Who: Amelia & Elodie Where: Green Street When: Thursday morning 12/28 Status: Complete Warning: Bad fog things
The hallway was the safest place to be. Amelia knew this too well and she pulled the mattress off of Jasper's bed (the one in the master bedroom was too big) and dragged it out into the hallway. She kept the doors all shut, wishing she could bar them but that was probably too far gone for now. She had her rifle on her when she went to the kitchen and she'd taken a whole lot of food that didn't need to be refrigerated and stacked it up next to the mattress. She wasn't sleeping near windows, not when the fog was pressing in close and she couldn't reach anyone. For all she knew she wasn't there anymore, maybe she'd slipped into some new nightmare and there weren't even people there. The rifle was a comfort and so were the dogs though they didn't deserve to be whisked away too. A rational, calm part of her brain told her it was just fog, she was still home, it would be over soon. The rational calm part of her brain was very quiet in comparison to the angry and terrified voice telling her that she had lost her place in the world. Again.
The dogs were comforting but they weren't calming, whining every now and then and staring out toward the kitchen as if something was there. The rifle was loaded but a rifle didn't work against demons or ghosts so Amelia was scared. Max rested his head on her thigh and looked up at her with soulful eyes. He was the nervous one of the dogs so he understood more. Rudy (she did not care if his name really was Rude) stood guard, ready to tear into anything that came their way with bad intentions.
Amelia couldn't focus on reading but eventually she had to do something or she'd go insane. Homework. She was still trying to catch up on school work so she could eventually get her GED so that's what she did. Geometry. It occupied her brain just enough while letting her stay present and let her take her attention away from the imaginary threat down the hall. As soon as she calmed down, the dogs seemed to calm down so maybe it really was all in her head. Eventually she even managed to sleep a little, leaving Rudy on guard.
Elodie thought the fog was both fascinating and terrifying. She enjoyed all the freaky shit about this town but she didn't exactly want to be a part of it. Not really. Her grandma had been on her way to bingo when the fog came in. Her mom was supposedly at the grocery store, though Elodie figured she had met a guy at a bar and gone home with him, even in the afternoon. So Elodie had been home alone for the full day, into night. She wasn't scared, just annoyed. She couldn't call anyone, not even Wes. Eventually she found her mom's stash and downed a couple of Valium with some vodka and that helped take the edge off.
She wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up the next morning, but her head hurt and she was still feeling kind of high. Elodie groaned into the couch pillow and fumbled around on the coffee table for her cigarettes. Finding them, she somehow found the energy to get to her feet. After pulling on her coat and shoving her feet into her sneakers, Elodie slipped out back to have a cigarette. She supposed she was a little more out of it than she thought because it took her a few minutes to realize how fucking cold it was. Fuck it, she was just going to smoke inside and her grandma could fuck off.
Turning to go back inside, Elodie was stunned to find the door was gone. No, not really gone. It couldn't be gone, it was just hiding in the fog. She had walked out into the back yard, stoned and half asleep and now it was so thick outside she could see shit. "The fuck," she croaked. And then she heard something behind her, moving closer through the fog. Elodie turned around quickly but couldn't see anything at all. She held her breath, listening for the sound again. It was eerily quiet so her heavy breathing sounded incredibly loud in her ears.
Deciding she needed to get back inside, Elodie started for where she thought her house was, but then something came out of the fog and smashed into her. Elodie fell to her back in the snow. The fall seemed to knock the wind out of her, but she could see feel the pain in her chest. Looking down she could see her coat was torn, so was her shirt. It was starting to seep with blood. Her blood. Looking up, Elodie could see something large and dark moving in the fog around her. A glint of something sharp in the midst of the shadows triggered adrenaline inside of her. Maybe it was that survival instinct? She didn't know, but she got to her feet, forgetting about the bleeding wound above her breasts. She began to run, not entirely sure where she was going until she nearly slammed into the wood fence that separated her yard from the Lucas's. The shadow monster, or whatever the fuck it was!, moved behind her and she heard something slither, coming closer. Gritting her teeth, Elodie gripped the top of the fence and hoisted herself up. She all but threw herself over into the next yard, pain shooting through her body as she fell ungracefully to the ground. Her bones screamed, her muscles protested. Nothing was broken, but goddamn.
