A Tale Of Shadows (Wattys 2023) - REPLACED BY DIVINE ASCENSION

Chapter 8 - Unexpected News

Melinda wasn't sure what to anticipate after she woke up and performed her morning routine the following day. The night before didn't indicate that there'd be much trouble, but in her prison, she couldn't be sure of anything. Frank slept a little while longer than she did, mostly because his mind wasn't constantly fraught with paranoia and traumatic nightmares. 

She didn't want to stare at him too much, fearing that he'd suddenly wake up and be rather uncomfortable with her actions, but she still stared at him a bit, and it warmed her heart to see that he was completely serene and peaceful, not at all snoring or turning or showing any signs of disturbance. For a brief period of time, she lost touch with reality, experiencing his bliss vicariously, not wanting to trade that small pleasure for anything in the world.

Unfortunately, her peace was disturbed very soon. Without knocking, someone entered the room, and she nudged Frank without hesitation. Before he could gather himself, they were met with the irremovable smugness written on their kidnapper's face, and he couldn't hide how startled he was. This caused Patrick to let out a little laugh, as he often did when something amused him, and to such a twisted mind, all the misery of undeserving people was amusing. Undeniably curious as to what could happen next, Melinda stared at him without blinking, concentrating her ears on whatever he was sure to say soon with the utmost effort.

"Good morning, dears," he began, unabashedly proud of himself. "It's a rather fine day if I do say so myself. I have an important announcement to make, and I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world. A new friend will be joining you soon, given that I have so many people defying me who need to be kept away for the safety of my organisation, and given the incredible breadth of resources at my disposal, it's not very difficult at all. Except for that, everything will remain as was before. See you later."

"See you," Melinda responded with fake joy, playing along to soothe him, and Frank refused to say anything at all, after which he left the room without hesitation.

He came back a couple of minutes later, holding his latest victim by their hands, pulling them tight despite their best efforts to resist him. From her usual position, Melinda couldn't recognise who they were even with the door fully open, so she walked a little closer, shocked at what she saw. 

The person in question was a woman her age with long hair that was a dirty shade of blonde because she hadn't washed it in a while, two big hazel eyes that held countless tears within them, small red lips that represented a cherry on top of her petite face, a figure that resembled that of a doll, and a magenta overcoat that was bloodied on the inner side. Melinda knew her very well, therefore she knew that she wasn't the kind of person who tended to bloody her clothes, not at all. It terrified and scandalised her, but she supposed that it was to be expected in a fragmented, rapidly changing world such as Magis.

"I have to go," Patrick said coldly, aiming to shove the woman to the floor as he left as quickly as he could, resulting in Melinda being forced to catch her without thinking.

"Melinda... Thank you!" the woman said in wide-eyed shock, and while she was looking at her awkwardly, Melinda noticed that some of the blood had gotten onto her left hand as well.

"What is going on?" Melinda stammered, gesturing towards the stain on the woman's clothes.

The woman giggled uncomfortably. "Nothing, nothing whatsoever... So, how are you doing? Why are you here? Who's that other person with you, and why is he here?"

Melinda glared at her. "I don't have all day. There's something wrong with your current situation, and I want to know what it is immediately."

The woman let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. However, I want you to tell me your side of the story first."

Melinda threw her hands in the air. "Alright, Agatha! I'll do it.

It all began when there was a great battle four months ago, which we won, but only barely. I wanted to go home, but Hemingway teleported right in front of me and told me that he'd kidnapped my parents, and I was so furious that I rode all the way from the forest to his lair all alone in a vain attempt to save them, and you can take a guess as to what happened after. He's forced me to stay here so I can become his apprentice, and if I don't join the dark side when he's done teaching me, he'll kill my parents. I don't know what to do about it.

Concerning Frank, he's from the Jones family, and Hemingway caught him working with the Parkers, who, although lawless, still defied him because their methods of lawlessness were at odds with each other. He killed them all and threw Frank into the same room as me in an attempt to teach him a lesson, even though I don't know how such a monster could expect compliance from him.

And you?"

As Melinda stared creepily at her while waiting for an answer, Agatha processed everything she had said to her, weeping uncontrollably as she muttered phrases that fully indicated her shock and horror while covering her mouth with her both hands. Melinda was fine with it for the first few seconds, after which she started to become irate, snapping her fingers in an effort to get Agatha out of her trance a few minutes later.

"Hey, I demand an answer!" she snarled at her, her face turning red, causing Agatha to release even more tears if such a thing was possible.

"No, please don't..." Agatha sobbed weakly, shielding her face with her hands. "I can't tell you..."

Melinda snorted. "Hm. And why is that so?"

"Leave me alone," Agatha sobbed again, retreating to a corner at the opposite side of the room.

Melinda wasn't at all content to leave it at that. She marched in her direction, pulling her by her left hand, and she couldn't resist for long, for Melinda was hard to fight off even without her armour, especially to a woman with a weak and untrained body like Agatha. Tension and sorrow and dread were now written all over her face, which made Melinda realise that she might've been a little too harsh on her.

Releasing tears herself, she pulled her into a tender and warm embrace, and it felt almost as good as embracing her own mother. It felt even better to Agatha, for although they weren't the closest of friends, she'd grown familiar with the sheer comfort Melinda's embraces brought. For an unknown amount of time, they cried, holding each other as tightly as they could, resting their heads on each other's shoulders as if they were warm pillows, which they might as well have been.

Melinda sniffled. "Agatha, I know that we may not be the closest of friends, but please know that you can tell me anything. I won't judge nor harm nor mock you because I'm your friend. People who do such things, on the other hand, don't deserve to be anyone's friends. I know that it may be hard, but as long as we don't hide from each other and trust each other and work together, everything will turn out great in the end, so please tell me what is tormenting you."

"No," Agatha responded, gently pushing her away, even though she was very much affected positively by her speech.

"If you insist," said Melinda, smiling weakly before returning to where she came from, knowing the current inner workings of her mind and being able to respect that, for such a small thing didn't matter at the moment. It didn't even matter that all three of them were captured and forced to play along with the whims of a madman who might never be satisfied with their efforts. All that mattered was that they had each other.