As if hundred hammers were being smashed on my head and thousand needles were prickling my skin.

As if the cold and hot were fighting for who wanted to embrace Misty's body fully. There were shivers of chills and fever burning me all around.

Extremely wet and cold cloth was there on my forehead and someone was continuously pressing gently on my feet.

"Thomas, she's awake."

It was Keira.

"Change the side of the cloth," said Mom while pressing her fingers tips on my legs gently, blowing the pain away.

Thomas did as she told, wiping the drops of water from my temple along. That's when I could finally open my eyes and found him moving back.

"Hey there! Misty Sisty," he chirped.

I groaned heavily, letting out a strangled wail as the headache started jolting crazily. The hotness was way too hard to handle. My back was on fire. "Am I dying?" I choked out through the enormous pain.

My eyelids felt so heavy, it was hard to open my eyes fully.

"No. Just burning with a faint fever," said Mom who was sitting beside me on the right on my bed. Thomas was on my left while Keira had gotten up so I could see her.

"Urgh. . ." My eyes closed when I felt my throat and legs were shaking in extreme weakness.

"You will be alright, Misty." Mom asked politely as if I was a two-year-old.

"I hope so," I murmured shakily. She started squeezing my hand and arms while Thomas did the same.

"Does this help?" She asked while I nodded slightly.

Keira continued with pressing my feet. "I am sure, the Rucussa breeze caught her. She never takes care that she is a human among us." She looked at me with faint anger. "You might be immune to Wolfsbane or silver. But you are not immune to these chilled air."

I wanted to roll my eyes when Mom added, "Maybe, it's someone's evil gaze. I have told you million times to not go out without covering yourself. But you keep ignoring my words."

"As if I have won a beauty pageant. Mom, c'mon. . ."

"It's okay, mother. The wolves like her," said Thomas, winking at me. "Just a fever, Misty. A little back pain and hotness for six hours. And then, it will go away. You will be back to jumping and hooting."

"I will ask Elana to do some check," Mom muttered to herself while Keira and Thomas immediately groaned.

"Mother, let her breathe, first. It's not an evil gaze. Come on, she's burning. It's the breeze!"

Keira nodded. "If it is what you think, you could do it later. It's midnight and Misty hasn't even eaten anything yet."

I glanced towards the window. The sky had turned dark. "I fainted for more than six hours?" I murmured, and slowly the fear started creeping me out.

"She's paling." Thomas shook his head. "You females always make it worse," he said while giving them a blank glance.

He dipped the cloth from my forehead in cold water and put it back. I closed my eyes and breathed. But then again, I was fainted for so long.

"Is it something worse?" I asked Thomas, my eyes turning glossy, partly for fever and partly for the pain.

Thomas smiled tightly at me. "No. Other things are worse, I swear. The fever will go away. Don't worry about it. Now, I want to make you sit. So, you can drink the medicine your dearest Stephen sent for you the moment you fainted."

I blinked slowly, remembering something. "Where's my muffler?"

"It's here," Keira said while pointing at her neck. She smiled when I groaned. "Not giving it to you until you drink the medicine, he sent."

A wave of extreme weakness went through my body, the heat settled for a moment. But then, I was burning again. "Okay," I choked out, a tear leaking from my eye because of warmth in my eyes which I couldn't close.

Thomas nodded while coming closer. From my right, Mom too moved ahead, sliding her arm beneath my back. Thomas slid his arm right beneath shoulders and grunted. "I am going to raise you at three. Okay?"

I hummed shakily while he counted, "One. Two. Three."

A wail escaped my mouth when they raised me. Mom put two-three extra big pillows behind me hurriedly, using her other hand. And finally, they released me but wincing didn't stop. Tears leaked from the eyes.

"If you cry, it will hurt more in the brain and eyes." Thomas warned while giving me a tight smile. "The medicine will do wonders, Misty. The fever will run away like we are about to whoop its ass."

I tried to smile slowly at his words but then, the bottle of medicine came in my sight.

Mom was holding a glass bottle full of green liquid while the herbs inside weren't even grinded properly. There was yellow shade in the liquid and it was forming brown shadow on my quilt.

