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News traveled fast in a school like Amityville and even if it didn't, Belladonna would still have known when the students arrived from the Islands simply because the campus wasn't so desolate anymore. One night she had gone to bed in quiet and woken to the assorted sounds of school life. It was a blessing, really, because the witch was growing restless of being alone. Though she still didn't have any friends to talk to, at least not yet, it was still nice to know that people were around. And even though Belladonna didn't have many people she could communicate with about the trip, there was one person...

"Text him~" Drawled the little black cat who had taken shelter under Belladonna's bed. The witch had previously been frantically pacing through the room and overturning various things (such as her sewing basket and book bag) in her frustration.
"I don't want to bother him." The witch replied to Binx with gritted teeth. The cat rolled his eyes, even though he knew the act was wasted since Belladonna couldn't even see him.
"You won't bother him. He might want the kinship." He paused. "And what's the worst that can happen? He'll say no?"
"YES!" Belladonna shouted with a stomp of her foot. She plopped down on the floor in front of her bed and buried her face in her hands. "If he says 'no' it means he hates me and I bothered him on the trip."
"Or it means he's tired and wants to rest?" Binx took a tentative step out from underneath the bed. "And maybe he hasn't texted you because something happened?" Another step. "What if something like what happened to you happened to him? You couldn't reach out to anyone..." He had now crept close enough to lay a small, kitty-paw on her thigh. "You'll be happier once you see for sure..."

As loathe as she was to say it out loud, Binx did have a point.
So with a heavy sigh, Belladonna reached for her phone and sent Mort a text.



The witch frowned at the text for it stank of desperation and worry, but there was nothing she could do about that. Things had gone sour on the trip and she knew, but without Mort's reply (since he had never replied) there wasn't much she could do about it. Except ask and hope he replied this time.

As per usual, the reply did not come as quickly as Belladonna would have wanted. It was often hard for her to remember that most people did not have the texting capacity she did, nor the dexterity in which to reply with such fierce quickness. So that left her with a few minutes in which to occupy her time until the zombie boy replied.
The up-ended sewing basket and book-bag had also up-ended all their contents, and since the witch was not one to leave something unclean for very long, she set her sights on righting that wrong. She was half-way through re-organizing the basket when her phone rang with a reply.
It was in her hand in a flash and she also read the message in a flash.

A look of perplexity took over her face in such a way that prompted Binx (who had resorted back to the top of her bed) to question it.
"He says 'yeah'. What does that even mean?" The witch drew out 'mean' so it sounded whiny and too emotional for her tastes. So instead she replied with a long text that asked him too many questions and made too many threats to just reply with 'yeah' again.



It wasn't a hollow threat, the witch really meant it. There had been too many field trips she had returned from and needed someone there for her. And at one point in time, she had been the one holed up in her room and had had people come to visit her in attempts to help. There was certainly no way that she would let Mort go the same route.
Not that she knew he was in his room. She just felt that was where he was. Hopefully...

By the time the text arrived, Belladonna had already begun to dress and prep herself for the visit. In either case she was to visit the boy, but she just wasn't sure if it would be by force or by invitation. She was much happier it was by invitation, however vague and unfeeling that invitation seemed.
Nevertheless, the witch dressed in the new dress she had made for herself during the school's absence. It was a deep black and spotted with little black skulls that from far away seemed like polka dots. She had sewed it a little too tight around the bust so that it cinched in and pushed up and created a deal more cleavage then she was, at present, want to show, but if anything Belladonna figured that would help. It had never hurt before, at least...

"I'm going out." She told Binx as she snatched up a black wicker basket. It seemed to have become her traditional care basket, whether the care be welcoming or help, but whatever the case it was soon to be filled with a variety of vending machine items. Her familiar wished her good luck and was even pleasant enough to receive a kiss on the head without any hissing or fuss. Belladonna grabbed her hat, thought twice about it and ended up leaving it in her room. Sometimes her hat felt so formal and if anything, now was not a formal occasion. She slipped on a pair of sandals and skipped from the room and across the campus.

Finding the Undead Dorms was easy. Finding Mort's dorm room was not so easy.



