Chương 21: Ripping out your secrets

[Cede] came to her like a dog coming to heel, and together, she used it on herself. The skill tried to move around her like water rushing past a boat in the river, but she didn't let it. She forced it inside herself as it looked around, confused. The console room was in front of her again, the lights off, bathing the area in darkness. A small light was cast off the screen, as only one name was illuminated. [FRIENDLY SHADOW] She touched it, as if expecting it to shock her. It didn't.

There was only a slight sensation from her stomach. Seeing as it didn't harm her, she grabbed it, careful not to take it too hard. She didn't want to damage anything.

"Hazel, wake up," She whispered to it. A spark of life gently woke up, and a small voice spoke, "Gri—?" The spark died, taking the words with it, but in return, she could now see a thread left in its place, illuminated only by the tiny spark from the skill. She put the skill back into the console and grabbed onto the thread, eager to see where it led. There was another door in the room, which she instinctively knew had always been there before; she just hadn't noticed it.

She entered and was led into a white room with blank walls. In the middle was a table with a black box made of pure energy. Her footsteps made no sound as she walked up to the table. The box was emanating heat, and as she moved her hand closer, the heat grew scalding hot, forcing her to pull her hand away.

"Okay, don't touch the spooky box, got it," Grim said. There were more threads in the room, that only became visible as Grim looked for them. She had to keep the concept of what she was looking for in her head as she pulled harder on [CEDE]. Only then would it become visible. The skill had been on this whole time, but using it in this way took more effort, at the same time, she felt as if she could do it forever.

It was like she was lifting a weight and getting tired but always having the energy to lift it one more time. One of the threads was thicker, a black mass of energy that was in constant motion. She wrapped her hand around it and found it led out of the room. Her first step to follow it dropped her to her knees as she felt her mind expand. The consciousness in which she held herself split apart, and she felt everything that made up her get scoured away in the light of the system.

Her hands scrambled to grab the pieces before they became too small to hold; she brought her knee up and pushed herself backwards as soon as they fit in her palm. Her head hit the floor of the white room as she knocked her mind back into her body. She laid there on the floor until she was certain she was her again; down that way was somewhere she wasn't ready to go yet, so she got up and tried to push that whole experience out of her mind.

It wouldn't help, she knew the memory would reserve her nightmares for weeks. The room took on a different temperature as she turned around; at some point, it had gone from a comfortable warmth to now nearly freezing. She hurried back to the box and looked for another thread, she focused her mind more, locking in the concept of the upgrades to her boon. Once she did that, she saw three more threads, they were thinner and, instead of leading out of the room, led back into her.

The first she grabbed onto and nearly cut herself on how sharp it was, the thread had gained scales that ended in sharp points. She followed it back to Hazel and saw how the thread expanded into a thin covering all around her, ending in sharp claws on the end of her fingertips. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. She searched for more but there was nothing, so she retreated back into the white room to follow another thread.

The next one led into her shadow, but as she got closer, she saw that there were really two of them, mirroring each other as they mirrored Grim. This one must have been the Twin shadow upgrade, judging by what it looked like. It also felt more clear then the other one she'd seen, as if it wasn't shrouded in darkness. The last was thicker and darker than the other two, and as she followed it, she felt the weight on her lessen. It was pleasant and filled her with energy. It was also warm. So very warm.

She relaxed into it, eager to follow it deeper. She had grown so cold while searching through the system and she could use the rest. She'd earned it, at least for a few minutes.... Just for a bit longer… Grim flinched as someone shouted her name. She reached down to her ankle, trying to grab her pocket shiv, but only felt bare skin. She pushed back on the ceramic tub and reached for a razor when she stopped. Chloe was a foot away, with her hands out in front of her, staring.

Grim was on her back in the tub, freezing water pouring down on her. She turned the water off and stepped out so she could slip on a bath robe. Chloe looked away until she was covered again. Grim didn't know how long she'd been there, but she guessed that she'd seen way more than she signed up for.

"Why are you in here?" Grim asked. Chloe opened and closed her mouth as she flapped her arms in front of her, "What do you mean? You didn't answer me when I was outside. I was screaming at you for ten minutes, and when I came in... you weren't moving. I thought you were dead." Grim scrambled, "I fell asleep, so what? What are you even doing home? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"It's SIX. You've been in here since I came home." Chloe shoved her phone in her face. The lock screen displayed 6: 23. She looked at it but didn't believe it. She'd only just gotten in the shower. How could it be six? It'd been around eleven when she got home. If that was true, it meant she'd been in there for nearly seven hours. Did delving into her skill really take that long? It felt like only a few minutes had passed.

"Well, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, can I leave now?" Grim tried to step past her but collapsed onto her knees as a surge of weakness hit her.

"Oh my god, Grim, are you okay?" Chloe bent down to pick her up but squinted, "Is that blood? Are you bleeding?"

"What? No-" Grim stopped as she stood up and looked in the mirror, her eyes roamed her face and she almost didn't recognize herself. Her eyes were bloodshot, and an angry-looking blood cell had burst in her right eye, colouring the whole thing red. Her nose twitched, and a stream of blood poured out, tracing a groove in her face as it fell. She turned around to grab another towel, only to find one shoved in her face.

Grim wiped the bloody tears away and cleaned herself up as best as she could, while it continued to bleed. Once she could see, she saw Chloe edge herself closer to the door.

"I'm gonna go get Dad," She said.

"No! Not him."

"Mom?" Grim closed the door before she could leave, "Stop. No. They don't need to know." Chloe took a step back, only to hit the wall. There was nowhere else to go, "But you're bleeding."

"They're not gonna care anyways; I'm leaving, remember?" Grim said, wiping more blood from her face.

"Listen, they can't help me anyways, okay? I'll be fine." Chloe opened her mouth and tried to formulate an argument, but her gremlin brain didn't know what to say.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need some-" Chloe hugged her, her hands held onto Grim's back and squeezed. Grim drew a sharp breath as some of her more prominent bruises squealed in pain. Her arm was held awkwardly above her, not quite knowing what to do with it.

"What are you doing?" Grim asked.

"I don't want you to go." She felt her hands twist and dig into her skin as she pressed herself firmly to her. She wasn't equipped to handle this. Not as she was, not after the day she's had. She wanted to feel bad, to try and console her, but she couldn't. She tried to think of something to say, but she'd just had Hazel die again, and she felt almost as numb as her body currently was from the cold. She put her hand down on Chloe's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze before more firmly pushing her away.

There was resistance at first; she didn't want to let go, but she tried again, and gradually, Chloe released her. Grim's hand drifted back to the door.

"Yeah," Grim said, knowing her reply was wholly incomplete and insufficient but yet it was all the comfort she could offer. She grabbed her bloody clothes, careful not to leave any evidence behind and left. Chloe watched her as she went, not saying anything.