Eldry is a normal girl, enjoying every aspect of her current life. She got good grades, good friends, good parents, good social skills-

"May I have your order please?" (Waiter)

"Mmm... I... uhh... I'll get... this... please." (Eldry)

-good enough social skills, and overall feels happy with her life. If not for the annually caught flu the week before Christmas. It is the last day before the first symptoms show, so she is trying to enjoy her time with her friend(s) before she falls ill.

"Is it tomorrow already?" (Jinx)

"Yeah..." (E)

"Must be suck to have that same disease every year at the same time." (Lancelot)

"Oh hey there Knight of the Circle-ish Table!" (J)

"Yeah, and your name is a curse." (L)

"You know... how his parents are Arthurian geeks... right? No offense." (E)

"None taken." (L)

"What? I though you're on my side!" (J)

"Said the one who made her parents change her name to Jinx von Hiltor." (L)

"What he said..." (E)

"What? I just couldn't make them have Hitler as my surname with all the shit he's done. Even though my intention was to curse him!" (J)

"It's... not severe enough... I think." (E)

"I know I've been saying this too much, but please, stop trailing off in the middle of your sentence!" (J)

"I can't... It's too deeply... ingrained in me..." (E)

"Hey, did you guys see the news? Joseph Trident is running for president." (L)

The group of friends chat for a while, enjoying their drinks and each others presence, until a sneeze comes to Eldry.

"Ah... I guess it's starting." (E)

She puts on the mask she has been carrying around on and says her goodbye. On her way home she can already feel her temperature rising, which is a normal occurrence to her. She gets home, greets her mom and lets her know her annual week long sickness has come.

"It's interesting how you caught it with all the protections you've been wearing." (Melissa)

"That sounded wrong, mom." (E)

"You little dirty-mind!" (M)

Eldry eats a quick dinner with her mom, has a quick shower and cleans herself up before heading to bed. She sleeps well at first, but the fever gets too high in the middle of the night, so she has to take a small bite on a sprig of thyme she grew on a small pot on her night table. Somehow, it helped every time Eldry has caught this specific disease. She waits a bit for it to take effect, then goes back to sleep.

The following morning is just like how it normally goes, Eldry wakes up feeling terrible, gets out of bed and eats a small breakfast before going to school, the fever is light during the day. Even so, she is barely attentive enough to note down the important information in her notebook. The school day ends, and she goes home. Just like that, the week passes without any incidents.

On Christmas Eve, the last day of her suffering, she goes through a rare dinner with her dad at home, then excuses herself and quickly head to bed as she can feel the wave of fatigue washing over her.

Eldry sleeps soundly, and the following morning, she wakes up to the sun not risen yet, feeling really hot. She tries to throw her blanket away, but she feels like she is being crushed by hundreds of tons. She feels cold air blowing at her feet, as if someone lifted her thousand pound blanket up. A sudden wave of paranoia hits her, the fear of intruders, monsters, gross, slimy, decaying hands. Eldry can feel their presence. She tries to move her supposedly exposed leg, but is unable to even twitch, let alone shifting it. Her panic grows, and in the height of dread, she thrashes the bed with her limbs, hard, and not even feeling the blanket. She thrashes around more, and with each passing moments, the heat inside her feels hotter, until it's sends searing sensations through her body and makes her scream out loud. Out of no where, she was touched by hands, trying to hold her down. She resists, of course, but after a few minutes, she finally calms down enough to realize it was her mom holding her down.

"Are you alright honey? You were burning!" (M)

"I-I got... a fev-fever... dream..." (E)

"Here, thyme." (M)

Eldry nibbles on the sprig for another few minutes as she tries to clear her mind, which doesn't work. Yet another few minutes and she realizes it is because she is sleepy, so she closes her eyes and relaxes.

 As Eldry groggily wakes up, she felt more awake than ever, but some how still groggy. She feels the bed surprisingly stiff, and her hearing is a little echoey. She opens her eyes and she sees shimmering double of many things.

"Ugh... my head..." (E)

Eldry gets some aspirin and goes on with her day like normal.