In response to his question, she simply offered a gentle nod, and whatever temporary focus she could offer before the next problem reared its head.

Abigail did hear it, the sound of something approaching from the depths of the cave, whatever creature had made the mistake of showing itself to her. With a hidden expression of intense focus and preparation, she flipped her knife in her hand, fingers tightly gripping onto the handle. As the movements became closer and faster, it became more and more apparent that whatever this thing was, it certainly wasn't human, or bipedal for that matter. "Steady yourself." Her cold voice spoke to the stranger, offering what was either a command, or a piece of advice. Only time would tell.

Cassius stood up straighter as the woman finally spoke, a hand drifting down to his pocket when he finally caught sight of the creature. It walked on all fours but had a humanoid figure. When it came closer, Cassius could finally see the thing for what it was, a shining geode where its face should be. Cassius immediately took out his pocket knife, as small and useless as it was. At least it was better than nothing, right? He looked over to the woman, then back to the creature, afraid to take his eyes off it for too long.

The creature suddenly shot out a spray of something from the middle of the geode, and Cassius quickly ducked out of the way before it could hit him, and it sizzled as it landed on the ground behind him. His eyes widened, suddenly at a loss for what he should do. He could run, but this thing would continue to skulk around the mines. His eyes darted over to Abigail for a brief moment, then back to the creature. He decided to say nothing, simply pointing his knife at the creature as it advanced toward them.

Whatever the creature from the mines happened to be, it was clearly approaching on the offensive, or at the very least it was frightening enough for Abigail to perceive its movements as such. As soon as she saw the acid spray onto the ground behind Cassius, her plan had to change. Acid was one of the few things she hadn't tested getting killed by, and, for all she knew, it could be enough to stop her healing long enough to kill her. After a slow, deep breath, she ran towards the entrance of the mine, dropping to slide past the Volmugger and drag her blade across one of its knees, forcing it to drop slightly.

Unfortunately, trying to slide across dirt in her sweatpants meant that Abigail didn't get nearly as much distance as she'd hoped to, leaving her directly between the Volmugger and a large crystal. She was able to roll back away from the creature, but not before the edge of her arm and a sizable portion of the crystal were coated in the creature's thick acid. All she could do was wince in pain through clenched teeth as she watched the creature struggle to return to its previous movements, clutching her newfound wound as if it would hurt less if she squeezed it with all of her might. "Your turn again.."

Cassius’s eyes widened as the creature sprayed acid toward the woman and the crystal. He blinked, watching as the crystal began to dissolve. “The acid melts the crystals!” He exclaimed, pointing to the now half-melted crystal behind Abigail. “Good to know…” He muttered to himself as he quickly advanced toward the creature, hoping that his supernatural speed would play to his advantage as he began to slash at the creature with his switchblade with wild abandon. 

The creature turned its sights on Cassius, spraying acid at his face. Right before it hit, however, he ducked out of the way with breakneck speed. With Abigail injured, Cassius felt like he had no choice. Eyes beginning to glow a bright red, he sunk his fangs into the neck of the creature, drinking from it with a vice grip on its neck. His vision began to change. Suddenly, he saw the disembodied faces of people he’d never met. He kept drinking down its blood, unable to stop what he had begun. The faces continued to swirl around in his vision, 

Then, when Cassius finally released his grip on the creature, it fell onto its knees and forearms, sluggishly turning its head toward him to spray at him. He could easily avoid the attack, the acidic substance making contact with another crystal, causing it to dissolve. 

Abigail knew that they needed to stop this thing before it hit anything important, lest one of them dies near this abandoned mine. She’d prefer only having to bury one body today, if she could help it. Once the creature had been forced to the ground, she swiftly dove back toward the creature to sit atop its back, plunging her knife through the back of its neck once she had the proper positioning to do so. Very rarely did she have to resort to using practiced maneuvers or training to kill what was necessary, so moments like these made her feel less like she’d wasted her time on something that normally came so easy to her.

With a sickening crunch of something deep inside the creature, it fell limp beneath Abigail, allowing her and Cassius a moment to breathe and recover from what had happened. Looking from her arm to the crystals nearby, she took notice of the fact that her arm had healed from the Volmugger’s acid, but the crystal had not. Circumstance and luck had brought them a rather convenient solution for their problems, and she wasn’t about to pass up this opportunity for anything.

Before speaking or confirming anything with her new associate, Abigail moved off of the body, rolled it onto its back, and plunged her large knife into its stomach, starting a rather crude dissection in search of whatever organ produced the acid. It took a few minutes, but eventually she found a foreign, foul smelling sack, wrenching it forth from the hot corpse with a heaving motion and holding it to the sun. Though the acid leaked through her skin and muscle, exposing the internal parts of her hand to the cool breeze around them, she didn’t seem to notice much, instead focusing more on showing Cassius what she’d retrieved.

