Still nothing. She reached for another vial, shaking powdered mushroom caps into the bowl. The mixture sizzled violently, smoke puffing up like angry steam. Sid threw his arms out.
"Evelise! Hello?! I'm trying to talk to you!"
Finally, she snapped not by answering his questions, but by yelling over the bubbling mixture.
"GET OUT OF THE BASEMENT!"
Her voice echoed off the concrete, sharp and commanding. Sid blinked, stunned.
"What—what about you?!" he shot back. "If it's not safe for me, then why are YOU down here?! You're breathing all this in!"
Evelise didn't even look up as she flicked her wrist over the burner.
"I was built to inhale this. I have the lungs of a herbalist. Now leave."
Sid stared at her, torn between terror and disbelief.
"Built—? That's not how lungs work! That's not how ANYTHING works!"
"Sid. OUT."
