Chapter 915 Sunset on a New Friendship
Back onto the soft, pliant comfort of Amanda's couch, Adalia took another long savoring sip of her hot chocolate.
Past the cityscape, the summit of rolling hills even further, the sinking sunset stared back at her, precariously stagnant, as if only just barely keeping to the skies, staving the night, by a thinning knot of string loosely attached.
Usually, she'd still be deep in sleep around this time, waking up a few hours later deep into the night, to feast, and nothing much else. Everything great, anything worth enjoying seemed only to happen in the day.
If only she could just stay awake for a little while longer.
Hunger can be annoying at times, a constant feral urge ravaging away at her psyche without relent. But from what semblance of anger she could still rouse inside her, what she truly detested most had to be the unending feeling of exhaustion that plagued every moment of her existence.
Countless hours simply wasted, many moments passing by her in the blink of an eye.
So many sunrises, too many sunsets.
As much as she tried to resist at times, to fight, wishing only for just a few more hours, ultimately, she'd always lose the battle of attrition.
It never used to matter as much to her before. She never thought to go against the urge, living the life she used to. But recently, with so much to miss nowadays, it mattered more than ever.
And yet, even now, like the deep orange slowly fading from the skylines of the horizon, Adalia could feel fatigue creeping at her once more. She hasn't even finished waking up yet. Nevertheless, as always, she'll stay, she'll fight, and eventually, lose again.
But not for now.
"Oh, this is so unreal. Hey, Adalia!" Amanda pivoted her chair around, a smirk on the brink laughter wide on her expression. She slinked an oblique, peculiar-looking device away from her ears, hanging them loose around her neck. "Need to show you something, you gotta see this. Unbelievable."
Adalia could see her screen from where she was seated. Amanda didn't seem to be drawing any longer, instead, her display shone a darker light, a different color.
After another sip, Adalia left her drink behind and teetered closer to her desk.
"Some absolute genius went and made a video about me," Amanda said, wheeling her chair back to make space. "Curious to know what you'd make of it."
There was a man on the screen, seated, frozen, mouth hanging open and staring back at her with dark, somber eyes. There were words beneath the man, a title, words that had Adalia cocking her head sideways with bemusement.
<<Amanda Collins: Publicity Stunt or Something Much Darker?>>
"I know, I know," Amanda sniggered, seeing her reaction. "Just listen to him ramble for a bit. You'll love it."
There was a clack, Amanda tapped her fingers against a weird slab, and the man immediately unfroze. His voice boomed aloud as if rippling out from her desk itself. Adalia quietly listened, completely unsure what to expect.
"—weird isn't it that after a string of unexplainable abductions, suddenly one of the biggest streamers there ever was winds up as the next victim? Now they called it a kidnapping, but note: there were no culprits—at least, none so far—and no list of demands. What, they just kidnapped seven different people, nothing connecting them, no rhyme or reason for it?
"Now if this was a human trafficking thing or organ harvesting then that all can be explained away. But as soon as Amanda got snagged, when the whole internet's abuzz clamoring to know more about what happened—out of the blue, all seven victims are found immediately the day after, like… nobody dead, or harmed, no one's organs missing. Just there in some random building. Victims claim not to remember a thing. No trails of the kidnappers to be found. Alright then, not sus at all, I don't think."
The man paused to adjust the same odd device Amanda had around her head before scooting closer, his musty breathing audible in quite the repugnant reverb.
"Know what I think? The kidnappers never existed. None of this actually happened. Or at least, just not in the way she wants us to believe it did. We've all known for a while now that Amanda's gonna be starring in a Chronicles of Asteria movie project. A big part. Tressa yar, distant descendant of the First Divine. And what happens to her in the game exactly? That's right, kidnapped by an Elidna. You guys seeing a pattern here too or is it just me?
"Keep in mind, Amanda herself is keeping really hush-hush about her own disappearance. She doesn't speak a word of it, acts like it never happened. Now either that's just trauma manifesting, or another genius ploy by her. I mean, what's a better way to promote something big than with some kind of ARG? She thinks we're clueless, but come on, the signs are all right—"
The man froze in place again, his mouth gaping even wider, with his face contorted in an odd, bizarre manner. Amanda shook her head, suppressing another chuckle with a sip of her drink of chocolate.