Backing away from the thing as quickly as he could when he saw Abigail launch after it, Cassius wiped his mouth with a swipe from the back of his hand. Impressed, he watched as she quickly took the beast out the rest of the way. This was fine by him, as he hated killing things. Monster or not, it wasn’t his nature to take anything out in such a fashion. It seemed they had found a solution to the crystal problem after all. 

It may not have been what Cassius had initially set out to accomplish, but he was happy to have come away from it with some sort of knowledge. “Good to know. Their acid burns through crystals,” he mumbled to himself as if tucking away the information for a later date. 

Flinching as Abigail drove the blade into the creature’s back, Cassius couldn’t help but watch with horror as she pulled out the organ. He wrinkled his nose at the smell, bringing his hand up to cover his nose. “Well, that’s one way to solve the problem,” he spoke with a blink of his eyes. He still couldn’t stop thinking about those faces he saw when drinking its blood. That would haunt him for some time to come, he thought. He looked to her now exposed skeletal hand, frowning. “Make sure not to get that on anyone.” He spoke, noting that her shoulder had managed to heal already. “I’m guessing that you have crystal problems, then?” He asked, raising a brow. 

He looked down at the creature that had once been a danger, noticing the strangeness of its head. The geode-like thing that now lay dead beneath their feet. “Should probably take care of the corpse.” He noted, looking back up to the woman with a frown. “Can’t say I’ve ever had to bury a body before.”

The sun had just barely begun to fall below the horizon when Abigail arrived at Teagan's lake. She was careful not to park her bike too close, just in case some of the lake's occupants disliked the smell of bike exhaust. Talking to Teagan always felt a bit awkward, but she was still a close friend, who happened to still have something very important to Abigail. With footsteps that were nearly silent atop the dew-covered grass, she soon arrived at her friend's home. The area was extremely quiet, just as she'd expect from somebody like Teagan.

As Abigail stood there on Teagan's porch like a deer in headlights, sunlight glinted off of the buckle that fastened her mask to her face, accompanied by the uncomfortable feeling of warm sunlight on her back. No getting around it, she needed to muster her courage and knock, or stand here and start to sweat. That was enough motivation to get her fist to meet the wood of the door, banging thrice with enough force that it could be heard from the far side of the house, in hopes that she could avoid making her presence known vocally.

Breakups weren’t a common occurrence for a woman like Teagan. In fact, Abigail was her one and only, and she told herself that she’d never do that again. Having someone that close was dangerous, there was too much collateral damage in the way she lived. Always on the hunt, and always searching for the next decoration at the bottom of the lake. Though, Teagan had to admit, being with Abigail was nice. Sure, she was strange and rarely spoke, and she had a proclivity for the macabre, but she was never anything but herself. 

When it came down to it, Abigail was gentle and understanding. Much better than Teagan deserved, but she wasn’t going to say that aloud or dwell on all the nuances of that belief. Instead, she played with the knife that she purposely held onto so she could have a piece of Abigail with her at all times. But as all things went, Teagan had to let go, and the knocks only further cemented just how close the ending truly was. 

She rose to her feet and made her way to the door, heart pounding against its cage. A happy ending with a beautiful woman sounded nice, but she had responsibilities and debts to repay. There was no room for anything but her rage and revenge. The never-ending cycle that was as circular as the knob she turned. “Hey there, Bunny.” Teagan greeted Abigail upon opening the door, not expecting a response. She smiled warmly, placing the knife in her back pocket until it was requested. “Would you like a hug?” The pair were good friends, had been very intimate before, but Teagan was more than aware of Abigail’s boundaries. There was no way she’d ever cross them without permission. “‘Course, ya don’t gotta. Just…just nice to see ya.”

Abigail offered a small wave of her pale hand to return the kind greeting given to her. She wasn't as nervous around Teagan as she normally got around other people, but things had changed after the breakup, so she offered a simple nod of approval in place of a verbal response. She leaned in and gave a quick, firm hug to Teagan, patting her on the back a few times before inevitably breaking off the hug. Teagan always smiled like everything in her life was going perfectly, like there was nothing to be upset about, however, she wore just as thick a mask as Abigail did.

The rage and desire for revenge emanated off of Teagan like heat from a flame, with so much ferocity that it made it hard for Abigail to stay focused through the haze of potential energy in the air. All she had to do was seize the opportunity and she'd be fed for so long, maybe even months. As soon as that thought entered her head, she immediately shook it off, reminding herself of their friendship. She was not a food source, she was Teagan, no matter how good it would feel to bring her the revenge she longed for.

Suddenly, Abigail reached into her pocket, flipping through a few note cards that she'd prepared for this meeting, before turning one to show it to Teagan. It read only a single sentence, written in meticulously-practiced cursive. "May I come in?"

