Chapter 3

Nyx

Chapter 3

            Nyx drifted in absolute silence. There were no dreams to occupy her mind, nor nightmares to cause her strife. Perfect silence and calm bliss. Some part of her knew that she was asleep, but she didn’t notice or particularly care. All was good in the world that made up her sleep, but all good things must come to an end. A small buzzing noise filled her ear, as if a greedy mosquito had come to feast on her blood. In her sleep, Nyx frowned, and tried to ignore the sound. The annoying buzz grew into a stream of different sounds, and a few muffled voices.

            “I told you to tie her up, not knock her out!”

            “That wasn’t me, yell at Lyric!”

            “Hey, I was just holding her legs!”

            Nyx groaned and tried to block out the noise, shifting in her sleep and settling back down. The annoying sound, however, had other plans.

            “Hey Nyyyyyyxxx… wake up Nyyyyyxxx… this isn’t working. Have any ideas?”

            “Have you tried poking her?”

            “Yeah, but that didn’t wake her up.”

            “Hey, I have an idea!”

            Everything went silent once more, and Nyx smiled, once again seeping lower into her unconscious. Once again, everything was good and-THWAK!!! Something slapped into her forehead, and clung to her face.

            “Nyx, there is a spider on your face!”

            A rather girly piercing scream ripped itself out of the sleeping girl’s throat as her eyes shot open, blinded by the black mass of creepy death clinging to her face. Nyx screamed louder, thrashing from side to side, and falling to the floor in an uncomfortable position.

            “That was so mean!” Autumn said, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a fit of laughter. Nyx’s long blond hair cascaded over her eyes, obscuring her vision, but she could make out that the spider was nowhere in sight… she also discovered that she was tied to a tipped over chair. The world righted itself as Whise pulled the chair back up to its original position.

            Nyx pulled at her bonds, struggling, then looked up to glare daggers at her roommates. “What are you doing? LET ME GO!!!”

            Lyric smiled at her. “Not till you answer some questions!”

            “Yes, like I said, we are going to have this talk… the ropes are just a precaution to make sure you don’t run away again.” Autumn explained.

            Whise stepped forward and grabbed Nyx’s shoulders, peering deep into her eyes. “First question. Where did you learn to flip like that, and when did you suddenly become competent at fighting?” Whise’s eyes continued to bore into Nyx’s. She looked away, hoping Whise hadn’t noticed the brown contact lenses she was wearing.

            “Um… I just… I guess it was just kinda luck?” Nyx said, trying to dodge the real explanation.

            Autumn pulled Whise back, and then turned to look at Nyx. “You’re doing it again. Sometimes you act wild and stand up to anyone, but you always switch back to acting shy and quiet almost immediately. It’s like you have this dual personality that you try to keep hidden or something!” Nyx didn’t make eye contact, refusing to offer any sort of explanation. Autumn sighed. “Ok, let’s start with an easier question, and one that you owe all of us. What do you have nightmares about?”

            Nyx tensed up. “N-Nothing…”

            “If you don’t tell us, I’m throwing the spider at you again!” Lyric opened her cupped hands and showed of an enormous black spider. Nyx freaked out and began to thrash again.

            “NO! NONONONONO! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!!!!” Lyric took a threatening step towards her. “NO! PLEASE, OK OK, I’LL TELL YOU ANYTHING, JUST GET IT AWAY!!!”

            Lyric backed away again, Whise simply rolling her eyes. “There, now talk.”

            Nyx took a deep breath and began to speak. She told her team about her dream of them abandoning her and hating her, but she left out everything regarding her lack of humanity.

            Whise smiled at her. “Why would we abandon you? You’re our friend… is that all you were screaming about?”

            Nyx once again looked away. “…No… I sometimes dream about when my family was murdered…” Her friends froze, staring at her with shock. Nyx had never talked about her past, and they had never asked before this. “Sometimes I dream of being locked in a cage again and this guy about to cut off my wi- um hands…” Nyx’s eyes glazed over with tears as she remembered her past. “Or when I lived on the streets, and had to eat out of dumpsters…” Nyx squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to say anymore. Once again, silence filled the room. The three other girls had lived rather comfortable lives, and had always assumed so had Nyx. Not knowing what to say, Whise stepped forward and cut Nyx free from the ropes, pulling the younger girl into a tight hug.

            Autumn kept staring at Nyx with wide eyes. She wanted to know more, wanted to understand why all this had happened to her friend, but she had already done too much. They should never have made Nyx tell them, sometimes it was best to let the past be forgotten. Lyric threw the spider out the window then joined the group hug with Autumn and Whise. Nyx stood in the center of her friends, relaxing into their warm embrace.