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invader-zim42 — Bat Out Of Hell
Published: 2014-06-02 01:53:59 +0000 UTC; Views: 567; Favourites: 1; Downloads: 0
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Sandra was five years old when she first encountered the bats.Normally, she liked bats. She had always been fascinated by many things about them-how their wings were built like hands, how they slept upside down, how they “saw” with sound, and how the ones that lived near her ate mosquitoes, which she was grateful for. Most of all, perhaps, she liked how they, like her, preferred the night, and she had enjoyed staying up a little later than normal on summer evenings, searching for them against the darkening sky and eagerly pointing out their dark shapes to her mom.
Her mom, for the most part, encouraged this interest. As a teacher, it was her job to foster curiosity and pass on knowledge. She was glad that her daughter liked a type of animal that was commonly hated and feared out of misunderstanding.
It was because of this that Sandra had a close call with a far less benevolent type of bat.
At five years old, she had no concept of the Outer Worlds as a separate place, much less a dangerous one. She simply knew that she was in a fun place, not even having the word for an amusement park. Her parents weren’t anywhere near, but the thought didn’t even register. The building she had entered seemed very inviting, and the employees all smiled at her as she walked in. Best of all, it was an educational tour about bats with a ride at the end.
She filed in to the first room with the rest of the crowd. The lady at the front began speaking, and Sandra strained to stand up on her toes. “Hello, everyone! Welcome to the wonderful world of an animal that has captured the imagination…”
“Look,” someone near her whispered to one of their friends. “You can see the ride from that window.”
“Where are the cars?” the second person had asked.
“I guess this is a standing ride,” the first person said.
The second person snorted. “Can’t go very fast, then.”
“It’s not supposed to go fast. It’s supposed to be educational, and if we went fast we’d miss what we’re supposed to see.”
“Lame.”
The two men had stopped talking as the group was directed into the next room. As Sandra passed two employees, she caught a bit of their conversation.
“Nice group we got this time.”
“Uh-huh. The plants did a good job.”
Plants? she had wondered. There’s nothing growing down here.
“We’ve got a kid in here.”
“Perfect. She’ll be working for us for a good long time.”
Of course, as with her parents’ absence, she never questioned.
She listened intently to every word the tour guide said. She nodded with every scientific fact that was given, remembering when her mom had told her or she had read it. The one thing that confused her, however, was the mythology.
Who is Cammy Zots? she wondered. They keep talking about him. He has a funny name.
Eventually, they reached the last room. A narrow walkway edged a deep, dark pit. Rows of alcoves lined the walls, with straps hanging from the sides. A door stood between two sections of alcoves.
Two more employees were waiting. They gestured for people to step into the alcoves, securing the straps around them.
Sandra watched the two men from earlier as she waited for her turn. She could feel a shift in the air, and it made her uneasy.
“What’s this for?” the second man said, looking dubiously at the straps as he was fastened in.
“I dunno, safety stuff for the ride, I guess,” his friend said.
“What kind of ride do you have to have your hands behind your back for?”
One of the workers looked at Sandra, then at the tour guide. “What do we do about the kid? These were built for adults.”
“Put her in anyway,” the tour guide answered.
“If you say so, but I don’t think these’ll hold.”
“Just wrap them around an extra time. They’ll hold. Anyway, would you rather tell the boss that we let one go?”
“I suppose not,” the worker said. He turned to Sandra. She looked up, worried.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
The tour guide leaned toward her with a smile. “We’re just concerned about the safety equipment. I don’t think it’ll be a problem-you can still go on the ride. What do you say?”
“I want to go on the ride!” she squeaked, reassured by the tour guide’s demeanor.
The tour guide nodded to the other employee and motioned to Sandra to step back into the alcove. As she did, the two adults twisted the straps around her wrists, connecting the ends with a loud click. They stepped back, and the tour guide’s smile hardened.
“So young…so gullible.”
They walked away, and she felt her unease return as a searing fear. She looked around and saw unsettled expressions on most of the other people’s faces. Some simply tracked the progress of the employees as they left the room.
When the last worker had left, the lights went dim. A scraping sound filled the room. She looked up and saw a rusty door opening near the top of the room. Abruptly, it stopped, and the scraping was replaced by a high squeaking.