She wasn't sure if he would reply quickly or not, so she instead waited down in the lobby until she found a First Year capable of telling her which room Mort was in. (It had cost her a Sniggers bar, but it was worth it!) And with the knowledge happily acclaimed, the witch skipped to his door and stood outside.
Usually this was the point that Binx told her to knock or did it himself, as now was usually when Belladonna lost her courage. It wasn't that she was scared... It was just... Well... Things change. Especially on field trips. So maybe Mort didn't like her anymore? Or maybe something more wrong had gone on... Maybe he died again, or worse or --
Rat-a-tat-tat
The sound of her own knocking startled Belladonna enough that she was wrenched from the horrible thoughts of what could have happened to Mort. In a slightly wavering voice she called out "Its just Belladonna!".

A grumbled call from within let Belladonna know that this was not only Mort's room, but he was indeed inside. Yet it still didn't stop the deep stab of guilt the witch suddenly felt. She was intruding, plain and simple. She had just invited herself without warning and in a fairly rude manner. She could have at least waited for him to reply, but she didn't! (I mean, he had given her permission to come over, so that was close enough, she guessed.)
Belladonna felt badly enough about the whole thing that she worried over her actions until Mort came to the door. The small crack startled her and she jumped with a small "Oh!" before she smiled warmly.
"Hey Mort!" She replied, a little softly as she noticed it was dark inside. "Did I wake you?" The door creaked open and Belladonna bit her lower lip. "Did I interrupt your shower?" A towel was slung over his shoulders and his hair still dripped.
But through all that, he had changed! The picture had shown that well enough, but it was a different matter altogether to actually and physically see the differences. But there was something else too... Something else the witch couldn't quite place her finger on, but something had changed about the boy that didn't restrict it to simply physical appearances.

"Sorry in any regard." She told him as she swept past him once an invitation to enter was given. After a few steps in, Belladonna paused to take in her surroundings. She absolutely loved peeking into people's rooms as they were a direct correlation of their entire beings. Their personalities were prominently displayed for all to see and it was really lovely.
Well, Mort's room was... Lovely...
If you were into that sort of thing...
After another moment of just looking, the witch turned a little to look back at the boy.
"I brought some snacks! They're just, yanno, vending machine fare... But um, if you're hungry..." She let her sentence trail off and held out the basket to him.

And she just stood there, waiting with large, expectant pink eyes.
Something was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Belladonna could feel it the way she could wiggle her toes and feel them. It was a sensation on the periphery of her being, but it was there.
...But what could she do? She couldn't just grab him up and hug him until it was all ok... They were friends, but not that kind of friends...
So instead she just held out the basket and hoped and gave a small smile of encouragement.

It wasn't until he handed her the blanket that Belladonna felt the chill. She mumbled a 'thanks' as she tossed it over her shoulders and tried not to pout. In the past, the witch had visited the Ghost dorms plenty and never really felt bothered by the perpetual chill they enjoyed. (Mostly because it only appeared in spots scattered through out the building and there was always at least one warm spot she could find.) But, the witch couldn't recall if she had ever been to the Undead dorms. They weren't any different from the rest, only in appearance, but her traitorous body now told her otherwise. It really did suck sometimes to be one of the living in a world populated with the undead. Not that she was complaining about that...

Since she was hyper-aware of that something wrong, Belladonna watched Mort's actions with a keen eye. So when his own eyes found the food in her basket, she knew he must be hungry. And that something wrong became a little more clear, but not by much.
She took a step forward and pushed the basket onto him with a smile.
"Eat something, I'm sure you haven't." She took a step back then, not because she really wanted to but because she knew he needed the space. "There's a few Buttered Fingers in there. Have one."
Normally, the witch would never in a million years have pressed the buttons that disposed of the fleshy bar, but because she knew that's what Mort most likely enjoyed, she pushed down her own revulsion of eating flesh and got a few for him.

"Lanna!!" The witch cooed in way of invitation to sit. She swept over to the foxfire and plopped herself down on Mort's bed before she pulled the little pile of fluff into her lap and gave her a kiss on the head and many pets.
She wasn't ignoring Mort... She was just... Giving him time.
It wouldn't do any good to push him into talking if he didn't want to and while he was being polite, she knew that something wrong would surface soon enough. No need to rush it.

