resentment rotting away
“What is that?” Rio asked as they crawled further into the cottage and she reassumed her humanoid form, the ringing in her ear coming back.
Agatha took her hand over her ear, the one a bullet had just grazed, inspecting the blood. “I may have pissed off some humans too. That’s them and their guns.”
“Oh, great.” Rio rolled her eyes. “Because men with guns solve every problem.”
Agatha smirked. “You think I’m a problem?”
“You know that’s not what I meant and–” Rio grabbed Agatha’s arm, making her barely miss another bullet. “This is hardly the time.”
Agatha winced, leaning back against the wall as more bullets came their way. She lifted her shirt, revealing the gauze, now soaked in blood.
“Oh, shit.” She inhaled sharply. “It got worse.”
Rio’s eyes widened. “This was happening before?”
“It reopened a few minutes before you arrived.” Agatha shrugged. “I thought it’d take care of itself.”
“Hold on,” Rio ordered, shaking her head as she placed her hand on the floor, opening another tunnel.
“You can do that?”
“Most of the time,” Rio picked Agatha up. “Now, we have to get you to safety.”
As Rio carried Agatha down the tunnel, Agatha laid her head on her chest. “I feel… dizzy.”
“You’ve just lost a lot of blood. Don’t close your eyes. You need to stay with me, okay?”
“Just for a second…”
“Agatha, no!”
Rio placed her on the ground once they were deep enough and closed the wound back up.
Agatha turned her head. “I don’t feel so good.”
“It’s okay, it’s all better. We just need to get you some water.” Rio carried her further down the tunnel. “It's safe to say your place isn't safe anymore.”
“So where are we going?”
“We’re going to camp by the creek until I find us somewhere safe to settle down. Yeah, we’ll be exposed, but… That’s the best I can do for now.”
Agatha hesitated. “There’s– there’s one more place we could go. It’s got every rune and whatnot ever made to hide from others.”
“Where?”
Agatha sighed. “My mom’s house.”
Rio paused. “Are you sure?”
“Unless you have–” She winced. “–a better idea.”
Rio considered it, then nodded. “Okay. Where’s your mother’s house?”
–
They tunneled back up in a forgotten corner of Salem, Massachusetts where Rio let Agatha down, helping her walk instead. Rio inspected every inch of the saltbox house, though it had started to fall apart.
“I can see what you meant. This place is radiating with magick.” Rio turned to Agatha. “You sure you’re up for this?”
“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “We have to.”
Rio pulled out her dagger and tore a hole through the spells before she opened the door and they walked in, making sure to close the tear behind them. Rio watched as Agatha’s shoulders tensed, and her heart beat faster, then grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Agatha forced a smile.
Rio set Agatha on the couch. “I’ll get you some water, then I’ll help you get settled. I’ll get you out of here soon, though.”
“Thanks.”
She headed to the kitchen, looking for a glass. She reached for the jug but tensed as the afterlife tugged at her, just as it had been doing the whole way there.
“No,” She muttered to herself. “Not yet. Not now. I need more time.”
She shook it off and filled the glass, bringing it to Agatha.
“Thanks,” Agatha said, though her gaze was elsewhere.
“What are you looking at?”
Agatha swallowed. “That’s where I grew up.”
Rio turned to find the door Agatha was staring at. It was worn down, with burn spots and dried blood everywhere, almost as if there had been a fight. Rio assumed Agatha and her mother fought before she was taken in, but seeing the aftermath was different.
“Do you… want to go there?”
“...I–I think so.”
“We can go whenever you want, or not at all.”
“I kinda have to. If I don’t face this, it means she was right: I am a coward.”
“You’re not a coward.” Rio grabbed Agatha’s hands. “But if this will convince you, okay.”
Rio nodded and helped Agatha up, and they made their way to the door.
Rio turned the doorknob, but it didn’t open. “Why is it locked?”
“Because this is where she keeps–” Agatha paused, sighing. “–kept everything about me.”
She put her hand on the door and started chanting. Once the spell got lifted, she opened the door.
“Rio Vidal,” Agatha stared into the endless stairs. “Welcome to my room.”