afraid_of_marshmallows | Midnight Manor, Saturday, Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate Night (Reply)

Friday, after her "talk" with Callista, Arden had stumbled home, already feeling feverish and a little woozy. Midnight had been concerned and had made it easier for her to ascend the stairs, opening her door for her and everything, and Arden had taken a moment to pat the doorjamb and say, around a tongue that already felt thick and clumsy inside her mouth, "You're a good house, Midnight. S'okay. I'm okay. Just lock my door, wouldja?" before pretty much collapsing on her bed.

And she hadn't been outside her room since.

But she'd lied. She hadn't been okay walking into her room and she certainly hadn't gotten any better in the interim. At some point her internal mantra of just gotta make it to Sunday had changed to pleasepleasepleaseplease let it be Sunday now to nothing at all, pushed past the point of words even in her own head.

By this time, Arden didn't know what day it was, how much longer she had until the nails came out. She wasn't really cognizant of anything; the pain had become big enough it swallowed the whole world and there was nothing left for such unimportant considerations like 'time.' The best she could do was make sure to keep breathing, pain snatching away her ability to take anything more than the shortest and thinnest of gasps. She didn't have room for crying, or pleading with Callista or the goddess to take the nails out, make the pain go away, didn't have room to ask for help or to signal to anyone that something was wrong. Just to keep breathing those short, hitching breaths and wait for the pain to end, one way or another.

***

Steven	Steven and Llewellyn had had no problems falling asleep in their room. They were still curled up against one another when the lights around them started to flash. "Hmm? What?" Steven muttered as he started to wake.
Watts	Raphael?" Watts said sleepily. "Stop it, you've had your dinner already." Yes, the cat figuring out how to work the light switch absolutely made sense in his not-quite-awake mind.
Steven	The lights got brighter. Steven attempted to cover his eyes but it didn't help. "What the bloody - " Then Steven remembered where they lived. He sat bolt upright. "Llew, something's wrong."
Watts	Well, that got his attention. And made more sense than Raphael figuring out how to work the lights, clever as he was. "What is it?" he asked, glancing at the ceiling as was his habit when addressing Midnight. "What's going on?"
Midnight	Midnight knew it wasn't supposed to share things meant to be private. But that was with the residents. This was about a resident who was miserable. And, right now, Midnight was communicating, as best it could, with the beings who had made it a home. So, for them, Midnight produced an illusion of Arden as she looked in her room right now. "Oh bugger - " Steven said. He scrambled to get out of bed. Luckily he already had a t-shirt and sweats on.
Watts	Watts did likewise, though he did need to take a moment to grab a pair of Steven's sweatpants to shove on. Given the clear urgency of the situation, he wasn't too worried about finding a proper shirt to put on over his undershirt though. "What ha- " Watts shook his head, realising as he spoke that it wasn't as if Midnight could answer him in words. "Not important." What mattered now was that the young woman clearly needed assistance, assistance that Midnight felt they could provide.
Steven and Marc	It felt urgent enough that Marc appeared in the full length mirror by the closet. Steven, put me - "No, no, you're right," Steven said. If something physically dexterous was needed it was better for Marc to handle it. Steven gave Llewellyn a quick look of acknowledgement before he and Marc switched places. Good thing is I can still come with you, Steven said, now from in the reflection. "Midnight, give us a door to Arden's room," Marc said. Because why fuck with stairs when your sentient pocket universe worked in impossible space? (Hey, Marc paid attention to things sometimes. Like Illyana's portals.) A doorway appeared, because Midnight was a step ahead on why include a door that needed to be opened. It led right outside of Arden's room. Marc went through to see what the shit was going on.
Watts	"Much appreciated," Watts remembered to tell Midnight as he too stepped through the doorway, meaning for both said doorway and for alerting them to Arden's situation, whatever that may be.

Kamala

Kamala woke up to find all the lights in her room on. Weird. She was pretty sure she'd turned them off before bed. Half asleep, she dragged herself out of bed and switched them off again, only for them to pop back on as soon as she got under the covers.

“Seriously?” she grumbled, throwing the blankets off and getting up again. She turned the lights off, but they blinked back on. “Okay, what is going on?”

The lights started flickering in a pattern. “Midnight? Is this you or is the island being weird again?”

It took her a moment to catch on. Three short blinks. Three long ones. Three short again. Over and over. “Wait, is that SOS? Is someone in trouble? Who's in trouble?”

The lights just kept blinking.

“Right. Not like you can actually answer,” she muttered, sliding on her shoes. “Alright, let's figure this out before we go all superhero.”