Nails clacked and scratched against the wood fence beside her and Elodie's eyes widened as she could see claws curling over the top of the fence. Before she could think, she let out a loud scream that almost immediately rubbed her throat raw. She continued to scream as she rolled over and got to her feet to try and find the back of the Lucas house before that thing came over the fence. She felt like it could see her a hell of a lot better than she could see it.
Amelia woke up with a start. Max was still with her but Rudy zoomed out of the hallway toward the back door, both of them barking away frantically and then she heard the screaming. She froze for a few seconds, blindly reaching out for the rifle as she considered not going out there, let whoever was screaming deal with their own shit. She'd barely had the thought when guilt lanced through her because Maggie would go back there if she was here - if she was alive. Maggie would never let someone suffer just because she was scared. Amelia wasn't Maggie but god damn it, she'd been raised by her so she crawled shakily off her mattress and ran out after Rudy, eyes wide and wild as she reached the door. A moment's hesitation and then she yanked on Rudy's collar to get him away from the door before she opened it. She should have put a leash on him, terrified he would run out there into the fog as soon as she let him go but she had to let him go because she needed to step back and aim the rifle in case whoever or whatever came in wasn't friendly.
Elodie hadn't quite known where to go but she could see the shape of a door ahead, and it came into view better once she realized it had opened. She knew whatever had been coming over the fence was now in the yard with her so Elodie ran towards the open door, spurred on by panic and adrenaline. She stumbled inside, nearly tripping over the dog that was barking madly at her. She barely recognized that the girl had a gun aimed, only Elodie didn't think a gun would do much against whatever was outside. It wouldn't occur to her until much later that she could have been shot right in the face. "Shut the door," she panted, trying to scream it but her throat wouldn't cooperate. "It's coming. Shut the door!"
Amelia jolted forward and slammed the door behind her, locking it before jumping back with her rifle aimed at it just in case. Her heart was beating so hard she thought she could feel it in her whole body, like her body was just made of angry hearts now, all beating and beating, ready to explode. Nothing rammed into the door, the dogs had stopped barking which was somehow worse. Rudy looked ready to kill, his teeth bared and low growls rumbling in his throat as he glared at the door. Max was hiding behind Amelia, whining softly. They were both terrified. Moments passed where all Amelia heard was the whining, growling, her own heart beat and the fast, scared breathing of herself and Elodie. It slowly started to sink in that if Elodie was here then maybe that meant Amelia was still home, that this fog was all over town and she hadn't been taken elsewhere. She couldn't process that right now because that meant too many people were at risk.
"What's out there?" she whispered when she felt like she could breathe a little slower, her gaze still fixed on the door. If not for the dogs she might have chalked it up to Elodie being a crazy lying bitch but the way they were acting, something was right outside. Something bad.
"I don't know. I couldn't see it very well. But it was... dark. Had teeth. And claws." Elodie stared at the door too, waiting for something to happen. But was quiet and not in a good way. The adrenaline had started to wear off and Elodie could feel the cold seeping into her extremities. Her feet were soaked, her chest burning. She looked down to see her flesh was ripped up above her breasts. She was still bleeding, but at least it didn't look like anything was falling out from the inside. A slightly hysterical laugh escaped her lips and she moved back to sit down in the nearest chair. "It fucking clawed me," she told Amelia, lifting her hand to her chest and touching the wound lightly. Her fingers got coated in blood, making her laugh again, which was weird because none of this was funny. "It was a monster and it clawed me. Maybe I'm dead. I don't know. This is fucking crazy."
Amelia spared her another glance before cautiously stepping closer to the door. There was a small window next to it and she forced herself to peek outside. There was something out there but she couldn't see it well, a shadow moving some feet away from the house. It was huge, that was all she could say and in a way that was a relief. If it was big, it couldn't slither on inside, it would be easier to hit, it might not even fit through the door. Rudy had stopped growling when Amelia moved closer but he was agitated, trying to get between her and the window, not wanting her so close to the danger. Amelia stepped back again and pulled at his leash to get him to get out of the small foyer. "We need to get away from the windows," she said quietly. "And we need to patch you up." This was all a little too weird. She was used to the danger but it was mixing so weirdly with the mundane parts of her life, it felt like her wires were crossing. Elodie was her enemy, she hated her because she'd hurt her brother but right now Elodie was also just some dumb neighbor and there was an actual monster outside. Mundane shit could wait for later, she supposed. Right now they were just two humans hiding from bad things and petty nonsense had no place here. "C'mon," she said, her rifle at her side as she offered Elodie a hand up.
