I have no idea what the heck Teal was thinking.

First, there’s a dying old woman bleeding all over our new carpet, then she’s latched onto the both of us and everything feels funny.

This

is not

the routine.

But my thoughts are interrupted by the sudden feeling of warmth.

In truth, I want to be afraid. Because this is so foreign, bordering on scary… but it feels friendly and welcoming instead. The woman’s hold on me goes from being clammy and tense, to gentle and soothing. Like drinking a cup of tea at the perfect temperature.

And when she speaks, I hear a new voice - so many voices. An older one, a younger one, one that sounds like Teal, and one that sounds like my own. They seem to swarm around the three of us; us hunched over one another on the bloodstained carpet.

“My successors,” she says. “My legacies - your oath to me; to perform, and to protect. For you are in power, devoted to all, and all are devoted to you.”

It all moves in such a blur. She’s not speaking fast, but everything seems to be going so quickly. I’m melting into her touch, and seeing stars…

“Do you take me to be your predecessor, and act as my heirs?”

I find myself drawn to her fingertips, her hands looking young again. Both Teal and I seem to move as one, replying in unison,

“We do.”

And we gently kiss her fingers, before pulling back.

“So it is sealed with a kiss, from me to you.”

The warmth inside me seems to build, enveloping me whole. There is the lingering of a kiss on my cheek, and it feels so… sad. It seems to trigger something in me, because I find tears springing to my eyes. They blur my vision, and I can’t see anything else for a moment…

Then when I blink them away, the woman is gone.

All she leaves is a deck of cards, and blood stains on our carpet.

And even those are starting to fade.