I coughed, groaning. Bambi's hand was currently draped over my face and I suddenly regretted letting her share that bed with me.

As of last night, there was heavy rainfall and after several thunder strikes, she ran up begging if she could stay with me for just that night. I obliged, offering her the top bunk, however, it turned out she was more scared than I thought. So that was how we ended up together, on mine.

She slept like a pig; a foul, appalling pig. She sprawled out on the bed in a grotesque fashion without any atom of regard as to who else was on it with her. I was tempted to shove her off, right then.

My night's sleep had gone awry despite having such favourable weather and she was the cause. In the future, when such a situation came up again, either she slept in the top bunk or she didn't sleep at all.

Adjusting her arm from my face for the umpteenth time, I sat up and rubbed my eyes while suppressing a yawn. I didn't need a mirror to know how tousled my hair was, given my constant tossing and turning—not to mention how many times I had to get Bambi's hand out of it.

Gosh! I was never letting her sleep near me again.

I pulled out my phone in an attempt to check the time. I would have checked the wall clock but I didn't want to strain my eyes. I spotted a notification that read '4 missed calls' and instantly the ringtone blared again, showing Nicholas's name on the screen.

Blowing a strand of hair away from my face, I pressed the answer button before bringing it to my ears.

"Hey...bro," I drawled.

"Hey, sis, why do you sound like that?" His voice came.

I blinked once, twice.

"I don't know, maybe it's because I just woke up?" I deadpanned.

"How could I have possibly known that? Someone sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed today." He sniggered over the line.

If only he knew. This wasn't the first time he'd called me this early.

"I'm sorry though. You know I'm normally very busy during the day and this is the only time I can call you." He said. "Now how's my favourite sis?"

That made me smile as I shook my head. I was his only sister.

"I'll be okay, Nicholas. Once I get over last night's inconveniences," I told him, looking back at Bambi who sprawled out even more on the bed while running a hand through my hair.

"What inconveniences?" He asked in an amused tone.

"That is a long story. Putting that aside, how's Mom and Dad?"

"They are good. They still bicker and nag but they're good."

"And the twins? What about grandma?" I asked.

"They're all well and you know our twins, they keep on getting into even more trouble."

I chuckled, now standing by the window and looking out to the dawn. The weather was still cold though.

"When will you be on leave again?"

"Honestly, I don't know," I replied. "It's not that easy given the role I now play, but I'm sure when the time is right I'll get to go on one again."

We talked a bit more and as soon as there was a little static over the line before it went dead, Evelynn and Cassidy materialized. Just as the room burst into a frenzy, Evelynn found me.

"Madam has requested to have dinner with you," she said after I greeted her.

That one caught me off guard.

"What? Why?" My eyes widened at an alarming rate.

She just laughed. "The reasons are beyond me too. But I think it's a good thing."

So after bearing all of Ro's craziness that day, I headed back to the maid's room to freshen up. On reaching the designated room where Madam was supposedly waiting for me, I knocked.

Night had fallen and just a few minutes ago, Ro and I were watching the sunset. My hand flew up to my medallion as I heard "come in" from the other side.

Taking one last deep breath, I stepped in. The room was elegant, to say the least, complete with candelabras and all. The dining table was long with nice upholstered seats and I couldn't resist swiping a hand over the polished wooden surface of the table.

She watched with an inexplicable look as I proceeded to take a seat across from her. Just as I did, Marilyn and two others entered, bearing trays and bowls laden with mouth-watering delicacies. The scent alone was magnificent, it beat the garbage they served us by far.

Silence enveloped the vacuity as we ate, my mind still somewhat unsettled since the reasons for that fancy dinner hadn't been revealed.

"I just wanted to thank you for agreeing to take responsibility for caring for my son," she said, as though reading my mind. "With your song, the results have been tremendous, more effective than any treatment he's ever had and soon he'll be able to go back into the system."

The delicious food seemed to lose its taste on my tongue the moment she mentioned that.