A bat flew out of the open door. It was quickly followed by another. A few seconds passed, then a large group flew out at once, filling the air with the snap of leathery wings. Sandra watched mesmerized, smiling in delight and almost forgetting her fear. Someone nearby screamed, and she felt the urge to tell them that bats were harmless.
One began flying lower than the others. She watched as it circled, then landed on the man next to her. It crawled up his chest, then latched onto his neck. He flinched, but was unable to move due to the restraints. Her eyes widened as it leaned in and bit into a vein at the base of his throat. He jerked and struggled, then became still, a glassy look in his eyes.
She shrank away from him, looking around in terror. Already, more bats had landed on other people. Some wore the same blank expression as the man next to her.
The tour guide’s voice crackled over a loudspeaker, droning hypnotically. “Do not struggle. Let the bats feed. Let them drain your will. Subsume your will to us.”
A large bat suddenly dived straight for her, and she screamed. It faltered as the soundwaves hit it, scrambling its natural sonar. The sound cut through the cloud, and several bats dipped into the pit.
She struggled desperately. One of her wrists slipped out of the twisted straps, and she fell forward, leaning over the edge of the walkway. She screamed again, scattering bats in the air above her.
With a sickening jerk, her other wrist slipped out. Time seemed to slow as she hovered over the pit. The bats flew in slow motion. The exaggerated expressions of the few remaining people without bats seemed almost comical.
She felt a gust of air as a bat flew past her face. The world jolted into motion again, and she fell.
The air whistled around her, squeaking like the bats that blew past as she fell. She screamed again, and they fell back past her.
An updraft caught her, created from the beating of hundreds of wings. The bats began to swarm around her-not attacking, but flapping furiously. The wind slowed her fall, surrounding, protecting…
Even at five years old, Sandra knew the wind was her friend.
The wind stayed with her even as the bats thinned out, returning to their feast. She would later realize that it was a subconscious grasp on it, as she couldn’t actively draw on her powers yet. She knew she could fly, but the only person she knew who could do it whenever they wanted to was her friend Jake, who had wings. She landed gently on…
…On a pile of bones. She almost screamed again on realizing this, but some instinct told her to stay quiet.
From far above, she could see a shaft of light.
The tour guide’s voice echoed faintly. “Pity. The kid got out and fell.”
“What do we do about that?” her coworker asked.
“Nothing,” the tour guide answered. “Do you know how few people survive that fall? Even if she somehow did, we can always come back for her later and take care of this quietly.”
She waited until the light went out before moving. She felt around on the floor, desperate for a way out. In the darkness, she could see little, even with the night vision of her kind.
She closed her eyes, tilted her head down, and sighed. To her surprise, the sound echoed strangely. Curious, she brought her head back up and tried to force out a similar sigh. Instead of the same echo, the sound seemed to disappear.
She opened her eyes again in surprise. I can hear that! I can see like a bat!
She crawled forward until she felt a draft. She reached out and tapped her hand on the floor in front of her, then tapped to the sides. The sound disappeared the most directly in front of her. She kept crawling forward until her hand hit a solid surface. Dimly, she could see the outline of a doorway.
She jumped up and scrambled at the edges until she found a doorknob. Turning it, she was momentarily blinded by a burst of light. She turned her head until her eyes adjusted, then ran through, slamming the door behind her.
She was in a hallway with many doors. Turning, she quickly found the exit sign and ran toward it. She burst through another door into the outside air.
A long staircase stretched up to the rest of the park. She took the stairs two at a time until she stumbled, scraping her knees on the rough stone. Tears stung her eyes, but the fear of being caught kept her from stopping and crying. She raced up the remaining stairs, looked around to make sure none of the park’s employees saw her, and then ran off, vowing never to return.
And yet, over ten years later, here I am again, she thought sourly.
It was the window that had tipped her off. As before, she had gone in, wanting to see something interesting about an animal she liked. Her friends, mostly humans that had somehow been pulled into the Outer Worlds, had all been interested as well. One look through the display window brought back her memories of her last visit. She watched the people in the last room struggle, the only outsider aware of what was really going on.
“Sandra! What are you waiting for? Come on!”
She gave a pained glance at her friends as they lined up at the door, waiting for the tour guide. Irene was first in line, followed closely by Natasha. Josephine, the most impulsive, had insisted that they come here and was now waving furiously at her. Elsewhere in line, she saw two other classmates of hers. Daniel was a reassuringly familiar presence who reminded her of other friends of hers, but the main significance she attached to him was being the friend of Samson, a human boy she had gotten protectively attached to.
