Deerhill

Chapter5 -Indigo

Chapter 5 - Indigo

Indigo’s first plan of attack always consisted of identifying a creature. As if sensing that Indigo was not a usual target, the monster wasted no time in attempting to draw her in. Her energy was strong, and strange, and apparently delicious to vampiric beings. While hunting with her mother, she was generally the bait. She was used to the dance that went into luring something out in order to kill it.

“Indigo,” Danica’s voice rang through the house, and Indigo stood up, glancing around to decide which direction it was coming from. “Indigo, come here please.”

“How about you come to me,” Indigo said, reaching for her knife. Too late she realized that she had left her knife in her clothes, and she was basically naked. Her green bikini would do absolutely nothing to help protect her, and her clothes were by the lake. Indigo groaned internally and straightened up, slowly moving to the staircase.

“Missing something?” The voice taunted her, closer to the staircase than Indigo was comfortable with. Mimics could be a lot of things, and Indigo always hated how clever they were. It had already figured out a way to lure her out. Although not necessarily dangerous to the people who had lived in that house, Indigo was a stranger, and not someone who Leo’s mother had taken in.

She had a sneaking suspicion that those two things went hand in hand. Spirits loved hoarders, and mimics loved busy houses. More places to hide, and more bodies to feed off of. And if Lisa had a habit of taking in kids from broken homes, it gave the mimic a lot of easy dinners.

“I take it you leave Lisa alone because if she knew you were real, she’d do something about it,” Indigo took a guess as she climbed the stairs, scanning the shadows around her for anything that resembled an organic shape. “And a steady stream of kids means a constant meal.”

“Aren’t you a smart little thing?” The mimic asked, its tune warbling into something Indigo couldn’t quite recognize, like it was deciding on which voice to take on next. It chose Leo’s, and Indigo saw movement in the corner of her eye. “Your eyes are hungry.” The shape slinked between shadows, low to the ground- but large. It was dog-like, and that made Indigo a little nervous. She could fight humanoids, but animals tended to be a struggle for her. She didn’t like that it wasn’t giving her access to a physical form, either. It was hard to kill something that couldn’t be hit or stabbed or shot.

Indigo was only halfway up the staircase when she saw the shadows of the wall shift again, and a heavy paw caught the back of her leg. She cried out in surprise and fell, smacking her chin hard on the stair above her. She felt warm blood prickle and gather around her calf, and pushed herself up. Indigo had learned from a very young age that as soon as a monster made contact, it was time to either start running or fighting. She sprinted up the stairs, and was bodied by the heavy figure of a dog. It knocked her sideways, hard into the staircase railing.

It had come at her sideways, but was quick to jump up with its front paws, fully intending to gore Indigo against the staircase railing. Indigo threw herself to the right and hit the floor hard again. Her knee hit her hand with how fast she shoved herself back up, and she barrelled down the hallway towards one of the bathrooms, praying to find a weapon, or at least something heavy she could use. Heavy footsteps bounded down the hallway after her, voices howling and laughing like a hyena. Indigo hated Hyenas.

The creature, a shifting and smoky figure now in the form of a large dog, caught up to her quickly and jumped on her back, slamming her to the ground just before she reached the doorway at the end of the hallway. She rolled onto her back and punched up, catching a tooth-filled jaw before it could bite at her face. Its horribly foggy, corpse-like eyes stared at her as it snarled and snapped its teeth at her. She was going to lose her strength soon, her hand on its throat barely enough to keep it away from her, and she could feel it already absorbing her energy.

Indigo made a last ditch attempt to reach for the doorknob, and she felt hot breath on her face as her other hand failed to shove off the dog's lurch forward. Her hand smacked uselessly against the wooden door, and she was more pissed off that she was losing this fight than she was afraid. Her unusual emotional response seemed to amuse the dog, because it let out a laugh in Zoe’s voice.

The laugh cut with a whimper at the same time Indigo heard a gross ‘thwack’. Leo swung the bright yellow, metal sun down a second time so hard it hit the dog with a sickening crunch. The dog collapsed onto Indigo, and then dispersed into shadows. The metal sun hit Indigo’s thigh instead, and she gave an irritated grunt.