"System? What system was he going back to?"

I wanted to ask but something inexplicable held me back. Instead, I said, "I'm very glad about that. It hasn't been easy and I will continue doing my best."

I relaxed a bit more when the corners of her lips quirked up a little at my response. We continued with the food until she brought about another question. "Tell me about your family."

My hand remained on my medallion as I gave information concerning the question she asked, elucidating eloquently.

"...we don't have much but we're happy."

She also had me tell her about how I got my scars and we bounced back and forth between several topics that somehow led back to me. I guessed she called the dinner to learn more about me—no harm in that, right?

Her perfume was also very fragrant that evening, and those eyes which were too similar to Ro's sparkled with humour.

Now that we had sat down and talked, I could now see that she wasn't much of the monster we thought her to be. Or maybe that dreadful part of her make-up was reserved for those who could mean less to her—the naïve peasant children who could be of good service in small menial jobs and also in robbing her blind.

Currently, I wasn't just one peasant child anymore but the peasant child who could be her son's salvation. In other words, I was now crucial to her.

                *                *                *
                         *                *

When I received my pay around last week, I found out that it had been doubled and couldn't stop freaking out. My condition there had so much improved, that it felt surreal; no more pranks, no more bullying or harsh remarks—in fact, no more Susan!

Nothing could describe my joy as I hummed a song while setting everything for Ro to have a bath that day.

That morning, I had walked in on him humming my song. It was so low, low enough that it was very hard to catch. He had taken his drugs on his own too without me having to slip them into his food.

Then I led him to the bathroom and tried to get the information into his head that he was supposed to shower without attempting any funny business. Later, I stepped out but not before dropping some pants for him.

I hadn't found the perfect shirt yet. I was just worried that maybe the bathing idea was a bad one but he really needed one. I didn't know how much longer I could go, trying to ignore his wreak.

I kept on going through his wardrobe. It was impeccably spacious and at least five fat people could fit into it. His dirty laundry was lying in a corner just like I left it, waiting to be taken care of.

Finally, I found something good enough. I could have made him wear some random clothing but I wanted him to look somewhat fancy. The thought itself made me laugh as there was only so much that I could do to improve his haggard appearance.

Certain sounds behind me prompted me to spin and what I saw was...unexpected. Realizing that he was skinnier than I thought, my eyes centered on the marks and scars scattered all over his torso, from previous parasuicidal tendencies, undoubtedly.

To any other person, they would be appalling if not disgusting. However, I couldn't seem to pry my eyes away, for some nearly incredulous reason. There wasn't much that made us dissimilar; he suffered wounds, and I did too, we both were flawed and right then as I beheld Ro, I could see a reflection of myself.

I thought I was helping his condition but at that moment, I was forced to wonder. "Who was helping the other?"

As I inched closer to him with the designated piece of clothing in hand, my gaze still lingering on his defined blemishes and inadvertently avoiding his piercing stare, I spotted some vivid black markings along his pectorals. Tattoos.

The little I could see resembled thick chains while the rest of it was hidden beneath his arm. "There is nothing to make out of that," I muttered to myself as I helped him into the shirt.

That's it. All nice and clean.

I dried Ro's hair and beard then messed around with it a little—his hair I mean.

It was long with a nice silky texture. Finally, I left it in a single loose braid after trying out a profound assortment of different styles. I stepped back while laughing and admired my work. The rest of the day was spent reading boring ol' books and I didn't know why he fancied them.

"...soon he'll be able to go back into the system."

Madam's words resounded in my mind as I watched Ro sleeping. Dusk had arrived, slowly bringing the daytime to a close. I thought hard pondering those words. "Could she have meant the psychiatric hospital?"

It sounded like a most likely explanation of what she said and I couldn't possibly be mistaken this time… For some unexplainable cause, that saddened my heart. I sighed.

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Thanks for reading chapter 18 but I have to warn you things are getting crazy from here. Prepare yourselves, for what is it to come!

Neon.