And with that, she headed out of her room and into the hallway.

Cal

Cal's nightmares had certainly become more varied as he spent more time in Fandom, but the themes were almost always the same - loneliness, sadness, terror, and all the other unpleasant aspects of emotional trauma. Physical pain didn't come into the mix as often, and when Cal woke up, it took him a few moments to realize the sensation wasn't fading.

BD-1 hopped onto his chest in a well-practiced fashion and gave a sad, quiet beep. It's too early, even for you. Go back to sleep, he said.

"Something's wrong," Cal replied. "I think someone's hurt. Have you heard anything?" When BD shook his head, Cal got up and headed out into the hallway, reaching out with the Force to see if the feelings were real or just lingering memories from his nightmare. Walking past Dean's door made the discomfort stronger, and when he got to Arden's door, he hesitated for a moment before knocking. If she was still asleep, surely he'd earned enough favor to get her forgiveness later. "Arden? Are you awake?" he said softly.

Dean	Dean hadn't hit the sack yet. In fact, right now he was trudging up the stairs to his room after a long night of talking and drinking with Bobby. Staying up until the crack of dawn wasn't anything new for him, old habits from years of hunting things that go bump in the night. But as he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped dead in his tracks. Something felt off. "What's going on?"
Cal	"Dean, hey," Cal said, partly relieved to not be alone out here, and partly hoping he wasn't catching Dean by surprise because he was always armed and spooking him was probably a bad idea. "I'm just being crazy. Or maybe not, I don't know."
Kamala	A drowsy Kamala padded out of her room. "And Midnight just woke me up with the lights going on and off," she said looking at Cal and then Arden's door. "The lights were saying S-O-S."
Dean	Dean looked at the two kids and then immediately went to Arden's door, hammering it with his fist. "ARDEN! ARDEN?" He tried the doorknob and it was locked. He hammered on the door again. "ARDEN! OPEN THE DOOR!"
Marc	A doorway appeared where there was normally a wall near Arden's room. Marc came through. And if his demeanor wasn't enough to clue in that it was Marc, in spite of him wearing Steven's clothes, anybody who paid attention to the various nearby reflective surfaces might notice Steven watching from them worriedly. Marc took in the scene and what Dean was doing. "The fuck?"
Watts	And almost immediately on Marc's heels was Watts, looking slightly disoriented at having stepped out from his bedroom in to the hallway just in the to hear Dean shouting. "Whatever is going on with Miss Finch, she is clearly in no condition to answer," he noted as Dean's efforts produced no results. "Midnight, if you would, please?" Watts said, contorting himself to reach around Dean for the doorknob, the door swinging open easily as he turned it.
	The air was stagnant and sour in here and the room itself was cold, far colder than anywhere else in the house, like Midnight had been blasting the AC on the coldest setting for hours. Even with the chill, it smelled like sweat in here, sweat and sickness both, thick enough to almost coat the tongue even over the artificial chill. The blankets on Arden's bed were tossed onto the floor, her pillows and Squashmallows heaped on the floor in front of her balcony door. Her desk chair was on its side on the floor, all the items that had been on the desk lay in disarray around it. Small items on her dresser had fallen over, one or two of them hanging precariously over the edge, ready to finish their descent to the ground. The plushie BD-1 Kamala had given Arden for her birthday lay facedown on the floor in the center of the room.
Cal	In general, shoving was rude, and being rude at Watts felt extra wrong, so Cal had the decency to say a quick "Sorry!" before rushing into the room to find Arden. The chill was a surprise, and he took in the surroundings with growing discomfort. "What happened in here?"
Watts	The apology was just enough time for Watts to hop back out of Cal's way to avoid being barreled over. "It reeks of illness," Watts noted, a troubled expression on his face.
Marc and Steven	Marc frowned, trying to take in the scene. While from one of the reflections Steven chimed in with a worried, Should we contact the clinic? See if the doctor will make a house call?
Kamala	Kamala followed Marc and Detective Watts into the room, her eyes scanning the chaos. A creeping dread tightened in her chest with every step she made. When she reached the center of the room, she picked up the plush version of BD, and it suddenly began beeping in binary. She startled, her heart leaping in fear as her gaze darted around the room, searching. "Arden?" she called out, her voice breaking and barely more than a whisper.
