Violet Eyes

66: Momento Mori

Two Days After Halloween
Nerissa's Room

Nerissa woke up with a low groan and a thumping head. She was hungover, the previous night she had gotten drunk. Very drunk. It helped numb the pain of the past three days. She failed, that's what kept running through her head on a loop. Rhys lost his hand and she almost wasn't able to reattach it. Orion was killed and she was almost too late to save him. Nerissa was the one who convinced Nate to hang back and prepare for the rescue instead of getting there as soon as possible, and Oliver was killed. Except this time, she couldn't save him, and now Nyx was...broken. Nerissa hadn't seen her in days, she's just been holed up in her room. To top it all off, Nate was almost killed as well. She wasn't focused on her surroundings and Damien took her water and she couldn't heal Nate; and Nyx almost lost two of the most important people in her life that night.

Nerissa jolted and gasped when she heard knocking on her door. It was soft but it still made her heart race. She continued to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling, she didn't want to see anyone right now.

More knocks, and a voice. "Nerissa? It's me, please open the door." Nerissa looked at the door, that was Nate's voice. She got out of bed and unlocked the door before opening it. She looked at Nate with squinted eyes, the light of the hallway felt like she had just been hit by a flash bang.

"What're you doing here?" Nerissa said quietly as she held up her hand to block the light.

"I need to talk to you. Can I come in, please?" Nate sounded defeated, and he looked exhausted. He had dark circles under his eyes and his normally piercing green eyes looked dull. Nerissa's face softened slightly, she had never seen him like this.

"What about Nyx? Wouldn't you be able to talk to her a bit more easily?" She responded in a tired tone. She didn't want to be rude to him, but she wasn't sure she could help him right now.

"That's the thing, she's been locked in her room since we got back. She won't answer her door, and I don't want to...push her, ya know?" He explained himself slowly, he really seemed desperate.

Nerissa sighed and closed her eyes. "Okay Nate. Come in." Nerissa said and stepped to the side to allow him to enter. He walked inside before Nerissa shut the door behind him. He sat down in her desk chair and slumped back while Nerissa sat down on her bed.

Nate leaned forward with this elbows on his knees. "I didn't really come here to talk about...you know who...I came here to ask for your help." He said as he looked into her eyes.

"Help with what?" She responded as she tried to smooth down her hair, she didn't want to let on how run down she was.

Nate tried to talk before he looked away, choking up slightly. "Why won't Nyx talk to me?" His voice broke slightly and Nerissa's eyes opened wider. "She spent the night in my room after we got back, but I haven't seen her since. I haven't gone this long without seeing her face in...a long time. She used to tell me everything, now I can't even get her to tell me something." Nate buried his face in his hands in exhaustion. Nerissa scooted a little closer to the end of the bed so she wouldn't have to talk too loud.

"Nate, you of all people should know what she's going through right now. A member of her family was killed in front of her eyes. You know what that's like-" Nerissa cut herself off when she realized what she had just said. Nate was already giving her a look of shock that she would even say that.

"That was different. My father was a monster. He abandoned me and my mother the moment his Gift was outted. Then I discovered that he was some Gifted hitman who tried to kill me and my girlfriend!" Nate's voice broke again as he tried to defend himself.