“f**k- sorry,” Leo said, lifting the sun off of her leg. “Sorry, that’s gonna bruise.”

“It’s fine,” Indigo said, holding her hand out. Leo grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, and she did a quick once over of her body. The wound on her leg was already healing, but her chin was smarting something horrible. She’d hit it so hard that her entire jaw ached, and she was exhausted.

“What the f**k was that thing?” Leo asked, glancing around as if the creature was going to come back and attack the both of them, the sun still gripped tightly in his hand.

“Specifically? A Crocotta,” Indigo said. “A type of mimic. Interesting, that you had one in your house. Makes sense that it resided in a place like this. Your mom brought it a lot of meals.”

“What does that mean?” Leo asked. Indigo sighed and opened the door to the bedroom, wanting nothing more than to be fully clothed again. She had played a normal person for Danica long enough and it had nearly led to her being bedridden for a week. She wanted to no longer be totally vulnerable.

“It’s a creature that feeds off of energy,” Indigo said. “So your mom bringing in miserable people kept it well fed. That was probably the first time it’s aggressively attacked someone in years.”

“Jesus..” Leo muttered. “Don’t tell me you just nearly died.”

“Eh.. bedridden for a while, most likely. Although I think you killed it,” Indigo said as she started back down the stairs, leaning heavily on the railing as she descended. “So at least there’s that. Nice weapon of choice, by the way.”

Leo looked down at the metal sun in his hand and grinned, following her. “Don’t tell mom her unreasonable amount of decorations saved your life. She doesn’t need to know that it came in handy.”

“Your mom needs to invest in hoarders anonymous,” Indigo said, stepping onto the landing.

“Dad’s been trying to talk her into getting rid of some of this s**t for years,” Leo said. “She has a hard time letting things go. She’s got a lot of love in her heart.”

“I think that was passed down to you,” Indigo said, and Leo grinned, looking at her with an almost surprised expression.

“Indigo like the color, you are such a sweet talker.”

Indigo shrugged. “I’m just, stating an observation. No need to make it weird.”

“Alright,” Leo said with a laugh. “Okay. Come on, food is ready, and we want to get out there before dad starts making you a plate. If he does, we’re going to be rolling you out of here.”

Leo’s dad had in fact piled entirely too much food onto a plate for Indigo, and she had eaten it all in the sun with Leo and his family. The warm, summer day added to her exhaustion from the fight with the Crocotta, and she had accidentally fallen asleep right there in the lawn. Danica didn’t ask about the bruise on her chin until they were back at the apartment.

“I fell going up the stairs to the bathroom,” Indigo said as she unlocked the apartment door to let them in. “Not a big deal.”

“I just want to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself,” Danica said. “You were real tired after being in the house.”

“Yea, because Leo’s dad fed her enough food for an army,” Zoe said. “Leave her be, yea? Let her go take a nap.”

Usually Indigo would have been irritated by Zoe butting into her and Danica’s conversation, but her body was aching for sleep so she appreciated it. Danica let it drop with a sigh- for now- and Indigo was free. She dropped her jacket as soon as her door was closed, and she tugged off her pants and collapsed into bed. A bird was singing outside her window, and she fell asleep despite the bright sun coming in through the open blinds.

-

Indigo had fallen asleep with every intention of waking back up in time to watch Leo, Helia and Drew perform that night at the bar. But due to her run in with the Crocotta, and the large amount of food she’d consumed before her nap in the sun, she slept through the night and well into Sunday morning. By the time she woke up and was well rested enough to do anything, the day was basically over. She took her chance to have the day alone, and Danica and Zoe didn’t bother her about it.

Monday came quicker than Indigo would have liked. As soon as Danica met her in the kitchen for breakfast, she reminded her of her therapy appointment that she had made for her and insisted upon her going. She agreed to let her drive there alone, so long as she promised that she would actually go. Indigo told her that if she didn’t believe her, she would put her on her paperwork as HIPAA compliant, so that the front desk could speak to her.