As cold as Abigail was to hug, there was a certain kind of warmth that came with her embrace. It made Teagan hum despite how it ended too soon for her liking. If it had been up to her, they would’ve stayed there, maybe gone to the couch or bedroom as they had before, but those days were long gone. Much had changed in just a year, though the look in Abigail’s eyes said differently. 

Even with darkness consuming her hues and a mask hiding her expression, Teagan could tell Abigail was looking at her the same as she had the first time they met. She had mistaken it for awe, and she was surprised to discover that it was actually hunger—and not the type she was hoping for. “Still there, huh? The fury?” Teagan arched a brow and then chuckled, waving Abigail inside. “Yeah, come in. Mind the mess. I’m still settling. You want some tea or is this just a quickie?” The wording was intentional, and she knew Abigail would understand the double entendre. Her smile grew and she placed her hands in her back pockets, readying herself for whatever Abigail chose. 

After shaking her head and blinking a few times, Abigail forced herself to regain her focus, a bit disappointed that she still had problems with these cravings after so long. With another quick movement, she slid a note card out from the deck in her left hand to display it to Teagan with her right hand. "I apologize" was all it said, and once Teagan appeared to have read it, she slid it back into the stack. Preparing for social interactions made them notably easier, especially when said interaction was with somebody Abigail knew well.

Teagan's quick tongue and slick wording made Abigail chuckle for a brief moment as she stepped past Teagan, moving swiftly to find a seat and make herself comfortable. She didn't have a card for tea, which frustrated her a bit, but she got over her frustration quickly, and simply opened her mouth to speak. "Tea please." The words came out softer than feathers, a slight scratch to her voice as the words were forced from her throat.

Teagan frowned at herself for her slip, upset that she forced Abigail to use her voice. Most of their interactions weren’t exactly verbal, but that wasn’t to say Abigail never spoke. It just wasn’t something she really felt comfortable doing, and Teagan was never one to dismiss one’s discomforts. “Sorry about that, Bunny. I’ll try to keep things so you only have to nod or shake your head. Or better yet…!” The blonde quickly turned to her fridge and grabbed a pen from the magnetic holder, immediately turning back to Abigail. “If you need a different answer, you can write it out—as much as I do love your voice.” She winked in jest, placing a kiss to the mask’s cheek. 

“Now, how ‘bout I get that tea going?” In a matter of minutes, the kettle clanked onto the stovetop and the flame clicked to life. Teagan watched it for a few moments, the flames dancing under the metal dome. She couldn’t bring herself to start a new conversation so easily. As comfortable as she looked, Teagan actually felt quite awkward with the situation. The breakup was amicable, but out of the two, Teagan took it the hardest—not that she’d ever let anyone know that.

It was difficult enough to realize she wasn’t cut out for love without the pitiful looks she would get if the truth got out. But, one would need friends or any kind of loved ones for the news to get out to, and Teagan had none. Well, save for Abigail, but you didn’t really talk about breakup pain with the person you broke up with. “So, um…is business going well?”

The pen placed upon Abigail's lap made her feel childish. She knew it was irrational to be humiliated by such a kind accommodation, but part of her wished it wasn't necessary. Rather than accepting the offering, she sat it aside, along with her cards, before turning her body and head as far as she could to watch Teagan start on the tea. Her eyes followed Teagan everywhere she went, keeping an eye on her friend as if a horrible disaster was just around the corner.

"It's going well..." Abigail spoke softly, nearly in a whisper, trying to use her stubbornness to get past the anxiety that had risen in her chest. When they were together, things like talking and making conversation were much easier, but when that bond was partially severed, she couldn't help but feel that they'd been set back to square one. No matter how much she hated speaking, though, she hated small talk more. "How have you been feeling?"

Abigail’s stubborn and determined behavior was no surprise. Teagan always admired those traits in the fury, especially when she utilized them against her own anxieties. There weren’t many people who could do that, but Abigail wasn’t just anybody. She was braver and smarter than most. Teagan supposed, in return, it would be best to give her ex the same respect. 

“I’ve been feeling…” The words fell jaggedly off the nix’s tongue, uncertain and uncomfortable. “I don’t know exactly.” A wry smile formed on Teagan’s lips and she shook her head, sitting down at the small table with Abigail. Her eyes sparkled with a coat of sorrow, but she did well to keep her cheeks dry. “I’m fine most days. ‘Specially when I get my hands on a hunter. Have met a few here already, but not many. Can take you to the bottom of the lake and show you the beginning of my collection.” She reached across the table, opening her hand toward Abigail. An invitation that she could accept or deny without any judgment. 

Again, the ends of Teagan’s lips curled, and she wrinkled her nose playfully as she spoke “You know, like old times.” Her smile came a little easier, felt a little more genuine then. The prospect of any distraction was always a happy event, but actual intimacy, such as a swim, was like striking gold. 