Elodie was sort of waiting for something to burst through the door. Even if they moved away from the windows, it would find them. She realized she was starting to zone out, and maybe it was shock or something, so she rallied herself and looked at Amelia's outstretched hand. She took it and stood, hoping she didn't pass out or vomit or whatever. "I really liked this shirt," she mumbled, looking back down at the tore material. "Shit. Yeah, we should get away from the windows. And doors. Do you have a band aid?" It was a weird attempt at a joke, because she would probably need a bazillion bandaids to patch up her chest, but whatever. It was joke or freak out and Elodie hated freaking out.
Amelia furrowed her brows as she looked her over but then she took her arm and steered her out of there toward the hallway. "You might need stitches," she muttered and wondered if there was anything to sew with in this house. He dad seemed like the kind of guy who'd rather stitch himself up than go to the hospital but she'd never actually seen him do it so maybe she was projecting. She'd have to see what was in the first aid kit - at least she knew where that was. Elodie looked like she might keel over if she didn't sit down soon so Amelia just focused on getting her to her 'fortress' where they'd be at least a little safer. "I'll get bandages," she told her as she nudged at her to sit down, then clambered over the mattress toward the bathroom door. At least the window there was very small. This thing out there wouldn't gain much by breaking it.
Elodie was trying to wrap her head around the idea of getting stitches in this house instead of a sanitary hospital, but there was also a morbid fascination that came with it. She was distracted from her thoughts by Amelia's stuff in the hallway. Did she not have her own bedroom? It belatedly occurred to Elodie that Amelia might have been hunkered down in here because of the fog, though Elodie wasn't sure what good it would do. She was starting to feel nauseous and the smell of blood seemed to be permanently stuck in her nose so Elodie sat down on the mattress and closed her eyes. "Do you know how to do stitches?" she asked after a moment. "Because it would suck to survive a clawed monster only to die of an infection from a dirty needle."
Amelia tossed a towel out of the bathroom. "Put pressure on it," she told her before starting the water. At least they had running water and there was no black sludge when she first turned on the faucet which was reassuring even if it meant these monsters were now in her family's reality. It meant she was too and she couldn't help but feel selfishly relieved about that. "I know how to do stitches," she added as she grabbed the first-aid kit from the top shelf and started rummaging through it. "It's not hard if you're not the one getting them." There were no needles but there were some bandages and some of them looked like she could use them to seal the wound and keep it closed until Elodie got proper help. If Elodie got proper help. The irony wasn't lost on Amelia; she'd joked about killing this girl and if she really wanted to, now was her chance. "Looks like you're not getting stitches," she said but she still washed her hands since she was going to be helping with the bandages.
Elodie reached for the towel and pressed it to the torn flesh of her chest. It immediately stung and she hissed, immediately pulling the towel away. It was starting to... hurt. A lot. Maybe the shock and adrenaline was wearing off because the wound itself began to burn. She clenched her eyes shut tight to keep the tears of pain at bay. Elodie was not a crier, especially in front of other people. Breathing hard in and out through her nose, Elodie twisted the towel in her hands instead to try and refocus the pain elsewhere. Amelia's voice was distant and she muttered an incoherent response and pressing her back up against the wall and biting into her lip. She tasted blood so she stopped and worked on breathing. "Maybe that thing had poison in its claws," she managed, refusing to look at the wound now. "It's starting to burn."
Amelia was not prepared to deal with poison. Poisons required antidotes which also required knowing what sort of poison was used and she had none of the skills or resources required for that. "Change of plans," she said and turned off the water before heading toward Elodie again. "We need to rinse it out before we patch you up." Maybe it just burned because it was a deep scratch and wounds always hurt. Maybe Elodie had never been hurt like that so she didn't know just how much it should burn. "Come on," Amelia told her, slipping her arm under Elodie's to all but haul her to her feet. She had only intended to wet a towel to dab at the wound but now she just wanted to get Elodie in the shower and rinse whatever grossness might be in there off.
