Ayla's Supernatural Love Dungeon

Part 3

Nekros grabbed the blanket at the end of the couch and pulled it over Althea’s sleeping form. Shortly after she explained everything to Nekros, she collapsed on the couch, exhausted. Nekros moved a couch cushion onto his lap and placed Althea’s head on top of it. His fingers lightly stroked Althea’s back. His fingers continued their actions mindlessly as he turned his attention to Raven. Raven sat on the other end of the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her black and purple hair fanned around her figure.

Raven was the first to break the silence. “Now you officially know everything.”

Nekros nodded. “I do.”

Raven drew circles on her kneecaps. Raven’s behavior reminded Nekros of a child, and it unnerved him. He’s never seen Raven vulnerable and worried. Raven had always been carefree, straightforward, and confident.

            “Can I ask you a personal question?” Nekros asked.

Raven continued to draw figures on her skin with her fingertips. “Not like I can say no at this point.”

Nekros pressed his lips together, unsure of how to ask. As his mind formulated the question, the long silence irritated Raven.

            “Are you going to ask, or what!” she snarled.

Nekros took a deep breath and asked his question. “Do you resent Althea?”

Althea shifted and rolled onto her side. Her back facing Raven. At the same time, Raven’s fingers stopped tracing patterns. “I don’t resent Althea, personally. I was her only friend growing up. Naturally, she’d use her necromancer powers to resurrect me.” She paused for a moment. “I don’t resent Althea,” she repeated. “Sometimes though, I resent being brought back.”

            “Because you missed your family?”

Raven swayed her head side-to-side. “Sometimes. Sometimes it’s because I felt like it was my fault for all the tension in the Hoomake residence. That it was my fault Hilo left and Tia turned into a bitch to her daughter.” Raven paused again. She tilted her head up and stared at the ceiling. “Most of the time though I resent being brought back because of how much Althea depends on me.”

Nekros could faintly see the tears trailing down Raven’s cheeks. Before he realized what he was saying the words escaped his mouth. “What do you mean?”

Raven released a pitiful laugh. “Haven’t you noticed? I’m Althea’s crutch.”

Nekros stared at her blankly.

            “I’m the one she runs to when life gets too hard. She depends on me for everything. She gets a failing grade, it’s my job to hold her and soothe her pain. Jeff left her stranded in the middle of Boise, I’m the one to rescue her. After she revived Requiem, she’d have nightmares of him slitting her throat with a scalpel. I had to sit with her every night to chase away the nightmares and encourage her to eat when she’d starve herself because she was scared out of her mind.”

Nekros sat in silence as he watched Raven swipe at the tears that escaped the corner of her eyes.

            “My life revolves around Althea. I don’t have time to worry or think about what I want from my own life because I have to be available to help Althea with her problems.”

Nekros lifted Althea’s head off his lap and slipped her back onto the couch. He tiptoed over to Raven, pulled her into his arms, and hugged her.

Her tears stained his shirt. “I’m so scared that I’ll get to the point where I can’t hold her up anymore. I’m scared that I’ll become so numb to my problems that I truly resent Althea. But what scares me the most is that my life has no other purpose besides being in this co-dependent relationship with Althea.”

Nekros rubbed Raven’s back. “You two aren’t alone anymore. I’m here. I’m here for both of you whenever either of you need me.”

Raven gripped the back of Nekros’s shirt and released all of the frustration she bottled up since the night of her resurrection.

 On the couch, with her back turned against Raven and Nekros, Althea shed her own tears at her best friend’s confession.