Blessed by Night

Chapter 84  Am I What She Said I Am?

It was another sunny and warm day outside of Moriarty Memorial Hospital. Aubrey Saint was walking through the halls wearing a beautiful violet dress and with her hair up in a bun, humming casually and carrying a small bouquet. It had been two whole days since her brother and her girlfriend were injured in a dungeon, and she had been traveling back and forth between the two of them a lot. Her brother didn't show any signs of waking up when she left the house last night, so now she was here to see Aisha. She would be lying if she said she wasn't worried, but luckily she had somehow managed to keep herself from falling apart during this stressful time. As she walked through the hallway, she passed by a hospital room with a familiar girl inside. Bianca Tate was sitting up in her hospital bed, staring silently at the space in front of her and seemingly very deep in thought. Aubrey suddenly came to a complete standstill as she hesitantly knocked on the door and poked her head inside. "Hello... is this a bad time?"

Bianca jolted slightly as if she hadn't heard Aubrey approaching, and she smiled exhaustedly when she saw who it was. "Nah, of course not. Come right on in." Aubrey hesitantly stepped inside and sat down on the edge of Bianca's bed. "How are you feeling? You guys came out of there pretty beaten up." "Y-Yea it was... definitely an unpleasant experience." She recalled. Aubrey could tell that there was more brewing underneath the surface, but she wasn't exactly sure if she should pry. She didn't know Bianca very well, and she had no idea if such a thing would be unwelcome. Eventually, she just decided to grit her teeth and make it known that she was there should Bianca need someone to confide in.

"I know that we may not be as close as you and my brother are, but if you're important to him then you're important to me so I'm always here to talk." Aubrey's words inadvertently caused Bianca's lower lip to tremble as she held back a wave of tears. "Am I... really important to him?" "Ah! D-Don't cry! But... yes?" Aubrey was horribly confused, and she had no idea what part of what she said could have set her off.

She was just hoping that she didn't somehow make things worse.

Bianca hung her head low and her entire body was shaking. "You know... this isn't me. Not the real me anyway." "Pardon?" "I was nobody before I got blessed... I was worse than garbage. When it finally happened I was so overjoyed that I made a vow to change myself completely. I changed the way I spoke, I wore sexier clothes, and I even tried to act more extroverted just so that people would like me. A-And it worked for a while but I don't think I can do it anymore!!" Unconsciously, Bianca's body began to heat up as she cried and the room became noticeably warmer. Aubrey had no choice but to get off the bed and take a few steps back, but even then she still felt like she was beginning to sweat. "When he sees what I'm really like and how I really am then he probably won't like me anymore! A-And it'll be all my fault because I'm the one who tried to tricked him in the first place!!" By now, Aubrey could fully understand what was going on but she really couldn't believe it. Why was everyone so crazy over her brother?? He made her eat his boogers as kids!

What part of that did girls find sexy?? 'I should come out with my own documentary or something. I have plenty of material.' She thought jokingly. "I-It's just like she said! I'm not good enough for him and I never will-"

"Bianca!!" Aubrey finally couldn't take the heat anymore and decided to speak up, causing the crying girl to regain control of her powers. "I thought you liked my brother." "W-What? I-I do but-" "Then why are you acting like you don't know the kind of person he is? If he knew just how much suffering you were going through for his sake, he'd be crushed." Bianca suddenly froze up like she'd finally had some kind of realization and remained motionless. "I'm sorry that people treated you poorly before you got your powers, and it shouldn't have made you feel like you had to become an entirely different person. You deserve to be yourself and feel comfortable in your own skin no matter what, and as long as you are still the same sweet  girl that you've always been, I'm sure my brother can fall in love with that version too."

'And if he doesn't, I'll crush his nuts for breaking your heart!' Aubrey thought.

Finally, Bianca wiped her face and laughed halfheartedly. "Do you really think so...?" "Yea, Mal's standards aren't really all that high. As long as you genuinely care about him and get along with Sei, there's no way that you won't have him stuck."

