CHAPTER 76

The man's name was on the tip of her tongue, but the harder she tried to say it, the further it crawled down her own throat, determined to hide. The darkness now pulsed with stars, bright things that hurt her eyes and made her head throb in time with the universe around her.

She opened her eyes one at a time to see that she was lying on a bed in a dimly lit room. On its own, her hand touched her neck. It was purely instinctual, and the move itself caused her head to pound in time with her pulse.

A small moan escaped her lips, and when she tried to sit up, nausea and dizziness forced her to lay back down.

Some time passed before the rustling of fabric caught her ears, and she turned her head to see a woman standing in the opening of the room. The stranger snapped her fingers and a lantern by the door ignited, filling the room with a soft, yellow light that was barely tolerable.

"You're finally awake. I was worried you would be out forever." The woman picked up the lantern and walked to the bed, then set the light down on a nearby table. She looked Asian but had patches of scale-like skin along her face and neck that shimmered in the lantern light. "My name is Ratu. What's yours?"

"Nngh." The pain of trying to speak was nearly rivaled by the frustration of being unable to answer.

"I'm afraid you took a rather nasty blow to the head. Here." Ratu held out a couple of pills. "These will help with the pain. You can chew them."

She took the pills and popped them in her mouth. If this woman had wanted to poison or hurt her, she could have done it already. Besides, her head hurt badly enough that she couldn't think past making the pain stop.

The pills tasted awful, but it was like pouring water on an open flame. The pain rampaging through her head diminished greatly, and she let out a sigh of relief.

"Better?" Ratu asked, her green eyes glowing.

"Yes. Thank you." She not only felt better, but oddly calm. Looking into Ratu's eyes reminded her of a warm night by the fire, and it occurred to her that she was now staring. She looked away and rubbed her eyes, her whole body now warm and fuzzy, inside and out.

"Good. Let's try again. What's your name?"

"I..." Her own name was even farther away than the man's name had been. Why was that? "I don't know."

"Interesting." Ratu arched an eyebrow. "Do you know where you are or how you got here?"

"Um... " The images in her head didn't make sense, but she decided to be honest. "I was in a fight. I think. With a statue."

"A gargoyle," Ratu corrected her. "You were trying to escape and Abella knocked you out. You've been unconscious for a couple of days now."

"I have?" She felt the back of her head. Sure enough, there was a large, painful lump buried beneath her fur. "Where am I?"

"You're in my labyrinth. I brought you here for safekeeping because I have some questions for you, though I doubt you'll be able to answer them if you don't even know your own name."

"Oh." That made sense and the memory of her attempt to flee the house became clear to her. She saw the faces again, her memory settling on the snarling visage of a green goblin. The fur on her neck stood up, and she smoothed it back down.

"Well, I won't waste your time much longer. Why did you attack Mike?"

"Mike?" Ah, right. That was the man's name. "I was trying to sneak out and he found me."

"And why were you sneaking?"

"I was... scared." That answer felt right, but if it was true, why wasn't she scared now? Her situation seemed far more dire, but an odd sense of relaxation had settled over her. Even now, she could see Ratu's skin shifting in the lantern-light, but it didn't even bother her.

"Scared of what?"

"I don't remember. It just felt like I had to escape. I needed to escape. I think I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I just..." She let out a sigh. "Am I a prisoner here?"

"More like a guest. If you were a prisoner, you'd be in chains. But do keep in mind that the nature of your status can change in an instant." Ratu smirked, then held out a hand. "Are you hungry?"

She nodded, and let the woman help her up. They walked together to another room where some food had been set at a small dining table. Ratu asked her a series of questions, most of which she had no answer for. She ate until she was full, a move that was almost instinctive on her part.

Ratu conducted a small series of tests after they ate, most of which involved a hovering ball of light. When they were done, Ratu led her out of the building into a large, subterranean chamber with a floating crystal up above.

"So, what now?" she asked, looking up at the crystal. She could feel the heat coming off of it like a tiny sun.

"Well, from what I can tell, your memory has been completely wiped. I don't know whether that's from a magical injury or a physical one. As for your physical condition, are you sure you don't remember anything about your transformation?"

She touched her throat involuntarily again and remembered the young woman in the mirror. If that really was one of her memories, then how did she become this way? "I really don't."

Ratu nodded. "Well, now that you've your wits about you, I think it's time we go upstairs and speak with the Caretaker, and—"

At the word caretaker, a throaty growl formed in the back of her throat. She cut it off and stared at Ratu, appalled.

"I have no idea why I just did that," she said. "Please don't lock me up."

"Tell me, do you mean to harm Mike?" Ratu had crossed her arms in a manner that had placed one of her hands up a sleeve.

"The man from upstairs? No, why?"