The sun shined outside. With an unforgiving strength.

Ellen felt sick, she felt weak. What had really happened during the time she and Jill were drinking? If she would go after how her head felt like, she had most probably been hit by a big sized truck.

It had been a really bad idea to keep up to Jill’s pace. It was the first and hopefully the last time she had done something like that.

How had she come to bed? She had a vague memory of that Chris already had gone to bed, and Alice must have done something else. At least she hadn’t been interacting with them.

Another vague memory appeared.

Hadn’t she and Jill walked out to talk with Lilly? It had been something they would talk with her about.

It must have been a dream, it really had to be a dream. Otherwise it would mean that a scene she saw in her mind was true. A scene there both Jill and Lilly had been cuddling Ellen. It really had to be a dream, it really has to be a messed up dream. But if it would turn to be right, that would mean they had been outside. Which meant it easily could have happened more.

She remembered a big building, and it happened something inside. Both she and Jill were glad?..

She had become a citizen, that was what had happened. She remembered it clearly, but couldn’t remember the new name she picked. She remembered she talked something about “drugs”. She couldn’t, right? She really couldn’t have picked that as a name right? She hadn’t and would never do that, right. Please right?

“So you have finally decided to become a citizen?”

Alice was glad to share the news with Lilly, silently still holding on to her high thoughts about Ellen.

“Yes. I and my sister finally become citizens.”

“That is great, then we have to change the sigh so others can see that you also are working here.”

Lilly was quick to check the calendar.

She needs to ask for help to pick down the sign, and she would use her free time to get help with that. By some unknown reason so did she to want to have it done so soon it could be done.

“How comes it was this sudden change in your and little Ellen’s mind?”

Alice explained that they all had been drinking and out of nowhere decided to do it. It did sound much better with Alice version than if she would have told the true story behind it.

They drank, Alice passed out. Ellen decided to do it for some strange reasons and then continue to drink with Jill until she also passed out. It really didn’t sound as good at all.

Alice had just finished giving Lilly the reason when her first patient arrived for the day.

“Good day, I am Alice and are the one that will give you the treatment.”

Lilly stopped her in the middle of the presentation.

“Pardon Alice. As a citizen so should you present yourself as “Doctor Morfine” instead of only your first name.”

Doctor, what title sounded weird in her ears. But she has to talk with Lilly about it later on.

“Oki, I am “doctor Morfine and are the one the one that will give you the treatment.”

It really did sound strange, but it was something that she could grow used to.

“So you have some strong medicines at your office?”

It was another calm day at the clinic, so they had once again taken their places around a table and drank some tea. This day talking about medications.

In comparison to Alice and Ellen last world so was this world underdeveloped in the medical area. Which maybe was something that Alice could use for her own winning. Not that she would try to corrupt the world, but she maybe could get some extra money that Ellen could use for her works.

“Yes. I have strong medications at my office. All from normal painkillers to morphine.”

To morphine? “Is there nothing stronger than morphine?”

In the other world so had there once been heroin. A chemically cleaned substance from morphine.

“Morphine is really strong and is the strongest there is.”

Lilly looked confused at her, probably still not knowing that she was from another world. If it hadn’t been that Taija had told her about it and she only acted stupid.

“Sorry, I am just wondering. I don’t know much about medication.

Did she really need to tell Lilly that? Sure, she had asked but Alice had only been working as a maid before coming to the clinic. And most of it hadn’t even been work, but an ordinary life.

Lilly locked the door to the clinic when they were done for the day.

“So, let us go and get the sign done.” She dragged Alice along.

“Wait, you want me to follow?”

She didn’t want to follow and wait for the sign to be done. She just wanted to get home and see how Ellen was doing. Her beloved sister had after all come home the day earlier, horribly intoxicated after a night and day out with “that woman”. And Ellen was still sleeping when Alice went to the clinic, so she really did want to know how her beloved sister was feeling.

Lilly didn’t bend for what Alice wanted. She had already decided that Alice would follow and didn’t take no for an answer.

