You Will Burn

While his initial response of laughter wasn’t exactly what she had expected, it wasn’t unlike him. It was rather tame as compared to his usual display of blood lust. The girl would have expected him to ravage the cavern. They were trapped in here, after all. Or at least, as best as she could tell. Though, as he turned to face her- the direction that her voice had originated from- there seemed to be a different kind of madness present. It was likely he lived his life in his own distorted view of reality, the sadistic, narcissistic psychopath. Even still, there was no denying the delirium that had taken a firm hold over him in that particular moment. Why? What had he done? What had changed? “I assure you, the fake me of your fever dreams doesn’t want to be here either.” She answered back a little more flatly than her usual exuberance. Concern would have been a very generous way of describing how she felt- morbid interest was a little more like it. Though, whatever it was, certainly peaked as she watched him attempt to pick himself up before toppling back to the ground.

As the magma light illuminated his face, she narrowed her eyes to try to bring clarity to the details she was missing by distance. Something was off, but in her own exhausted state, she couldn’t exactly pick out what it was. Were his eyes different? The pungent scent of evaporating stomach acid made her own stomach turn. It was with that recognition that the pieces started to fall into place. The longer she observed him, the more solid she felt in her assumption that his current state was not a result of the Cougar fight, but his attempt at trying to treat himself. “What did you eat?” Or more importantly, “What did you take?” Her tone- accusatory as her words became more sharp.

"Aurelia Veratti"