4.8 : certificate

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Carmen tiredly retrieved her items from the front desk. She had gotten no sleep the previous night, and it obviously showed. Her hair was a nest atop her head, her eyes were bloodshot from crying, the bags under her eyes deep and purple toned. 

The same receptionist from before watched as she slowly slipped out of her assigned house shoes, handing them back over. The woman slides Carmen back her possessions from her check-in; Phone, belt, keys, and shoes. Carmen takes them silently and slips back into her regular shoes, placing her other possessions within the deep pockets of the gray facility sweatpants that she had decided to keep (Along with the t-shirt, of course).

"If there's no other concerns you have, you're welcome to officially check yourself out now." The lady smiles. "Do you have a ride?"

"I'll figure it out." Carmen replies monotonically for the first time all morning. The rough tone of her voice catches the woman off guard and she just nods, her face in awe of her rudeness.

"I hope you enjoyed your stay at Eichen house." The woman calls, but Carmen was already out the huge wooden doors.

Carmen trotted down the cracked stairs, glad to finally have some fresh air. Though, she showed no emotion other than the lasting blank frown etched into her face. She fished her phone from her pocket and found Casey's number, dialing it quickly.

"Yeah?" Casey's voice comes through.

"Pick me up." She ordered, plopping down on one of the bottom steps. "I'm waiting outside."

"I wasn't supposed to pick you up until later-"

"Casey, come pick me up." Carmen repeats through gritted teeth, "Now."


▲▼


The ride back home was completely silent. Casey kept his eyes on the road and Carmen kept hers glued to the passing scenery outside. As soon as Carmen stepped foot in his car, he could immediately tell that something was wrong with her; Aside from the obvious fact that she had just spent 2 days in a mental facility.

The car seemed to drive on for years and years, or at least it would have, if Carmen had been paying attention to time. Instead, she sifted through the same questions over and over again, as she did the previous night, all the way into the morning.

She tried her hardest to push the events of last night out of her brain, but it was simply impossible. She still didn't fully understand what had happened. All she remembered was the Nogitsune, giving Stiles his ultimatum; Let the Nogitsune in and free Carmen of her own, or don't and let her die. She remembered his cold stare as he exited the room casually, but not before sending her that signature smirk of his. She remembered staying put in the basement for several hours after that until the sun began to shine through the small window above her, signaling that it was time for her to leave. And even then, as she emerged from the basement and walked back to the bathroom to clean up, her legs trembled in fear and her breaths came out short, her mind still not being able to grasp what had happened.

The humming of Casey's engine is all that's audible. It usually wasn't like this. On any other occasion, Casey would be spewing some sarcastic bullshit on their way back and she'd roll her eyes at his terrible jokes, even though he always noticed the small lift of the corners of her mouth when he told them, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. 

Carmen noticed as they turned into a street that she had never been before. It was well populated with trees, the road underneath them turning into gravel. There were a few houses spread on each side, but most looked run-down and abandoned. The house that they pulled up to was no exception.

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