Now; pay the price.

I knew there was something very, very wrong before the pain even hit me. Blood gushed up my throat, and between my teeth; my jaw locked up as it chatters violently from the vibrations. Pain unlike any other I had experienced ravages my body as the sudden Vibrosis envolops my being. I look around, panicing, trying to see if Ashes or Zana were still in the room, but they've gone to who knows where by now. I try to pull myself out of the bed, the smell of iron filling my nostrils as even more vita pours out of them. I feel my blood glide across my body as I stumble to my feet, and hobble too the open door. I hear the sickening *crack* before feeling the pain as my right femur snaps underneath me, the agony forcing a feeble whisper of a wail from my lungs. I impact the floorboards, the sound of my ribs following my leg's example reverberating in my chest as I crawl towards the door...

"I can't believe he'd sleep with them! Damned, dirty, perverted..."

I see Cilla stopped dead in her tracks outside the doorframe; her face twisted in an near unrecognizable expression of dread.

"Gabbie, get in here!" Is the last thing I hear before blacking out; unsure if I'd ever wake again.

...

The sound of crunching metal, shattered glass, and Her scream suddenly coming to a halt fill my head, as I swim through a black void of thoughts.

I find myself observing my old body in the nights just after the crash. Shadows sit at the bedside; family for certain, but I only recognize the voice of the male, being that of my brother.

"Wake up, please wake up..." Begs my Mother, my eyes staying shut as I lay in my hospital bed. "Oh lord, please... He's my baby... He's just my little Dandy Danny..."

Silence; my mind too addled too respond too the woman who gave me life.

"Mom, it's ok." Whispers Lucius. "He's just resting. The doctor said he'll be awake tomorrow..."

"I just want my baby to be ok..." She sobs into her eldest son's shoulder. "Why, God. You took a daughter from me today... please don't take my son too..."

...

Monster.

Monster.

Monster!

"Monster!" Yells Cilla, straightening out my shaking body onto my side; the agony returning in full. "Stay with me!"

I could barely heard the anxious Incantations of Gabriella to my side, my ears too clogged with my own blood to properly make out anything but shouted words. As a golden glow envelops me, Cilla gently pulls me onto my back, pouring what I assume to be Soul Sedative down my bloody gullet. The pain, and vibrations, subsides slowly; but the shock and blood loss have left me as feeble as a newborn babe. I don't hear her, but I feel a Dry Incantation remove the spilt blood that covers my skin and scale; removing the horrid clogging in my ears and nose.

"What the Hells even happened!?" Yells Ashes; the loud noise causing me to shudder in pain, as though my eardrums had just been pierced by shards of lemon-juice soaked glass.

Cilla seems to notice my audio-agony, whispering in a frighteningly panicked voice. "Shhh! He's hurting."

I feel my grasp on the waking world slip in and out of my grasp; each blink of my eyes seemingly passed time by several minutes. I see several different faces pass by with each strange, dreamlike moment. Gabbies and Cilla's the first minute, Ashes and Zana the next; Scott, Rocky, Sam, Ariel and another I only vaguely remember, all popping past my line of sight as well. In what felt like minutes, hours had passed; my cognitive functions finally returning from "Abysmal Trash-Fire" back up to the usual "Salvageable Trash-Fire."

"H-hello?" I ask thin air, my voice now a ragged, rough, and horrid parody of itself; none present in the room as clarity returns to my mind. "Prissy? Gabbie?"

Nothing; silence.

I try to rise from the bed again, only to be unable to even lift the blanket lain over me; such is my weakened state.

What did you do, Madness? Was that the cost of a Song, even when done correctly? He sounded like he had been doing them on mass...

I lay in wait, staring at the ceiling as I rest my weary body, when an idea comes too mind. I form one of my "Wriggles", sending off the little tentacle fiend to look for my friends. Seeing through its eye, I have it move along the ceiling like a spider. My search of the Runacathy, however, was cut short; as I felt a hand suddenly grasp the shoulder of my body. Dissolving the Wriggles, I return to my own eyes, only to see Zana was the one grasping me.

"You're awake..." She mutters; teary eyed. "I wasn't even here when you woke up. I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for? Where is everyone?"

"They're out to meet with Miss Mortigan, and I asked to be the one to keep watch over you. I can't believe that you had to wake up right as I had to go to the little Sorcerer's room.."

Thinking back to last night, I ask. "Hey, are you alright after.... last night? I wasn't too rough, was I?"

Zana's face is suddenly obscured by her own hat; followed by the rest of her, as she pops away into her magical hiding place.

"D-don't just talk about it s-so brazenly! And n-no! You were fine... It felt... g-good."

Pulling herself up, she takes a seat by my bed. "What happened? After you fell asleep, me and Ashes went off to our rooms. Were you attacked?"

"I, well... this will take some explaining..."