Nothing At All

5.1

My rumbling stomach woke me early the next morning. Groggy and disoriented, I got out of bed and stumbled to the window. It was only wide enough for one eye to see out of, but I could see that the purple sky was tinged with streaks of pink and orange. For the first time, I noticed that my second story room overlooked the very garden I was working in yesterday. Andrei and Adela weren't currently down there, but, then again, it was too early for even the birds.

True to her word, Mircalla had left a tiny bowl of greenish salve on the dresser. There was a note next to it, but I didn't bother to attempt to read whatever language it was written in.

I inspected the scalloped bowl; it was barely the size of my palm. The edges were ringed with a stunning teal that faded into a pastel blue the closer it go to the center. The ceramic was cool to the touch and smoother than a pebble shaped by the river. The salve, on the other, looked a lot less inviting and smelled even worse. It squelched when I dipped my finger into it.

Against my better judgement, I started to rub the goo onto my burned skin. Hopefully the illegible note didn't say that applying this directly to skin would instantly kill me. That would be just my luck. Thankfully, my burns immediately started to feel better. The salve dried thick and flaky, like aloe vera.

The grumbling of my stomach compelled me to leave my room. I could faintly smell bacon and eggs, but that might have been my tired brain imagining it. Yesterday's lack of sustainable food left me feeling famished.

I wasn't even about to guess how to find the kitchen. Instead, I followed yesterday's leaf trail back to Mircalla's study. After a full night's rest, I didn't get light-headed going up that infernal staircase.

This time, I made sure to knock on the door frame to announce my presence. Mircalla was sitting exactly where I left her last night. Judging from the looks of it, she was still using the same candle as before also.

She looked up, startled. "Is it already morning?"

"Yup." I gave a big yawn and stretched my sore limbs. "Do you ever sleep?"

She tracked my movements with her raven eyes. "Of course not. It is one of the few perks of being immortal."

"Lucky."

I strolled over to the room's one window and gently tugged aside the corner of the drapes to peep out. Even though the light got nowhere near her, Mircalla flinched slightly.

"Sorry," I apologized, dropping it quickly. "I forget that sunlight kills you."

She held up a bloodless hand. "It is me, not you. I forget that normal humans are drawn towards the light like moths."

I snorted and crossed my arms. "Yeah, well, this moth needs breakfast and can't find the kitchen."

"You came all the way up here to ask me where the food is?"

"Bruh, I don't live here. How can you expect me to know where everything is? I'm lucky if I can find the way back to my room."

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, revealing a polished, razor-sharp fang. "You have a point. I guess I shall summon the energy to guide you to the kitchen."

"You're the best." I stepped over a small heap of books that had been tossed carelessly onto the floor. Something that sounded an awful lot like a cockroach crunched underneath my sneaker.

She led me down the stairs—I don't know how she managed to this all the time—and through some random corridors. My leaves were nowhere to be seen, so I knew we were going down a path I had never been on before.