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“Bye Susie, see you tomorrow” Kirs says as they got into Toreil’s car.
“Cya Kris” Susie shouts as they drive away. Susie sighs and starts the walk home,”Damn it's cold as fuck out”. She can see her breath. She walks slowly not wanting to go home, her mom is bound to be in a bad mood. I hope she's not drunk today, She thinks fruitlessly. Susie approaches her apartment and she feels nothing but dread. She takes a deep breath and opens the door.
She walks quietly towards her room praying her mother doesn't notice she's here. It's been a long day and she doesn't want to deal with her.
Her mother walks out of her room and spots Susie, “Where do you think you're going”. Susie's mother blocks the hallway and crosses her arms, glaring at her kid.
Oh shit Susie thinks. “I'm just going to my room, ma'am." Please leave me alone.
“No the fuck you arent. I told you this morning you can't be here today.”
“Its-its so cold out, i thought you would-”
”Well I didn't change my mind. Why the fuck would i care about the temperature outside. I told you, you're not welcome here today.”
Susie shrinks on herself “P-please let me stay i cant- its just going to- please let me stay, i wont- i wont be a problem” shit i need to stop stuttering
“stop stuttering, it's pissing me off.”
“Sor-sorry”.
“Are you doing it on purpose? I feel like you're trying to piss me off.”
Susie stood rigid looking at the floor “What? I- No ma'am".
The smell of alcohol gets more apparent as her mother gets close to her face “Get the fuck out of my house. Now.” Susie's mother pushes her and she stumbles. Her mother pushes her again and she falls.
Shit shit shit shit shit. She scrambles to stand up. “Ok ok I'm leaving”
“Good don't come back you ungrateful brat”
Susie rushes to leave, knocking over a glass in her hurry.
“YOU FUCKING BRAT COME BACK AND CLEAN THIS UP” her mother screams.
Shitt shit shit shit. Susie runs down the stairs and into the cold street. She runs down the sidewalk tripping into a puddle soaking her shoes and pants. well this is just great she sarcastically thinks. She gets up. It's cold.. So cold . The kind of cold seeps into your bones and makes it hard to move. She shivers and wraps her hoodie around herself trying to stay warm. The thin hoodie does very little to warm her. Her hands grow numb. I need to.. I need to get somewhere warm.. yea. she mindlessly walks down the street. I should go see Ralsei.. Yea he will help.. She keeps walking hoping no one will see her.
She arrives at the building. She can't feel her hands or her legs anymore and she keeps shivering. I need to get inside. She tries the door. It's locked “shit” she mutters. She hits the door weakly in frustration. Hopefully a window will be open... She walks to a window and struggles to get her hands to work, after a minute she successfully opens it. She's too cold to celebrate her success. Susie climbs into the window and falls into the classroom. She doesn't even notice she is bleeding.
It's a bit warmer in the room than outside. She still can't stop shivering. She fumbles to open the classroom door too tired to care if anyone is even in the school. She shuffles towards the closet and hesitates for a minute. She finally manages to get her hands to work and open the door. She tries to jump but she just stumbles into the dark world.
She lands poorly and gets more hurt. She doesn't have enough energy to even realize she got hurt from the fall. It's so cold here. She sees Ralesi approach with a blanket wrapped around him and passes out.
“What the- Susie what are you doing here this late.. Susie?” He notices that she's unconscious. “Oh no..” he picked her up and her skin is as cold as ice, he notices that her clothes are wet. He wraps her in his blanket and drags her to the castle.
He puts her by the cauldron's fire and feels for a pulse.. It's weak. Her breathing is slow.. He shakes her frantically “Susie. Susie please wake up..” Susie opens her eyes a little and shivers.
“Wha..” she mumbles.
Ralsei tries to heal her while trying to remember what these symptoms would mean. Why can't I fix this? “Susie, please keep your eyes open..” It must be hypothermia. He runs to Susie and Kris's rooms and gets all the blankets he can. He piles them on Susie and worriedly paces trying to remember everything he can about hypothermia. He looks at her and she's unconscious again. shoot .He gets under the covers, remembering that body heat can help warm her up.
A few minutes later Susie opens her eyes and tries to get up. “Hey hey hey don't get up”
Susie looks at him confused “why am I here..” she mumbles.
“You came here and I'm pretty sure you have hypothermia..”
“Oh..”
“It's ok.. Im here”
She falls asleep again. And Ralesi mildly panics and feels her pulse. It's a bit quicker than before. Relief floods him. He hugs her close and somehow falls asleep.
A few hours later he wakes up frantically oh shoot I didn't mean to fall asleep. He looks her over and checks her pulse. Her pulse seems normal and her breathing seems better. He takes a deep breath. Her eyes open slowly. “What the hell happened..”
“You came into the dark world and I'm pretty sure you have hypothermia, although your getting better”
“Oh”
“Do you remember what happened in the light world that caused this?”
“Uhh..” memories of what happened flood her mind. “I don't want to talk about it..”
“That's ok.. I'm here for you if you do wanna talk”
Susie nods thankful he's not pushing the topic and shivers. She gets closer to him trying to get warmer. She sighs “let's not tell anyone about this.”
“Ok Susie.. You know you scared me.. I thought..”
“Thought what”
“I thought you wouldn't ..."
“Oh.” She looks at him and sees tears in his eyes. “Hey I'm still here, thanks to you” she reaches her cold hand and wipes the tear away. He looks her over once more
“Yeah..”
They lay there in comfortable silence for a while.
Susie sighs, “I probably missed school, I hope Kris isn't too worried.”
“I'm sure they will be fine for a day now get some more rest, I am not letting you leave until your better.”