When Az sent that text, he waited for a few minutes.... a few minutes of silence.

She didn't respond to his text. Which was unusual, Erica was generally a very prompt woman when it came to replies. It didn't matter what means it was through, texts or calls. She always responded quickly.

There was a chance she was in the shower, but she had a smart speaker in the bathroom that would alert her to a text, and she'd tell it to send a response of 'currently busy, will reply when I can. sorry.' or something else of the sort, which was quite prompt.

This time though, he got nothing in return.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

Azazel was met with silence. When he knocked again and called in, there was more silence.

It was disconcerting.

He made his way to a secluded and hidden part of her backyard before using his mana to get inside.

He appeared in her bedroom, as that was where he left from, and looked around, wondering if maybe she was in bed. The room was empty, and it looked like it hadn't been touched for a few days.

When he made his way downstairs, he found Erica on the floor of her living room, her back against the couch and her head laid back.

At first glance, she looked to not even be breathing.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

When he got close enough, it was easy to tell that she was breathing.

She stirred when he laid a hand on his shoulder, seemingly woken up. She didn't really move.

"... hey..." She said, her voice quiet, subdued. She sounded like she'd been through hell, and that ethereal quality to her voice was stronger than normal.

He could feel the mana of her arm, feel it writhing beneath his hand, beneath the clothing, and up her neck. It wasn't as far as it had been, it was subsiding, but it was still there, still peeking above the scarf.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

Erica was silent for a moment before sighing. She didn't move though, just let out a breath, one long and pained breath.

"I..." She started before slowly pushing herself to more of a sitting position.

"...." She just sighed, heavily, and pulled her knees up.

"No clue."

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

Erica, who had shifted to just have her head on her arms, which were on her elbows, just sighed.

"I... have no idea." She admitted.

"I ... just..." she paused, sighing.

".... I feel like I'm coming down from the worst trip imaginable." she admitted. "That'st he best way I can put it."

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

Erica was silent before just sighing, heavily.

"I..." She started before just shaking her head.

"I don't know. I just... I can't make heads or tails of any of this, and Az..." She started, pausing before meeting his gaze.

"Az... it terrifies me. I've never been that close to the edge, and I just..." She shook her head, obviously a bit shaken by whatever it was that happened.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

"Thank you, Az." Erica said queitly.

"Just... can you let Sharp know that... that I won't be able to come in for a bit." She added after a moment or two.

"I ... I really don't think I can." She added. "And I don't know how long this is going to last."

"... I just really hope this doesn't last long... I would prefer to forget the past few days."

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

"To... put it lightly." Erica agreed.

"I don't know why, I don't know what happened. I just... All I do know is that I feel like I almost succumbed, as if this damned curse just about got me." She addded with a small sigh.

"Az... I'm terrified... am I out of time...?" She knew he couldn't answer that, but at the same time, know that if anyone could know... he was the one that could know anything.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

"Thanks, Az." Erica said quietly.

"Just... that's all I can say." She added.

"once I've got my head in the game again, properly, I'll see if I can figure out what happened to cause this." She added after a moment or two.

"Because this terrifies me, and I can't sit by and do nothing."

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫

Erica was silent for a moment before chuckling. That was a nice distraction, possibly.

"I... Once I'm not useless, I can make up more. How were they?" She asked, her voice curious. There was a quiver there, something that he'd heard so very rarely from her.

She really was terrified, something he'd never actually witnessed. At least not to this extent. Sure, she'd woken up from nightmares and been terrified before (but hers are more night terrors with the intensity. Rare though, thankfully), but he'd never seenher quite like this before.

".... Unless you want the recipe." She then said a few seconds later.

".... then ... then you wouldn't have to worry about me being able to.

♫Turn off my brain, this all feels the same♫