Dean	Dean lingered by the doorway, arms at his sides, eyes narrowing as he took in the mess. The chill gnawed at him, but it was the stench that really got under his skin. His jaw tightened. Arden's room wasn't just messy — it felt wrong, like something had torn through, leaving everything off-balance. He knew Arden wasn't just a normal teenager. Nobody on this island was. That whole fey contract business when they first met had sent her running, and now he was wondering if something strange and weird had come after her. But deep down, the fear started creeping in that something from his reality had shown up. Something that wanted payback. He looked down and realized he was clenching his fists. He exhaled through his nose, glancing at the others before looking back to the disarray. "Anyone know anything? What she was doing this weekend?" he asked, his eyes scanning the room, looking for anything that might clue him in.
Cal	The only thing Cal could think of from this weekend was family visiting, and his eyes got a little wide as he thought about how bad it could be if certain people found Arden. "Arden? It's just us, you're safe," he called, hoping that wasn't a lie. He looked into her closet first, and then glanced between Kamala and the bathroom door. "Can you check in there? It probably shouldn't be one of us."
Kamala	Kamala's eyes widened as she processed Cal's request. She glanced at the bathroom door, a flicker of nervousness crossing her face, but she nodded in silent agreement. Taking a steadying breath, she stepped forward, and her hand hovered over the doorknob for a moment. Finally she whispered a quiet "Bismillah" under her breath, and with a quick glance back at Cal, she tightened her grip on the knob and opened the door.
Arden	And there was Arden, huddled in a little ball and wedged between the toilet and the sink. Unlike any other room in Midnight, there was an AC vent just above her, blowing frigid air on her at full blast. The sink had reshaped itself into a small fountain close to Arden's face where she could sip from it without needing to move. It took a few seconds for Arden to register the opening of the bathroom door and open one hazy, fever-bright eye. "Kams?" she rasped out, tugging the sleeves of her oversized sweatshirt closer around her. "Is it dawn?" She licked lips that were cracked and broken and leaned down for a sip of water, though her head felt so heavy, she mostly just let it loll forwards. "Please say s'dawn?"
Kamala	Without any hesitation, Kamala raced in to her friend, feeling her forehead and checking for any other signs of illness. "No, it's not dawn," Kamala said, trying to get her to stand up. "It's a little after four. Are you sick? What happened?" She turned and called out over shoulder. "She's in here! I think she's sick!"
Arden	Kamala barely had to touch Arden to feel her fever, she was blazing hot, though her skin was damp and clammy. Curls were matted against her forehead and the skin of her flushed cheeks. "Cold," she murmured, "but Midnight won't turn the AC down." Probably because Midnight was doing it's best to keep her as cool as possible. Kamala managed to help Arden stand on legs that shook like a newborn fawn's, but an accidental touch to her right arm made her cry out in agony and her knees buckled, threatening to drag them both down to the floor.
Marc and Steven	Marc darted in to help both girls stay standing if he could. He and Steven clocked the various changes to the bathroom, including the moved AC vent so it could be near Arden, and they both figured between that and Midnight's warning that it was trying to help. Does she have a fever? Steven guessed from the reflection of the bathroom mirror. Anyone could see that for all he was in theory a reflection, he wasn't moving the way Marc was. Midnight may be trying to get her temperature down.
Cal	"We should get her back onto her bed, right? She needs fresh air," Cal said frantically. "I... I don't know if a doctor will help. We have doctors here, right?" BD-1 hopped back up onto his shoulder, and the weight and sensation pulled Cal back a little so he could breathe and calm down. "Let's start with getting fresh air in here." He tugged the blankets away and waved at the balcony door to push it open all the way.
Muneeba	“Beta? What is going on? The lights keep flashing in our room and we heard someone -“ Muneeba stopped cold at the sight of Arden with Yusuf only a step behind her. “Arden! Are you okay? Was it something you ate? Or did you not eat enough? Was it-“ She shot a glare over her shoulder. “The sweet tea?”
Arden	Arden was cradling her right arm to her chest, away from where anyone might brush against it, grateful for Marc's continued support keeping her crashing to the floor. At some point her legs had been hollowed out and filled with wasps, it felt like, and moving was difficult. Still, even near delirious with fever (or maybe because of it), she was briefly tempted so agree it was the iced tea. Instead, she croaked out the truth. "Callista."
Dean	Dean took one look at Arden and froze. His brain started processing all the things that could cause this state. Then he heard the name "Calista" and hex bags popped into his head. He immediately began looking under furniture searching for one. "Who's Calista?"
Marc	Marc knew the answer to that question so he was moving on to the more important point to him, "How'd she get her hands on you?"
