Chapter 974: Layered Suspicions
Dinner came and went. A small buffet that wouldn't look out of place perched on one of the magnificent, divine dining tables they got up there in the heavens above.
Sammy went at her plate like she had never eaten a single morsel of anything in about a week. And when she was done, she went and had more. A lot more.
As it so happened, we had a lot more food to spare for her. In fact, we had a whole plate's worth left to offer. Because for some reason or another, Adalia still hasn't come home yet.
"Does she always skimp out on dinner?" Sammy asked, already fervently working her way through Adalia's share. "If so, I can always take the leftovers. When I'm back home, you just text me, I'll try to conjure some magic portal and you just toss it in there—preferably in a container. Sound good?"
"Sounds irresponsible," I snorted.
"Irrespon—okay fine, I'll just teleport myself here and back. In-and-out. Like I always do. Better?"
"Listen to yourself. A few months ago, you were just a normal girl doing normal things."
"And now I'm just thinking like how any normal girl with magical powers would think," she said. "I don't get how wanting things convenient makes me irresponsible, but sure—you're my elder, you know best, right?"
"Indulgences often stray one towards complacency, Lady Samantha," Ash said as Sammy yanked a pitcher of water from across the table into her open hand. Nearly colliding with Sera's plate along the way. "And with complacency comes arrogance… breeding greater indulgences, greater complacency, arrogance—power, great power like yours generates a vicious cycle if not tempered with even greater discipline."
Sammy gawked at Ash with her mouth wide open, a spoon of piping hot stew between both sets of teeth. She heard her, but I'm not sure if she fully understood.
"Basically, cut the shit," I said, summarizing. "Before you turn into an asshole."
"I know what she meant," she snapped, looking patronized. "Look, can you really see me turning out to be some evil witch in the future just because I sometimes get too lazy to get out of bed to close my bedroom door at night? Or to reheat my drink? Clean my room?"
"Funny. Didn't you come banging on my front door that one time because you thought I was secretly fulfilling my ambition of becoming a dark lord?"
"No, that was—!" But whatever 'that was', I never did find out. Sammy relented, flaring her nostrils. "Fine. I promise I'll ease up on all the magic stuff. Happy?"
Knowing her, I give that pledge about two-three weeks at most before she starts going back on it little by little through small stuff she'll convince herself as being absolutely nothing. But for now, yes—very happy.
To affirm her words with some action, I had Sammy help me wash the plates. Much to her and as well Ash's great dismay. Ash for the obvious reasons and Sammy was more because I'm too ingrained in my old-fashioned ways to ever utilize the dishwasher for any actual dish-washing, and she just can't understand why.
Bedtime came with a small conundrum. Since Sera had practically made the guest room into her dwelling space, my sister needed someplace else to sleep. There were certainly a lot of ways to go about the matter, but before I could suggest a solution, Sammy chimed in with her own best-case scenario.
"I can sleep with Ash. I don't mind."
Naturally, alarm bells instantly went blaring in my head—so loud that Sammy could hear it herself, it seems.
"You want me to get along with her, don't you?" she said, acting all sweet and innocent. "Here I am, here's that chance."
Ash, while slightly taken aback, was perfectly fine with the arrangement, and since I could find no objective cause to refuse—and trust me, I looked—that's what we wound up going with… leaving me all alone, staring up at the dim-white of my bedroom ceiling, sleepless and suspicious.
Instead of wasting minutes tossing and turning uselessly, I got on my phone and rifled through whatever came to mind, which, right at that moment, was my bike.
I haven't received a single update from Rudy since his last message, and I'm starting to think that really might have been his last message. In terms of progress, I mean. By the time I wake up, I'm half-expecting to get a notification confirming what I already know. Not a very good way to start your birthday.
Speaking of… any other day, Amanda would be on my feed doing some late-night streaming. This time, she's nowhere to be found; hasn't posted a thing on her profile for hours either. Should I text her? I'm texting her.
<<Hey.>> I typed.
It didn't even take five seconds before I got a reply back.