At least Billy’s not here, she thought. Makes a nice break from dragging him out of supernatural trouble. The corner of her mouth quirked up. No, this is most definitely not the usual group of friends I’m saving from supernatural trouble.
She dragged her feet as she rejoined the group. “You guys sure you want to go on this? It looks lame.” She twitched, remembering how one person had said the same thing years ago.
“Aw, don’t be a washout,” Josephine said.
Sandra grumbled, scanning the crowd. With a jolt, she recognized the man in question-though older-in the middle of the crowd.
They said “subsume your will” and talked about plants. Did they mean that they send people they’ve caught back into the crowd to lure people in?
She began looking for other people she recognized. No one…no one…wait…
For a second, she felt as if the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. On the far side of the crowd was her friend Callie, who had gone missing two years ago.
“Hey, are you even listening?” Irene said.
“Ah.” Sandra turned back, blushing slightly.
Irene shrugged. “No matter. We’re about to go in anyway.”
“What’s the matter?” Natasha asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Might as well have been,” said Sandra, “but no. Just an old friend.”
“Why don’t you go over and talk to her, then?” suggested Natasha. “We’ll save your spot.”
Sandra frowned. “Honestly, I’m not even sure if she’ll remember me anymore.” She shrugged. “Stuff happened.”
“What kind of stuff?” Natasha asked, smiling deviously. The other two girls leaned in to listen.
Sandra stepped back. “Stuff that involves secrets that aren’t mine to tell.” She ignored their disappointed expressions and pressed closer to the doorway.
Oh, right. How do I get everyone out of here?
Her mind was still whirling furiously as she passed the tour guide at the entrance to the first room. The lady smiled winningly, and Sandra nearly recoiled in shock. It was the same tour guide form the first time she had been there.
But of course she won’t recognize me. I’ve grown up since then.
She chose a seat in the back half of the room with a view of the doors on either side. Her friends clustered around her. She noted that the boys were sitting in the back row of the front half, and that Callie was near the front.
She waited until the tour guide had started speaking. When she was sure the lady was completely engrossed in the display she was gesturing to, she leaned over to Irene.
“You trust me, right?”
“What kind of question is that?” Irene replied. “Of course I do.”
“Well…” Sandra shifted uncomfortably. “I’m going to ask you to do something for me without asking questions. We’ve got to leave. I’ve been here before-this place is seriously bad news.”
Irene’s first impulse was to make a sarcastic retort, but she stopped when she saw the worry in her friend’s eyes. Instead, she simply asked, “Why?”
“No questions, remember?” Sandra grabbed Irene’s wrist and started tugging on it. “Please. I’ll even go shopping with you later.”
Irene frowned. Sandra hates shopping.
“Okay. I’ll play your game.” She stood up.
“Leaving already?” the tour guide asked. “Hopefully I’m not that boring.” A few amused chuckles answered her.
“Bathroom,” Sandra blurted.
“If you hurry, you can get back before we move on,” the tour guide said. “It would be a shame if you had to wait for the next group.”
They passed the boys on the way out. Sandra heard Samson mumbling to Daniel.
“Why do girls always go to the bathroom in pairs? It’s weird.”
“That’s where they gossip,” Daniel answered.
They ran across the lobby to the bathroom. Sandra practically had to drag Irene. She only stopped once the door had closed behind them.
“Alright,” said Irene. “Now what is this about?”
“I can’t explain right now,” said Sandra. “Heck, I probably can’t ever explain because you wouldn’t believe me. This just isn’t a good place, and we need to leave as soon as we can.”
“Then why did you only bring me, and why are we waiting around in the bathroom?”
“So no one would suspect.” Irene snorted, and Sandra shook her head. “No, I know it sounds crazy and paranoid, but we really don’t want to draw people’s attention by just standing around in the lobby. Just wait right here-I’ll be back with everyone else.”
“You can’t bring the boys in here.”
Sandra shrugged. “I’ll just tell them to stand outside, then I’ll stick my head in and call you guys and we can all leave together.”
She turned and ran. Irene sighed in exasperation, but didn’t follow her.
