“Cheta thinks that nothing is wrong here, but there is.” Chetter said, throwing his arms out wide. “You can sense it yourself, can you not? My family is falling sick for no obvious reasons, and something foul is afoot. But you, you seem to be able to fix it. There was something else I needed from you.” Chetter said, opening the door. “Come with me.”

“If you wanted me to help you, why did you not just take me there in the first place?” Levisia frowned as she followed Chetter down yet more corridors. “Are you trying to get me lost?”

“Just hear me out, please.” Chetter climbed up a set of stairs and went along another corridor, coming to a halt at a door that was partially open. “It’s my sister, Viola. She’s come down with the same illness that has been afflicting so many others. I wondered if you could… help her out, maybe?”

“Help her out? How?” Levisia peered in through the door. In the faint glow of the fireplace, she could make out a small figure in a large four-poster bed, with the curtains drawn back. Chetter fully opened the door to allow her to enter, and then closed it behind them.

“Whilst everyone here has been getting sick, Viola seems to have been affected the worst. We’re not sure why. She spends most of her time asleep, and when she does wake up, she’s incredibly tired and often falls asleep again shortly afterward. The most she is awake for is three hours.” He walked over to her bed and stroked Viola’s hair.

“Three hours?!” Levisia gasped as she approached the bed.

Viola’s breathing was incredibly faint, so much so that Levisia could only hear her once she leaned in closer. She knew the little girl did not have long left for this world.

“And you have no idea what has afflicted her this badly?”

Chetter shook his head, his face full of pain that he was trying to hide.

“We have no idea how to cure her because we don’t know what is up with her. I’m just hoping that she isn’t in pain during the time she is sleeping. I was hoping that you could do the same to her as you did for me.”

“You mean when you grabbed my hand and stared at me like I was some goddess?” Levisia snapped, her tone of voice harsher than she anticipated. She cleared her throat and carried on talking. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting that to happen. And you could have picked a better time to do it. You know, like when I wasn’t surrounded by the Kraidens who are all fiercely protective over me. And how did you even know about my powers? Not even I knew about them.”

Levisia had never met Chetter before, so it stood to reason that he had never seen or heard about her prior to her arrival. Even if he had been told that the Kraidens would be here, she was not part of the original crew and was more of a stowaway.

“It was your aura.” Chetter said, looking down at his hands. “There was something about you. Something that was soothing, and I knew I had to take the chance. And as soon as I held your head, I felt… purified. Like I had been healed.” Chetter glanced back at her. “But I also felt a glimmer of hope. Hope that you could help my family out, and Viola. This whole estate has been cursed. I had been waiting so long for something to come along and lift the curse, and maybe that something, or someone, is you.”

Levisia stopped to think about what Chetter had said. Aside from him being creepy and grabbing her hand without her permission, she couldn’t shake off the fact that he was telling the truth. There was something off about the Mentine estate, and a curse would explain everything.

But did he really think she had the power to fix everything all by herself?

“Regardless of whether you can fully fix things, you do seem to have some healing abilities. Could I… could I ask you to sit by Viola’s side for a while? Maybe you could hold her hand and see if that helps her out at all?” Chetter nodded to the chair at the side of her bed. “Please, that’s all I ask of you.”

“I… Okay, I’ll give it a try.” Levisia said, not finding it in her heart to say no to Chetter and the pleading look on his face. She sat down on the chair and examined Viola in closer detail. The girl’s face was a ghastly shade of white, pale enough that she could be mistaken for a ghost. Her lips were also drained of colour, and were incredibly chapped. Dark circles underneath Viola’s eyes gave her a gaunt expression, one that was more akin to a corpse than a living human.

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