Teagan's words were troubling, to say the least. Abigail had hoped that their time away from one another would give them both time to grow, and maybe give her ex-partner time to learn that some hunters don't deserve to die. She'd never had the courage to speak up about it, especially with all of the unruly patrons that she made disappear at the club. Something about asking Teagan to think about her actions while killing people herself made her feel like a hypocrite. "I'd love to go for a swim sometime, but maybe not to your collection just yet. I'm.. still dealing with that curse, and trying to figure out what triggers it."

Glancing down at the table, Abigail saw Teagan's hand, prompting her to stare for a moment. She tried to figure out what she should do, if she should hold her hand or not, or maybe if she was supposed to give her something? After the awkward moment had passed, she slowly reached out and placed her hand atop Teagan's, clearly unsure about her own actions. "Unfortunately, those old times are over, Teagan. I'm sorry." She spoke with a solemn tone, lowering her head for a moment. They wouldn't ever be what they were, not unless they both changed a lot and fast, but to Abigail, that was okay. Time passed, and they had much more time to grow apart from one another as friends.

“That’s not—I wasn’t—” Rejection was normally fine. It was a natural occurring thing, something everyone was entitled to. But to receive it from Abigail, for her gesture to be taken as if Teagan wanted to rekindle that old flame, it irked the fae a little. Without even trying to ask for Abigail back, she was told that chapter was better off closed. Why did that bother her? Why did that make her feel not good enough? She tried to not let it show, but her eyes betrayed her as they always did. They began to sparkle and sting, forcing her to rub at them for a few moments. 

“I didn’t mean it that way, Bunny.” Teagan whispered with a tremble. “Wasn’t expecting us to do anything. Was trying to be friendly, that's all.” The kettle whistled, and with a sigh, Teagan pulled her hand away. She rose to remove the kettle from the stove, pouring water in each respective cup. At that point, she wasn’t sure if she wanted company anymore, but it wouldn’t exactly be fair for her to ask Abigail to leave. 

Instead, she decided the fastest route would be to just give her ex what she came for. “Here’s the knife.” Teagan stated bluntly, removing the blade from her back pocket, and sliding it across the table. “Curse or no curse, you’re welcome at the lake, and you don’t have to stay for the tea.” As much as Teagan would like Abigail to stay, for them to start over, she had a hard time believing her ex would even want to. 

That sight was all too familiar, the dampening of eyes from a miscommunication or misinterpretation that could put a damper on the best of scenarios. Abigail often questioned what was wrong with her, but she did so the most often when her own perception betrayed her, leading her down a road that hurt those she wanted to please. "Yes, sorry, I've just…" She didn't know what to say. Other people knew how to smooth things over, how to conjure a sentence that would make everything okay, but she found herself at an impasse, with only two options: to lie, or to tell the truth.

No matter what she chose, Abigail knew it would likely worsen the situation, but she had plenty of time to mull it over while Teagan retrieved her missing knife, the excuse she'd used to come and check on her friend. "I've never been broken up before, not with somebody that I wish to stay friends with, and, well… you know how I can be in new situations with no instructions." She hoped the truth would be enough of an explanation to at least stop the tears from misting Teagan's eyes once more. She hated seeing her cry, and she hated being the one who caused her to cry even more. "I apologize for my misunderstanding."

Slowly, Abigail reached out to accept the knife from Teagan. "I'd still like some tea, but it might be best to have it another day. It'll give me a good excuse to come back soon." She spoke in her own unique joking tone, which was to say, the same tone she usually spoke in. Among her social difficulties, managing her tone of voice was one of the things she was worst at. "Thank you for keeping my blade safe, Teags… and thank you for letting me stop by."

The room became tense and unwelcoming. It was her home, but even Teagan felt like she should leave. It was fair, she thought. She’d never truly belong anywhere. Not even with herself. “Yeah…” Teagan trailed off, not able to find it in her heart to be upset at Abigail. She did know how hard it was for the fury to communicate. The fire in the nix was immediately snuffed out, and she rubbed her eyes, her stare settling softly on Abigail. 

“Don’t accept your thanks, Bunny. But I…I understand what you mean.” Teagan’s chest tightened with sorrow, and she swallowed thickly, patting Abigail’s hand. “We can have tea some other time, okay? I’m not upset with you. Just got…you know how I get. Was just a bit too emotional.” She chuckled dryly at herself, sighing with a tremble as her lips quivered. “Didn’t know it would be hard. I-I…sorry.” Shaking her head, Teagan blinked whatever tears threatened to form, and smiled. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but she couldn’t prevent that. The ache was too strong. 

“I’ll reach out when my head is right. I think I just need a little more time.”

Oreads were durable. It was something Cass had learned pretty early on, when she was a child that no one cared enough to watch closely, when she fell often from great heights and bruised only her ego. Like the rocks they were so attuned to, nymphs like Cass were decently hard to damage, much harder to hurt than some of their more fragile cousins. 

