Stayin' Awake

Mila was brewing her third pot of french pressed coffee and scribbling in her research notes as the sun began to glimpse over the horizon. She narrowed her eyes in irritation, as though the sun was a personal affront. 

She shoved herself back from her desk away from the window, standing to stretch and set her coffee to filter a second time through before rummaging through her fridge for milk and honey to mix it with. As Mila leaned against her counter, waiting for her coffee to drip slowly through its second filter, she felt her eyelids growing heavier. 

Before the corruption, it wasn’t  uncommon for her to pull all-dayers, passionately studying new subjects hours into the morning. But afterwards.. These days the fatigue pulled her by her throat to her bed, yanking her back whenever she tried to escape. She could feel her chance to take the cure slowly slipping away from her, but she knew it was time- before stage 4 could set in. 

She had left the black out shades open, morning sunlight steadily creeping into her 1 bedroom apartment. Her timer snapped her from her daze, and there were a perfect 2 cups waiting in her small glass carafe. She mixed everything up into a light breve in her massive drink cup, tossing a handful of ice cubes and a straw in and plopping back down into her desk chair, forcing her eyes to confront the brightness of the sun. Maybe it will help me stay awake. This would be much easier if- she shook her head, stopping her thought dead in its tracks. 

An hour ticked by, and her cup was already empty, save for the bit of milky water left behind by the melting ice. She poured over the research she currently had, knowing as long as she was deeply focused, it would be easier to remain awake. She tossed off her backpack, the rounded shell rattling as it spun to a stop on the floor. 

Her glossy beetle wings  reflected the sun as they unfolded, turning the area that showed through them a light pink. Out the window she could see Conquest sprawled out before her, sloppily thrown up buildings scattered out over the horizon, a dank humidity hung thick in the air. Mila hated it here; she knew that coming here would be the only way to protect Lapis from the violence with which the Corruption had tinged her thoughts. Her intense and constant analysis of her own condition was likely the only thing still keeping her from running rampant, committing crimes in the streets as many did. 

Mila scribbled down her daily symptoms in her journal- they had been steadily ramping up, particularly over the past week. She promised herself she would take it tomorrow, dropping her pen and swirling the pink liquid in its bottle.

She felt her eyelids start to grow heavy as she set it down, but she slapped her hands against her cheeks, the small jolt keeping her awake at least a little longer. This would be much easier if she was here. Mila silently lamented, admitting to herself what she had prevented herself from thinking before. She missed Lapis dearly. So much it hurt- but after the things she had said after her initial infection, she would understand if she never wanted to see her again.

She had felt it when it started to warp her mind- the desire to deeply understand the corruption, to research every inch of the elder mushroom. The steely strength of her will kept her faculties mostly intact. 

The sun had pushed past the height of her window- the eclipse was going to begin soon. Mila sat up at her desk, waiting for the shadow to pull over the moon, twirling the tears of salvation in her hand as the sun began to dim.