Arden	"She was here," Arden said, shuffling slowly back to her bed. Midnight's AC vent followed, keeping her bathed in chilly air. "On the island. Been looking for me." Gripping her arm even tighter, she glanced over to Dean. "My legal guardian. Ran away from her to here. Found me."
Cal	Cal didn't usually let any murderous feelings make their way to his face, but here they were now. "What did she do to you?" he asked sharply. "Is she still here?"
Arden	Arden shook her head. "Said she had better things..." Showing was easier than telling, so with a shaking hand, Arden reached up and slowly unzipped the hoodie, revealing a sweat-soaked tanktop beneath it. Getting it off her left side was easy enough, but it required careful maneuvering to peel the sleeve off her right arm, and even then she gave a hoarse gasp or two of pain. Bared now, they could see that her arm was swollen, the skin shiny. Trails of red ran down her arm to her wrist and up towards her shoulder, a sure sign of blood poisoning. The inside of her elbow was bruised, and what might, at first glance, be mistaken for scabs were actually bronze heads of flat nails inserted like subdermal implants beneath her skin. "Bronze. Poison. Hurts us. Can't heal. Can't magic."
Watts	Can't heal. Can't magic. should probably have surprised Watts more than it did. Regardless, he didn't really have time to dwell on that particular revelation as there were more important issues at hand. "Midnight, it's getting a little crowded in here. Some more space, please?" In the blink of an eye, the room suddenly doubled in size, the balcony door widening as well to allow even more fresh air in.
Muneeba	The fury on Muneeba's face was very apparent as she turned to Yusuf and they had a short terse conversation in Urdu. She then turned to her daughter. "Kamala! Go to the freezer and bring up the ice packs for the cooler and some towels." Without hesitation Kamala dashed out the room following her father. "We must remove these things and get her temperature down," Muneeba said adamantly. "Then we shall deal with this guardian of hers."
Arden	Whimpering, Arden clutched her arm and backed away from Muneeba. There was a lot more room to do that now. "No, no no no no," she babbled, frantically shaking her head and then swallowing hard as the motion made her gorge rise. "You can't, you can't, it's not allowed. They gotta stay in till it's time. Don't touch me, I won't let you, please don't make me."
Cal	"Is that what Callista said? She's not in charge of you anymore," Cal said, wincing inwardly as he realized he was taking his anger towards Callista out on the one person who deserved it the least. He softened his expression and his tone as he slipped a supportive arm around Arden's waist, hoping it didn't hurt her more. "When is it allowed? How long do these have to stay in?"
Arden	Arden was staring at him. Callista had proven quite well that she could get to her. 'In charge' was a lesser concern. "She's...Arbiter," she said, like that would mean anything to them. Her voice quavered, exhaustion and pain outweighing her fear. "They come out. Dawn. With witness. Proper witness. Or else." She looked around the room, trying to see if her friends understood. "Or they go back in."
Kamala	Kamala had been hanging by the door when she heard this and heard her mother say lots of thing in Urdu that Kamala had never heard before. She came into the room and following her mother's instructions started putting the ice packs under Arden's arms and one wrapped in a towel to go along the back of her neck. "This will help cool you down. You're burning up. Abbu is getting some sports drinks with electrolytes. Just stay with us Arden," Kamala said calmly as Muneeba started cleaning up her bed.
Arden	"It's poison," Arden croaked. "Bronze. Poison for us. Longer it stays in, worse. More dangerous."
Dean	Meanwhile Dean had stepped outside the room and was yelling at someone named Bobby. "I just left you! Don't give me that sleeping crap! What do you know about...I don't know, fey creatures and bronze poisoning! No, she didn't drink it. It's in her arm. No we can't take it out. I don't know why! It all this fey crap, Bobby! Just go to that place I showed you earlier today. All your books are there. I don't know, I'll call you if I learn anything new."
Cal	Cal took the time that Muneeba and Kamala were getting Arden settled to calm himself down and focus on the present moment. He could deal with her people later, but first he had to make sure Arden made it through this. "We'll stay with you until dawn. You shouldn't be alone right now," he said. BD-1 nudged him and tossed up the cuddly version of himself, which Cal gently placed on the bed next to her. "You're going to be all right, I promise."
Arden	Arden gave him a smile that tried to be believable. "Yeah," she agreed, breathing thin and shallow. "'Course. Just a few more hours. And it'll be fine. Piece of cake." It was a very, very long three hours. Arden's condition continued to deteriorate and she drifted in and out of consciousness, rousing for little sips of water here and there. And then finally, as the black outside turned to blue... KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK The knock on Midnight's front door seemed to echo throughout the house.