Durable. But not invincible. 

That was definitely a lesson she was learning now. It had all happened so fast. She’d jumped in to help someone fight off a beast that was bigger than what she normally went up against, but not impossible to defeat. She didn’t know what it was, and she wasn’t sure it mattered. What mattered was that it had packed a heavy enough punch to hurt. She barely got away with her life, was lucky that the person she’d originally stepped in to save had run long before things went sour. But there was no way she’d make it back home, and she wasn’t sure if she was being followed. She needed somewhere to hide, somewhere to hunker down until morning when it might be safe.

She didn’t have time to look hard; really, she just picked the first window she came across. Magma dripped from her hands as she shoved it open, burning the windowsill as she practically collapsed inside and curled in on herself on the floor in a tight fetal position. She just needed to sleep, probably. She’d be fine if she slept.

Cass was too out of it to look at where she’d hunkered down… and too out of it to register the presence of another person in the room, too. She lay unaware as they approached, eyes screwed tightly shut as she willed the pain to disappear. 

Working after hours was hell on earth, at least, that’s what it felt like to Abigail. She’d much rather be at home, holding her pet spider or working on a new painting, but the schedule for the next two months wasn’t going to finish itself, and she was far too stubborn to admit that she should hire an assistant of some kind to work on it. Luckily, a saving grace presented itself just as she was getting close to stabbing through her monitor with the closest sharp object.

Unfortunately, however, that “saving grace” seemed to be an intruder, followed by a hint of smoke in the air from the singing of her meticulously chosen window-frames. She contemplated just sitting and waiting, letting the intruder stumble into her office in search of valuables, just to have the advantage when she lunged out and made her attack. No, that wasn’t what she would do, she’d just go check it out herself, and kill whoever had made their way into her business. Quietly, Abigail stood from her desk, grabbed a knife from the desk drawer, and made her way out of her office, not even taking a moment to ponder whether or not well-adjusted people considered how best to get away with murdering an intruder. 

The air fell completely still, dim purple lights illuminating Abigail’s well-dressed frame during her slow, methodical approach, following the pained sounds that betrayed where her soon-to-be-victim laid. Her disappointment was immeasurable upon seeing that the “intruder” was no more than a wounded bird, too weak to be properly hunted in any meaningful way. With a soft sigh under her breath, she grabbed Cass’ legs and began dragging her backwards towards her office, doing her best to ignore the damage being done to the floor as she did so.

Within minutes, Abigail had placed Cass on the couch in her office, and returned to her desk, letting the stranger that had broken into her establishment get whatever rest they needed, since she didn’t really know how to patch up wounds when magma was involved.

Maybe if she were more accustomed to this, she would have known how to handle it a little better. When you didn’t get hurt often, it seemed to hurt more when it happened. Cass wasn’t sure how to function with it, didn’t know how to cope. She knew she’d heal quicker if she could get back to her cave, but she didn’t know how to power through the pain to get there. This wasn’t a perfect solution. In fact, it was probably a bad one. But she didn’t really have a lot of other solutions available to her.

Except… someone was grabbing her legs? Cass shifted, but she couldn’t get into a position where she could see the other person without it hurting. Just the small movement she’d managed elicited a small whimper from her, and she curled back into herself as best she could with the grip on her legs pulling her. 

It was scary, not knowing if this person was going to hurt or help her. Cass had never done helplessness particularly well — she wasn’t supposed to. She was a superhero, not a damsel in distress. But she was definitely in distress now, and she didn’t feel particularly super.

After a few moments, there was something soft underneath her and she sighed. With the comfort of the cushions beneath her, she felt a little bit better. Well enough to crack her eyes open — kind of literally. It was like a rock cracking, a flash of white and red as she blinked. “Uh…” her voice was crackly, garbled. You could still hear a hint of pain in it. Glamour or no, that wasn’t something she could hide. “What — What’s happening?” 

Abigail remained sat at her desk as her unexpected guest seemingly returned to the present moment, taking note of the pained voice that crept from the couch. This person couldn't heal as quickly as she could, that could be either great for her, or very bad, depending on whether or not Cass turned out to be a hunter. Rather than responding verbally, she turned one of the monitors atop her sturdy desk to face the couch and typed out her response, inadvertently illuminating the couch with the blinding screen.

"You broke into my club, and seemed injured, so I gave you a place to lay."

It was painfully obvious to Abigail just how terrifying this situation could be to a non-hunter. To be dragged somewhere new while wounded, only to see that your host happened to wear a Halloween mask and wouldn't respond beyond words on a screen must have been a troubling event to say the least, however, there wasn't much she could do when it came to silencing the quirks of her existence. So instead, she just typed a small smiling emoticon, in hopes of easing the stranger's stress.