"Oh my. . ." I murmured while looking away. "Keep that away." Even the smell was terrible when they hadn't even opened the cap yet.

"It doesn't taste what it looks like. The yellow in it? It's honey. It sweet, Misty." Thomas said calmly.

I groaned hard, followed by dying wails. Keira was massaging on feet but it was only giving ten percent of relief that I needed. My legs were shaking in pain and weakness, it was hard to breathe.

Somebody needed to cut my head off because that's where the most torture was. Head was jolting extreme pain, eyes were filled with unwanted hotness and nose was aching from inside because well, I hadn't brought out the mucus properly.

"Just a spoon. Okay?" Thomas whispered while waiting for Mom as she had turned towards Keira. They both were bringing out the spoon and normal water from the bottle.

When she turned back towards us and brought out the spoon, I couldn't help but give them a blank glance. "You guys fucking kidding me?" I murmured through barely opened mouth.

It wasn't a spoon. It was a big curvy ladle that could hold soup that of a man's one time appetite.

"Stephen has perfect measures. You won't be feeling hungry then, neither any part will ache," Keira started to convince me. "I drank it in my childhood. I swear, I was alright within a day."

"Keep that away!" I muttered through clenched jaws when Mom started pouring in the liquid in the ladle.

"It is sweet. You will like it," she said, quietly.

"Don't kid me," I said while groaning when Thomas dipped a finger in the ladle and licked it.

"See, all sweet it is."

If it actually had been, then they wouldn't have been acting so much. I sighed weakly and kept shivering in the cold. Neither laying was comfortable, nor sitting.

Faint whimpers and hums were escaping me because of the fever.

"Tablets or capsules. No herbal shit," I muttered while panting slowly. "It stinks."

I breathed hard while Keira put a big round bowl at my lap. Mom started bringing the ladle closer while Thomas told me, "Go for it one big gulp. Take it like a pro, Misty. You can do it."

The leaves were poking out from between the liquid. How was I going to gulp it in the first place? I was close to pee in the fear of tasting something so disgusting and bitter.

I gave Mom an exhausted, scared look. She smiled at me. "I will make you your favorite dishes after this. Okay?"

I blinked while gulping slowly. The medicine looked like cow dung but a little loose. I closed my eyes. "It stinks. I can't."

"Just close your eyes and think about chocolate shake," said Thomas.

I did as he told while Mom brought the ladle close to my mouth. My stomach churned from the distasteful smell and from the fact that it was touching my lips. An urge to vomit had passed my throat. I gagged a little.

"Misty, it's for the better. Do it in one go and you will be all fine!" Thomas cheered while I slowly opened my mouth.

Silence hung in the room while Mom started talking sweet things. "You are going to be fine, sweetie. These pain will fade immediately after you have it. . ."

She pushed the ladle to my mouth as I took a big gulp and squeezed my eyes. Closing my tips tight, tears slid down my cheeks. I panted.

"Gulp it down!" Keira shouted while Thomas too started cheering.

To my surprise, the medicine was actually a bit sweet.

You can do this, Misty!

I collected some courage and gulped down the medicine. Mom knowingly pushed more of the medicine, going for the second gulp of mine. I filled my mouth and gulped while she took the ladle away from me.

I panted hard while tears all over my cheeks. My eyes were all awake but slowly the weakness came back.

"See, it was sweet. Wasn't it?" Thomas cheered while patting my weak shoulder.

I breathed out shakily and was about to nod when a foul smell spread all around me. Extreme bitterness filled my mouth and my stomach growled like never before.

Before I could even ask what was happening, a great urge came and I vomited the whole medicine into the very bowl, Keira had put on my lap.

Thomas grabbed my hair while Mom grabbed the bowl. More gags and more vomit. Some of it fell on her hand too and the smell around the room was unbearable.

"Whose shit. . . is this!" I breathed in between my pants. This was hazardous.

Some of the vomit had dirtied my quilt and some was over my lips.

Thomas and Keira stared at me with concern over their faces while Mom had a blank face on. She quietly picked up the cloth from behind, handed the bowl to Keira and started wiping my mouth.

"It's okay. It's okay. Do you want to do gargle?" Mom asked me sweetly, caressing my cheek. "Keira, bring some water from the bathroom."

