Engraved

Chapter Four

A bright light shone the through small crack that the velvet curtains weren't covering. It landed directly on the face of the sleeping dark haired girl, making her stir in her sleep. Her eyes twitched, fluttering open for a split second, then closing again. She mewled to herself, putting a pillow over her head and burying her face into it, desperate to make her way back to dreamland. But someone else occupying the room had something else in mind, pulling away the pillow and throwing it to the side.

"Good morning sunshine," An unfamiliar voice spoke out, "Finally you're awake."

Mori blinked, sitting up in her place. She peered down at her wrists, noticing a thick red rash formed around them and an uncomfortable shooting pain through her arm. She looked up then, startled by the stranger staring down at her.

"Don't be so alarmed," The female said warmly, soft blonde hair falling down her shoulders, smiling ardently.

"You went to meet a friend with Lucas. On the way out you said you felt dizzy but no one thought much of it, which I think was ridiculous. Then on the way out you fainted, it seems. Lucas is a friend of mine, so he brought you here as it was closest. You know, it's not very easy to carry dead weight very far." She explained, her emerald eyes showed sympathy for her, but if anything, Mori felt bad for the girl. The room was dull and bleak, every aspect of it screamed 'death' and wasn't very appealing whatsoever. Mori assumed that this was where the girl lived, her heart went out to her.

"Where's Lucas?" Mori asked, expecting to find him in the room she was currently in, but he wasn't present. She was surprised, actually, about the whole aspect of Lucas having any other friends other than herself. She felt equally guilty though, that he was aware of most aspects of her life when she didn't even know when his birthday was, let alone that he had any other acquaintances. She questioned her own motives, she knew she didn't want Lucas to think that she was fond of him, for her own pride's sake, but was it worth him assuming that she didn't care at all? She fumbled with her thumbs in thought, wallowing in guilt.

"He's in a room down the hallway, he left a few minutes before you woke up for a drink. I think you should go let him know that you're alright." She replied, holding out her hand to help Mori out of bed. Mori grabbed it gratefully, heaving her nimble body off the mattress. She made the brutal mistake of overestimating her leg strength, and ended up stumbling across the cold, concrete floor.

"Is it normal for my body to feel weak after fainting?" Mori asked, holding onto the girl's arm for support.

"Yes, completely. No need to worry about it though, you'll be fine soon." She said with a comforting tone, carefully leading her out of the room. Mori could tell she was an intelligent woman from just a short conversation with her. She talked without hesitation, words flowed from her mouth, without her having to process them. She spoke like a teacher, confident and sure of herself, except only more kind and welcoming. Mori liked sensible people, yet she wasn't used to it, considering most of her time was spent with Lucas, more than anyone else. Her mother was a bright woman, but she worked late nights and Mori went to school during the day, their schedules never quite matched up. This lead to, regrettably, only a five minute conversation every Wednesday, but that seemed like enough to them.

"I'm Annalise, Anna if you wanna be on my bad side." She uttered the last part, like half of her was joking, but the other half was completely serious. Mori was hardly paying any attention, her mind oblivious to the outside world, she was too busy thinking about who Annalise reminded her of, the smartest person she knew, her older sister Asuka. She was always way too happy and way too kind, no matter how annoying Mori could be. She lived with her head constantly in a book, whether she was studying or purely for her own enjoyment. She always knew what to say and when to say it, being able to convince even the most stubborn people to believe in her opinions. She used words beautifully, never talking poorly about anyone because she saw beauty and light where no one else would. She unfortunately passed away when Mori was still a child, but she remembered the night more vividly than any other, the last thing she ever wanted was to find her sister's body in a pool of her own blood. Annalise reminded her of her somehow, she couldn't decipher whether it was the intelligence or the hair, either way it comforted her, but she couldn't explain why.