Chapter 57
Chapter 57
The darkened hallway stood empty. The servants were likely downstairs, finishing their chores in their own quarters before retiring for the night.
Arietta walked on tiptoe, halfway down the hall, and opened the bathroom door without a creak. She didn’t light a lamp, afraid someone might see the light from outside. She relied on her gradually adjusting vision.
After a moment of blinking in the dimness, her eyes adapted to the darkness. Arietta reached out and carefully turned the faucet.
The bathtub filled slowly. She longed to hurry the process, but the sound of rushing water might draw unwanted attention. Crouched before the tub, she listened to the barely audible trickle. It felt like it would take forever to fill, but patience eventually yielded results.
Once the water level rose a bit, she increased the flow. The force of the water muffled the sound as it plunged into the tub.
She felt the lukewarm, dissolving sleeping powder in her palm. Without further delay, Arietta swallowed the pill. It momentarily caught in her throat before sliding down into her stomach. She waited for her stomach acid to mercilessly break it down.
Soon, a sleep as deep as the surrounding darkness enveloped her. Arietta turned off the faucet. The jet-black water reflected the dim light like polished obsidian.
“Mother,” she thought, recalling Seia’s final moments, the ones she hadn’t witnessed. To recreate them, she plunged her face into the water, though she carried no illness like Seia. She waited for the cold water to fill her lungs.
***
Rain seemed to fall on his head and shoulders. Isaac opened his eyes. It was raining—Downstream’s black rain. But the world felt…wrong. The landscape stretched out on either side, appearing haphazardly stitched together. The ground beneath his feet felt the same. But in dreams, the source of unease is often elusive. Though a sense of wrongness lingered, Isaac simply accepted the distorted reality.
Before conscious thought, his feet moved, carrying him to a house filled with bitter memories—Seia and Arietta’s home. He pushed open the heavy metal gate. The garden soil squelched underfoot, quickly soiling his boots. He ground his heel into the strange earth a few times before looking around. Then, he saw Seia.
The last time he’d seen her, she’d been frail and ravaged by illness. That image had lingered in his mind. Yet, the Seia before him now was ironically vibrant, the picture of her former self, radiating a spirited energy that mirrored Arietta. Her blue eyes shone as she held her daughter’s hand, the two looking like twins.
“It’s been a while, Isaac. How have you been?”
It’s been a while? They’d been meeting constantly. Well, except for the past few days, when Seia’s illness, brought on by Downstream’s water and air, had kept her from the workshop. But was that the appropriate tone?
“What’s going on?” A wave of unease washed over him.
Seia didn’t answer, only smiled strangely and tugged her daughter along.
“Arietta.” Isaac called her name, but she didn’t respond. As if entranced, or perhaps unable to see him, she stared blankly ahead, matching her mother’s stride.
The two women brushed past Isaac and out into the street. He instinctively followed.
“Where are you going?” He turned back, but they were gone, leaving only footprints in the mud.
The world still felt precariously assembled, as if a single touch would shatter it. He followed their footprints.
They lead to the swamp, he realized, his pace quickening. The two women couldn’t possibly be faster than him, yet no matter how far he walked, he saw only their footprints, never their forms. Anxiety gnawed at him.
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