“So, is there someone you like?”

She started a conversation at the sign shop. Or rather, she tried to spy into Alice private life. “No, there is not anyone I like.” And even if there were, so were there no reason for Alice to tell her. Not only because she wanted to keep it to herself, but she didn’t even want to talk with Lilly for the moment.

“Do Lilly have someone you like?”

Please just let the time pass by quickly, so she just could get home to Ellen.

Their conversation didn’t lead a where, and could hardly be called a conversation. Both of them only gave very short answers to each other’s questions, nothing more nothing less.

Fortunately it didn’t take a very long time for the sight to be done. It was after all only some letters that would be put in place. “Doctor Morfine”, spelt out below Lilly’s name.

It looked surprisingly good, except that the title “doctor” was connected to her name. But, once again, so was probably only a problem until she got used to it.

It had to be something wrong with the citizen of the neitherworlds. Only a few days after they had got the new sign up, so was the patients systematic increasing. And everyone seemed to be more comfortable with the treatment. Almost as if they didn’t seem to have trusted her earlier.

And the price that she once had set and got complains about being too high, was now being too cheap. At least as some of the patients wanted to express it.

“You are a citizen, so it should have a higher price.” It was one of the kinds of comments she got about the price for the treatment.

Ellen had been sent out by Chris to change a couple of gears and cogs in a customer’s house.

He had been using her help from time to time with easy works like this, which she didn’t mind at all. Since it gave her some more time to think about other things, and especially the dream that involved Jill and “that woman”. Ellen had talked with Jill about the dream and asked if it had happened. Only to be met by amused laughter. So she hadn’t helped to answer that question, or even did try to answer it.

But at least there was still hope that it only was a dream, even if it didn’t change the fact that she still felt slightly embarrassed close to Jill because if it.

“I am really grateful that you could finish the work so soon.”

For being a person of the higher class, so was the customer very nice. In differences from some Ellen had met before.

“You are welcome. It was only some cogs that needed to be changed, so it´s an easy job.”

If all of the higher class would have acted like her, Ellen wouldn’t be holding any bad thoughts at all against them.

Beginning her walk back to Chris shop she thought through that she and Alice had become citizens. She was really grateful that she had got some common sense even if she was so wasted as she were during that time. Sure she could have picked a better name, but it was still better than the name she dreamed that she had picked.

Morfine, since she had heard that she and her sister had a calming effect at some. But why did she thought it was good and pick a name after a drug in the end?

Still thinking she noticed a specific person in the crowd. The man that she did really hate by her whole heart. Taija’s fiancé. He seemed to be flirting with yet another woman. Hadn’t he learned how bad it could go after Ellen had knocked him out cold?

She wouldn’t have minded beating him some more after what he did to her. She wouldn’t even have hesitated to do it now, but she had been too surprised for doing it when it happened.

By some reason he noticed and recognized her, quickly leading the new woman deeper into the crowd. He seemed to be afraid of her, not that Ellen could blame a fig like him for it. He had all rights to be afraid, very afraid.

Wouldn’t it have been so many people there, so would Ellen have interrupted his disgusting affair. And would she have noticed him in an alley without anyone around, she would have taken the chance to beat some sense into him. At least that was what she wanted to do, but the real question would have been if she would have done it.

“I am back!” Ellen walked into the shop, shouting so Chris would know even if he wasn’t behind the counter. But he was behind the counter this time, talking with Thom.

“Isn’t it the little baby girl that comes back?”

Thom was still calling her that. She had even asked him to not do it since she wasn’t a baby girl, but he didn’t even bother to listen at her request.

“What are you talking about?”

She had just given a short rapport of how the work had gone and put down the tools close to the counter.

“We are talking about how well it goes for doctor Morfine, your sister.”

It somehow sounded wrong that they called her a doctor. She couldn’t be a doctor without studies, right. Or wasn’t it necessarily in the neitherworlds? Could anyone that help others call themselves a doctor? Might be something that she needed to ask Jill about.