Rather than a verbal response, the room was brightened by a screen illuminating the couch where Cass lay. She squinted, struggling to read the words around the pain blurring her vision. It took her a moment, the letters seeming to scramble and jumble together thanks to her inability to concentrate or focus on them properly. By the time she’d wrapped her head around them, a smiley face was added to the end of the sentence. It did little to ease her anxiety. 

“I — I’m sorry,” she stammered, trying to sit up and letting out a low whine when the motion sent a wave of pain crashing over her. She stilled, eyes clamping shut again as the feeling rolled all over, each ache screaming to be heard over the rest. Ow, ow, ow, ow. This was bad, wasn’t it? She’d broken into someone’s club, and they weren’t talking, and they were wearing a mask, and this was bad. Cass might like people, but she knew that not all of them always had the best intentions. There were people out there who wanted to hurt others. That was why she ran around as a superhero.

She opened her eyes again, letting herself focus on the stranger’s mask instead of the screen. “I didn’t — I didn’t mean to break in. I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt me. I was just… I just want to go home. Please.” Tears sprung to her eyes, and she thought it was stupid. She was a superhero; she should be braver than this. But she didn’t feel very brave at all right now. She felt very much like a nineteen year old girl who was scared and in pain and in a room with a stranger in a mask who wouldn’t talk to her.

A series of hasty key-presses came from Abigail's keyboard in response to Cass' apparent panic, deleting what she'd written just moments prior. The response she'd worried about had come to pass, and she didn't know how to properly explain that she meant no harm. The frequent misunderstandings were why she stopped talking in the first place, but even in this format she felt that she'd somehow managed to mess this social interaction up.

"If I wanted you dead, I could've already-"

Hidden by the blinding light of the screen, she once again pressed the backspace key over and over again like her life depended on it. It wasn't until she was nearly done typing that she once again realized how her message could be misunderstood. Instead of allowing for further misunderstandings, she simply sighed and stood from her chair to leave the room.

It wasn't long before Abigail returned to Cass, holding a packed first-aid kit delicately in both of her hands. It was only as she offered the small fabric container to the wounded creature on her couch that she took note of her strange attire, most notably the mask she wore. It was exciting, seeing somebody do just as she did, hiding their face in some way as if it was normal to do. She had difficulty controlling herself at the realization. The moment that the first-aid kit left her hands, Abigail pointed quickly at Cass' mask and then her own, an attempt to relate to the stranger.

The longer the masked stranger remained silent, the more uneasy Cass felt. Had she escaped one monster just to land herself in the hands of another? She didn’t think the person looked like a monster, but neither had Debbie, and Cass still had a pretty impressive scar from the knife she’d stabbed her with. Did this person have a knife, too? Were they wearing a mask so that Cass wouldn’t be able to identify them later? 

They got up and left, and Cass closed her eyes for a moment, trying to gather up the energy to push through the pain and make her escape. But it hurt so badly that she could barely move, much less get off the couch she’d been placed on. And it was stupid. This whole thing was stupid. She wasn’t supposed to be vulnerable, wasn’t supposed to be a target, wasn’t supposed to —

The stranger was back, returning to the side of the couch with… a first-aid kit? Cass looked ait with wide eyes, glancing up to meet the other’s gaze through their mask. They motioned to their mask, and then to hers. And… oh. Okay. They didn’t want to hurt her at all. Did they? “You’re trying to help,” she said quietly, voice a small croak. “Okay. Um, I don’t — I don’t know how much of this will fix me. I just need to… Be strong enough to go home. Where I live will help me heal. Does that… make sense?”

That made things much more clear. Without being at their home, Cass couldn’t heal as well, meaning that she was certainly not a hunter. It was reassuring knowledge that made Abigail feel much better about deciding to help this particular intruder. As the excitement faded from the moment of realization, she returned to her desk and began rifling through the drawers, in search of the one object that she thought could be helpful.

After a few moments of tense, awkward shuffling, Abigail triumphantly retrieved a small ring of keys, including the key fob for the business van. Hopefully the last worker to use the van had cleaned up any blood or garbage, but it wouldn’t matter so long as her guest didn’t go looking anywhere that she shouldn’t. At the core of it, helping people was what Abigail started this club to do, even if that meant cracking a few eggs in the back of a very well-maintained vehicle.

Pointed footsteps crossed the room once more as Abigial returned to Cass, before showing her the keys in question. With a silent tilt of her head, it seemed as if she was posing a question, or maybe even offering to give her a ride, but she gave no verbal indication that would assist in discerning her intentions. 

The masked stranger disappeared again but this time, Cass was far less anxious. The more she settled onto the couch, the clearer it became that this person was really trying to help her. They’d moved her to a more comfortable area, they’d brought her a first aid kid, they’d tried communicating their intentions. She wasn’t sure why they wore a mask, but given the fact that she was wearing one, too, she didn’t think she could say much on that particular subject.

