Chapter Fifteen- Part One

The Day After

Irene Albion

When I came to, the bed was a mess. The blanket was heavily dumped on top of me leaving Archie to shiver in the cold. She probably forced it onto my side, she was always worried for me. If it were a normal day, I'd chuck it back onto her sleeping body tucked in the foetal position. But it wasn't a normal day. It was the day after everything, the day after we discovered a lab, the day after we uncovered the darkest of secrets, the day after I was kidnapped, the day after Medina died.

I stared at Archie for a few rare moments, capturing her essence as she breathed slow and steady. Her hair fell over her eyes in thin strands and her face looked tense as if stress followed her everywhere, even in sleep. Maybe that's why she forced herself to work herself crazy, maybe it's better than the alternative: peace.

I groaned as I let the events catch up to me, the fading mechanical beeping noise of the heart monitor accompanied me to the bathroom, forcing the memory of Medina onto me. I washed my face. Beep. I brushed my teeth. Beep. I tied my hair up. Beep.

I swallowed as I stared at the mirror, hands on the sink as I finally distracted myself from last night's events. I focused on how it felt to feel Archie's hand on mine, on my face, and her lips on my forehead. I focused on her scent, her comforting presence, and let my heart skip a beat. I reminisced how it felt to run my nimble fingers through her short hair, how easy it was to just be with her, complete and wholly myself.

The beeping stopped.

When I walked out in my skimpy night clothes I found Archie sitting on the bed, rubbing at her eyes. Her head bobbed up and down as she tried not to fall back asleep. She looked pretty cute in the morning.

"Come on Archie, time to get up."

It was well past nine when I managed to force her into the bathroom, but like a zombie, she simply stood there perplexed. Thankfully, she wore similar night clothes so it was easy to strip her into her underwear and toss her into the shower.

I warned, "You better be done when I've changed."

She was, in fact, not done. The shower wasn't at all turned on and she was napping in the corner against the cold tiles. I sighed, maybe a shower wasn't what she needed right now. The poor girl was clueless.

It took every muscle in my body to get Archie back up and out into the bedroom. I dressed her in some loose tracksuit pants and a printed My Romance Chemical t-shirt before walking her out.

"There there, one step at a time."

Still dazed, she limped into the kitchen leaning heavily on me. It took me a while before I could even sit her at the table. I watched her eyelids flutter and for a moment I thought she was gonna fall. I wrapped my hands around her shoulders and manoeuvred her body so it rested on the chair safely. Keeping an eye on her, I crept to the stove and turned the kettle on. Some tea ought to do the trick.

The house was silent, the doors of the other rooms led to emptiness. I wondered what everyone was doing at this time of day, and then I thought if I really wanted to know. No, I'm content dealing with Archie who just kept blinking in her chair.

"Here, I've made you some tea." I moved a cup of tea in Archie's direction, "Is there anything you'd like to have for breakfast?"

Archie made a slow move to tilt her head as if she'd just registered what was happening. She reached for the mug and then retracted her hand when she found it to be hot. It seemed to slightly shock her awake for now her eyes stayed open longer. I smiled at her tired face, her under-eye bags as prominent as ever, and ran a hand through her hair. She seemed to like it for she leaned into my touch momentarily and whispered, "Irene."

"That's me."

"What time is it?"

I glanced at the clock, "Early enough for breakfast. What would you like?"

"Toast," She mumbled, then added, "Maybe some eggs too."

I nodded and clapped my hands, which seemed to shake her awake. "Toast and eggs it is."

I spent my time cracking the eggs and scrambling them carefully, adding some cheese and spices to make the meal just a tad bit less bland. The morning was off to a surprisingly slow start, but after everything maybe this is exactly what we needed; a morning to ourselves, free of responsibility and dread.

I heard Archie sip her tea and then curse slightly at how bitter it was. I threw her a sweet-n-low packet and got back to cooking. It didn't take long until I had finished.

"Voila," I presented the dishes with my hands up in a funny manner, "Breakfast has been served."

