The Alphabet Superset: Week 18: Refusal of the Call

Reference Link: https://www.haarkon.co.uk/explore-blog/yumenoshima-tropical-greenhouse-tokyo

    Catelyn's body was numb. Her mind was blissfully silent. She felt a pressure on her back, but couldn't be bothered to turn to look what it was. Instead, she allowed herself to stare up at what she believed to be an afternoon sky. The sky was full of oranges, yellows, and reds which seemed to flow in and out of each other like water. She could hear something, but didn't want to look. If it was important, they would get her attention.

    Two heads appeared above her. One was a white girl with red hair and freckles across her nose and cheeks. The other was a girl with light brown skin and black hair. Aiyanna. Both faces seemed concerned, starkly contrasting how Catelyn felt. Why were they worried. She felt great. There was nothing to worry about.

    Something dark lingered at the back of Catelyn's mind. Something she knew she was avoiding. Something she knew she didn't want to see. She lifted her hand, expecting to find the slowly burning paper and plants she had made earlier. But when she lifted her hand, she couldn't see it. She must've finished it.

    She tried to lift herself up (Had she been laying down?) but something pushed against her. Catelyn wasn't in the mood to fight and the pleasant feeling wasn't going anywhere yet. She somehow knew that those dark feelings would stay away for a while.

    As she looked back at the sky, she saw one of the heads had disappeared. The red head, Meave, had moved further over her, blocking more of that sea of colors above her. It was sad to see the sky go, but the brown and green eyes that replaced them were beautiful to look at. The eyes seemed focused, concerned, worried. Why?

    A hand was on her face, holding her eye lids open for a second. The hand felt warm. Catelyn enjoyed the feeling, even reaching up to hold it there when it began to move away. She is not sure how long she held it there before it slowly but steadily pulled away from her. Catelyn whimpered at the missing comfort before a hand grabbed her other one. The one she had been holding her homemade cigarette in.

    She laid there and enjoyed the slowly fading feeling for a while. She was not sure how long it was, but she knew after a while that those unpleasant feelings were coming closer. If she didn't find more plants soon, she was going to have to face those feelings again. She was not sure why, but the thought filled her with dread.

    Two new heads appeared above her. Aiyanna was back, shifting focus between her and the other new face. The other face was a boy in a hood. White skin, blonde hair, black eyes. This face was familiar. This face had been very common. But from where.

    Its easy to be high when you're feeling good. It's harder when those feelings aren't. A wave of fear and panic swept over Catelyn. The new face belonged to a nickname. The Scrawler. Suddenly the images came back. A grand hall with a stair case. A boy with a want that looked like a quill. An old man in an office. Cold consuming darkness. Walls of flesh. An eye bigger than her whole body. Her body out of her control. A wall of fire and unholy howls of pain. A boy bleeding out on a rooftop. Panic, fear, rage.

    Catelyn's throat now hurt. She covered her ears against a loud noise. Hands hold her down as the Scrawler disappears from view. Is she screaming? Catelyn almost welcome the darkness when she blacks out.

    When Catelyn awaken again, the high is gone enough that she can at least think coherently. It's less like being numb and more like buzzing at the back of her head. She is laying down in the greenhouse. People are whispering nearby. Meave is still next to her, holding a cup of water out to her as she sits up.

    "Please don't go. I promise she will be better now that the high is gone."

    

    "The very sight of me gave her a panic attack. How do we know the drugs did that? For all we know me being here could be some kind of trigger for her. Any of the Enthralled could be."

    "Please. We have no idea how long she has been doing this, but if she has been making herself high since that thing came out of the sky..." Aiyanna and Scrawler were clearly trying to keep their voices down, not realizing that she had awoken yet. She appreciated the effort, but she also just wanted to get this inevitable conversation over with.

    "Sorry Scrawler, I didn't meant to freak you out." Scrawler and Aiyanna turn to her in surprise. Aiyanna rushes to her side while Scrawler runs a hand through his hair. His hood is down now and he can't seem to stand still. "Why are you here?"

    Scrawler goes to speak, glancing at Meave and Aiyanna. Aiyanna speaks up first. "I asked him here."

    "Why?"

