PORTAL TO ANOTHER WORLD

74.Guilt.

You breathe out a heavy sigh and head for the door, when you get outside there is a guard already waiting for you just like Maria said. The guard leads you back to your room and informs you that she or Maria will be bringing the food to you shortly. When she leaves, you turn to the door and with a bit of hesitation and fear of what might happen before she brings the pill you open the door to your room and step inside.

Helen: "[Y/n], you're back!"

She runs up to you with a smile and pulls you into a warm hug that helps you relax a little.

Helen: "So!"

She separates from you and eagerly drags you to the bed. She then sits down on the edge of it and pats the empty spot next to her, you do as she wants and sit down unsure as to why she's so excited.

Helen: "What were you doing?"

She looks at you with her ears perked up, ready to take in any information you give her. You tell her what Maria wanted from you and how she dragged you into her room before Jane showed up.

Helen: "So she was right about it...."

[Y/n]: "Right about what?"

You knew what she meant by that but you wanted to hear her say it.

Helen: "Nothing, nothing~"

Before you could ask her again about it she leaned forward and looked at the ground as if she was looking for something and then turned to you.

Helen: "Where's Jane, if you were together she should have come back with you or did she decide to snoop around a little?"

You sigh as you remember that you haven't told her everything yet.

[Y/n]: "About that..."

You explain what happened afterwards with a bit of bitterness in your voice and her ears slowly went lower and lower in sadness.

Helen: "I see... what will we do now?"

[Y/n]: "Nothing really changes, when Jane wakes up we will head back to the city and speak with Catherine."

Helen: "Is that a good idea though?"

You lay down on the bed and think for a second but no other option comes to mind.

[Y/n]: "We either speak with Catherine about all of this and stop her from attacking Maria or we stay here and hope that nothing bad happens."

Helen opens her mouth to say something but gets interrupted by the door opening and closing. You get into a sitting position to see who walked in and it was Maria with a plate of food in each hand and a third plate that she was carrying while using her own blood as a way of holding it.

[Y/n]: "Maria, is Jane okay?"

Maria: "See for yourself~"

She starts walking to the table as Jane comes out of her shadow. Her eyes are already facing the ground and her ears are bent forward showing how guilty she feels about everything that happened. You stand up from the bed and take a step towards her but she takes a step back.

[Y/n]: "Jane, its okay."

Jane: "Is it? You think losing control and attacking the people I care for is okay?!"

[Y/n]: "That's not what I meant."

Jane: "Then what the hell does that mean!?"

[Y/n]: "That I forgive you."

Her ears go up as she slowly lifts her head to look at you with her wide eyes. You knew that she felt guilty about it but not that guilty that hearing you say that you forgive her would be such a surprise for her. Jane's eyes slowly fill with tears as she looks at the ground again.

Jane: "I know how kind you are [y/n] so you don't have to show pity for me, it's fine if you hate me you know..."

She wipes her tears away and looks you in the eyes again.

Jane: "Just say it and I'll-"

[Y/n]: "Jane! We've known each other for a long time, why would I hate you? And hate you for something you couldn't control, don't forget that we're in this together and I need you by my side to figure all of this out... so please..."

You take a few steps forward and spreads your arms hoping that she will come to you.

[Y/n]: "Don't push me or anyone else away."

It takes her a few seconds but then she takes a step towards you, then another and after a bit of hesitation runs into you like a wave almost taking you down to the ground and wrapping her arms around you and hugging you strong enough to make it hard to breathe. In return you gently wrap one arm around her and use the other to gently pat her on the head like you always do.

Holding her like this you realise just how much all of this is affecting her, in your world she could trust almost everyone but in here even if everyone has the faces of the people you knew, they're still different people. You're the only person she can fully trust in here and attacking you has made her realise that even she's a threat to you now.

Suddenly without a word a few arms wrap around you and Jane, you look to the side and see that it's Helen, she smiles at you and whispers something into Jane's ear which makes her grip on you loosen up a little. After a second or two you feel another pair of arms wrap around you but the hug felt like it was meant more for you rather than Jane.

Maria: "Mmmm~ group hugs are the best~"

A few minutes pass by and you separate from each other. Jane was still looking at the ground but she had small smile on her face that she was trying to hide for some reason.

Maria: "You three should eat before the food gets cold."

She points to the table where she placed the plates of food when she came in. You walk up to the table take two plates and hand them to Jane and Helen then take the last one for yourself and sit down on the edge of the bed.

While eating you go over your plan again which was a good idea since you got some advice and suggestions from Maria, some were good and some were bad but now you had a plan in case things went south. When you were done eating you placed the empty plates on the table and turned to Maria, you wanted to ask her about the pills but before you could she threw a small bag at you that you caught and looked at her not knowing what this is.

Maria: "You're pretty easy to read sometimes, we might have to work on that~"

She winks at you and then looks at Jane who was glaring at her.

Maria: "Try not to let your jealousy get out of control again, we don't want that to repeat now do we?~"

You get the feeling that those words made Jane angrier but instead of attacking her she closed her eyes and tried to make herself calm down. While Jane was doing that, Maria turned back to you.

Maria: "You should get back to the city with your portal and then take the pills for safety, there are ten of them in the bag so use them wisely and it should last you three days, make sure to come back to me on the third day."

You nod and open a portal behind you and turn to it, it still looked a bit unstable but compared to the one that you opened in Maria's room this one was a lot more stable. You turn your head back to Jane and Helen.

[Y/n]: "You guys ready?"

They both nod and come closer to you. You were about to leave but stopped when you heard Maria's voice.

Maria: "[Y/n], goodbye hug~?"

She spread her arms and waited for you but before you could say anything the two girls answered for you.

Jane/Helen: "No!"

Without warning you or saying anything else they grab onto your arms and drag you through the portal.
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