It did the trick, and Indigo muttered to herself as she scribbled Danica’s name on the Release of Information forms. The waiting room was quiet, and was painted with low sensory colors. The chair she was sitting in could have been more comfortable, but maybe Indigo was just looking for things to complain about. By the time she’d finished her forms and handed them back to the receptionist, there was a woman who had rounded the corner and seemed to be waiting for her.

"Indigo, is it?" She asked. Indigo looked up to see soft, lavender hair pinned up with a leopard print claw clip, and a soft brown sweater over- again- a long, leopard print skirt. She gave Indigo a warm smile when their eyes met and she beckoned her over. "I'm Chelsea."

"Nice to meet you," Indigo said to be polite, despite the fact that to her it very much was not. She followed the woman down a hallway and into an office. It was decorated nicely, with plants and soft lights. Ghosts couldn't enter salt circles, faeries couldn't lie, sirens-

"Please, sit anywhere you'd like," Chelsea said, gesturing to a couch after shutting the door behind them.

Indigo looked at the couch, and then looked at the floor. For a fleeting moment she considered sitting on the floor to spite Chelsea, but she worried that would tip her off as someone who did need therapy. The couch was compliant, but a safe bet of sanity. Her goal here was to prove Danica wrong, and to get this lady to write her off as not needing a therapist.

Indigo settled onto the couch, crossing her legs on the cushions despite still wearing her boots. Chelsea didn't even glance at her feet, and she definitely didn't reprimand her. An awful start, Indigo decided. She couldn't trust anyone who didn't care about shoes being on furniture.

"So, Indigo," Chelsea started, settling into a chair across from her. "Tell me a little bit about yourself."

Indigo barely kept an eye roll back. How cliche, she thought. "I live with my sister. My favorite color is green."

"Dark green, or light?" Chelsea asked.

"Um, dark," Indigo responded. "Like the forest."

It was one of the few things Indigo cared to remember about herself. Her favorite color was green. Like the forest. Like her eyes, the only green eyes in her family. Her mother's eyes were brown, as were her father's. They were hope that she wasn't his, afterall. That his blood wasn't running through her veins. Her favorite color was green, like hope. Like freedom.

"I do like greens," Chelsea considered. "I think it's a very peaceful color. You know, some people believe that earthy colors help to foster intelligence in a child's life."

"Are you one of them?" Indigo asked, and Chelsea smiled again.

She lifted her shoulder and tilted her head in a shrug. "What's your favorite food?"

"If this is all we're going to do, I'd rather not waste my time," Indigo said. In all honesty, she didn't know outside of eggs being the most convenient food for her, and this game of naming Indigo's favorite things made her anxious. She didn't know a lot of what her favorite things should be. She didn't have the time for it. There was never a time during survival where it was appropriate to learn things about herself. It was background noise, distractions. Unimportant. And it was none of Chelsea's business.

"Okay," Chelsea said, instead of taking offense. "I like ice breakers, but not everyone does. I understand. Indigo, it looks like you're here for grief counseling, but your sister told staff that you didn't believe you needed it."

"Because I don't," Indigo said.

"And why's that?"

Indigo shrugged. "Grief is just a part of life. I don't think I need a therapist to tell me how to deal with it. I'm dealing with it just fine."

"How are you dealing with it, then?" Chelsea asked good naturedly.

Indigo wasn't sure how to answer that, but she felt like it was a trap. She racked her brain on how a normal person would respond, but even that was strange and foreign to her. The honest answer was that she wasn't even looking at it, but she couldn't say that.

In the end, she settled on a shrug, hoping that would settle it. Instead, Chelsea watched her patiently, like she planned on waiting her out. The two of them stared at each other long enough for Indigo to start to get angry. It must have shown on her face, because Chelsea decided to shift tactics.

"Well, we have to start somewhere," Chelsea said. "It doesn't have to be about your family, but I'd like for you to start with something. Otherwise we're just wasting time."

"Don't throw my words back at me."

"That wasn't my intention," Chelsea said gently. "Tell me how you're settling in. Have you made any friends?"