Sobs escaped in pain while my heart was jolting from continuous urges of vomit. She pushed my hair away. Thomas gently removed a pillow from behind, making me lean a little now that I could stare at the ceiling in trauma of whose dung I had to gulp down.

An hour later they tried again. In between, going to the toilet was a journey of lifetime with Thomas carrying me to the seat and Mom standing there to keep me sitting and not falling.

The second try to gulp the medicine brought another round of vomit. Thomas offered me banana salad to calm my beating heart

"It's okay." I heard Mom whispering while controlling a sob herself.

I was now scared shitless. What was going on with me?

* * * *

". . . Just mix it in her soup." It was Pete.

"She is smart. She's gonna feel it in the first breath."

Eva?

"She isn't even ready for any kind of intake."

Aunt Kate.

"It won't work with the syringe. She needs to gulp it down. . ."

Mom was crying.

"Lets do one thing. . ." Beta Iago.

The pain and sleep was too much to be awake more than these ten seconds.

The darkness spread upon me like a well wisher.

* * * *

The light behind my eyelids was too bright to keep me sleeping.

My toes curled as I hummed slowly, moving my eyes left to right. Moving my hand, I removed the quilt from my neck a little. That's when I realized how weak I felt with my arms and legs.

Faint headache was still there.

I slowly opened my eyes, immediately squeezed them shut and winced hard as sharp pain jolting in my head. The sunlight was too much in my room.

Someone got up and walked towards the window, spreading the curtains enough to fade the sunlight from falling right on my face.

I breathed hard and realized that the hotness was still there.

"Mom," I murmured, shakily.

Someone grabbed my left hand, and squeezed. The cloth on my forehead was missing. Keira and Thomas were gone.

"I am here, sweetie." She said, kissing my cheek. "Do you need to go to loo?"

I shook my head while she started squeezing my forearm, gently. It was relieving a little.

"Open your eyes," she said lightly. "Tell me if you feel better."

I turned my head towards left and opened my eyes barely. Her cheeks were all red and she was trying hard to smile.

"You good?"

I nodded at her quietly but some whimpers escaped me on their own.

"What happened to me? Am I dying?" I choked out, closing my eyes and breathing hard.

She gulped shakily, her nostrils flaring. She looked towards my right slowly. Her face showing sadness.

A manly grunt echoed in the room.

I groaned in pain while slowly turning my head to the right. A sharp shock jolted in my heart as I saw the monster sitting on the chair beside the bed, looking big like he always was.

His reddish beard with the hue of grey was making him look raw as always. Blue checkered shirt with cuffs folded to the elbows, he was gazing at me with no expression on his face.

"I wish you were. But sadly, it is a normal werewolf fever that we often call, the Rucussa breeze," he said in his rough voice, clearing his throat briefly. "But you are a human. For us, it is normal one-day weakness. For you, it's hundred times painful and life threatening."

I closed my eyes and wanted to lick my dried lips but the weakness was too much. As if I was numb.

"If you stay in this pain for more than two days, your whole body will be paralyzed. If it goes for more than six days, you will be dead," he said, his rough voice filling my whole room.

That's when I opened my eyes and saw that the quilt was changed and my top was too. I looked around the room.

"Mom, where's my muffler?" I whispered, moving my eyes on her.

She looked around worriedly. "I have seen it somewhere." She started fretting.

"Here, it is." Gilbert said, snatching our attention. He was holding it in his hand and he pulled it from beneath his ass.

I blinked in anger but then, even glaring at him would take all of my energy.

"But I will only give it to you, if you take the medicine. Your mother doesn't want you paralyzed or dead," he said, looking at me. "Now, I am going to start it with a spoon. A real spoon."

My jaws clenched. The hotness made me shiver all the way down. The weak legs were shaking as I tried to shift a little. I have gotten sick of the same position.

"From your hand," I choked out shakily, tears of fever forming in my eyes. "I'll rather have poison than any medicine."

A long breathe escaped my mouth as I blinked shakily. "It will suit the drama."

Mom flared her nostrils while glancing at Gilbert, her eyes holding unshed tears.

