[Reaper] Mitzi's Room

[alliisara]

((Timeline - set during the break in the Horsemen exchange classes))

When the ghoul opened the door to her room, she let out an audible sigh of relief. Everything was exactly as she had left it, but really, she hadn't expected anything different. BunBun always kept the other minis in line while she was gone.

Once she closed the door behind her, all of her plushies came tumbling out of the closet, and ran up onto the bed to join the BunnyWunny. The ghoul followed them with an exhausted smile, collapsing face first onto the bed and then resting her chin on her palms, elbows on the bed to raise her up a bit. The plushies piled on top of her, and she had to laugh. From the looks of things, they had missed her even more than she had missed them.

BunBun clambered around to sit in front of her, and then reached out one plush arm to touch her nose. The other plushies seemed mostly to just be excited to see her; of all of them, the one in front seemed to be the only one to notice how stressed the ghoul was, beneath the exhaustion and the joy of being back in her room, even if only for one night.

She reached out one arm to wrap around BunBun and then rolled over, dislodging plushes, and a few squeaked in protest. Lounging back against the pillows, she hugged the BunnyWunny and buried her face in his plush fur. Her other arm she held out, inviting the other plushies to come gather around her for hugs and snuggles, and they all piled in. She had far too many for her to fit them all in one hug, and they fought over who got to be first, who got to be next to her, and she had to giggle a bit.

She simply sat there for a bit, enjoying the attention of her plushies, enjoying her own bed, enjoying not being so far up in the air she couldn't see the ground... enjoying home. Later she could get a proper shower, and some real food, but for the moment this was enough.  

[alliisara]

((Human Studies homework))

Mitzi sat down on her bed, dropping her books onto the covers, with every intent to begin studying. Really. Actually, she had intended to get some reading done, but just then something small, brown, and overly hyper jumped up onto the bed, and landed right in the middle of her reading material.

A folder flew open, and as papers went everywhere the Reaper ghoul jumped to her feet. "Rex, bad dog! What do you think you're doing?!" The cycorgi pup just yapped, wagging his tail and crouching like he was about to jump again.

As much as the ghoul wanted to be mad, the pup was just too cute, and she did not want to study. (Admittedly, she pretty much never wanted to study.) Still, he had made a mess, and she didn't want to have to clean up the scattered pages, either. She quickly grabbed Rex by the scruff of the neck before he could jump again, and held him up before her. "What do you think you're doing! Now I have to organize those again, and it's going to take forever!" He just gave her a puppyish grin, and then licked her face.

That was really all it took to get her laughing, and soon she was back on the bed, cuddling the pup. "Why are you such a handful?" she asked, not really expecting a response, but to her surprise he jumped out of her arms and, practically bouncing with energy, he ran to the door. He stood there wagging his tail for a moment, then yapped, clearly trying to get her attention.

Oh. Well, she hadn't taken him out of her room since Professor Savage assigned raising him as homework. Mitzi felt a bit silly. Of course the cycorgi was getting hyper, he'd been cooped up in here with only her other minis to play with.

She found a piece of ribbon - there always was some lying around her room - and used it to form a makeshift leash. "Sure, I can take you out, but you'll have to stay with me," she warned the pup, picking him up and cradling him as she opened the door. He wiggled, but not enough to cause any trouble, just enough for Mitzi to be sure this was what he wanted.

She held onto him until they were out of the dorm, and then she carefully set him on the ground. He immediately tried to run off, and she lost hold of the ribbon, which really didn't have the greatest grip. "Rex, stop that! Come back here!" she yelled, chasing after the cycorgi. It was no use, though, as in his puppyish enthusiasm he wasn't paying any attention to her, focused instead on whatever he was chasing. He darted over, under, and around obstacles far too fast for Mitzi to keep up, and even though the pup had been cooped up in her room and she kept herself in shape, she soon found herself panting and falling further behind.

She finally had to stop and rest, and when she looked up, she realized she was in the forest near the Monster dorms. She didn't actually know her way around it, though, which unfortunately meant that she was now completely lost. Furthermore, she had no clue where the pup had run off to.

She finally just had to pick a direction and start walking. "Rex! Rex, where are you?" she called as she went, hoping she would get lucky and the cycorgi would find his way back to her on his own. She was just starting to get a bit worried when she spotted a few strands of ribbon tangled in a bush. Rex had come this way!

She really didn't know much about tracking, but she kept finding bits of ribbon - once it had started fraying, it apparently had kept losing threads - and torn up spots where the cycorgi had stopped to dig.