“She has got much more work to do.” Chris could easily say that again. Only two days after Ellen and Alice had become citizens so had it come more people that wished treatment from her. Since then she had started to come home later.

It was strange that it could be like that only by a simple reason as they become citizens. Maybe most of the people in the city were very narrow-minded and only trusted people that were like themselves.

“I wonder how long that will be?” It couldn’t hold on like that forever, right?

According to Chris and Thom so wouldn’t it be surprising if it stayed like that for a very long time. Mostly since Alice had succeeded with something that no other had. So there wouldn’t be anywhere they could get the same treatment, at least for quite some time.

Ellen was out in the town again, this time walking toward Chris’s house. He didn’t have more work to her, at least for now. Which didn’t feel good. She needed to make sure that they moved out of Chris’s house. Not only because it would be a pain to be alone with Jill from time to time because of the dream. But she had also noticed that Alice gave Jill very mean glares from time to time, as if she by some strange reason despite her.

So the sooner the moved out the better. Otherwise there could be a chance that the “little princess” took a step to far, which surprisingly hadn’t happened yet.

“Are you out for a walk sister?”

Yet another person that Ellen didn’t want to meet.

“Yes. I am waking back to the house after finishing the work for Chris.”

After their drunk adventure so had Jill started to call her sister. Which made Ellen more worried if the dream really had occurred.

“I see. By the way, have your sister forgiven you for the little adventure we did?”

“She did say that she has forgiven me, but it really doesn’t feel that way.” Please don’t call it an adventure. It made Ellen feel embarrassed again. An adventure made it sound that she learned something new with Jill, in this case so was it something that she really didn’t want to learn. Something that not even should be said.

“Don’t look so uncomfortable, I had a really good time and hope you also had a good time.”

Jill giggled and started to search her bag, picking up a pipe. Long almost Asian looking pipe, or at least Ellen thought so.

“How will you make your sister forgive you?” Jill filled the cup of the pipe with tobacco while talking.

“I think the best way is to do something for her.” Words would probably have no effect at the “little princess”, so the best alternative would probably be to do something for her.

“In that case, will you do something for her at the clinic. Or will you talk with her about a cheap house and then install gears there when you have bought it?”

Both ideas from Jill sounded great. But since they probably didn’t have enough money for a house yet, so would it probably be best if she did something that could help her at the clinic.

“Want a taste before we go there?”

Jill offered her the pipe, but Ellen declined. She didn’t smoke, so it would probably only taste bad.

“Then let us go, I would like to see the clinic.” Putting the pipe away, the began to walk toward the clinic.

It was really good that Jill followed her there, otherwise so wouldn’t she have found the clinic. Not that she never had been there before, but she had forgotten the way after all that had happened. And it was all that fat bowling ball’s fault since he made a great mess around that time.

Almost in front of the clinic, Ellen did start to recognize the area.

This was great, if she could do something for Alice she would be doing it without hesitation. Even prepared to build another “angel” if it was needed.

A girl with catlike features stood in front of the clinic, dressed in worn-out clothes and looking lost. At a closer look, so it wasn’t only the clothes that looked worn out. Her hair and the girl herself looked like she had been suffering through a lot.

“Can I help you with something?” Ellen couldn’t leave the girl alone, if the girl was lost or something so could Ellen at least try to help.

“I am searching for a clinic that shall be around here somewhere.”

The girl’s eyes looked horrifically tired, like if she had cried for days.

“If you are searching for a clinic run by Lilly Lillium and Alice. This is the place.” Jill forgot that Alice had a last name, but of course it could easily happen since they hadn’t hold it for long.

“Alice? I think it might be her that I want to meet.”

The girl followed them into the clinic while small talking with them. For looking so small and worn out, she was surprisingly outgoing.

It turned out that her name was Lapin, and she had apparently been in touch with the clinic earlier.

“Good day Ellen, what can I help you with?” Alice still talked very different in comparing with how she did talk at home. At the clinic she almost sounded, well-behaved?

“I have a small thing that I want to ask, but to start with so are there a visitor here.”