While he was looking at me with clenched jaws and disturbed eyes.

The doors burst opened and Thomas walked in. "Oh! Hey, Misty! You're awake."

I didn't have the energy left to reply so I only breathed shakily.

"Then, think like it is a poison." Gilbert retorted while bringing out the glass bottle from behind his chair.

Just by looking at it, nausea hit me hard. "Mom, no!" I wailed the loudest I could.

She sat quietly, wiping her tears.

Thomas brought back a new bowl big enough to cover my lap.

"We won't be needing it," said Gilbert, giving me an amused smile which was one of the first times I had seen him doing it. "She ain't sitting this time."

Horror escalated to whole of my chest. I fought to open my eyes properly.

"Just give me the little bowl," he muttered to Thomas who brought it right under the bottle through which the monster was putting medicine on an actual spoon.

"You will be fine," whispered Mom while squeezing my hand. "Do not look at him. Look at me."

"I am not drinking that shit." I choked out with a sob while Gilbert let out a loud laughter.

"Oh, keep telling yourself that."

The anger filled in my veins, I looked at him through tears. "You are going to hell for this," I cried.

Thomas came from behind him and grabbed my hand. At first, he smiled but then, he tightened the hold on my wrist, nodding at his own father.

From my left, Mom pressed hard on my wrist to a point I couldn't move.

"Just don't prick her with your claws," joked Gilbert while I was burning in a life-threatening high fever. "Humans can't bear that much pain."

"Human can't bear your presence too," I wailed, whimpering in anger. "Let me go."

"You are gonna dying rotting with serpents all over your head. Eagles are going to feed on your decaying body," I muttered through my tears when he blew air on the spoon, getting it ready. "You frustrated pig of eighty-five kilos!"

Mom gasped. "Misty!"

"Let me go! Why are you holding me!" I glared at Gilbert. "I swear my father is going to kick you in your sagging balls in your dreams!"

"Your father is a ghost without legs to me and about the sagging, ask your mother—"

"Father!" Thomas gasped while looking at Gilbert in shock.

"Fuck you all. You all suck!" I choked out, crying. "Let me go. Thomas, I won't talk to you ever."

Thomas gave me a helpless smile.

"If only you stay alive," said Gilbert, amused. "Though, keep talking. The more opened mouth, the more the medicine will have the access."

I shut my mouth tight, looking at him chuckling. His greyish and auburn curls moved as he shook his head and brought the spoon right above my mouth.

"Now, what. No curses anymore," he mocked, an entertained gleam in his blue eyes.

"Just kill me already," I said through gritted teeth, looking at him in vengeance.

To my surprise, he shook his head in humour. "Something I have dreamt of, everyday."

Holding my nose tightly, he gave me a smirk while I stopped breathing. Trying to control from not getting affected by the lack of air, I blinked. But then, the control was gone.

My mouth opened like a bitch and he put the spoon inside, filling my throat with that stinky herbal medicine.

I tried to vomit it out but Gilbert cupped my mouth, patting my cheek.

"Another one!" He shouted.

I couldn't see who did it but the next spoon was ready in a second and he filled my mouth again by holding and pressing my nose tightly until I couldn't shut my mouth.

"Even a drop leaks from your mouth!" He growled when I tried to spit. "I am going to make you lick it!"

I writhed hard, trying to raise my legs which had gotten so numb. Two more times, I was forced to gulp down that shit.

When the fifth turn came, Gilbert asked. "Any last wish?"

Catching a long breathe, I choked out. "Say I am your favorite daughter."

Thomas snickered while Gilbert gritted his teeth.

"Not even in your wildest dreams!"

He clenched my nose tight. I tried to keep my mouth shut. But within a second it opened, while the medicine filled inside, nauseating my soul.

Tears leaked from my eyes when he left my nose. I swear, my nostrils had closed, pasted.

Mom let out a sob in relief, wiping my mouth while Thomas rubbed my wrists.

"Clean this." The voices followed while I closed my eyes.

"It started working. She is sleeping. . ."

"Bring the other quilt."

But in between these, a gritted tone kept echoing in my mind before I fell asleep.

"Favorite daughter? Huh?!"

________

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