Twelve Hours

It had been around twelve hours since Lotte had left her room, since Ethel had been stolen from her. In that twelve hours, she got eight hours of sleep. The other four she tried to sleep. She was convinced they were just in her head, not real. She thought she could shut her eyes and that they would disappear. They wouldn't, and she couldn't.
Pick meee...
I've been waiting for years...
Me next...
She paced for what seemed to be forever. It was only thirty minutes. These voices, she remembered them. It was what Ethel saved her from. They were coming back. She missed Ethel. Every step felt like an eternity. They were so annoying.
My turn...
Me next...
Come on...
Don't listen to them, its me...
I've waited thousands of years...
Me...
Fuck them...
"Shut up." she said aloud in a small voice, an impatient voice, a dead voice. She thought that she could find a promising voice, a voice that did not sound sinister. A voice like Ethel's, to form a contract with. They all sounded wicked. She did not trust any of them.
Looottttiiieee...
Pick me, you slut....
I've been watching...
I'm better than all of them...
"Shut up."
Make us, Lottie...
You can't, Lottie...
We're here, Lottie...
Pick me, Lottie...
Lotte clamped the bangs of her raven black hair, wincing. Why couldn't they be quiet for two seconds? This was torture. Four hours of this and she already had enough. Though the faint drones of the voices, she heard a different noise. She felt it. A stomach growl, she was hungry. Could she really go outside like this? She decided that she had to eat sometime, and got as best prepared as she possibly could. She got dressed in her uniform, taking the time to discard the one she had slept in. While in her nakedness, however, the voices intensified.
You've grown, Lottie...
Thank you...
Pick me, cutie...
I could get used to this...
She immediately covered up. They could see her even now? She found it hard to change while constantly covering herself, change while eyes always watched. Nevertheless, she achieved it, brushed her messy hair, and exited her room.

Down the path, the girl looked as if she were in a trance. The voices prodded her. They messed with her. They demanded she pick them. They demanded her. She made it to the cafeteria, ordered what she saw first, and plopped down in an empty seat. The voices inspected the food.
Looks good...
It's been a while...
I haven't eaten in a while...
Let me eat...
Pick me...
Pick me...
With each chorus, she winced. Her head hurt. She wanted to die.

Emelia was having a great day, on the other hand. She didn't have malevoilent spirits watching her undress, she didn't just lose her best friend, and they were serving her favorite food in the lunch line. So all in all, things were going pretty good. It was always good to look on the bright side of things after all.

Things hadn't actually been all rainbows and sunshine for her either in the last few days, but she took it as best she could. Since her birthday, she was officially the same age as her brother was when he passed away. And this morning she woke up only to vomit into the trash can by her bed. Also, sometimes if she looked close enough, she could see the faint green glow of the poison in her blood, and could swear she could feel it spreading throughout her body. She had nightmares almost every night now of agonizing pain as her own power killed her from the inside out. She wasn't going to share that anytime soon, however. No one needed to worry about her. For now, she was fine, and that was all that mattered.

The brunette had been just behind the other girl in line, and could see her visibly wince every so often. Frowning in concern, the Australian was just about to bring it up whenever the stranger finished buying her food and walked off towards a random table. Chewing at her bottom lip, Emelia kept glancing at the girl before smiling at the cafeteria lady and quickly catching up to the red eyed girl. She gently placed her tray and sat down in front of the girl. "Hey, you okay? Do you need me to get the nurse or something?" Concern was apparent all over Emelia's face.

Lotte looked up at the girl. Her face was in agony, her mouth slightly agape. Nevertheless, she shook her head. I hear voices. My power is going to kill me. she thought, but saying so would make her seem crazy. If she admitted to her power being gone, she would have to accept a new contract and face eternal hell, or live with the voices and face eternal hell. Her bottom lip quivered a bit as she held back tears, looking down from the girl.
Aww, she's crying. I'll make you feel better.
I'll stop your crying if you pick me.
I'm better than these fuckers.

Emelia stared at the girl's expression of pain, her mouth slightly agape. "Riiight." She nodded slowly, her voice laced with disbelief. The brunette picked up a slice of pizza from her plate and held it in front of her face. Before she took a bite however, she spoke. "Well, I'm just gonna sit here and eat this totally delicious pizza, and if you need anything, at all, if there is anything I can do to help, I will be right here. Waiting. Patiently. 100 percent ready to help." If this girl was gonna have a stroke or weird power trip then Emelia wanted to be as close as she could to help.

Lotte nodded silently. It took a while of awkward silence before she did anything else. That pizza did look rather delectable. She stared down at her own, the same food, and picked it up slowly, taking a cautious bite of the pizza.
I haven't had pizza in forever...
Let me eat pizza again, baby...
Pick me, I'm so hungry...
She put the food down immediately. Shut up, shut up, shut up. was the scream in her head, a grimace painted across her face. She was just trying to eat in peace. Why couldn't she eat in peace?

Emelia was nearly done with her food at this point. She sighed loudly and gave up on being quiet. She had never really been good at that anyway. "Alright, I'll say it. You look like you've legit seen a ghost." The brunette had no idea he insanely close she was to the truth, it was just a faint attempt at a joke.

Lotte smiled. At the irony of what she said, the girl smiled for the first time since she lost Ethel. "I wish." she said silently. "Now I only hear them."
Whether cryptic or revealing, what she said had basically summed up the girl's plight. It almost seemed funny, even. The voices in her head sniggered too. They did that a lot.