A high pitched noise sounded through the air like a faulty siren alarm, the Grand Healer Makehvia was laughing. She was the one who had greeted us at the door and was in charge of this place, House of Misfortunes.

"There is nothing wrong with her, human," she said. "In fact she is very much alive and can hear every word we say right now."

"Are you fuckin' with me right now? -"

"Edwin -" Atlas said in a warning tone. Makehvia had easily healed Atlas' wounds and Atlas recovered at an incredible speed, but that didn't mean it didn't come with a price. From the sound of it, the healing process really took a toll on him.

Atlas had heard of Makehvia's renowned healing abilities - in fact everyone in the Day and Night Societies had heard of her. She was extremely gifted with the art of healing, she was able to heal wounds on both Dayless and Nightless folks, which was something that most healers were incapable of, only limited to healing bodies of their own kind. Hence Makehvia was the only one with the title of Susleikha, The Grand Healer. He was surprised that she had agreed to accommodate them and took advantage of the opportunity while he was being healed to convince Makehvia to return to the Day Society. At that particular moment, Atlas reminded me of those greasy salesman trying to win you over with their wit and charm. Definitely not his glorious moment. Despite Atlas' earnest attempts, Makehivia was unmoved.

The Grand Healer was originally from the Day Society but she was exiled from her home when she was found to commit the greatest of all crimes - healing a Dayless. With nowhere to go, she had found a place stuck in between the two worlds of Day and Night, the City of No Return and built the House of Misfortunes from the ruins. However, the House of Misfortunes wasn't a running business and it didn't open doors to many. Makehvia might be a healer, but that didn't mean she had to be a saint.

Makehvia was a talkative character, she talked about everything and anything, from her past life to the speck of dust floating in the thickening air. I pitied her, with no one else to talk to except her own reflection, it must've been dreadfully lonely here. While I do appreciate the story-telling session, I really do hope she would hurry the hell up and cure me of this dumb disease. I didn't mean to be hateful but there was an itch on my nose that was torturing me so much right now. Of course, my needs would have to wait.

"Sorry... she just doesn't look all that healthy and alive to me..."

"Your consort -"

"She's not my consort..." Edwin corrected the Grand Healer. "She's my best friend."

"Your best friend is feeling lost - in here." A slight pressure was pressed against the middle of my forehead.

"I don't understand..."

"She needs guidance, a light to guide her back to her body."

"Right... I still -"

"Ed, we should go outside and let Makehvia do her thing."

"- Fuck no!" Edwin burst out, then whispered loudly. "You think I'll leave Ray alone with that - that thing?!" 

"C'mon, if you want Ray to live then let Makehvia do her thing." 

 A slight pause on Edwin's end. "Just... just don't hurt her okay?" Edwin's voice had a pleading tone. I've never heard him speak so gently. It made my heart ache. It was because that you keep doing these kind of things that made me... fall in love with you. "Hey are you listen -" I heard something crumple to the ground.  

The sound of footsteps carried itself out of the room and I was left alone with Makehvia. The feather-like thing was tickling my skin again.

"You don't have to be afraid," Makehvia said in a soft eerie tone. "I am only helping you see your true self."

Then I heard her voice echoing in my head, distant but gradually growing louder and molding into a voice that sounded like my own.  

You know this place... 

What are you on about? Get out of my head!

You felt it when you came here... If you want to wake up, then you need to search for that thread again, pull onto it and embrace it. 

I didn't care what kind of crazy this was, I had to wake up and so I listened to her. I tried searching for this thread, but was that exactly. 

Dig deeper, the voice encouraged me. 

So deeper into the depths of my mind I went. The light of the room seeping through my eyelids winked out and I was swimming in darkness. 

Keep going. 

Using the light as my torch, I dove through the layers of my subconsciousness  but I saw no thread that the healer mentioned about. 

Don't give up. 

Then there it was a flicker of gold, glittering in the murky blackness. I went for it, but struggling miserably against the thick, viscous substance that filled up this empty void in my mind. It seemed like a century had past when I finally got there. One end of the thread was swirling around freely, while the other end went up, above and beyond through the unknown. I waited for the voice again to give me the next instruction, but I was met with silence. 

Hello? What do I do next?

Nothing. 

Not knowing what else to do, I let my fingers curl around the thin strand, which felt non-existent in my grasp. As I did so, a sudden electrical current pulsed through darkness and shocked me momentarily. But my grip on the thread remained. That seemed like a good sign enough... I think. Now with both hands, I pulled on the thread harder, pulling with all my glorious might. The particles of black surrounding me stilled, no longer appearing fluid-like. Then a beat later the particles of black charged towards me, I let go of the thread. My arms went up instinctively to defend myself and my mouth was open wide but no scream came out. Millions of black particles  struck me relentlessly that felt like a million needles stabbing into your skin. Amidst the stabbing pain, I felt something snaking around my body and up I went, shooting through the layers at the speed of light. 

My eyes fluttered open, and I sucked a lungful of air, the oxygen ripping through my dry throat. 

"Water," I croaked desperately.