Finally she heard a sound up ahead, and she pushed through a bush to find her pup sniffing around some odd hole in the ground. Just as she grabbed the end of the ribbon-leash, some wild minipet popped out and bit her poor pup on the nose! He yelped, but before he could run off she spun the ribbon around her hand a few times, and so when he tried to dash off he was pulled up short.

She quickly gathered him up into her arms. "Aw, my poor baby, are you okay?" she cooed, her worry outweighing her annoyance. Rex whined, and she petted him. "That's why you shouldn't run off, I can't protect you from the big bad wild minis if you do!"

The pup lapped up the attention for a minute or so, before he started squirming to get down again. Meanwhile, Mitzi had looked around and realized that the forest had gotten denser as she chased after the pup. Hopefully that meant heading back the way she came would point her towards the school? She wasn't actually sure, though.

Still, since Rex wanted down, she put him on the ground, this time making sure she had a firm hold on the leash. She was still looking around, trying to figure out which way to go, when the pup started yanking on the ribbon. "Rex! What are you doing?" He seemed pretty insistent, though, and since she didn't know where to go, she just gave in and followed him.

As it turned out, the cycorgi seemed to have a better sense of direction than his mistress, as soon the trees were thinning and the ghoul could see the Monster dorms up ahead. She sighed in relief, but was a little surprised when the pup didn't stop at the edge of the woods.

He ended up dragging her all the way back to the Reaper dorms, and wouldn't stop squirming as she carried him back inside. In her room, he ran straight to the food bowls, and sat there whining until, with a laugh, she pulled out some scraps she had saved from her lunch. "Fine, boy, here you go." She laughed; he'd brought her back just because he was hungry!  

[alliisara]

The annoying pop-tune played by the phone on her nightstand was not sufficient to wake the exhausted ghoul. As much as she hated that song - even if she hadn't before, setting it to her parents' number would have made it so soon enough - she simply was too tired to wake up. She rolled over, grabbed one of the lace-covered-and-overly-fluffy pillows, and did her best to cover her head.

The song finally finished, but then it started up again, just as insistently. The ghoul had somehow fallen back asleep, though, and she probably would have happily allowed it to continue ringing in vain.

A soft push came on her arm, and then another. And then a bit harder. Finally she woke with a start, jerking partway to a sitting position immediately, as the BunnyWunny beside her looked on, a frown somehow clear even on his stitched face.

It took her a moment to remember where she was, for her heart to stop pounding loudly enough to drown out any sound, and by then the ringtone had run its course again. She sat there, panting, looking around confused, and she finally remembered everything that had happened. Visiting the Four Clans, the treetop village of War, running around Famine with a young ghost ghoul, Imryn taking her to Death to see the island, and...

The hidden rooms. The Hunters. The death of the student council president.

The destruction of the Four Clans.

The Insanity Phoenix.

She hadn't even noticed yet that the whispers were still there, on the edges of her perception, but the unease was certainly there, the certainty that something was not right, and although she remembered no dreams, it almost felt like the times she had awoken from a nightmare.

So when her phone began to ring yet again, it was all she could do not to jump out of the bed, or shriek, just from surprise. And then she realized who was calling...

Her heart hammered against her ribs again, as she suddenly knew what the call must be about. No, no, she'd just gotten back to Amityville, they couldn't already know what had happened. They wouldn't believe it even if they heard, right? And Roch and Circe had said that the last time they dealt with Hunters, it had been covered up, the Bogeymen would do the same this time, wouldn't they?

Her parents had to know what had happened. That was why they were calling.

They were going to demand she return home at once, and there would be nothing she could do about it.

She couldn't do anything but stare at the phone, certain that it presaged her doom, almost paralyzed with the fear. When BunBun began prodding her again, she jerked, startled, and looked down at him. As the plush gave her a hug, she wrapped her arms around him, and she somehow knew that putting it off would only make it worse.

So with her heart so heavy she could barely breathe, she reached over for the phone, flipping it on. "Hello, Mother." If she'd been thinking clearly, she would have been surprised at how steady her voice was, giving nothing away.

"Miriam, it's been three days since you returned from your... school trip." Theresa's pause made the ghoul's heart skip a beat, but her mother continued. "Do you think I didn't know when you were supposed to return? Did you think you could avoid calling me because I would forget?"

What her mother was saying was so far from what she had expected that Mitzi couldn't even think of what to say. What... why did she... this wasn't about...

