A Monster Inside - Book of the Amulet - ITV's Jekyll and Hyde

19 - Reawakened

"They say we are what we are/ But we don't have to be/ I'm bad behavioured but I do it in the best way/ I'll be the watcher of the eternal flame/ I'll be the guard dog of all your fever dreams/ 'Cause we could be immortals/Just not for long, for long/ Live with me forever now/ Pull the blackout curtains down/ Just not for long, for long/ We could be immortals//

-Immortals

:/:

"Daddy, look!" Olalla chuckled, pointing to the gap in between her teeth. "My tooth fell out". Dance spun around, leaving the various documents sitting on his desk, and smiled.

"That's my girl! Never know the tooth fairy might come, so put it on your pillow tonight, okay?" Dance answered, and Olalla nodded profusely back at his question. Such was the life of a five year old, believing in imaginary creatures, when the only monsters were the ideals of man. And though Dance didn't believe in fairies or rabbits that brought you chocolate, he found great amusement in his daughter's excitement over them, and went out of his way to encourage her. He was sure that he could find some shapeshifter to be a tooth fairy for the night, as Keres would probably decline. Olalla suddenly stopped, her face dropping into a look of almost despair, then looked at Dance with worried eyes.

"But what if she doesn't come?"

"And why wouldn't she?"

"The man outside said I was a m-mon..." Olalla started, and Dance growled under his breath. She didn't have to finish for him to know what had happened. She had seen a human outside the borders of Tenebrae, and he had said that she was a monster. Planted seeds of doubt in her head. "Is that bad, Daddy? Am I... bad?"

"You're the best one around, sweetheart. And people who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than anyone else. It's people who claim that they're good, or any way better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of. So don't be scared of being bad. Because humankind may go about their everyday lives thinking we are what's wrong with the world, but however much they believe in their light, their pureness, there will always be shadows. And there will always be jealously. So never let anyone say you are bad, Olalla, because you are better than all of them".

"Thank you, Daddy", Olalla murmured, going up to hug Dance, but only managing to reach his leg. "Love oo". Dance chuckled, reaching to hug her back, and turned his head to the side with a small smile.

That's when Olalla woke up, still covered in lilac coloured bedsheets, her blonde hair cascading over the bed frame. The clock on the wall read ten o'clock in the morning and the dully shining sun flickered through the window. Turning to get out of bed, the cold draught that escaped from under the door bit at her ankles, so she decided to take the bedcovers with her, slung across her shoulders. She noticed the wounds on her arms had now faded to faint silvery scars. Tip-toeing on the oak wood of her bedroom floor, she opened the door with a loud squeak and went to walk down the stairs. Well, she got to the first step, and then almost tripped over Ravi, who was sitting there.

"Oh, you're awake. Finally", he exclaimed, turning around to face her.

"How long was I out?" Olalla asked back, walking down the stairs towards the living room. Ravi followed her, taking care not to trip over the trailing duvet cover that covered the stairs in an ocean of purple.

"Two days flat", Ravi replied, and Olalla nodded. It was less than last time. Taking the decanter off the table, she filled a glass up with gin, only to have it plucked from her hands by Ravi.

"I think you're underage, buzzkill", Olalla commented, lifting an eyebrow.

"I'm under strict instructions by Garson not to let you touch alcohol".