<<Hey yourself>> she said. <<Let me guess… you're wondering what I'm up to?>>
It took me a few moments to recover from that.
<<Was I that obvious, or did you microchip my brain back when I slept at your place?>>
<<Yes on the first one>> she went on. <<And I'll leave the second one to your imagination :) >>
<<You didn't visit the cafe today.>>
<<College>> she said.
<<Didn't contact me the whole day either.>>
<<Busy>> then a longer blurb quickly popped up below it. <<And yes, you have everything to do with it>>
<<Gonna tell me what it is?>>
<<Shh>> she said. <<It's a surprise ;) >>
Before I could type anything else, she went and bombarded me with a flood of blurbs.
<<Anyway>>
<<Still busy>>
<<So gotta go>>
<<Good night goodbye>>
<<Love youuuuuu <3 >>
And that's all she wrote. That was rather abrupt, but I'm thinking that might be on purpose to avoid being questioned too much. Same reason why she hasn't contacted me the whole day either when usually that's never the case.
Just what I need. Another mystery to keep me up tonight. Who needs sleep anyway?
From the corner of my eyes, I saw the drapes on my window give a faint, almost lethargic flutter; which was nothing, until I remembered the window was shut tight when I last checked.
Then a voice, her voice… as dainty and feeble as the sway of the curtains.
"Your… sister… is here…"
I barely flinched this time. Too used to the shock, the suddeness of her appearance, that it felt more welcoming now than it did startling. I put my phone down, greeting the slender, shadow figure looming by my bedside with a small smile.
"Want to say hi?" I asked.
"Not… yet…" she whispered back. And with a closer glance I immediately understood why. Her lips were parted, heaving, baring the tip of her fangs. The slouch of her shoulders, slanted way more than usual. In her misty eyes swirled an almost ravenous shade of gray. "Move… over… please…"
I shuffled my body to the right, and in the empty space I left on the bed, Adalia went and pooled her entire body onto… squirming and wriggling until the cold of her body found its way against mine with the end of her fangs, the chill of her breath, grazing the side of my neck.
She began to feast. Heavily. Fervently. Taking enough that I could feel the slight daze of my essence being physically siphoned out of me. It seems she had exhausted her plenty somehow, somewhere…
"So, where have you been this whole time?" I asked as soon as I felt her fangs retract. "Was starting to get a little worried, y'know?"
Adalia stayed pressed up against my neck. I could feel her breathing lift, strength returning to her body… and with that newfound energy, she went and wrapped her arms across my left, holding and snuggling tight.
"Sorry…" she said, then let out a yawn that ended with the cutest, tiniest squeak. "Sleep…y…"
"Already?" I gently shook her shoulder. "Hey, Adalia, what's got you so exhausted? What did you do today?"
"Prac…tice…"
"What?"
"Practice…" she repeated, tightening her hold on me. "No more… questions. Let me… sleep… hold me… too… thank… you…"
Just like that, fatigue went and whisked her away from me, carrying her off into deep slumber. And I was left lying there still and stiff, frozen as her living, breathing body pillow with another lingery mystery to add to my list.
Y'know, what? I should probably go to sleep before that list gets any longer.
It took a while, but somewhere in the night, I managed to drift off into a relatively peaceful sleep. A peace that was rudely interrupted by the 7AM alarm for work that I forgot to switch off from my phone.
I wanted to salvage the peace for a little longer, so I kept my eyes shut and flailed through the darkness for my phone. It was only after I felt Adalia rousing, and heard her whimpering that I finally actually got up to properly look around.
Eventually, I found my phone tucked between some creases in the blanket. And with heavy, bleary eyes, I turned off the alarm… and as well as every other alarm that I had on set to ring in ten-minute intervals.
But right before I could toss my head back onto my comfy pillow, I saw it… just as I predicted, feared… it was a new message from Rudy. Except, as I tapped onto the notification, slowly reading with the same blurred, sleepy view… I realized I had another new mystery in my hands.
<<Can you come to the shop soon?>> Rudy's message read. <<Your bike is fixed.>>