"Hehehehe! I'll take your word for that then... Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure."

Bianca gripped her bedsheets uncomfortably as she tried to ask the question on her mind without it coming off as strange. "Do you... think I'm the kind of girl that your mother would have approved of?"

Aubrey smiled brightly as she recalled the woman who she and her brother idolized more than anything. "Bianca, the fact that you would even ask means that you are exactly the kind of girl she would have wanted as a daughter in law." n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

More tears fell from Bianca's face, but instead of being ones of sorrow, these contained an indescribable joy. "Thank you!"

-

After leaving Bianca, Aubrey headed directly into Aisha's room and received an extremely pleasant surprise.

"You're awake!!"

"Oof!"

Aisha had been sitting up on her bed for all of two minutes before her girlfriend came barreling into the room and knocked her over again. "A-Aubrey? Y-Your boobs are smothering me..."

"I-I'm sorry, just deal with it for a few more seconds! You really have no idea just how worried I have been!"

"You two are such an adorable couple." Aubrey's entire body stiffened up when she heard a very familiar voice coming from right beside her.

Looking up, she found a middle aged couple with completely different aesthetics. The man looked like a cross between a biker and a pro wrestler, with a body that was littered with muscles and tattoos and was stuffed inside of a button down shirt and dress pants. He had a bald head with a full white beard that was reminiscent of Santa Claus, and one of the fondest memories of Malachi and Aubrey's childhood was when this man would come over to their house in a matching red suit.

Sitting on his lap was a much daintier woman with long blonde hair and a charming figure. She wore her usual glasses paired with a vibrant orange sundress with a sweater hastily thrown over her shoulders. These were Aisha's parents, Trevor and Marianne Rose.

"Ah, sorry auntie and uncle!"

Aubrey hurriedly pried herself off of Aisha and went to give her in laws a hug.

The two of them already knew and approved of their relationship, and as a result Aubrey had been spending a great deal of time around them as of late.

As Aisha watched her girlfriend embrace her parents, she was reminded of the horrible words of the doppelgänger inside of the dungeon. In the back of her mind she knew that creature wasn't really Mal and Aubrey's mother, and yet the words that it used to cut her seemed to be entirely too real. Would her aunt really not approve of her relationship with her daughter?

It wasn't something that should've mattered, and yet Mrs. Saint had practically had a hand in raising Aisha, so she of course wanted her approval. And with how easily she was defeated in the dungeon as well as the fact that a shadowy organization was able to break into her multimillion dollar home, she was also beginning to doubt her own strength.

Did she have the right to be with someone whom she couldn't even protect?

"Honey? What's wrong?"

Marianne had been the first to notice the fact that something was wrong with her daughter, and was rightfully concerned.

"Me...? I guess I'm just a bit tired I guess." She lied.

Aisha wasn't really one who enjoys worrying others, so if it wasn't something life threatening then she had a tendency to keep everything bottled up. But she had forgotten that everyone in this room had known her for all if not the majority of her life. They knew she wasn't being honest without even putting any effort in. "Honey, if you don't tell us what the matter is then you leave me no choice but to ask you in a way that you'll understand..."

Aisha's heart immediately dropped to her stomach.

"Mom, please don't I promise I-I'm fine! See!?" The young girl forced a smile onto her face to try to dissuade her mother, but it was of little to no avail. As mentioned before, Malachi and Aisha were practically like siblings. That means that the two of them had come up with all kinds of ways to piss each other off over the years, and to this day Mal had come up with the most vile method yet. Teaching Aisha's mother how to use modern slang. "Honey, I don't want to embarrass you but you're not giving me a choice. Lying is not very P of you~"

"Momma please!!"

Trevor and Aubrey were still sitting in the corner of the room, trying desperately to hold in their laughter and yet still failing miserably. Much to Aisha's horror, her mother was still not done. "Why are you getting upset? Can't a big homie be concerned about her lil homie?" "I get it, I'm sorry! I'll spill so please stop!!" Aisha pleaded.

"That's a bet, twin."

"MOM!"