Knock. Knock.
"Huh? It's almost curfew time," Eloisa muttered, glancing at her metawatch. She was still wrapped in her bathrobe, having just stepped out of the bath moments ago. The warm steam still clung to her skin as she padded across the cold floor. "Who could it be at this hour?"
She twisted the doorknob slowly, cautiously. What greeted her made her heart sink instantly - the tear-streaked face of someone she called her dearest friend.
"Ria?" The name escaped her lips in a breathless whisper. Without hesitation, she quickly pulled the girl inside, guiding her trembling form to the bed where they both sat down. The silence between them felt heavy, suffocating. "What's wrong, Ria? Tell me what happened."
It had been so long since she'd seen Ariana this shattered, this broken. The last time was... no, she couldn't think about that now.
"I remember..."
Those two words hung in the air. That was all Ariana said, but it was enough. More than enough.