"You like my dress?" Belladonna tucked Lanna under one arm and stood, swishing the skirt around a little. "I think I'll have to remake part of it, but so far it turned out well!" After she said it, she realized how totally insensitive it sounded. Of course she had been worried, but now she was warring with herself over whether she should flat out ask him or let the conversation come around to it.
Finally, she settled with, "Its ok. I was worried, but I knew you'd come back."
No mention of 'you'd be ok', or 'that you survived in tact', because those were things she knew to be not true. That something wrong permeated the air and the witch knew that Mort was definitely not ok.

The witch let a tiny smile creep out when Mort said he'd always come back. Even if he was saying that just to appease her and had no real intention of always coming back, it was still better then nothing. Sometimes a small lie tasted better then a big truth.
And when Mort didn't say anything about her dress, Belladonna only shrugged her shoulders and tried not to look too hurt. The something wrong just kept getting more and more wrong, but there wasn't really anything she could do until Mort was ready to open up.

And at first, Belladonna hadn't noticed how very small Lanna had gotten. Her first hug had been quick as the pup wiggled in her arms, but the witch realized a moment later something was off... She wrapped her arms around Lanna again and lifted her so that she could lick her cheek, but she squeezed a little tighter and her heart dropped. Foxfires were not supposed to weigh this little. With more then a few of her own, Belladonna knew the average size of one and even some of the runts were bigger then Lanna was now.
The witch looked up at Mort as he asked her a question, but he was looking at the tv so for a moment she thought he was honestly asking it instead of her. She quickly found the discarded wrapper and noticed he was on the second one. He had eaten that so quickly!

For a long moment, Belladonna only sat there and stared at the boil, wondering what had happened to take away his caring nature.
"No..." She began slowly, thinking fast as she eyed the room. "No, I haven't heard anything..." Was there was a box of fear candy around somewhere? Could she maybe sneakily grab it and feed Lanna while Mort was distracted?
"I don't really have any other friends but you, so... I haven't heard a thing." She stood and pressed the foxfire to her chest. "Have you... Have you not been eating? Or feeding Lanna?"
The words were out before she wanted to say them, but this was serious... This was very wrong, indeed.

"N-no..." Belladonna managed to stammer out at his question. He asked it so harshly and with such a sharp gaze on her, that she sat back down on the bed in surprise. Never before had he been so... so... Rough in his manner. "Has she been whining often?" Maybe that was the wrong question to ask. Maybe all the questions she was asking were wrong...
The witch looked down to Lanna who seemed almost deprived for attention as she snuggled against her. Had Belladonna thought to bring any pet friendly snacks? Maybe she had grabbed a pack of fear candies by accident, it was totally possible...
So on the pretense of grabbing herself a candy bar, Belladonna shifted through the basket with one hand while the other held Lanna. As luck would have it, there was one package of fear candies. To be safe, Belladonna grabbed it along with a chocolate bar and took her position back on the bed.

"I'll give her a little something in any case... You got a snack, so should Lanna!" It was a false joy the witch put into her voice, but it sounded real enough. With still only one hand she cracked open the box and pulled a few candies from within, offering them to Lanna. She gave the foxfire another kiss on the head before she looked up at Mort and felt whatever little bit of warmth the pet had instilled in her disappear.
He was... He looked so angry! Had she done something to upset him? Why was he clenching his jaw like that?

"Mort?" The witch asked in a soft, nervous voice.

For a long moment Belladonna looked up at Mort, prepared for whatever would happen. She hadn't realized until he sighed that she had been holding her breath, and it too flew from her like a sigh. Before, she had been prepared to cheer the boil's spirits, to comfort him that whatever happened had been ok and was over now and wouldn't haunt him for much longer. But now, she needed to prepare herself to listen.
With deft hands, the witch scooped the foxfire into her lap and scooted over on the bed. She poured a few more of the candies onto her lap too. (It almost broke her heart how feverishly Lanna was eating them and made her question whether or not the rest of his pets were also starved for both attention and food.)
"C'mere." She invited with a pat on the bed next to her.

"Its ok if you're not over it. But come tell me what happened..." She paused and furrowed her eyebrows. "Carries? What's staying with you?"
A disease? That wasn't good... Had the students contracted some horrific Four Clans disease? Would they all start sprouting wings?! Well, that couldn't be altogether too horrific, but it would be strange for a fact...
Belladonna wanted to imagine Mort with wings, but it was an image she let go and promised herself to return to later, when it was alright to laugh...