Chapter 20
1027 Words
The hospital room felt too quiet.
Too normal.
Mia stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection like she didn’t fully recognize the girl looking back.
No cracks.
No blood.
No sign that anything had happened at all.
Her skin was smooth—perfect.
Too perfect.
She exhaled slowly and reached for her clothes.
A tight crop top, soft but fitted against her frame, paired with dark leggings that hugged her legs comfortably. Simple. Familiar. Grounding.
But as she pulled the fabric over her skin—
She felt it.
A faint pulse.
Like heat just beneath the surface.
Alive.
Waiting.
Mia stilled for a moment, her fingers pressing lightly against her side.
It faded.
But not completely.
Just enough to remind her it was there.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“Mia?” Lilly’s voice came through, already carrying energy. “You decent? Because I’m coming in either way.”
The door opened before Mia could answer.
Lilly stepped in, eyes scanning her instantly. “Okay—first of all—are you okay? Like actually okay? Because that was insane.”
Mia gave a small, tired smile. “I’m fine.”
“You died, Mia,” Lilly said, throwing her hands up. “Like—not technically, I guess—but you stopped breathing! And then the whole—” she lowered her voice, glancing at the door, “—skin splitting thing?”
Mia looked away, grabbing her jacket.
“I don’t really remember it,” she said quietly.
“That’s even worse!” Lilly shot back, then softened a little. “Do you feel weird? Dizzy? Hungry? Like—anything?”
Mia paused at that.
Hungry.
The word echoed strangely in her mind.
“…No,” she said after a second.
Not a lie.
Not exactly.
“Okay, well, if you do feel anything, you tell me immediately,” Lilly continued, already moving toward the door again. “Because I’m not going through that again. I almost passed out watching you.”
Mia huffed a quiet breath. “You’re dramatic.”
“I am appropriately dramatic,” Lilly corrected, opening the door. “Come on, let’s get you home before your parents lock you in a tower or something.”
The hallway outside was calm, the earlier chaos long gone.
They walked side by side, Lilly filling the silence instantly.
“So after they took you, everything was nuts,” she started. “Like, Sarah was freaking out, the teacher looked like she was about to quit on the spot, and the paramedics? Weirdly calm, by the way—like they see that kind of thing every day or something—”
Mia nodded faintly.
“—and then your skin—Mia, I’m telling you, it was like—” Lilly lowered her voice again, leaning closer, “—like it just… fixed itself. I’ve never seen anything like that. Ever.”
Mia’s steps slowed slightly.
Fixed.
Healed.
She stared ahead, her thoughts drifting.
“…and then Sarah kept saying ‘that’s not normal’ like ten times, which—yeah, obviously—but still—”
“Mhm,” Mia murmured.
“You’re not even listening to me,” Lilly accused.
“I am,” Mia said softly. “Just… thinking.”
Lilly studied her for a second, then sighed. “Yeah. Okay. Fair.”
They stepped outside.
The air was cooler, fresher.
Real.
But the moment Mia crossed the threshold—
Something shifted.
Not around her.
Inside her.
A faint hum.
Low.
Constant.
She stilled.
“Hey—” Lilly started, but then stopped mid-sentence.
“Oh,” she said instead.
Mia followed her gaze.
Victor was there.
Leaning casually against the wall just outside the hospital, like he had nowhere else to be. One foot braced behind him, arms relaxed, expression unreadable—but his eyes locked onto Mia the second she stepped out.
Like he had been waiting.
Mia’s pulse flickered.
Not fear.
Something else.
Victor pushed off the wall and walked toward them.
“Glad to see you’re alive,” he said, his tone light—but his gaze sharp.
“Thanks,” Mia replied quietly.
Lilly blinked between them. “Okay—hold on—who is this?”
Victor glanced at her, then back at Mia briefly before answering. “Victor.”
“That’s it?” Lilly said. “Just Victor? No last name? No explanation for why you’re standing outside hospitals waiting for people?”
Victor’s lips twitched slightly. “I had a feeling she’d wake up.”
“That’s not comforting,” Lilly muttered.
They started walking, Victor falling into step beside them like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“So,” Lilly continued, turning her full attention to him now, " How's Transylvania?"
“With the castles and the whole—” she gestured vaguely, “—history?”
Victor grunted softly, "Its cold and dark most days, but my mother's gardens, they are something from another world."
Victor thought for a minute and turns to look at Lilly, "We do have some ancient ghosts the haunt the east wing.."
Lilly stared at him for a long second, then shook her head and started walking again. “Okay, I’m choosing to believe you because today has already been insane.”
Victor glanced at her. “Are you always like this?”
“Like what?” she shot back.
“Talking this much.”
Lilly gasped. “Wow. First of all, rude. Second of all, yes.”
Mia barely heard them.
Her focus had shifted inward.
That feeling again.
Stronger now.
Flowing through her veins like something newly awakened.
She slowed slightly, her breath catching.
The sensation—
It was familiar.
Not from before the museum.
From inside it.
From—
The water.
Her steps faltered.
Her chest tightened as the realization hit.
It was the same.
The same energy.
The same pull.
Mia’s fingers curled slightly at her sides.
Soon, Mia… soon.
Her heart skipped.
She looked ahead, her expression tightening just slightly.
Something had followed her.
Or maybe—
It had always been there.
Waiting.
- Writer