Unable to help herself, a sharp noise of pain escaped Elodie as soon as Amelia pulled her to her feet. The thought of anything touching her chest made her want to protest but she also didn't want to die from poison, or an infection or whatever the fuck would happen to her. Really though, fuck that monster. "My boobs are still there, right?" Elodie asked, her words slightly slurred now. "If that thing cut off my boobs I'm going to lose my shit. Where are we going?"
The wound would be so much easier to clean if it was on her arm or leg but there was no such luck to be found. "We need to clean the wound," Amelia told her and it didn't matter if there'd be water everywhere or if Elodie got soaked. Those were definitely later times worries. She had her sit down on the toilet and pulled her coat over her shoulders. The little scissors from the first aid kit came in handy to deal with her shirt. It was ruined anyway so Amelia made quick work of cutting it away. "Your boobs are still there," she mumbled as she worked and it would have been funny if the circumstances were different. Elodie's boobs were the least of her worries right now. "Okay can you lean..." Amelia started but Elodie didn't look well at all so she probably couldn't maneuver and tilt in ways that would make this easier. Blood and water everywhere it was then and Amelia pulled the shower head out and let the water stream over the wound, careful not to put too much pressure on the wound itself. Then a towel, tightly pressed against Elodie's chest. The wound wasn't deep but it looked bad and Amelia was starting to wonder if she could keep this girl alive here without a hospital in sight. "You're going to be okay," she said, lying because she wasn't sure at all.
Elodie grit her teeth hard and tried not to scream too loudly when Amelia began to spray the water at the wound. The burning only seemed to intensify, like the wound was protesting being cleaned out at all. She almost yelled at Amelia to stop, but then she had and there was another towel being pressed to her chest and she bit hard into her lip. Really, maybe it was just easier to bleed out and be done with it. Amelia's words seemed to cut through the pain cloud in her brain and she opened her eyes, peering up at Amelia. "And if I'm not okay, just make sure my mom knows I want to be cremated." Elodie slipped off the toilet to the floor, turning to sit with her back pressed against the bathtub. "Fuck me, it hurts." Elodie was breathing hard again but a laugh bubbled up somewhere in her throat. "Did you ever see... District 9? Where the guy gets sprayed in the face with like, alien jizz or whatever it is, then starts to become like... one of the aliens? If I start turning into a dark shadow monster with claws just shoot me in the head, okay?" Maybe she would be okay and just be left with a badass scar. But that thing was nasty looking and Elodie had no idea why it hadn't just eaten her when it had the chance.
Once upon a time it would have been reassuring that Elodie was bleeding, it would have meant she was still human and Amelia didn't have to worry. She had no idea what they were dealing with now though and the dread she was already feeling seemed to grow thicker and heavier in her gut. "You got it," she said and wondered if she would be able to tell if Elodie changed into something horrible. Maybe she would look the same. Would the dogs pick up on it? They might be stuck here for a long time and Amelia didn't like it one bit. She pressed her lips together into a thin line as she found bandages and slowly peeled that towel away from Elodie's wound, wrinkling her nose at it. It was bad, she should definitely be getting stitches. "You're going to have a badass scar," she told her and set to work to get it taken care of. That was all they could do right now, keep it clean and protected, stop the bleeding.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to become an alien. Or giant, shadow monster. It would probably be fun. She could stalk people and eat them. Elodie's gaze was watery from pain induced tears, but she still laughed, even if it sounded like she was choking for a moment. "Yeah well, it wouldn't be my first," she said. "Had to get stitches in my ankle once. And there's that..." She motioned to the long scar from above her jaw back behind her ear. It had faded a bit over time and most people didn't notice it anymore. "I collect scars like some people collect tattoos... fuck that hurts! Fuuuuck. Please stop touching it. I know you're trying to help, I do... but I just want to carve out my chest every time anything touches it right now." Elodie felt hot and sweaty and she wished she had something she could punch and hurt, just to get some of the agitation out.
"I'm almost done," Amelia told her patiently, fixing the last bandage in place. It wasn't perfect but it would have to do until Elodie got to the hospital - if they ever got to the hospital. There was the morbid thought that maybe they were trapped in this fog forever and Elodie would die right here only to rise again as something horrible that would try to kill Amelia. "I'll find you a sweater," she mumbled and it would have been perfect to give her one of Jasper's since they were big and roomy but she had a feeling Jasper would throw a fit if she did that so she thought she might just nab one from her dad. He had lots of zip up hoodies, he probably wouldn't miss one. "What were you doing out there anyway?" She had a lot of questions but up until now she had avoided asking them. Now she thought maybe Elodie could do with the distraction. She could also do with painkillers so Amelia got up as soon as she was done and rummaged around in the cabinet. Her family had a lot of drugs, some of them she had no idea what were for but she knew the painkillers intimately so she grabbed a couple and crouched back down and offered them to Elodie.