She looked to see if anyone was watching before darting back across to the double doors to the first room. She paused for a second to wonder how it would look that Irene wasn’t with her, then wrenched open the doors.
The room was completely dark and empty. The group had moved on.
Oh, for goodness sake. She shook her head and continued running. The door closed, plunging the room back into darkness, but she still had a mental image of where the door was.
She pushed on the door. To her surprise, it didn’t open. She pushed harder. It still didn’t move.
Locked? To keep people from getting out?
A prickle ran down her spine, and she ducked. She felt something swoop past her head and heard a leathery flapping.
Lovely. They have their demon bats in every room to catch stragglers.
She pulled her phone out of her bag. With the press of a button, light filled the room. She noted that the battery was low. When the light hit the bat, it squeaked and flew higher. It circled around the ceiling, keeping its distance.
Okay, what now?
She slowly turned in a circle, letting the light roam around the walls.
Aha! “Staff only” door!
Keeping the light from her phone on the bat, she approached the door and cautiously tried the handle. As she expected, it was unlocked. She turned off her phone and slipped through the door into the bright hallway.
Okay. The lobby was that way, so the next rooms will be…this way.
She stopped at every door she passed to listen. The first few rooms were already empty. She felt a momentary stab of shock and panic before she remembered that the tour had passed through the first rooms that quickly the first time she had been there.
At the fourth door, she heard voices. She pressed her ear to the door and stood there, recognizing the tour guide’s tones.
Okay now…easy does it…
She slowly turned the knob and pushed. When the door didn’t move, she pulled. It opened slightly, and she paused.
Better not to rush in there.
She peered around the door and was confused to see only blackness. She opened the door a little bit wider, giving herself enough room to put her hand through. About a foot in, she touched cloth and relaxed.
A curtain, then. Perfect-I can probably enter unnoticed. I guess this room is the model house?
She stepped in and closed the door as quietly as she could. Finding a small gap in the curtain, she examined the room.
The tour guide was at the front again, working a complicated-looking apparatus. This time, the other people were standing up in a large clump. Natasha and Josephine were at the back of the group. Josephine stood on her toes to see, mouthing a comment at Natasha with an irritated look.
Perfect. Sandra pushed through the curtain and joined her friends. They turned around and smiled, and she made a quieting gesture.
“Good, you made it back!” Natasha whispered. “Where’s ‘Rini?”
“Waiting outside,” Sandra answered. “Now it’s your turn.” She nodded at both of her friends.
“Our turn?”
“Yep. We’ve got to leave now.”
“But this is actually interesting,” Josephine said.
Sandra sighed. “Please. I’ll make you a deal. You come with me now, I’ll let you pick the next ride.”
Josephine put on a thoughtful expression, and Sandra frowned. Josephine smiled at her friend’s discomfort.
“Okay. But you’re still going to have to explain later.”
“So ‘Sefi gets the next ride, what do I get?” Natasha said, elbowing her playfully.
Sandra didn’t even hesitate. “I’ll tell you all the details about me and Billy.”
Natasha looked stunned. “Wow. I was just kidding, but if you’re willing to spill your secrets you must really be worried.”
“Alright. How do we leave unnoticed?” Josephine asked.
Sandra looked around. She spotted a power cord plugged into an extension cord near the curtain.
“I’ve got an idea,” she said with a devious smile.
She dropped to a crouch and moved back to the cord. Without a second thought, she unplugged it. A surprised exclamation came from the front of the room.
“Excuse me just one second,” the tour guide said. “I don’t know why this machine picked today to give out. I’ve been telling tech support to get it checked out for a while, but they’ve never listened.”
“Did you press the wrong button?” someone at the front of the room asked, trying to be helpful.
“Maybe,” the tour guide said. “I think I can fix it. Just a moment, please.”
“Now, while she’s distracted,” Sandra whispered, grabbing the edge of the curtain. The other two girls followed her, stopping only for a moment at the “staff only” sign on the door.
When they got back to the lobby, Irene was waiting by the entrance to the tour. Sandra only had to give her a questioning look before she began to explain.
“You weren’t kidding when you said this place was shady,” Irene said. “Two people came into the bathroom looking for me. They were saying things like ‘we can’t let them get away’ and stuff. Good thing they were pretty careless.”
