And the Soul Moved on.

Chapter 4

The golden Sunday sun pierced through Lora's window, heating her blankets and burning her eyes. She stretched deeply, hoping to shake the lasting fatigue. It took her a shamefully long time to finally sit up, glaring through her window at the brisk and beautiful day awaiting her. She felt like she had been hit by a train.

Swinging her heavy legs out of the bed with a yawn, Lora made her way to the bathroom, instinctively reaching towards the drawer for her toothbrush, until her hand stopped. Last night, she'd experienced the worst pain she had ever felt because of her toothbrush. She recalled almost passing out from the feeling, and shivered. One more missed day couldn't hurt, right? She would do anything to avoid that searing burn, and thankfully, her gums had stopped feeling like they were being ripped out of her mouth. She so did not want to ruin the lucky streak.

Rubbing her eyes, she finally looked into the mirror. Her skin lost its sickly sheen, but her eyes were sunken, purple rings beneath them so deep that they looked like bruises. Her cheeks were hollowed out, and her lips were chapped. Her hand slowly went to her face, shocked at the zombie looking back at her. She still felt a bit warm, and her headache was there, but not near how it had felt last night. Even if her appearance had taken the hit, at least the only real symptom she still had was a sharp edge of fatigue. She smiled at the mirror, looking at her teeth. Her reflection smiled back, thankfully showing a healthy looking mouth. Good enough for her.

After quickly washing her face and putting her hair up, Lora found her way down to the kitchen, the smell of eggs and toast wafting through the hall.

"Goodmorning, dear," Her mom called over her shoulder, and Lora grumbled a goodmorning in return.

She made her way to the coffee pot beside the toaster, grabbing a mug before pouring the lifesaving drink. The toaster popped, and Lora jumped a little at the noise.

"Rough night?" her mother looked her over, eyeing the way Lora chugged the scalding coffee. The thirst she had felt last night was now back with a vengeance, and she reached for the pot again.

"Slow down there, honey. You haven't even had breakfast yet." Her mom chided, grabbing the toast and two plates. Lora only nodded before dragging her feet to the table. But as she stood in front of the windows, a dream-- no, memory-- flashed through her mind. She had seen someone out there last night, someone who had vanished within one step and the next, and her mind reeled at the image. A hallucination, she reminded herself. She had been sick with a fever. And after such a horrible nightmare, of course her mind had conjured up terrors.

Her mom set a filled plate in front of her, the clatter of the glassware pulling her from her stupor.

"Do you have any plans today?" Her mother asked, and Lora shrugged as she sat down and dug in. While her mom was a clean eater, Lora ate a bit more recklessly. She swallowed her mouthful quickly to answer.

"I think I might need a real coffee from Leo," she said, and her mother smiled a bit as she carefully forked a tomato onto her toast piled with eggs.

"Are you feeling any better?" she asked, although Lora was sure her mother knew the answer just from a quick once-over. Lora threw her mom a look to prove it.

"Alright, alright, I guess maybe a real coffee is needed. I'm sure you just have a bad virus, honey," her mom assured, hands thrown up in mock defense.

"Hopefully it will go away soon. If not, we'll take you to the doctor." She finished, and Lora nodded.

"Thank you." Her mother reached over and patted Loras hand in response.

They ate in silence for a moment, Lora gazing out the window as the sun dissipated the early morning fog. If she didn't feel like shit, it would have been the perfect weather for a run. Soon she had cleared her plate, and reached to grab her mother's as she was taking the last bite. She set them in the sink, letting water sweep the crumbs away.