Aniya had been thrown into the dungeon, chained down, and locked away.
When Belladonna heard, she raced down here immediately.
“What do you mean my sister is the monster?” She had asked Eli while hurrying away to the dungeon to see for herself what he claimed her sister was.
When she got to the dungeon however, Aniya was with the veil she usually had over her face, with chains around her ankles and her wrists, while sat down on the floor.
“Open the gate!” She commanded and the guards opened the gate to let her in.
Lytio was here too. As the Village Head, there was nothing that went on in his Village that he shouldn't know about. Eli had followed Belladonna here to ensure her safety.
He still didn't trust his Donna's sister and he didn't think he ever would.
“I mean no harm!” Aniya stood up when she saw Belladonna step into her prison from the nettings of her veil. “Please, I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I have changed.”
But Belladonna only grabbed her veil to search for the cut she had placed on the monster.
She found it there.
“I didn't— No, please! Don't look at me. DON'T LOOK AT ME!” She yelled but Belladonna grabbed either side of her face, staring at the scar the fire left behind.
“Aniya.”
“No— no, NO! I’m not a monster. I’m not a monster. Don't look at me, please don't look at me.” She cried, as she shook her head, her eyelids shut tight, tears raining down her cheeks.
Belladonna's arms went around her, her grip was tight, as if to remind her that she wasn’t alone.
“You are not a monster. Aniya, you are not a monster. You are my sister.” She pressed her hand over her head, patting gently. “You are not a monster, but you have to tell me everything.” She pulled away, looking at her. “Tell me everything, right now. Let us save you.”
Silence dragged between them before Aniya started speaking.
“After the fire, I thought I was going to die. I could do nothing and my face was gone. I was so sad that I would be leaving Arlo alone and one day, when I felt I was dying, someone came to me. It was a voice and she asked me if I was ready to give anything to live. I said I would do anything for my son. I don't remember what happened but I woke up, alive.” She smiled, her eyes still watery. “It was more than enough. My face was scarred and I healed slowly, but I was alive! Alive for my son. It was more than enough.”
“Then?”
“It felt like a dream because nothing happened after. I had nothing special, I was just a healing person and Zesika was taking care of me.” She paused. “Zesika. Please, don't let her see this. Don't let her deem me unfit for my s—,” she paused when she looked past Belladonna’s shoulder and saw Lytio. “I am not a monster!” She shouted to him. “Please, don't take my son away from me. Tell him, sister Bell, please!”
Belladonna held her face between her palms once again.
“You are not a monster. You are my sister.”
Her brown eyeballs danced from left to right as she tried to find reassurance in Belladonna's blue eyes.
Then she nodded, slowly, as she gulped.
“Nothing happened. I had even forgotten all about it until— there is a man in the woods with a dog, I don't think I have ever seen him before in the village. He knows. He said he knows what I am. He tried to kill me.” She whispered the last part. “Maybe— maybe because I am a danger, maybe you should lock me away from my son— You. Need. To. Go. Away. From. Me.” Her lips trembled. “I don't want to attack you again.” The words rushed out of her mouth, and Eli was behind Belladonna in a flash.
“No,” she said to him, stopping him from interfering. Although, she knew that if anything were to happen, her mere “no” wouldn't stop him from interfering.
“This thing makes me kill!” She shouted as her body trembled. “I go unconscious then I wake up, and I see blood! Sometimes, I do not see blood, it clears it away. I almost killed you! Lock me away, I don't want to hurt anyone! I am so sorry. I’m a monster.”
“You are not a monster! Get a hold of yourself, Aniya!” Belladonna was on her knees, as she pulled Aniya to rest against her chest.
“I heal,” she whispered, tiredly. “It only started recently. I heal every cut quickly except the ones I acquired from the fire. Those scars will live with me forever.” Then she stopped. “And the one from your dagger. I don't know why, it won't heal.”
“Aniya—”
“My head hurts. Go away from me, please. I can feel it again.” She looked up at her sister with fear in her eyes. “I'm falling asleep.”
Eli yanked her away from Aniya immediately and he shut the gate, while the prisoner shifted into the “monster” she was once again and they exited the dungeon.
___
___
“What is she?” Belladonna asked when she got to the door of her room.
“A creature of some kind?” Eli replied. “She might be possessed by a creature that slipped through the cracks due to the many recent activities that have altered our time.”
“The pulling of the Moon.”
“That is what I assume.”
“I will ask Alaris.”
“He is not in his room.”
That was strange. Why was he flying around with his injured wings?
Oh, maybe his wings had healed already.
She placed her hand on the doorknob, as she turned her back to him.
“You two seem very close tonight.”
She turned. “Thank you for not hurting her.”
Something glinted in his brown eyes.
“It seems you have forgiven everyone but me, Donna.”
“Maybe I have forgiven you too, Eli.” Her fingers slipped from the doorknob. “We all make mistakes. You have realized yours and you are trying to make amends. What else can you do?”
“But my efforts do not impress you enough to take me back.”
“We should both explore different adventures.” She held the doorknob but Eli’s hand went over hers immediately and she stilled, not expecting him to move that close to her.
“You—”
“What is this?” He asked when he saw the small cut on her hand. “Where were you tonight? I have told you, Alaris is very violent, you should—”
“I was actually the violent one.” She tried to snap her hand away from him but she couldn't, so she tried to peel his fingers away with her free hand, instead, he spun her around to face him and held her wrists captive above her head.