    "You were high as a tree on a mountain top when we found you. Meave and I have no idea what you've been through, but we knew you were at that dorm that closed down. So I went to find someone else who had been there too to see if they could help." Aiyanna didn't seem nervous like Scrawler. In fact, she seemed all business. "Didn't realize you were going to react that way while high."

    "Did it occur to you that maybe I want to be high for a reason?" Scrawler took a step back at the remark, drawing Catelyn's ire. "This isn't about you, Scrawler, so just leave."

    "Then what is it about?" Meave barked angrily, clearly not liking the direction this conversation had taken. "I get that something bad happened at that dorm, but snapping at him is not going to help. Don't you go anywhere." Scrawler, who had been quietly stepping backward, stopped in his tracks and lifted his hands in surrender. He clearly didn't know how to respond to the situation and opted for looking at the floor.

    "You don't get it. You don't know what it's like having something take control of your body like that and puppeteer it around. To have to watch helplessly as your body attacks people you don't know and draw symbols all over school. Watching your body intentionally treat your closest friends like garbage. Being so isolated and alone for months on end." Aiyanna and Meave grew quiet. Meave glanced at Scrawler, as if seeking confirmation. Scrawler kept his eyes fixed on the floor, rubbing his arm as the memories of his own time flooded back to him.

    "It's sickening. The feeling of that thing restraining you. Your nights are full of nightmares. You feel a cool breeze and it makes you nauseous. You have to turn the shower to boiling hot because it distracts from the feeling of water running down your body. You hide from the staff as much as possible because you never know when they will send you back to that dorm." Scrawler is quiet as he speaks and never looks at the group. Catelyn's own memories flood her head. Her panic attack on the roof. Going to retrieve the injured boy from the roof where they fought. Her panic as she brought him to nearest teacher and then ran away as fast as she could.

    "I was at the school that night." Aiyanna spoke softly, the edge to her voice now gone. She loosely held Catelyn's hand in one of her hands while running her fingers of her other hand over the palm absentmindedly.

    "The green house didn't shield us from that thing's gaze. I watched as the thing made my body use my magic against my will. We used the plants of the green house to smash windows and doors in the nearby buildings, dragging screaming and struggling people out. There was nothing I could do. I know we were only like that for a couple of hours, but it was terrifying. I can't imagine what you two went though. Months trapped like that." Aiyanna was lost in thought for a moment before she spoke up again. "I'm sorry I got mad at you. I want to help but I don't know how.

    Catelyn looked at everyone. She felt like this was the first time actually seeing them. It occurred to her that she wasn't alone. Scrawler had been Enthralled after she had, but he had still been suffering for months. Katherine and White Scales had both been enthralled longer than her. She and her dorm mates were called the Enthralled, but almost everyone had been Enthralled on the night of the summoning. She wasn't alone.

    "I'm sorry everyone. It didn't occur to me that other people went through the same thing as me. I was being selfish." Catelyn said, grabbing Meave and Aiyanna's hands more tightly.

    "It wasn't selfish." Scrawler said, finally looking up at her. "We can each only deal with it in our own way. This was yours. We just wanted you to know that you can lean on us if you needed to." Catelyn smiled as she looked around. All three smiled back at her.

    "I have to admit though that now its my turn to be selfish." Scrawler asked hesitantly.

    All three girls turned to him, which made him rub his arm again. "It's nothing big. It's just that those symbols we painted are all over the school still. I have been hunting them down and painting over them, but I only know about the ones I drew. I was wondering if you could help me find the ones you've drawn. I know I am asking a lot here, but if your willing." Catelyn could tell Scrawler was nervous about the request. He seemed to be bracing himself for yelling or some kind of fight. She sighed. She knew he was right. Those symbols were still out there. No one knew what kind of threat they still posed. But Catelyn also knew herself.

    "I'm sorry, Scrawler, but no. I just want to put this all behind me and be done with it." She said. There was a flash of disappointment across Scrawler's face before he covered it with a smile.

    "It's all good. It was a tall request. Honestly, it has taken a toll on me already. I can understand not wanting to revisit it. Will you be okay?" Scrawler asked, trying to hide his true emotions. Catelyn appreciated the effort.

    "Yeah, I think I will be good now." She pulled Meave and Aiyanna into a hug. The three hugged and even Scrawler got a genuine smile at the scene. A scene cut short as the doors to the green house were suddenly and violently kicked open.