V. Mayth

I slowly retrieve my inner voice, following it back along with my awareness and my major senses. The feeling of pain successfully erases my hunger. I am suffering. I need to locate where, I need to understand what could possibly surpass my need for food.

My head. Something must have hit it, I-

A sudden pain surges from my stomach, strong enough to clear my thoughts. I’ve just been struck by a sturdy tool. Where even am-

Another hit.

“…..” Someone is talking to me, I cannot hear a thing.

The tool hits me again. This time I feel it entirely, without the numbness previously offered by my unconsciousness.

This hit brings my hearing back.

“Do I need to hit ya ‘nother time, girl, or you ‘bout to fuckin’ talk?”

Mayth’s voice. No doubt.

“….h” Drool and blood this time.

“Seems like you ‘bout to finally speak.”

“W…wh- cough am I?” It is hard to articulate properly.

“Ain’t got this kinda time!”

I hear the metal tool lifting off the ground. Mayth inhales and lands another blow right in my chest.

“…..hhhrgh cough cough a..heavy breathing”

The string from my box vibrates and makes my note play as I try to catch my breath back. It echoes quite well; it means that we are in a bigger room than her market or any of our rooms. I feel my feet again. With them, I feel the ground: hard, wet from either water or my own blood mixed with drool.

“What did ya fuckin’ steal from me, uh? I can beat ya ass all night if I wanna. Ain’t no one gonna hear ya or help ya here.”

She lifts my chin with the metal rod.

“Ya know, ya always pissed me off. You’re wearin’ ya cute lil’ red dress while we all got those sheared white pants and shirts. But I mus’ admit-”

She grabs my front hair to make me look at my chest.

“It’s the best to cover up blood stains, ya unlucky-” she laughs.

“Look at ya. I hit ya sev’ral times, you bleedin’ like crazy and not a bloody stain! Means I can enjoy this moment without any consequences, as long as I hit ya where ya dress is, right?”

Terror overwhelms me. I don’t know what to say to get out of this situation. The only thing I know is that she cannot kill me because of the consequences behind it. Aside from that, she can do whatever she wants.

As she makes me look at myself, I recognize the bathroom floor. We’re just below the cellar. I’m attached with cloth; my hands are restrained behind my back, my legs tied as well.

“..ah..I.”

“Finally! Words!”

She sits in front of me, waiting.

“I.. didn’t coughsteal any…thing cough” I struggle to say.

“Yet ya wanted to, right? The fuck did you want from mah shop?”

She grabs her tool back but doesn’t stand up.

“M…coughmy necklace. Y..you stole it from me.”

“Did ya just accuse me of stealin’?!”

She gets up, then violently pushes me onto the ground with her foot. I hit the floor and now my face dips into my own blood. She slams the tool right beside my ear, the high-pitched sound it makes temporarily deafening me.

She kicks my stomach.

“Ya really got a talent for pissin’ me off.”

As blood escapes from my mouth and my exhales play my note, she grabs my hair and forces me to look into her eyes.

“I got ya necklace, yes I do. But it was a fair trade! I’m not so low that I need to be stealin’ from anyone. I have a shop and a proper reputation to keep clean, ya hear me? Now-”

She releases my hair. I struggle to stop my head from hitting the ground.

“Ya want it back. Like I fuckin’ told ya, I’m runnin’ a business. Ya want somethin’ from it, you’ve gotta trade for it. As for now, you don’t really seem to have anythin’ worth my interest, but worry not!”

She drags an old wooden stool and sits on it.

“As I always said, there’s always somethin’ to do around here to get watchu want. There’s a lil’ somethin’ I’ve been eyein’ the other day whilst I was scrubbin’ the Apron Lady’s room. On one of her desks, she got a fine flute just hangin’ there. Although, never heard a bit of music comin’ outta her room.”

She giggles.

“Could ya even picture that… Anyway, I wan’t it. Ya want ya necklace, I wan’t the flute. Fair trade we got there. I won’t trade anythin’ else for it.”

I cannot even answer before she stands and walks toward the exit door.

“I warn ya though. Your thingy got some people, usually silent, rather interested. I don’t know what’s so special ‘bout it, but if they offer somethin’ more valuable than the flute, I won’t wait for ya.”

She winks and exits the room.

I am unable to move. Even the mere act of swallowing is painful.
I need to get back to my room, otherwise I won’t be able to attend the morning register.

The relief caused by Mayth’s departure hits hard. I am exhausted. My eyes close by themselves and, each time I try to open them, it takes longer and longer.

I then hear footsteps. They do not sound as confident as Mayth’s, nor as uneven as the Lady in Apron’s. They are hesitant. A shy voice rises amidst my heavy breathing.

“H…Hello?…I-I heard a l-l-loud metal t-thing falling… A-anyw-wone hurt?”

Decy.

Of all the monthlings I thought would investigate this kind of noise, it is him. Our room being right above the bathrooms, the sounds must have woken him up.

He finally sees me. At first, his eyes lock onto the blood covering my face and the tiles.
His hands immediately rise to his mouth to stop a frightened gasp from escaping.

“It..coughit is alright, Decy. Do not worry, I am alright cough. Just help me stand on my feet and coughgo to our room.”

“W-w-wh-what h..hap-ppened?” he struggles to say.

“Don’t worry, it is nothing of coughyour concern.”

He reaches for me and walks through a puddle of my blood.

“Y-y-you…lost so m-much…”

He seems truly concerned for once but, right now, I just want to wrap myself in bandages and go get some rest.

“It is coughmostly drool, do not worry. I told you, I am fine. I just need to wrap some bandages and go get some rest.”

“A-Alright…”

He helps me stand and walks me to the closet near the second-floor stairs. We struggle for long minutes to make me pass through the hidden hole in its ceiling.

When finally done, I crawl to the entrance of the passage, pass the door mechanism. I cannot help but notice that the peeping hole is slightly uncovered although, in the state I am currently in, this is but a slight concern.

We finally reach the cellar.

Decy, by himself, successfully pushes the box back to hide the entrance. He opens another box to retrieve some spare bandages made from old rags we had.

“Could you help me lift my dress, please?”

The pain prevents me from taking it off or lifting it enough to bandage myself properly.

“Y-y-yes, of-f course…”

He helps me raise it while I wrap the bandages around myself. His face says it all. Mayth went too far with her blows. My chest is covered with bruises and, as she expected, all the blood is hidden by the red fabric of my dress.

I cannot lay on the bed, it would stain it with the blood from my clothes. I take an old stool and sit on it, hoping to get some sleep and finally rest.

“I thank you, Decy. Now I need to…”

Exhaustion caught me off-guard, the adrenaline being now completely consumed by my body, it immediately puts itself to rest.