“I have two conditions. One, when you reach the age of eighteen, the red bead will have complete authority over your body. Two, you’ll completely forget about this pact and everything that has happened here, including this place and me.”
Another day had passed, and it was already close to sundown when Mira fell asleep next to Bella. Her fingers were interlocking with Bella's.
The plates on the bedside table were utterly devoid of food. Mira made the decision to eat her meals so that when Bella woke up, she would be able to take care of her, and in order to do so, she needed enough energy. She was also concerned that Bella would chastise her for skipping her meals.
Bella’s eyes opened and began to glow red at the stroke of dusk. It was around sunset, and it had been twenty-four hours already since Bella fainted.
A few seconds later, Mira woke up due to Mirabella’s bark. She opened half of her eyes and looked at Mirabella, who was barking nonstop in the direction of Bella. When Mira shifted her gaze to the direction where Mirabella was barking, she noticed Bella seated on the bed. She jumped out of her seat with excitement and hugged Bella tightly. Mira burst into tears.
Mirabella was apprehensive. When she placed her paws over her eyes, she shifted her weight back and forth and pooched her buttocks.
Bella was not yet moving. Her eyes were still gleaming until the very last second when the sun had completely disappeared below the horizon.
On the other hand, Mira was utterly oblivious to Bella’s stares. She was by Bella’s side and was taken aback when she noticed Bella awake and sitting on her bed.
Bella’s iris glows, but they do not emit any visible light. All that is visible is her iris, which glistens and changes color to a gory red every time the bead tries to make contact with her.
When the sun sets, the bead links with her, waking her up and signaling to the undead to rise and heed her commands, which they do. However, it does not fully function until Bella reaches the age of eighteen, at which point the bead completely takes control of her.
Mira continued embracing Bella while expressing how happy she was to see Bella awake. She then turned to face Bella after pressing her firmly against her.
“W—why are you crying?” asked Bella, her expression befuddled.
Mira chuckled and sobbed once more.
Macy and Anastasia were down the stairs having a small conversation of comforting one another when they came running to Bella’s chamber after Mirabella called them, informing them that Bella had awakened.
Bella still had no trace of what had just happened. She would have no memory of the agreement and everything that just happened the whole time she was unconscious.
After the mishap, the people who were taken to the hospital were back in good health. The blotches on their skin have faded away, and their bodies are no longer sore.
The authorities have done a thorough investigation on the cloudberries, but they weren’t able to determine the primary cause why the cloudberries got contaminated with bacteria. In their announcement, they stated that the cloudberries had been infected by an unknown source and were therefore spreading diseases.
Days have gone by.
After the recent incident, the passage of time somehow took care of the virus. Everything went back to the way it was before. No more virus, no more face masks, and social distancing are no longer needed or observed.
[¬º-°]¬ [¬º-°]¬ [¬º-°]¬
Mira, Bella, Mirabella, Anastasia, and Macy were all having a picnic in the park.
They are taking advantage of the days when they were not permitted to stay outside due to the virus.
Mira, Bella, and Mirabella were running all around the park when Bella overheard a young girl, younger than her age, weeping after scraping her knees.
“What’s wrong?” asked Bella. She approached the young girl whose cheeks were drenched in tears.
The young girl didn’t utter a single word and continued to wail. When Bella saw her wound, she attempted to blow it.
“It’s okay. It’s only a scrape,” Bella said in between her blows. “You’ll be alright.”
On the other hand, the small girl continued to cry but was slowly calming down when Bella handed something over to her.
“Here!” Bella gave the young girl a zombie cat plush that she always had with her.
“It’s my favorite toy. If you stop sobbing, you can have it,” Bella offered as a bargain.
The young girl completely stopped crying. She wiped her snot from her nose and reached for the toy with her other hand.
“Lily?” A woman approached, her face filled with concern.
Bella cast a sideways glance towards the woman. She looked too young than her age and didn’t appear to be the child’s mother, but the kid recognized her. “Aunt Alicia!” the youngster mentioned.
“Bella?” While approaching Bella, Mira wondered aloud if Bella was in any kind of trouble.
Bella shifted her gaze to meet Mira. “Yes?” she questioned, her voice tinged with exculpatory overtones.
“Is everything okay?” Mira asked with curiosity. She was a little hesitant to ask.
Bella smiled and nodded.
“She scraped her knees,” stated Bella to Alicia. “But she’s alright. She’s a tough one.” Bella chimed in.
“I told you to be careful,” Alicia replied to the child, who nodded and smiled after showing her the plush that Bella gave.
Alicia and the child were about to leave after giving their thanks when Alicia was captivated by Bella’s ruby eyes. She extended her hand to Bella in order to shake her hand. When Bella took her hand, she carefully bore her nail into Bella’s skin but quickly removed it when she felt a sudden sharp pain in her finger.
Mira and Bella stood in front of Alicia, perplexed as to what had happened to her. Alicia made up an excuse about having a recent injury on her wrist to keep them from suspecting her. She stared at Bella’s arm, where she had discreetly attempted to carve her nails, but there were no scrapes to be found. She was confident that her nails had dug into her skin, even though it wasn’t a deep indentation.
Alicia locked her gaze on Bella’s crimson eyes for the second time. Before departing, she smiled and expressed her gratitude to Bella once more. The moment she turned her back on Mira and Bella, her expression drastically changed.
Mira was looking at Bella with a puzzled expression.
“What?” Bella asked.
“What, what?” asked Mira back. Mira was attempting to say something, but Bella couldn’t understand what she was trying to tell.
When Mira pointed her hands to the child who was carrying Bella’s favorite plush, she said, “I mean, it was your favorite toy.”
“Oh, that!” Bella nodded and clasped her hands together after figuring out what Mira was trying to tell. “I gave it to her on my own accord. It’s okay. I no longer needed that. I have you, Mirabella, aunt Anastasia, and mom,” Bella exclaimed with delight.
“After all, I’m a grown-up! You see, I’m turning eleven in a few days,” Bella uttered with a sense of pride.
“Oh, really?” Mira sarcastically remarked. “Then what am I? An adult?”
Both of them exchanged a giggle.