Lapin walked up in front of her, slowly and carefully.

“Is there a possibility to get help again?” She did sound and looked really ashamed while talking.

Again, had the girl been there before? Had she got help from Alice before?

“I am glad to see that you are fine Lapin. May I ask why you stopped coming here?”

It turned out that the cat had gone through something, lost an important friend and then fallen back to her crystal addiction. After that so had she been so ashamed that she didn’t come back.

Crystal addiction, as the kind of crystals that Jack made? The kind of crystal that Ellen helped to make stronger.

If Alice didn’t want to help the poor girl, so would Ellen have to step in. It was after all kind of her fault that the girl had relapsed. She was the one that made them stronger, so she had some responsibility try to help those that had fallen ill because of it.

“Do you really want to kick the addiction this time, by whole your heart?”

It was not often Alice sounded that serious, not to mention that she glared at the girl as if she wanted to pierce her soul.

“I promise, I really want to kick it. I have even taken some distance from my friends that still takes those shines.” She was really serious. Still showing small signs that she was uncomfortable, but who wouldn’t when taking a step into suffering.

Lapin followed Alice into the room where the machine was. After a short time so was Alice helping the girl out and to a chair where she could recover some more.

“So, what do you want to ask Ellen?” Alice walked up to Ellen again with a big smile.

“After what happened when I was drunk that day, I feel that I need to do something for you.”

“You isn’t accepting that I forgive you and feel that you have to do something for me to accept it. You don’t need to do something for me, it was most probably not your fault that it all happened.” Her angry glares were clearing what she meant. She wanted to point out that it had all been Jill’s fault, and right off tried to kill her with her glares.

“But of course, if you really want to do. There is something I would like to ask you do for me.”

“How are you feeling Lapin?”

Lapin had recovered enough and joined Alice behind the counter. “I am feelin’ kinda good. Or at least I am not carvin’ for the crystals.”

For being so ashamed before, so was she very open about the addiction again. But it could be because of the “angel”.

“I didn’t know that you were a doctor.”

Just as when Lilly called her a doctor, it didn’t feel right. She hadn’t been studied medication or anything like that, so it still felt wrong for her to hold that title. Even if Lilly had told her that a doctor was one that treated those that needed it, and that was exactly what Alice did. So she was a doctor, even if her area had nothing to do with treating the body itself.

“It came with that I and my sister became citizens.” She cut it very short, but it was enough to answer Lapin’s question.

“You are lucky to been able to become citizens.” Her voice was filled with jealousy. Didn’t she only need to wait until she had kicked that addiction and got a job before she could become a citizen? Maybe it was too far away for her to see or even believe it.

Back in Chris house so had everyone else been eating already and was sitting in the living room talking.

Alice was all alone in the kitchen as she warmed her food. Not that she felt alone, but it could be so much nicer to have someone to talk with.

“Good evening Alice.”

As long it wasn’t “that woman” that kept her company.

“Evening Jill.” There was no need to even greet her proper or even looking at her. She was a no good woman, so Alice really didn’t feel that she needed to pay her any attention.

“Do you hate me because I and your sister went out on an adventure and left you behind?”

If it only would have been that easy so wouldn’t it have big this big deal.

“No.” Get it, don’t even try to be friendly. Alice didn’t need to talk with the one giving her beloved sister some bad habits.

After warming the food she took her place around the table, on the opposite side of “that woman”. That apparently hadn’t caught up to what Alice wanted to have said.

“You know that you won’t hate me less only by ignoring me.”

“I know.”

Did she need to spell it out for that idiot? She didn’t like her, and that was it.

“I was behind your sister when you asked her to make a machine that drags extracts out of plants.”

“I know, I saw you.”

“Do you know which plant it will drag the extract out of. Or would you like to get help from a traveller?”

Jill finally caught her attention. She had ideas of what she wanted, but not how to get it. And the plant she wanted, that was something she didn’t know about yet. She had plans to search through books and ask around. But it could go just as well by asking “that woman”. If she knew something that could be useful, that was.