Archie faked a bow, "Merci Beaucoup Senorita."

"That's Spanish."

"I'm too hungry to care."

I laughed, happy the joking Archie was back in business. We sliced the toast and ate, bickering as we normally did to entertain the silence.

I motioned with my fork to Archie's head, "Your hair is a mess."

She motioned back, "I wonder who created it."

"You know you loved it."

"I never said I didn't."

We chuckled and threw joking jabs at one another, finding little things to comment on and send the other into a frenzy, we kept on talking and talking even when our mouths were full of food. We'd cough when food got stuck in our throats and laugh at the other gasping for breath. Occasionally, we'd send a flirtatious comment or two to rile up the other, needless to say, it worked since we were both blubbering messes and red as tomatoes.

"You promised not to compare me to a puppy."

"I said dog, not a puppy."

"Same thing."

"Aww, is the little puppy upset?"

"Say that again I dare you."

I chucked my napkin at Archie who received it face first. I grinned at my victory not before Archie stood up and tackled me in my chair, tickling all my trigger spots.

"Stop," I protested, choking as I laughed, "Stop before I piss myself."

"That's what you get for challenging me."

My stomach was hurting, "I've learned my lesson, please!"

She let go, her lithe fingers gone from my skin as I finally got the chance to breathe. Whenever you're tickled it feels like the world suffocates you, who knew laughter could be so dangerous.

Archie leaned on the table, her shirt raised slightly to reveal her toned stomach peppered with scars and spots. I reached out a hand but thought against it and kept still.

I then pondered, my mind returning to a recent read, "What are the Grim Games?"

"Now that's a title I haven't heard in a long while."

She scratched at her arm before she carried on, "It's a competition where each Squad competes. Sort of like the gladiator arena, but if it had magic."

"Sounds like fun."

"It is at first, but when you've lived in the Grim for so long it gets a little repetitive."

Archie looked up, then down at me and back up again and in those few seconds, I could feel her mind tick, flip a switch, and get back into business mode.

"We've got a busy day ahead of us."

I narrowed my eyes, "We?"

She gave me a look, "You're part of Squad Archie, of course, it's we."

Had this been said to me a few days ago I'd have jumped with joy, now I nod with integrity and duty.

"What do you plan on doing?"

"We," she emphasized, "are going to get to the bottom of this."

She didn't need to speak for me to know what she was referring to. Medina's death still hung in the air, and so did Archie's plan for revenge. I couldn't imagine what she'd be feeling right now, the guilt and anguish that came with being Captain. The pain.

I made sure she wouldn't have to shoulder it alone.

Archie then sat on the table and hung her head. I knew exactly what she was thinking, and it wasn't healthy. Last night was the first time I'd seen her cry openly defenceless. I know right now she's putting on a brave face to hide whatever she wants to keep hidden. It pained me how she wouldn't let herself be sensitive and vulnerable, if she did she'd never stop.

In that respect, we were different. On the one hand, I'd wished to forget everything whereas she wished to remember it. Every single detail as if it were her punishment, or maybe because it was her salvation. The only thing keeping her moving, giving her purpose.

I wondered what my purpose was, it was something that everyone thought of at least once in their life. Was I here to live for change, or here to live for other people, was I here to live for me? It all flooded my mind in one huge wave and disappeared in the next few seconds. I didn't have time to dawdle over things I couldn't answer, it's better to live in the here and now than agonize over every little questionable detail. I had to stay strong just like Archie.

"After Medina's passing yesterday, his book didn't disappear."

I asked shocked, "What? How?"

Archie shrugged and folded her arms as if to think hard, "I don't know, there are a lot of things we don't know."

Too many unknowns made me queasy, so much so that I felt my stomach double over as I thought hard about this mess.

"We can start there," I said, " With his book, we can look for clues from there."

Archie added, "We also have the diary from the lab."

It was a fact that we had it in our possession but we both knew we weren't ready to open it and read any further. Not yet.

"The library it is," concluded Archie.