Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 15-

Day: 1

Days Left: 5479

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Huddled in layers of bed sheets, Corinna closed her eyes and slowed her breathing in an attempt to fall asleep, yet her mind refused, occupied in bringing back images from earlier on in the day.

Falling.

Jagged rocks below that could have snapped her neck.

Plunged into the black water.

Darkness.

Those creatures, the nymphs, dragging her down into the watery depths below.

Blade striking sand.

The monster chases after her.

Imps surround her.

Metal shelter collapses.

Spear lodged into her back.

The monster returns.

Claws wrapped around her, dragging her across the sand.

The pieces of flesh and meat nailed to the cave walls, blood dripping off of them.

Leg hacked by a rusted cleaver.

Almost died from an infection.

Almost eaten by that creature, that thing.

The sandstorm.

Feet leave the floor, almost hurtling away.

The monster.

Separated only by a room divider.

Could devour her in her sleep.

Despite her best efforts in washing herself, clusters of sand still clung to her, in her hair, on her body, and with every move she made they would scatter across the bed, causing further discomfort.

After lying on the mattress in one position for so long, whenever she closed her eyes, her body felt weightless and numb, like she was falling down into the sea again. Her leg jolted when the sheet touched her ankle. It could have been a hand, a hand of one of the things in the sea, the water nymphs.

The sickness clawed its way up her throat, demanding to be released. Corinna clenched her mouth closed and breathed in slow and long breaths through her nose in an attempt to fight it.

She almost made it to the bathroom in time. The majority of the vomit spillt on the seat and on the floor instead of inside the toilet.

The chimaera attempted to open the bathroom door, then knocked after finding that Corinna had locked it.

"I'll- I'll just be a bit!" Corinna spluttered, wiping up the mess to no avail, merely smearing it around. The stinging smell suffocated her nose, causing further sickness to rise in her throat. She held her breath and searched through the bathroom cabinets, finding nothing of use.

After hearing more retching and gagging, the chimaera knocked on the door again.

Corinna wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then swallowed a gulp of water from the sink. After looking at her reflection in the mirror, making sure she was as presentable as she could possibly be in the situation, Corinna unlocked the bathroom door, opened it, and stepped outside.

Still wearing the green apron, the monster towered over her. Its toxic green eyes glanced inside the bathroom, at the sick spewed over the floor and toilet seat, then back to Corinna.

"I'm sorry," said Corinna. "I just threw up a little- a lot, sorry. I'm going to clean it up immediately. I'm- just- please don't be mad- I will- I will clean it up."

The three-fingered paws of the chimaera reached out to Corinna.

Flinching, Corinna closed her eyes, prepared to be struck or hit, perhaps even killed.

But that did not happen.

Instead, she felt a palm lightly pat her head in consolation.

She opened her eyes and looked up.

The chimaera returned Corinna's gaze, staring down at the blank and vacant face of the young woman. Corinna's mask of calmness and impassive facade snapped, revealing her real face and nature.

Blubbering, her arms tightly wrapped around the chimaera's waist, Corinna let everything go; all of the fear, the anger, and the frustration that she had attempted to bottle up since she had been imprisoned.

Unsure what to do in this situation, listening to the young woman's sobs that were muffled by its fur, the chimaera continued to gently pat Corinna's head and stroke her hair.

Eventually, Corinna's eyes ceased to water, and the only noise heard were her disjointed breaths. With her eyes closed and the soft touch of the chimaera's black fur, she felt as if she could fall asleep- until she adjusted her head and felt the monster's pulsing heartbeat. She stepped back, releasing her arms around the chimaera. Its hands lowered down to her neck, its fingers tracing her brand. Corinna retreated away, her own hands scratching at the brand.

The monster and the young woman's gazes connected for a moment, a long moment, until Corinna averted her eyes back to the floor.

Before she could even comprehend what was happening, she found herself sat in one of the armchairs with a glass of water and the chimaera's green cloak wrapped around her. Whilst she sipped her drink and watched the fireplace, the chimaera retrieved a bucket of cleaning equipment to tackle the mess in the bathroom. Once it had finished, the chimaera guided Corinna to wash the smell of vomit off of her. To the young woman's surprise, the bathroom had been cleaned to perfection, no traces of sick or pungent odours, as if it were brand new.

Heading back to bed, Corinna looked back at the monster and said quietly "good night."

The chimaera waved back, then returned to washing the glass that Corinna had drank from.

Despite having calmed down, her fears now settled, Corinna still found difficulty in falling asleep, lying in the fetal position underneath the covers. Once she had realised the reason for her insomnia, she rolled up the duvet covers along with one of the pillows and created a person. Due to having so many young cousins, nieces, and nephews in her household, at least one of them would have a nightmare every night and would sneak into Corinna's bed for solace. Corinna could not remember the last time she had a bed all to herself. She could not sleep alone.

Tricking her mind that the rolled-up duvet was a person, Corinna soon fell asleep.