The bandages against her skin irritated but Elodie left them on, not wanting to bleed anymore, or make things worse. Other than the pain and lingering fear of what was out there, Elodie still felt like herself. She was just getting cold and tired now, wanting to be home but also not wanting to move her ass even an inch from that bathroom floor. She touched the bandages gingerly and looked up at Amelia when she returned with the painkillers. Elodie popped them into her mouth to swallow without bothering to even ask what they were. Anything had to help now. "Smoking," she said finally. "I wasn't really expecting some monster to come out of the fog and try to decapitate me. I guess I should have known better in this town, right?"
"You really should have," Amelia replied, not bothering to sugar coat it. She hadn't been expecting monsters as such but she knew the fog was bad as soon as it had rolled in and her phone stopped working. She'd had her theories and she'd been scared. Going out just to smoke was stupid and a small part of her felt almost vindictive of Elodie's bad luck. She still hated her but there wasn't much space for that right now. "I know moving sucks but you'll be more comfortable out in the hallway. You should probably drink something, maybe even eat something if you think you can keep it down. You lost a lot of blood." She could take care of this idiot girl for now. If things stayed bad she might even need her help.
Yes, she was an idiot for not believing in large, fog monsters with deadly claws. This town was so fucking bizarre. It made her want to laugh, but her chest hurt too much now to do much of anything but wish she could pass out and not feel anything. "I'm okay," Elodie told Amelia. "I know you hate me and you've done more for me than I probably would have for you if I hated you the same way. Once the fog lifts and that thing is hopefully gone, I'll go back home." She paused before adding, "But thanks for letting me in. You're not a psycho like me, so that's cool."
Elodie admitting to being psychotic wasn't reassuring at all and Amelia considered leaving her in the bathroom and somehow locking her in there if they had to stay here for a long time. She didn't want to sleep in the same room as a psycho, that was just dumb. "Good to know," she said dryly. "Maybe I should have left you out there." She shook her head, rolled her eyes a little, then turned on her heel to leave the bathroom. "I'll bring you something to drink. You need your strength."
"You probably should have," Elodie muttered. If it had been Jasper in here, he probably would have. Not that she could blame him for that. She had time to decide whether or not she was thankful for Amelia opening the door for her. Honestly, she wanted to go back home, even risking that thing outside. This place weirded her out, and she felt out of place. At least the pain killers were kicking in, because her chest was on fire. Her brows furrowed together for a moment. Who even was this girl? Family? Friend? Jasper wasn't here and she hadn't heard Grump Pants Sr. wandering about. It was weird that it had dawned on her so belatedly that she had never met her, only seen her come and out of the house. "What's your name again?"
"Lyra," Amelia lied and she always hated this lie, hated not having her own name because of some stupid time warp problem she has no control over. She grabbed some of the supplies right outside the door, then returned and crouched down in front of Elodie to hand her a juice box. It was warm by now after sitting in the hall all night but that didn't make it bad in Amelia's opinion. It wasn't expired and it was still sweet and yummy. "Leaving people outside to die isn't something I want to do, even if they're psychotic bitches. So just try not to be too psychotic until this shitshow ends. Can you do that?"
"Lyra?" Elodie's dark brows furrowed together curiously. "Like the constellation?" Maybe her parents were, as her grandma called them, hippie dippies, giving their daughter such a weird name. She took the juice and took a small sip, finding it helped wet her dry throat at least. Every now and then her chest would throb, reminding her that she'd almost had her insides torn out. She eyed Amelia as she sucked the rest of the juice from the small box until it sank in on itself. Then she grinned. "I can try and do that, yeah. You've got the gun, so I figured I should try and be normal for a while. Do you have anymore pain killers? It feels like my heart is about to beat out of my chest."