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?!"

Finally the ghoul pulled herself together enough to respond, "There was, a, uh, problem, and the portals weren't working, we had to stay a little longer... I just got back last night, and I was so tired I fell asleep before I could call you." It sounded so normal, explaining it that way, after everything that had happened. Her heart was in her throat, though, terrified that her mother wouldn't believe her, or would pick up something from her tone to know that there was so, so much more to the story...

"Is that why I've had to call five times to get a response?" The accusation in her tone would normally have had Mitzi cringing, but all she could feel was relief. Her mother had believed her, she wouldn't have to explain, she wouldn't have to talk her out of dragging her home.

"I'm sorry, Mother, they kept us very busy with the classes, and things were happening right up until we came home. I can tell you all about it, if you want." As soon as she realized what she had said, she slammed her mouth shut. No, don't ask! Would she be able to keep from giving anything away if her mother pushed? Would she be able to talk about the Clans without breaking down, knowing what had happened to them?

She really shouldn't have worried, though; her mother had never heard of the Clans before finding out her daughter was in some sort of Trials thing, and that clearly meant they weren't anyone important. And if they weren't anyone important, why should she care? "No, that's not necessary dear." The disdain in her voice was almost palpable. "Just don't do this to me again. You know I worry."

Not that any worry could particularly be heard in her voice. Yeah, worry. Worry about losing your ticket to the top. The bitterness twisted around the anxiety still clawing at her chest, making the ghoul feel almost ill. "Of course, Mother," was all she replied.

"Oh, and your grandfather wants to speak to you. We'll talk more next time you call." The comment surprised Mitzi; her grandfather had only spoken to her a few times since she had come to Amityville. He was normally too busy to take the time, or so her mother claimed.

"Hello, Mitzi. How was your trip? Your mother says they had you stay a couple extra days?" He sounded cheerful, affectionate, so much different from the stern lack of care from her mother, and the ghoul suddenly felt whatever had been holding her together snap. "Opi..." she murmured, her voice breaking as suddenly everything that had happened over the last few days hit her all at once.

She heard some sort of murmuring from the phone, of her grandfather saying something to her mother, and then several moments before the sound of a door closing. "Mauschen, is everything all right?" her grandfather asked, concern lacing his tone. A sob managed to get out before she could choke it back, and she felt tears leaving wet trails down her cheeks, and before she knew it she was crying openly.

Her grandfather waited patiently for her to calm down again, and once her breathing had steadied a bit, he asked, "What happened, Mitzi?"

And then the panic was back; if she told him, if her mother found out, they'd bring her home, she'd have to leave Amityville, go back to her overbearing parents, never see her friends again. "I don't want to leave Amityville, Opi, if Mother finds out she'll never let me come back, never let me see any of them again, I couldn't stand that..." she babbled, breaking off only as her throat started to close up again.

"Don't worry, schatzi, I won't tell her anything. If you want to stay at Amityville, you'll stay," he was quick to reassure her, although he sounded distinctly more worried than before. "Can you tell me what happened? Does it have something to do with why they had you stay extra long?"

At first she just nodded, making a vague noise of assent, before she managed to swallow and force actually words out. "Opi, they... the Four Clans, they're gone. Destroyed. It was horrible..." Her voice broke, and she took a moment to compose herself before continuing again. "The ones who survived came back with us, but... I don't know what they're going to say. There were Bogeymen all over when we came back, they made us sleep all together in the gymnasium the first night, and there was..."

She trailed off, not sure how to explain about the Insanity, or the Hunters. About the student who had died. And suddenly a paranoia, too strong to be entirely rational, told her that these were not things she should speak of over the skelephone. There was no way she could say more, now.

When she didn't continue, her grandfather gently prodded her, "Mitzi?" She felt like she had to say something. "I'm sorry, Grandfather... I can't..." "I understand," he replied, and if she had been less distraught herself, she would have been able to hear that he was troubled.

After a moment of thought, he added, "Don't worry about your mother, schatzi, I'll handle her. If you want to stay at school, you can stay at school. Just promise me you will take care of yourself."

"O-of course... Thank you, Opi..." she replied, taking deep breaths to try to calm herself down.

"I love you, mauschein. Stay strong, and I'll see you soon." She could tell by his tone that it was a farewell, and she replied, "Goodbye, Grandfather..." before hearing the click as the connection was broken.