This time, their departure didn’t take them from the room entirely; instead, they went to the desk in the corner and began rifling around. Cass couldn’t turn to watch without causing herself more pain, so she listened as things moved around and drawers opened and shut. And then, after a moment, footsteps returned to her side and she squinted to focus.

Keys. Car keys, from the look of them — she wasn’t always good at telling the difference since she hadn’t seen many sets of keys in her life, but she knew that car keys and building keys looked different, and the keys in the stranger’s hand looked nothing like the key to Van’s house that Cass carried in her pocket. She understood what the stranger was offering, but she deflated a little all the same. “I don’t know how to drive,” she admitted. “And I don’t — I don’t want to make you drive me. You’ve done a lot for me already. You don’t owe me anything.”

Cass was far too nice, so nice that she was seemingly willing to bleed out on Abigail's couch if it meant avoiding inconveniencing her. Abigail, however, wasn't about to accept the kindness that she'd been offered. Instead, she shook her head and offered a hand to lead her new friend outside to the work van. She wondered what exactly Cass had been through, what beast or person had injured this makeshift hero so badly, but her mouth remained closed despite her curiosity. The anxiety of making a mistake often led her to betray herself, especially when she was the most excited to make her thoughts known.

Before Cass could enter the car, Abigail quickly took a peek inside by cracking the back doors, immediately spotting a few drops of blood on the otherwise pristine, covered seats. This was bad, really bad, so devastatingly bad that she wanted to shout about it, but alas, she could not. Instead, she screamed out her rage internally while leading Cass to the passenger seat, hoping that her injuries would encourage her to keep her eyes ahead until she could get inside herself.

The sound of quick footsteps circled the front of the car while Abigail walked around to get in her seat. As soon as she was secured, she lifted the switch to raise the partition, grimacing beneath her mask at the possibility of getting caught. Somebody was sloppy, and they'd certainly be reprimanded once she caught them, even if it was an accident. Though she'd made her own fair share of mistakes in the past, she wasn't about to let her employees escape the potential lesson that was to be learned.

It was only after the panic wore off that Abigail managed to remember that she had a passenger, and that she had no idea where they intended to go, so she pointed quickly at the GPS screen. A few quick taps with her claw-like fingers pulled up a text box, to which she gestured for her passenger to input where exactly they were supposed to head. 

The stranger seemed to silently insist upon helping, and Cass was too exhausted to argue with them. If they wanted to lead her back to her car, who was she to argue? She might be terrified of becoming a burden, but she was even more afraid of dying in a stranger’s office, where none of her friends could be informed at all. She allowed the woman to help her to her feet, leaning heavily against her as she led Cass outside. Part of her wondered if she was stupid to be trusting a stranger, but… This stranger had proven trustworthy already, hadn’t she? She’d already helped so much. Why would she do all that just to turn around and hurt Cass right after?

She was led to a van, and she watched the stranger in the mask peek inside before loading her into the passenger door. The glance the stranger had given the back of the van left Cass curious, and she subtly glanced behind her as the stranger circled around to get in the other side. Was that… blood in the back? Cass’s head snapped to face the stranger as the door opened, a million questions on the tip of her tongue.

If she were a more paranoid person, perhaps, she would have jumped to negative conclusions. She would have wondered whose blood was back there, how it had gotten there, what horrors this van had seen. But when Cass decided a person was trustworthy, she trusted them. Too much, sometimes, to be healthy. Too much to be wise.

“Is someone hurt?” She rasped out, voice strained. “Are you hurt? Or one of your employees? Or is this — Do you do this a lot?” If she was carting Cass off to where she needed to go and getting her front seat all bloody in the process, who was to say she hadn’t dirtied her backseat in a similar manner?

Panic returned just as soon as it had faded. Abigail realized that her passenger had caught a glimpse of the evidence that remained in the back seat, even if they didn't immediately think Abigail had done anything malicious. As the car started and moved to leave the club, she racked her brain as best as she could about how to respond, eventually deciding upon an answer that made the situation seem more positive than it actually was. She spoke in a soft whisper, barely louder than the rumble of the vehicle itself.

"It's nothing, I had to take an employee to the hospital after an injury earlier today."

That was actually a lie, but Abigail's monotone manner of speaking and masked face made it much easier to avoid being caught in her deceit. In reality, she'd had one of her more committed employees take a problematic customer out for a little drive to teach them a lesson that wouldn't soon be forgotten, but she wasn't about to tell her guest that.

Oh. So the woman could speak. Cass had to strain to hear her, but there was some comfort to it, anyway. She didn’t necessarily trust people more after hearing their voices, but it was kind of nice, anyway. In a weird way, a way that probably didn’t make much sense to anyone but her, but there was comfort all the same. “I hope they’re okay now,” she said softly, glancing to the backseat again.

