Thankfully, the suffering was short-lived. Minutes after reading the djinni information, she sat beside the bronze toad and fell into a deep undisturbed exhausted sleep.

14

RELEASE

Pepper soup. Strong. With fish. She opened her eyes. Her stomach clenched with hunger. The light bulb was still shining brightly and Sugar Cream was glowing like Jesus Christ. The fact that she was wearing a long cream-colored dress and matching cream-colored veil added to the effect. Sunny’s mouth and throat were so parched she couldn’t speak. She was lying curled up on the sandy marble floor, her hoodie over her head, her sleeves pulled over her hands.

“Can you sit up?” Sugar Cream softly asked. She’d placed the tray of pepper soup and a large bottle of water beside Sunny.

She nodded, allowing Sugar Cream to help her sit up. She scooted to Sugar Cream’s desk, leaned against it, and gave her mentor a hard look. Her arm ached and itched, but she was alive. But she’d almost been killed.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Sugar Cream snapped. “You suffer the consequences of your actions. Let that be your greatest lesson here. You make your bed, so you shall lie on it.”

“It tried to kill me,” Sunny whispered.

Sugar Cream stiffened for a moment, meeting Sunny’s eyes. Then she picked up the bottle of water and handed it to Sunny. “Drink.”

Cool, soothing, goodness. Water is life; water is life; water is life, she thought. She drank and drank, pulling in as much as she could. She finished more than half of the large bottle before bringing it down and sighing. “It bit me,” she said.

“And what did you do about it?” Sugar Cream asked, handing her the bowl of soup. It was warm in her hands. A tainted pepper floated in the middle of the clear brown soup with large chunks of seasoned fish, tripe, and shrimp. It caused the soup to softly bubble. Sugar Cream handed Sunny a spoon, and she took it.

“I got the help of friends,” she coldly said.

Sugar Cream grunted and smiled. “Ogwu and her children,” she said. “Is that why the bulb burns as a portal?”

Sunny shrugged as she spooned the soup into her mouth. Her belly warmed and the rest of her body followed. For once it was good to eat hot, hot, hot tainted pepper soup. When she finished, Sugar Cream helped her up, inspected the bite on Sunny’s arm, and then, after deeming it not serious, helped Sunny up the many flights of stairs. Sunny’s punishment was complete.

The walk up and through the library was like a dream. She’d come to know the first three floors of this place well over the last year. But now, though she recognized everything, it felt slightly unfamiliar. There was a strange distancing effect, as if she hadn’t been here in five years as opposed to three days. She’d changed down there. And she was exhausted.