“Do you know what you want?” Jill seemed to be serious about her offer.

“I know the effects of what I want, but not how to get it.”

As payment for the treatment that Lapin achieved, so was she working behind the counter at the clinic. Or rather, she tried to work. Withdrawal symptoms was a big problem, not to mention that she could either read or write. It was already a wonder that Alice hadn’t thrown her out since there had been some problems. Even if Lilly tried to help the girl, which only went so-so. But at least it took a little weight off Alice’s shoulders.

It had been around two weeks since the number of patients started to increase, and it was still increasing. Enough to force Alice to ask for an extra key to the clinic so Lilly didn’t need to wait for Alice when she was forced to work over. It was one pain that she could save Lilly from.

“Alice, are you making sure to not overworking yourself.” Lilly kept an eye at her like a worried mother. Not that Alice dislikes it, but it wasn’t necessary. It was only a waste of emotions, vaulted emotions. That Alice couldn’t feel. If it only would have been the same thing about bothering thoughts.

In Chris’s workshop so had Ellen done some small adjusts at the new machine that Alice had asked her to make.

A machine that somehow reminded her of the one that they now called “angel”. But this machine was very special. Ellen would have dropped the project after her sister had told her it would be used to create something stronger than morphine. If it wouldn’t have been that Ellen did the simple mistake to promise to create it, no matter what.

“That should be it.”

She turned to Jill that had a bunch of strange flowers. It was those the purifying gears would pull the extract from. A flower that Jill helped them getting in a horrible quick way. She didn’t tell them how, but she had got help from a friend she said. May not Jill be doing something bad and illegal. It was already enough that she voluntary tried the extract for them, which both Ellen and Alice had been protesting about. But yet she got her will through in the end.

“I think it looks good.”

Jill mixed it with water and injected it, looking like a functional junkie. The dose Jill took was only the half of morphine that Lilly would give. Alice thought it was best done like that since she tried to get something stronger than the other.

They had to find what they were searching for to “the princess”. Jill lightly cut her body to see how much she felt, which apparently wasn’t any at all. A side effect with that she took it was that she had a hard time to even stand up. But she was frightening happy through it all. May that thing never get into the wrong hand.

“Don’t worry, it will only be doctors that will get their hands at it. So there will be no one there isn’t in need that will get it.”

Jill was fully recovered and spoke to calm Ellen.

“She got a point, and they will hold even close to it since it’s so strong.” Chris had joined them for some drinking in the living room.

“I really hope so.” Ellen still wasn’t sure. The same thing had happened in the other world, and there it didn’t matter how tight they hold to it.

“Pardon!” Someone screamed while entering the house. Ellen was closest to the door, so it did falls upon her to and check it.

Alice was in the door opening and lending at poor little Lapin, wasted enough to not knowing which side was her behind.

“What has happened here?” She ran to help to support her sister, offering Lapin in as she leads Alice.

“Ellen, I am glad to have a sister like you.” Alice gave her a weak hug as they walked.

They were all surprised to see Alice like that.

According to Lapin so had Lilly first off, made sure that they didn’t have any work the next day. Then she had taken them all to a bar where she treated them at some drinks. Nothing stronger than normal, but it had apparently bit Alice very hard. And only Alice.

“It didn’t hit me that hard sister.” Alice hadn’t let go of Ellen when they took their place on the sofa.

“Little miss, why don’t you stay for a drink?”

Both Jill and Chris insisted that the little cat would stay for one or a couple of drinks, even offering her a place to sleep if it got too late. They couldn’t after all send out a fragile girl in the middle of the night.

Lapin was hesitating at first but still choose to keep them company in the end, after some pressure.

They had been drinking and small talking half the night away when Chris decided that it was enough for everyone. He had learned the hard way that at least Jill easily could drink the whole night away.

Alice that had been hugging Ellen as if she was glued to her sister, suddenly let go of her sister at the middle of the floor when they headed toward their room. Crying rivers, screaming. Without a reason or likewise.