Like the constellation. Charlie had asked the same thing but she had sounded so much nicer about it, not that Amelia was surprised. "Constellation or an instrument," she muttered. "And yeah, I have more painkillers." For a moment she considered not giving them to Elodie. Let her suffer for fucking with Jasper and Jules but this just wasn't the right kind of suffering. "You can have a little more but I didn't save your ass just so you could overdose on pills." She quirked a brow at the girl as she got up again to find more of Gavin's medication. It was strong stuff so she wouldn't give Elodie more for now but she thought maybe she could wash it down with booze. "Do you want rum? It'll make you numb."
Elodie grinned. "If I overdose that's got to be less mess than shooting me with your gun. But yeah, I get you. Rum sounds good. I've never heard of a lyra before. Being an instrument, I mean." She touched her bandages gingerly, hissing softly at the fire that seemed to blossom through her. She thought about Peter Parker getting bit by a radioactive spider and becoming Spider-Man. That would be cool. Only she hadn't been bitten, she had been clawed. Maimed. She wasn't likely to become a superhero, just a psycho with a gross scar above her tits. "Are you going to have some rum with me?" Elodie asked. "No one likes to drink alone."
"No one likes to bleed out alone either," Amelia muttered, then shook her head no. "I need a clear head and a steady hand. In case I need to shoot that thing - or you." She arched a brow at Elodie before leaving the bathroom again. At this rate she might as well just bring all the stuff in here and settle down since she kept having to come and go like this but she had to admit that having another person there - even if it was the psycho bitch from next door - was soothing and having something to do seemed to have calmed her nerves a little. She brought back another juice box, a can of peaches and the promised bottle of rum this time as well as a hoodie she'd found in Gavin's closet. "Here," she muttered as she put all the things down, the hoodie on Elodie's lap, the rest on the floor next to her. "Don't say I don't take care of you."
Elodie supposed she had a point. When Amelia left the bathroom Elodie closed her eyes. She felt damp and sweaty all over, like she might pass out and she had no idea if that was from the pain killers or the pain. Maybe a combination of both. A part of her wanted her mom but she would get just as much comfort there as she was getting here. Wes. If Wes was here he would make her feel better. When she heard Amelia return, Elodie forced her eyes open and looked down at the hoodie. She nearly asked if it was Jasper's, but given what Elodie had done, Amelia probably knew better than to give her one of his hoodies. She lifted it up and draped it over her chest and shoulders rather than put it on. "I definitely won't say that," she promised. "And you don't have to stay in here with me. I'll be fine and I'll go back home when the fog is gone."
"When the fog is gone," Amelia echoed and wondered if that would ever happen. Her life just seemed doomed to take place in some kind of a shitty scenario with monsters lurking in the shadows. She had wanted to believe it was over when she made it back home but it stood to reason that things weren't ever going to be better. She didn't even know if she'd ever see her family again. Maybe they were dead out there, mauled by some gigantic beast and Elodie was all she had. Elodie and the dogs. "If the fog goes away, I'm taking you straight to the hospital," she told her and moved to sit down by the door. At least the dogs were calm now so if Elodie was infected with some monster bug, she wasn't changing yet. "Eat, you might need your strength."
The hospital. That was a bill her mom would probably love to receive. As long as she wasn't getting an infection, Elodie felt like she could handle things. She wasn't very hungry either, so she reached for the bottle of rum to open. Amelia was right that it would numb her, especially with the pain killers in her system. If she could just pass out until the fog lifted, or engulfed them in here, that would be ideal. Sinking down a bit more, Elodie curled up beneath the hoodie and closed her eyes. She didn't want to talk anymore. And she doubted Amelia would mind that.
For a moment, Amelia wondered if Elodie was curling up to die and she watched her closely for a bit after that and wondered what the hell she would do if Elodie actually died. It was a morbid thing to think about but practical too and all she could do was hope it wouldn't come to that. There was a lot of information swirling around in her head, conflicting information and she wasn't sure about the validity of it all. Maybe she shouldn't let Elodie drink because it thinned the blood, or maybe that was a myth. It would help with the pain and maybe even help her sleep but what if it was just killing her more quickly? Amelia closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the door. She was okay with not talking, sliding into a whirlpool of her own thoughts and worries. It made her wish she could settle down in the living room and put a movie on but she was too scared to be in there and she was definitely too scared to make a lot of noise. She couldn't focus on her books and she couldn't sleep. This meant that the day passed by at an agonizingly slow speed and Elodie wasn't much help in that regard.