His Dark Materials

Chapter 8

G It was morning when lyra woke up, it was great, she felt great, but, honestly, then she touched her side and winced. She slowly sat up from her mother's tight grip, gently stroking her cheek. "i love you" she whispered, she wanted to see how it felt to say that to Marisa, without the worry of a reaction. She gently looked at marias palm, seeing the Cresent shaped cuts from her nails had scabbed over. She turned her head and jumped to see a man stood there, the man who'd given them the keys. "you have to leave" he said, before leaving. Lyra pulled the covers up over her mother, wanting her relaxed as she let out a rather heavy sigh. "he really had to be quiet so dramatic" she mumbled, she stood in front of the mirror, pulled up her shirt to reveal the bruises on her side, trying not to let a stray tear fall down her cheek.

lyra awakened marisa by confessing the love she has for her mother. mrs coulter smiled to herself softly under the blanket when lyra kissed her pale cheek, she wanted to embrace lyra but lyra had bruises all over her body so she didn’t want to hurt her daughter more in the process. her eyes suddenly fluttered open as she muttered “my darling lyra, i love you too” and with that being said, she pushed the blanket off of herself and stood up, slightly wincing in pain. marisa is obviously not the kind of person who would clean the room after her stay at the hotel, there were people for this after all. she put on her dirty clothes that were covered in blood and quickly realized that she can’t go to london or drive a public airship dressed like this. as much as the woman hated this place, she needed to find new clothes for herself and lyra in this poor, awful village before catching a flight home. “lyra, i am going to get new clothes for the both of us. i promise i’ll be back as soon as possible. lock the doors and do not let anyone inside. do you understand me?” she asked the question in a protective tone. marisa hated the thought of leaving her child alone in this place but she had no other choice, lyra was too hurt to come with her. mrs coulter put on her half blue, half red dress, took her weakened daemon in her hands and went down to ask the owner for a longer stay. even while being in this state, she knew nobody could deny her. she did as much as put a single, charming yet victimized smile and the owner agreed straight away. she walked down the streets that were covered in white snow, looking for a clothing shop.

Lyra frowned, she'd blushed a bright red, she didn't know her mother had heard her, she watched, noticing the wince she had when she got up, she chewed her lip nervously and nodded. "alright... I understand, I'll be safe!" she called out watching as her mother left. She sighed and sat on the bed, she'd only just thought of the alethiometer, hopefully it was still inside the flat. Lyra looked at pan who was squirming around. "is there something you need to say?" she raised her eyebrows, it too hard to cross her arms. Pam stopped pacing, now an ermine again. "lyra... I think... Mrs Coulter" he gulped, he didn't think it'd be so hard. "i think she hurt herself last night.... Purposely... Oz, he was shaking, in pain, he fell off the bed.... You need to talk to her.. Someone, needs to talk to her."

Mary Malone was standing near a clothes stall, she was buying something for a reminder on this trip she'd been on. She had her shoulder bag draped over her, scribbling a few notes in her journal, things she was simply awed by. She looked around, taking in a deep breath, she'd been waiting for two other scholars to arrive, she sighed, they'd simply not turned up and now she had two extra tickets for the airship.

even if it hurt terribly marisa ran into the small clothing shop as fast as she could, the woman desperately wanted to get back to her daughter, who was currently in pain and in need for her mom. she did not notice the beautiful, redheaded woman at first, she simply limped past her, in the direction of the nearest shop, for she had only one job to do here. marisa was usually quick on her feet, quick to observe places and people, especially beautiful and educated people, but the bruises and cuts asriel inflicted were too deep for her to keep both of her eyes sharp and legs normally working. she knew if she had a choice, she’d be dead by now, just a rotting corpse on the mountain instead of asriel. lyra was the only one who kept her alive, her reason to live. her eyes began to water at the thought of asriel and what he did to her and lyra. marisa was so young and hopeful when she met him, but it was nothing more than a stupid, youthful thrill. yet she loved him back then, she loved him like crazy. she let her golden monkey daemon fall to the floor, and losing her balance, she stumbled upon an old mannequin where a red dress was hung. her monkey was growling and weeping on the ground beide her, wanting nothing more than to rest in pan’s embrace once again.