Evergreen Hospital was the site of much interest for the press in the following weeks, as it held the victim of the recent and shocking murder in room 303.

Madelina Arabella Orlova.

She looked like a corpse, her skin a sickly gray and her dark hair long. She wore a desaturated grey gown. Her surroundings were sterile and neutral in color.

She would stay in the room for the next couple of weeks, missing Halloween. It wasn't her favorite holiday, but she'd be damned if she missed Christmas.

She couldn't sleep, and spent her days reading a copy of an annotated edition of Alice in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass. It was the least frightening book in her possession, and she really couldn't handle any frights while she was recovering.

Her mother, Ana, appeared, taking time off work to visit her. Family were the only ones allowed in her room.

She didn't look a lot like Madelina, their similarities were more subtle.

"Do you know how many journalists asked me questions?"

Madelina did not look up from her book. "Did you answer any of them?"

"A couple, but most of them weren't worth an answer."

"Ok."

They both fell silent.

Ana spoke again. "Are you OK? You look as if you haven't been sleeping."

Tense, Madelina put her book down.

"How can I? You know what happened. Ask the nurse to give me some sedatives tonight, because there's no way it'll be sleeping on my own."

Ana thought about what to do next.

"Listen, Madelina, if and when you're willing to talk about your experience, do so."

Madelia didn't respond. Ana left soon afterward.

Later, Madelina went through the "get well soon" gifts. Scentimental roses from Daisy, a painting from Miku, and cards from many others. Some names she knew, some she didn't. She accepted the gifts, even though she didn't accept visits from her peers.

If Roxanne could get this close to killing me, who knows what the rest of my graduating class could do to me? It's best to be safe.

Madelina listened to some music to get her mind off of the...incident.

That afternoon, Sommerset (and her father, Pavel) swung by for a surprise visit. Despite Sommerset's rather intimidating appearance of a barguest, he was Madelina's dearest friend. She scratched his neck, which made him wag his tail.

"Have you been alright, Madelina?" asked Sommerset.

"I have been managing."

His ears drooped. "Is it true you've been having trouble sleeping?"

Madelina nodded. "But I'll be fine."

"Will you?"

Madelina was taken aback by the question. "I mean...I think so?"

Pavel joined the conversation. "You don't need to feel like a burden to your family, Madelina. I'm not my father-in-law."

Pavel's father-in-law, Madelina's maternal grandfather, was the biggest ass on the eastern side of the Bering Strait. When he died from a tragic accident involving camels, motorcycles, and lethal amounts of vodka, nobody mourned him.

"Look, dad, there's nothing to worry about."

"Still, is there anything you want to share?"

"Nuh-uh." She lied.

The rest of the day was boring. But that night, Madelina met Inky once again that night. She spotted him in the weak light of her reading lamp.

Upon seeing the pink amacualli, she asked him this: "Can you just come and go as you please now?"

"I guess, since I'm wearing the amulet now. Would you really want me around all the time while you recover?"

"Oh, no. How has my family been treating you?"

"Well. Though I can't say that Sommerset likes me all that much, your parents are cool people."

"I know."

"You look even more corpse-like than usual. Have you seen yourself in a mirror lately?"

"I know, I know, I haven't been sleeping well."

"Hell yeah, you haven't been sleeping well! Is this what that fucking bitch, Rox-?"

"NO! DON'T SAY THAT NAME AROUND ME!"

Inky was surprised by this response.

"Sorry, Madelina...I think I understand what's going on with you."

"Hah! Humor me."

"Since Ro-Ro has nearly killed you, you wonder if you can trust anyone again."

"How...how do you know...?"

"I've had friends-"

"YOU HAVE FRIENDS?! There's no way-you must be lying to me!"

Inky glared at her. "What do you know?"

He continued. "And your worry about a similar situation happening again starts to make you feel paranoid, which makes you drive people away, which makes you even lonelier than you were before? Am I on the right track here?"

Madelina was surprised. "I didn't expect you to actually know and understand it that well. Did you go through that?"

Inky scowled and turned away. "No comment."

Oh, so a yes? Maybe that's why nobody can touch him.

"So... what do you think I should do?"

"Get a fucking therapist. Your parents can afford one if they're willing to financially support the mafia over in Brighton."

"Uncle Alex...Goodnight, Inky."

"That soon? You aren't going to sleep."

"I'm going to take some sleeping pills. Leave me alone."

"Fine! Tell me when you're finally ready to talk about it."

Inky disappeared.

Madelina didn't respond. She took the pills, and turned out the light.