“Okay, so between how weird Sandra’s been acting and the fact that you’re spooked, I’m actually starting to believe you guys,” said Josephine. “Let’s go!”
“I still have to get the boys,” said Sandra. “Heck, I ought to take as many people as I can with me.”
“Where do we wait if we can’t stay in the bathroom?”
Sandra shrugged. “Just find someplace outside and nearby. I’ll give you a text when I get out, and you can tell me where you are.” Dimly, she remembered her battery, but she dismissed it. It’ll just have to hold out.
Without waiting for a reply, she raced back down the staff corridor.
She felt her foot catch, and she fell, flinging out her arms. Her momentum dragged her forward. She landed hard and lay winded on the floor.
As her eyes refocused, she noticed a logo on the base of the wall. She dragged herself over to it.
Styx Construction and Reclamation? Isn’t that Sam’s old front?
She considered the irony of befriending a boy with a similar first name to her old enemy as she pushed herself up. After walking and hopping a few steps forward to test her legs, she began running again.
By now, they should be about…here. Wow, that’s almost all of the way through!
Listening at the door revealed that the tour group was there. She considered her options, then decided on the same approach as last time, cracking the door open and looking through.
This time she wasn’t even facing the front. It took her a moment to realize that the door was hidden behind a large pillar. Breathing a sigh of relief, she entered and hid herself in the crowd.
The boys were in the middle. Gritting her teeth, she elbowed through the mass of people, earning a few glares and a strange look. Approaching Samson from behind, she grabbed his sleeve. He jumped.
“Jeez! What the…oh, hi, Sandra. When did you get back?”
“Just now. Get Daniel-we’re leaving.”
“Wait, what?”
Sandra sighed. “Just trust me on this one-or better yet, look around. Do you see any of the rest of our group here?”
Samson considered it. “Well, no, but I don’t see what that has to do with it.”
“I’ve already convinced them to leave, and they really wanted to stay. Look, you can ask Irene to back me up on this when we get out.”
“Well, if you’re so adamant about it,” he relented. He tapped Daniel’s shoulder and gestured to the door. Daniel turned around, saw Sandra, raised an eyebrow, and nodded.
“Give me a second,” she said. “Let me grab one more person-the more people we can take out of here, the better.”
She turned to the nearest person and looked them in the eyes. “Excuse me, but…would you please leave with us? This place is dangerous, and we’ll explain when we get out.”
It was as if someone had flicked a switch in the man’s eyes. He turned back to the front. “Hey! This girl is causing trouble! You need to do something about her!” He pointed at Sandra.
Wait. That shouldn’t get that kind of response. Maybe a sarcastic comment, but not…oh crap, he’s one of them.
“Run!” she shouted at the boys. She turned back to the staff door.
“We have a code red in room 5C.” The tour guide’s voice stopped Sandra, and she looked over her shoulder. The tour guide had pulled a handheld device out of her belt. “Backup requested.”
“Well, not that way, then,” she said, and ran to the door on the right side of the room. She pushed against it desperately, although she didn’t expect it to open.
The boys slammed into the door on either side of her. With their combined force, it groaned open. The tour guide looked momentarily shocked, but quickly composed her expression.
“No need to worry,” she said to the onlookers. “Occasionally people have panic attacks at the last minute and have to leave. We’ve prepared for things like this.”
“Well, that sure doesn’t sound ominous,” Daniel said as they pushed forward into the darkness. Sandra grabbed her phone and flicked it on as the door closed.
“I think ‘prepared for this’ means the bats they have in the rooms,” she said. She pointed her phone upward so they could see the creature fluttering just below the ceiling.
“Oh, cool!” Daniel said. “I didn’t think we’d actually get to see any bats up close!”
“You would have for sure if you had stayed,” said Sandra, “far closer than you’d have liked. Now, normally I really like bats, but these guys…aren’t so great, and they’re why we have to get out of here.” She ran across the room. “Come on! I don’t know how much battery life I have left!”
They rammed into the next door, opening it like the previous one. The bat swooped past their heads into the next room.
Great. Now there’s two of them.
They continued through the next few rooms the same way. Each time, the bats followed them, their numbers compounding.
“Hey, wasn’t this that house room where they told us bats wouldn’t try to get in our hair?” Daniel said. Sandra saw the curtain in the back of the room.