She settled into quiet after that, giving the stranger directions to the cave but not speaking much more. It was uncharacteristic, for Cass. Normally, she liked to be heard. A little too much, really, if you asked most people. But she was tired and she ached and even talking hurt a little. She wanted to go home; she didn’t know why she felt heavier and heavier the closer they got to the cave. Going home was supposed to feel good, wasn’t it? But all she could think about was how much she wanted to ask the woman to drop her off at Metzli’s or Van’s instead, despite knowing that their houses wouldn’t heal her the same way her cave would. Stupid. It was so stupid.

As the van moved over rocky terrain, Cass cleared her throat. “You probably won’t be able to drive much more than this,” she said quietly. “It’s, um… In the woods a long way. Not really a road to it.”

"They're fine as far as I know."

The remainder of the ride brought with it a comfortable silence. Abigail liked the quiet, the feeling of solitude without the reality of it, the way she could focus on the static sound of the car's air conditioner. It was calming enough that she felt like she could almost forget that Cass was in the car with her. Almost. If she could fully forget, she'd be humming along to concerningly loud classical music, but the presence of a passenger lingered ever-so-slightly in the back of her mind.

The van slowly came to a stop when the road became too difficult to follow clearly, branches outstretched as if they wished to grab hold of the vehicle itself, or its inhabitants, like bark-wrapped claws. Before Abigail could do anything further, she made a mental note to use this as inspiration for a painting in one way or another. With nothing else to do, she turned the car off and made her away around to help Cass out onto the forest floor, giving her ample opportunity to lean against her while they walked the rest of the way.

Something about the way the branches cracked loudly beneath her with each step made Abigail feel nostalgic in a way. She could remember playing in the woods behind her house as a child, running like she was a beast unleashed until she either hurt herself or had to take a nap to recover her lost energy. Something deep within her rumbled with acknowledgement as well, a slumbering creature that knew the woods better than she ever would, or maybe it was just her stomach rumbling. She'd probably pick up food from a gas station on the way home, if any were open at this time of night,  just in case she was hungry and not being contacted by the passenger within her body. "Are we near your home?"

“Good.” There was some relief to the word, though Cass had no idea who was hurt or how badly. She was the sort of person who could find relief in anyone being all right, even a stranger. She only ever wanted people to be okay. Maybe that was why things often went so poorly for her. People took advantage of that kind of thing. She’d been taken advantage of so many times now that she’d lost count. She hoped, anyway. She kept hoping. She’d never been sure how to stop.

And it did pay off, sometimes. There were some people who’d take advantage of you, sure, but there were others who’d help you. There were strange women in masks who would drive you home in their vans even though you were probably messing up the seats, who’d let you use their first aid kits even after you broke in through their windows. It was important, she thought, to remember that.

She leaned on the stranger as she was helped out of the car, letting out a small whimper of pain. It hurt. Everything hurt so bad, but they were close now. She’d feel better in her cave, even if things weren’t as simple there as they used to be. “Yeah,” she confirmed with a little nod. “It’s not far. You don’t have to come. I can make it by myself.” She’d taken enough of the woman’s time already, and that was after she’d broken in through a window. She’d already accepted far more help than she was owed here. She knew that.

Part of Abigail wanted to speak out and chastise the stranger by her side at the first sign of guilt, but she knew it would make her a hypocrite to do so. She couldn't count the number of times others offered to help her or accommodate her needs only for her to push them away in response. Accepting help was harder than completing the original task alone, and required a level of inner strength that she was far from attaining, so for now she'd just keep her mouth shut and continue forward.

With each step, the cave grew closer and closer, an opening that avoided the dim moonlight that otherwise led them down their path. Abigail couldn't help but feel relieved that the journey was nearly done. She had nothing against walking in the woods, rather, she loved it, but the presence of another who seemed near death's door was very troubling to say the least. Maybe once this magic cave did whatever it was supposed to, they'd both be free to go on their merry ways, free from bloody vans and smoking window-frames for the time being. 

Abigail also thought that it might be fun to befriend a genuine superhero, even if their powers were less scientific and more supernatural. She'd never met a superhero before, nor had she helped one out, however, she'd read thousands of comics in her younger years, so she knew that helping a superhero meant that you could become a recurring character in their story. 

The cave was getting closer, and Cass genuinely wasn’t sure if the relief she felt was a placebo or if nearing its stony walls and rocky ground was enough to kickstart her healing factor on its own. She knew less about how nymph healing worked than she wished she did, understood it in pieces instead of as a whole. In a way, she was fine with that. She didn’t particularly enjoy what she was, even if she didn’t dislike it to the same extent that some others did. She was fine with not understanding it in its entirety, even if it did make things a little more difficult than she might have liked sometimes.