33| Repercussion

She felt as she had the first time she got to the house — dejected, hopeless, the crushing feeling of loneliness threatening to squeeze her heart to a mute stop.

She paced the cramped room, sat on the too-small bed, and got back up in what was a mixture of confusion and frustration. Lumos sat in a corner of the room, napping.

It occurred to her that at some point she would need to sleep, too, to rest her body and mind, but with the way her mind ran wild with thoughts, she knew that would be impossible.

After a few hours, the weak light of dawn came into the room in dull slants.

"Morning," she said under her breath, realizing that Arielle would soon come for her.

And she was right, in a few minutes, the door swung open and Arielle — her face sagging and worn out, her disposition irritatable — walked in.

Claudine could see that she was in trouble. She stumbled to her feet to face her elder foster sister.

"G-good morning, Arielle," she said.

Arielle simply nodded — a gesture more of