“Kind of ironic,” Samson said, looking up at the mass of shadows around the ceiling.
“Well, that just means we’re almost out,” said Sandra. They charged at the next door, opening it with a groan from the hinges…
The light went out.
The boys plowed into Sandra, pushing her into the next room. The force of the impact and the disorientation of sudden movement in the dark compounded the sick feeling of fear that washed over her.
“Well, great.”
The three of them collectively stumbled forward. Unlike most of the rooms, this one was not a straight shot between doors. Various pieces of furniture had been arranged in order to form a convincing model of a room.
Samson swore off to her right, and she turned her head, although she couldn’t see him. “You alright?”
“Just stubbed my toe on something,” he said. “Fine, but all this running and running into things had better be worth it.”
“Sure it is,” she said. “You like your free will, right? And yes, I will explain that one if we get out of here.”
“If?” said Daniel, somewhere behind her.
Sandra felt a chill down her spine as many small air currents hit her back. It was as if all of the bats were flying low and had formed a large clump behind them.
And right now, that wouldn’t surprise me at all.
Suddenly a pulse of high sound came from behind them. Sandra heard the boys stumble.
“What was that?” Samson asked. “I felt something weird in my ears.”
“It was like a whistle,” said Daniel, “except I couldn’t really hear it, just feel it. Sandra? You got a dog whistle in your bag?”
She froze as the sound came again. In a flash, she could make out the locations of many large objects around the room.
It’s like it was back then. I’m seeing with sound…and if I’m the only one who can hear it, then…
“Guys? I think the bats are doing it. It doesn’t make sense, though. It’s all coordinated.”
She darted to either side, grabbing her friends’ wrists. “Don’t freak out-it’s just me. I know where the door is. Just follow my lead!”
They ran in the direction she told them. A few seconds out, she shouted.
“Brace for impact!”
A large wave of air went over their heads as they opened the door. The bats scattered, then reformed their group, continuing their synchronized sound pulses. The sonic screeches blared in Sandra’s head, showing her the way.
“Brace!”
With three more rooms, the cloud became thick enough to reach up and grab a bat as they passed. However, their furry guides kept their distance even without any light.
Weird. Is it because we’re moving?
The last door opened easily. The three fugitives flinched backwards from the light, turning their heads and covering their eyes. The cloud of bats was thrown into disorder as the light knifed through them.
“All right, we did it!”
They blinked as they moved slowly to the door, letting their eyes adjust. Sandra scanned the lobby. On finding it empty, she flung the door open all the way and strode out boldly.
The flapping sound gave them only a second’s warning. They flung themselves to the floor just in time for the bats to fly out over their heads into the light. The bats blew through the lobby and out of the propped-open front door, gathering in a nearby tree.
“…Wow,” said Daniel as they picked themselves up. “What the heck just happened?”
She thought about everything that had happened over the last few minutes. The more she thought, the less it made sense, unless…
“Maybe…they really were intentionally helping us, and maybe they didn’t want to be here any more than we do after all.”
“By this point I’m ready to believe just about anything,” Samson muttered.
“So what now?” Daniel asked.
“We find the others-“
A sickening realization lanced through Sandra, bringing her back to her knees. “You guys go ahead. Tell them not to wait for me. I’ve got to go back and get Callie!”
“Too late,” said Samson, pointing to the display window. “That looks like our group.”
She ran to the window. Scanning the group, she saw that Callie had already been strapped in and was not resisting. The sudden pain was replaced with a dull ache.
Two years. I’ve finally found one of my best friends only to lose her again.
She sighed. Daniel picked up on her resignation.
“Okay then, what do we do?”
The corner of her mouth quirked up. “We run like a you-know-what out of you-know-where.”
They left quicker than the bats. Sandra paused outside to look at a map of the park, then pointed in a random direction and started running. The boys followed her.
Her guess was correct. In a minute they found the other girls standing by a boxed fortune teller. Natasha looked up, saw them, smiled, and waved.
They skidded to a stop by the others and stood gasping for breath. The girls moved closer to them.
“Sorry we couldn’t stay by the building,” Irene said. “Tons of people poured out and were looking everywhere.”
“You said you’d text,” Natasha said.
“My phone died,” Sandra replied.
“I guess this means we’re cutting our day a bit short?” Josephine asked.