"Well?" Amanda swiveled toward her. "Thoughts?"
Adalia blinked, simply left more confused than ever.
"He… is wrong…" she responded. 'Very… wrong…"
Clearly, Amanda found the whole ordeal much more amusing than she ever could. A smirk still lingering on her face that only seemed to grow wider.
"Five mid-roll ads. Three-minute merch plug. Title in all caps and even has my face plastered all over the thumbnail," Amanda glanced at the screen, and shook her head again. "Well, I mean, it worked. I clicked on it, didn't I? Gotta admire his rationalizing too. ARG sounds like a cool idea, I'd believe it."
Adalia struggled to understand more than two words at a time. It just sounded as if Amanda was speaking another language entirely.
"But just imagine if everyone knew what really happened back then," Amanda mused out loud. "Abducted by vampires, and very nearly wrung dry. Unharmed, he says. Guessed he just forgot that all the victims were also missing liters of blood and needed transfusions. Oh well, I'm sure someone will eventually correct him in the comments."
For some reason, something weird and heavy began to stir inside Adalia. It wasn't hunger, it wasn't fatigue. And as Amanda's words rang in the silence, the strange feeling just stirred even more.
Shame? Regret?
Guilt?
"Not blaming you, you know?"
At once, Adalia stopped thinking, and blinked again. Amanda was staring directly at her, their eyes meeting each other, responding to something, reacting to something that she saw was rousing within hers.
"Want you to know that I don't hold a grudge—what you and your sister did," she continued on, her voice light, lighter than she had ever heard it. "Your sister was trying to save you, and you were just trying to survive. You're Matriarchs, how else would you have done things? Don't blame lions for eating gazelles, do you? Plus, no one died either, so… can't really find any reason for me to keep my distance."
Adalia listened well, slowly, the feeling subsiding. She turned her head at another angle.
"Ga…zelles…?"
Amanda smiled.
"A metaphor. Bad one, sorry, umm… anyway, yeah, truth be told, I won't deny not being too fond of you in the beginning. Back then, regarding you, all I had were awful memories… but… slowly… you know, the more I got to know you, the actual you, the more those memories get overwritten…"
"The… actual… me…?"
"The same you that knocks on people's doors in the dead of night. The you that asks questions about love. The you that wants to wear pretty clothes for her date. The you that pushes herself even when she doesn't necessarily have to. After all that, I don't even see the Matriarch anymore. Even your hairdo as of late… did that yourself?"
Adalia slowly raised a hand, brushing against the braids of her hair, fingertips faintly clinking one of the tiny glimmering gems of her ribbon.
"He… did…"
"Should have figured. Ah, it's a mess," Amanda sighed affectionately, immediately rising to her feet and settling instead on one of the couches in the living room. "Here, sit in front of me, I'll make it right for you."
Wordlessly, Adalia shuffled over and did as she was told. Before long, she found herself on the floor, feeling the tug and pull of her hair as Amanda began rifling her hands through it in a more meticulous, practiced fashion than what she was accustomed to.
"And if you want me to teach you some styles, don't be afraid to ask, alright?" Amanda said through weaves and knots. "After all, what are friends for?"
"Friends..." Adalia whispered, blinking, her eyelids, for once, weightless. "I'd like... to be... your friend..."
"I'm braiding your hair, I think we're far past asking that." she chuckled, a smile lingering in the echo of her voice. "And it's only natural we would be. We're both sweet tooths, drawn to sweet things... and you're a sweet girl, Adalia. And knowing what I know about you now, then I know you're only going to get sweeter as we go."
For a while, there was just the serene stillness of the late evening. Usually, around this time, she'd still be fast asleep. And right then, taking the warmth of her drink back into her palms, the falling sunset still staring back at her, and now huddled together with company, close, sweet company...
Adalia was genuinely glad she wasn't.
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