Her hand slowly fell to her lap, not even bothering to make sure her phone had turned off properly. She simply stared into space, the weight of everything that had happened, her inability to explain it to her grandfather, all of it weighing on her. She wasn't sure how long she had sat there before she felt a soft weight against her side.

And then another, and then one crawling into her lap.

She wrapped her arms around BunBun as the other plushies gathered around her, and she didn't even notice the tears that had started falling again. Things had been too hectic the last few days for her to grieve over what had happened. Hearing from her grandfather had loosened something within her, and now she took the time to mourn the loss of the Four Clans. Whatever else they may have been doing, they had been amazing, four ancient and glorious cultures, and they had notdeserved the fate they were dealt.

She didn't know, or care, how long she sat there. There were surely things she needed to do, but the whispers laughed at her, told her that no one would want to hear from her, that she should just stay curled up, hidden in her room, with only her minis for company. And for the moment, she was content to do just that.  

[alliisara]

((Note: This is very delayed, dating back to the several weeks immediately following the return from the Horsemen Isles and that whole mess.))

Text to Reiko

how r u? gt hom ok?

The first text Mitzi sent to the onryo had been in the midst of a flurry of other texts, the rest of which had been identical to each other. Only the one to Reiko stood out, as of all the friends the Reaper had wanted to check on, only Reiko was not at Amityville, and only Reiko had she spoken to since returning to the school. And of all of them, she had promised to send this one, and knew (even if the whispers seemed to think otherwise, but she'd been doing a good job of ignoring them) that it was expected and desired - Reiko had told her so. If anything, she almost had expected to get a response to this one first, for that very reason. Not, of course, that she had been surprised to hear back from others instead, and so when she had received replies from Whisper, and Alex, she hadn't thought anything of the fact that nothing had come back from Reiko. She must be away from her phone, or busy, or have homework from whatever preparatory school she was going to... it had been so obvious that the Reaper ghoul hadn't even bothered to consider it at the time. Of course she would hear back from Reiko within a couple days, once the other ghoul had time to send her something.

Except then Mitzi's relative stability had been shattered, suddenly and profoundly, when her exhaustion had finally let up enough for the nightmares to break through.

It was only dumb luck that even resulted in her talking with Imryn, thereafter; the sheer chance that the ghost had replied to Mitzi's text, and then the Reaper's original attempt to at least pretend to be handling it, which quickly spiraled out of control but at least got her talking to someone. Someone who had been in the dream, who she had seen die, permanently. Who was shortly thereafter in the ghoul's room, talking to her, helping her firmly establish that it had definitely not happened. No matter how real it felt. As much as Mitzi had avoided talking directly about what had broken her so badly, the simple presence of the other ghoul had at least given her proof that it had never actually occurred.

Of course, it had taken two more days until Mitzi could convince herself to leave her room, and even though she knew it had just been a dream, she had somehow been convinced that two parts of it had been real.

The continued lack of response from Reiko? Certainly a part of that.

The same day she had finally left her room, that she had run into JackB and had a little of his infectious good nature reminding her again that it wasn't real, no matter how real it had felt, she finally decided it was time to try texting the onryo again. Maybe her first text hadn't gone through, maybe Reiko had gotten busy and forgotten to reply.

Maybe. Hah.

Of course, this time, her worries had nothing to do with the other ghoul not wanting to reply, and everything to do with the other ghoul not being able to reply.

Text to Reiko

u gt hom ok? ny probs? lmk f u nd nethin i cn hlp wit

And still no response came.

The lack of word from the younger ghoul kept the remaining anxiety from her dream from fading. Over the next week, she had found herself checking her phone periodically, hoping she had just missed the chime or buzz that would mean her friend was all right. Around a week after they all returned, the voices had finally quieted to the point she didn't notice them anymore, the other worries had faded, and that first week back had seemed like one long, weird, and crazy nightmare. The only thing that kept her from being able to put it behind her was the continued lack of response, and the terrifying possibility she was still convinced that it implied.

Just as bad, though, was that as the weeks went by, the worry that continued to eat away also kept her from confronting the other part of the dream that had truly, deeply shaken her. Not that there had been much opportunity at first, but even later, when she finally spotted him in the halls, she allowed the lingering fear to convince her that was enough.

Anything else might be too dangerous. Which was silly, the whispers had stopped, the rest of the dream was now just a dimming memory. But she still hadn't heard from Reiko, and maybe, just maybe, that meant...

Something really had broken in the ghoul, leaving a fear so deeply-rooted that she couldn't even dare acknowledge it. It was safer that way, right?