"A couple," Indigo admitted.

Friends were a more comfortable topic. She told this strange woman about Leo, Helia, and Drew. She talked about Danica, and she talked about Zoe. She talked about Ducky. It was when she was discussing Ducky’s obsession with butterflies that a nauseating wave of grief overtook her.

Chelsea watched as Indigo slammed it down deep inside of her stomach, pushing it back into a place where she couldn’t see or feel it. She didn't want to talk about Ducky anymore. She didn't want to talk about her mother, or her father, or what her life was like. She didn’t want to discuss how she’d abandoned her sister when she needed her most, and she didn’t want to think about her mothers corpse propped up against a tree. Chelsea had almost gotten it out of her, and Indigo knew that Chelsea knew it. Chelsea spared her the shame of admitting it, however, and acted unaware of the shift in Indigo's stories.

"What's your favorite drink, Indigo?" Chelsea asked after a moment of silence had passed.

"Chocolate milk," Indigo said. "I was never allowed to have it. It was always an unnecessary expense."

"Have you had any since moving in with your sister?" Chelsea asked, and Indigo shook her head no.

"I didn't think about it."

"Why not?" Chelsea asked. "You have that freedom now, don't you?"

"I just... don't really think about those things," Indigo admitted. "It isn't important."

"Well, our time is just about up," Chelsea said, glancing at the watch on her wrist. "Get some chocolate milk on your way home, as a reward for suffering through this first session with me. And I will see you next week."

Indigo nodded and stood up when Chelsea did, following her to the door. "Yea. See you next week."

Indigo left the building in a daze, getting into her car with a sort of hollowed out feeling in her chest. She was left reeling, thinking about her favorite color, and favorite drink, and Ducky. She remembered a small hand in hers, and blood drenching a motel room. Her chest squeezed and threatened to cave in on itself, and she quickly threw her door open, puking onto the asphalt of the parking lot.

She coughed a little and wiped her mouth on her sleeve, squeezing her eyes shut to try and bring herself back. Back to the car, and the parking lot, and the summer heat. She forced deep breaths into her chest, feeling stapled together, and leaned against her car seat until she was stable enough to drive. She stopped by the gas station close by the apartment and picked up a chocolate milk drink, then sipped it on the rest of the way.

Indigo had planned to spend the rest of her day under her blankets, attempting to forget about Chelsea and Ducky and the awful therapy sessions that she would soon be forced into every upcoming Monday for the rest of her life. She had nearly contemplated finally picking herself up to start looking for jobs in the area, when Leo called her. Surprised, and thankful for the distraction, Indigo answered the phone.

“Hello beautiful, what are you up to?” He asked. Indigo could hear children in the background, so she figured he was at work.

“Nothing,” she said truthfully. “Why are you calling me from work? Surely you have something more important to be doing.”

“More important than talking to you babygirl? Never. What are you doing later today?”

“That depends,” she said. “Is the answer nothing, or should I make up something on the spot so that you can’t drag me into doing something awful?”

That got a laugh out of Leo. “f**k, we’ve known each other four days and you’ve already mastered what Drew still fails to have down. Helia, my bright and beautiful Helia, wants to go to the beach this afternoon with us. Jeremy will be there.”

“Jeremy’s the boy she’s sleeping with right?” Indigo asked. “The one we don’t like.”

“Correct,” Leo said.

“I feel like I’m being dragged into your friendship drama very fast for only knowing you three for, what? A day? Officially?” Indigo said. “I don’t know that this is any of my business, nor if I’m very comfortable with just… shoving my way in.”

“Uh huh,” Leo said, his tone bored. “So are you coming or what?”

Indigo sighed, weighing her options. She could either stay at home, and answer Danica’s endless questions about therapy, and talk to her about how awful it was and how little she did for the rest of the day. Or, she could go to the beach and be in the sun. Besides, she did enjoy Leo, for the most part. A surprising amount. And, the sooner she figured out how to play pretend at being normal, the sooner Danica would get off her back. She didn’t see a very big reason to miss a very good opportunity.

“Yea, I’ll come,” she said. “Which beach?”