Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 71-

Day: 76

Days Left: 5404

Lives Saved: 0

Corinna needed to get out of the house. It had been two days since the portal had opened. For that time, Harmony had remained in the basement, never going upstairs. The young woman had tried to go down, but the chimaera had locked it shut somehow. Corinna couldn't even give Harmony her food.

Sighing, Corinna packed her rucksack and retrieved her spear. She couldn't stand being indoors any longer.

Kneeling down beside the trap-door to the basement, Corinna yelled, "I'm going to Ivette's!" She paused, swallowing down saliva to keep her throat from drying up. "I can take those candles with me to trade for food... or maybe something else if you'd like. You know those candles... the ones that we sorted out earlier on in the week?"

There was no response.

"You can come with me if you'd like? We can trade those candles for something you want?"

Again, silence.

Hesitating, Corinna stood up. "Okay, I'm going to go now!" With her outerwear now on, Corinna headed towards the front door. As she reached for the door handle, the trap-door opened, and Harmony climbed up to the surface, carrying a box of candles.

"You coming along?" Corinna smiled.

Harmony nodded, but she remained looking down at the floor, her head low.

The journey to Ivette's trading outpost was silent. Corinna attempted to initiate conversation but was unsuccessful. She knew that the portal was still a hurtful topic so instead listed the possible trades they could make with the candles whilst also congratulating Harmony on her progress for it was true; the amount of clutter in the basement had gone down significantly. There was now enough space for the chimaera to reach the stacks at the end of the room.

Once they arrived, they saw Ivette lying on her skateboard in front of the low coffee table, writing down something in her records book.

She looked up as they reached her. "Hello again, my dears." The old trader beamed. "I see you've got something to trade." Ivette reached out from underneath the coffee table and retrieved a cardboard box of objects, the majority of them being green. "I've saved some more..."

Harmony ignored the trader and headed deeper into the rest of the shop.

Ivette turned back to Corinna and asked, "is something wrong?"

Corinna lowered her head, hesitating to answer.

But Ivette already knew the answer. She sighed and placed the box underneath the table. "I saw the portal opening from here. She didn't escape again."

Corinna nodded, biting down her lip and donning her mask of impassiveness to prevent herself from crying. With a flat and monotonous voice, she replied, "she almost made it. I tried to help... but I failed her."

"Oh, don't blame yourself, my dear." Ivette rested a warm hand on Corinna's. "This isn't the first time. Nor will it be the last. Just give her a while, and she'll be back to her usual self and trying to escape once again."

The young woman made a mumble of agreement, her concerns not entirely quelled. Ivette easily noticed this and packed up her book.

"I got myself some new helpers around the shop," said the trader. "Now it's not just me on my lonesome."

"Oh, that's great," Corinna replied, perking up from the change in topic. "Who are they?"

"Well-"

"Hey!" a familiar voice sang out, and an arm latched around Corinna's shoulders, giving them a squeeze.

Corinna glanced back and saw Sumit behind her. "Oh, hello." She returned his beaming grin with one of her own. "I remember you."

"Yeah! How could you possibly forget." He smirked and let go of Corinna, then called out. "Oi, Rin!"

A masked face appeared from behind a shelf. Sumit motioned the woman over. Rin, with obvious reluctance, shuffled over and stood next to her friend.

"You remember Corinna, right?" Sumit dramatically pointed and waved at Corinna.

"Yeah..." mumbled Rin, looking down at the floor. "By the way, there's a miserable-looking chimaera near the books so I couldn't sort them."

Corinna stepped forward, about to head there, when Ivette stopped her by grasping her hand.

"I suggest leaving her alone, my dear," said the trader. "In times like these, it's best to let her sort everything out herself. I often find that any outside assistance just makes things worse."

Nodding in defeat, Corinna sighed.

Sumit bit his lower lip, uncomfortable with the current mood of the room. "Anyway..." He cleared his throat and put on a deep and professional voice. "How can we help you, our valued customer?"

Letting out a slight chuckle, Corinna's face relaxed. "Just trading in some candles. Possibly for more food. They're Harmony's so it's up to her what we'll do with them."

From the very end of the shop, Harmony's ears perked up upon hearing her own name. They were talking about her. As she hadn't eaten any food for two days, her hearing was dampened, but they were definitely talking about her. Perhaps they were discussing the portal, maybe even laughing at her. How she failed. How she fell. How she came so close.

No...

Corinna wouldn't do that.

But she was laughing at something.

Her mind consumed by thoughts of the portal, Harmony's whole body became tense, stiff, and unmoving. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't...

The chimaera clutched at her chest, her knees buckled, and she crashed to the floor. Despite her heart thumping and beating against her rib-cage, no air escaped her mouth. She spluttered and gasped, attempting to regain control.

She could have escaped.

She could be free right now.

She could be in the sunlight.

But no. Instead, she was trapped here, lying on the ground in darkness, surrounded by the discarded refuse of those above.