Sandra shook her head. “I don’t think that’s really necessary. That building’s got a logo in it that I’ve seen before. It involves someone who probably set up that whole thing. If I remember correctly, none of the other places here were bad.” She thought. “Anyway, we probably want to lay low here for a while. They might have sent someone to the front gate to look for us just in case, although they probably think we got it in there.” She shrugged. “It was like that the first time I was here. They thought I died, I got out, and now I got you guys out.”
“Yep, and thanks for doing it,” said Irene. “Now I think you owe us an explanation.”
Sandra sighed. “Yes, I do. You’re still going to have to accept that I’ll only tell you part of it. Some of it involves other people’s secrets.”
“Other people like that other girl you said you knew?” Natasha asked. Sandra nodded.
“By the way, where is she?”
“Nope,” said Sandra. “They got her. They’ve probably been using her for a while now…bringing her back every so often to drag more people in…”
My gods, is that really how they’ve been brainwashing her for two years?
“Hey, maybe you can ask the fortune teller if anything good will come out of this, or if you’ll be able to rescue her later,” said Josephine, gesturing to the box.
Sandra snorted, eyeing the life-size doll and the coin slot. “One of these fake things? I doubt it’ll even say something remotely related.”
“You said I could choose the next thing we did,” Josephine retorted. “Well, I choose this. We’ve been goofing off with it while we were waiting for you, and now it’s your turn.”
Sandra sighed. “Well, if you insist.” She fished around in her bag for a quarter and dropped it into the coin slot.
In the back of the box, gears whirred to life. The mannequin’s six arms moved, and lights went on at various places on its body. Smoke shot out of two pipes in the back. A scratchy, mechanical voice issued from the speaker in the front.
“I am the keeper of life’s mysteries. What answer can I give thee to please?”
Feeling ornery, Sandra simply said, “Callie.”
The gears spun again, and the arms continued to move. The lights blinked in an indistinguishable pattern.
“What was found was lost, what was not sought was found. Great misfortune to innocents doth yet abound. With time comes readiness, your friend shall be restored, like a vision, unchained, like a phoenix, reborn.”
The machinery slowed, then stopped. The lights went out and the smoke dissipated. Sandra stared, stunned.
“Well, there you have it,” said Josephine. “One, it worked. Two, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about Callie because everything will work out.” She stretched her arms. “What now?”
“Anything,” said Sandra. “You choose again, ‘Sefi. Just get me moving so I don’t have to think.”
Josephine shrugged. “Well, it’s ‘Tasha’s turn now.”
“Let’s go to…The Dragon’s Fury!” she said. “It’s fast ride time!” She took off running. “Come on! ‘Rini! ‘Sefi! Sandra! Sammy! Danny!”
Sandra sighed, then shuffled off after the group. It would take a while for her to stop hurting. So much more was at stake than they could possibly imagine, and the sting of failure was sharp.
Well, at least they’re a supportive group.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught an image in the spray from a fountain. She turned to look.
Two short and cartoonish-looking girls were standing on a rocky outcrop. An old, gnarled and dead tree was standing next to it, with a young red dragon perched on the top branch. The girl closer to the edge was wearing a white sundress and had a ruffly hat crammed over her pale blue hair. Despite the clothes, Sandra recognized it as Callie immediately. She had a phoenix perched on her shoulder, and she was accepting a large speckled egg from the dragon. The other girl was standing in a ready position further down, wearing a suit of armor, her hand on the hilt of a sheathed sword. Her back was turned, but her head was turned sideways just enough for Sandra to know that it was herself.
Past or future? she wondered.
The vision was somehow reassuring. It took her a moment to figure out why.
In the background, the sun was setting. It had almost dropped below the horizon, and the stars were out. Sandra traced the familiar patterns, ones that she had seen since early childhood in the Outer Worlds. These stars had woven their way through her dreams many times, and through the dreams of all her supernatural friends. Callie had spoken of them often, having visited many of them.
For both of them, the stars had always spoken of infinite promise.
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Comments: 2
That was a really good read, I'm interested to see where it goes!
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Thank you very much! That one was a stand-alone short story, but I plan to do more of these in the future with my OC's. I keep telling myself that all my fanfiction is good practice for writing, and while it seems to have worked, I know I need to write for my own characters and setting and that this would be even better for my writing, so…feel free to stick around for more!
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