Chương 59: Chapter Fifty Five: Bad Dreams (Bad Dreams) Talkin’ Bout The Sad Girls

"Miseria?" Hmm? My eyelids fluttered, and it took effort to open them. Stuck together from extended sleep. Prying them open and rubbed at the crumbs. With some effort, I shook myself loose from a stiff neck and hefted myself up on my elbows. They sank into wet dirt, and slimy wet leaves. Well. I'm still in the forest, so that's still the same. But… My hair. Dark black locks fell over my eyes, and I brushed them out of the way. My hand? Holding it out in front of my face to see it blur together in the darkness.

Blinking away the crust I brought it close enough that my eyelashes tickled the back of my palm. Normal-sized. Dazed I slid it down the rest of my body. It all felt real. Fine hairs on the back of my neck all the way down to my bare arms rose. I'm in my body? My real body. What happened? Am I in the space? I can't remember anything. Groaning at the hungover feeling racking my brain before rolling over onto my hands and knees. Why am I wearing a white dress? Why is it always a white dress.

I pushed up joints cracking at the sudden stretch and found my footing unsteadily. Where are my shoes? My toes curled in the dead earth and I hopped from one to another to negate the feeling. What the hell happened after I fell asleep? Wandering aimlessly around the forest. Minding the trees and jumping at the sound of any life. But there wasn't much of it. Actually, I think all of those sounds came from me. Where is everything? Croaking frogs and the chittering of a bug close by.

The buzzing of wings fluttering against each other as well. Neon colors belonging to something poisonous. Howling of the harsh winds. All of it's gone. It's dark and cold, but oddly enough, it's not bothering me. Not the way it should. Shivers, wet red noses, and any other indications of succumbing to the cold are just... absent. I wrapped my arms around myself anyway and stepped forward. Dead trees and leaves swayed in the wind with me.

Subtly pointing where to go while I evaded any further danger by the skin of my teeth. It did not wait long.

"Grace…" A disembodied voice called for me in the distance, and I gulped. Oh. That's not creepy.

"Penguin…" I meant it to sound stern but it sounded squeaky. Nothing. If this is a prank everybody's dying. I will jump one of those stupid snakes, throw it in the space, and watch them run for their lives. I'm not playing. This is sick.

"Let me out guys…" Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Oh my god… Why does whatever that is know my real name? That's it, I'd rather trace my steps, I turned back. A hiccup escaped and I pressed myself against a tree. Illuminated only by a torch. A hunched-over shadow guiding a behemoth of a wolf farther into the forest. That's when I realized something rather strange. From the moment I woke up. Everything lost color—even myself.

The trees are all spectral grey and jet black. Even the light seems to have come from some noir filter. Everything's cast in shadows. I literally can't see color. No pink to my skin. The leaves crushed by my feet were eightee black to begin with or I just couldn't see any other color even with light ahead of me. The fire. It's just an explosion of white. Entranced and confused, I followed the voice deeper. The figure flickered like the flame it held, and I ran after their shadow.

My hand outstretched to pull apart the branches in my way, "Don't leave! Wait! Where are we!" I ran hard enough that my stomach began to hurt with the strain of it. Only their torch and the wolf beside it were visible to the eye now. The hunched figure was gone. I pumped my legs harder and pushed away branches that threatened to blind me with their arms. Don't leave! I skidded to a halt and almost fell over into the lake. Gasping at the close proximity I stepped backwards.

Calm, undisturbed waters rippled underneath me. My reflection stared back at me, but it didn't look right at first glance. I couldn't put a finger on it and I didn't want to. Looking every which way, I scanned the perimeter and the darkened shades of trunks on the other side of it. Regretting losing sight of the one person I could've asked, I hung my head in defeat.

"OH SHIT!" A monster. Hallowed voids of blood red bored into me. Crying despairing black tears that pulled something out of me like a sob. Large shadows danced behind her as she set one clawed hand upon the ground. They stretched out and moved like an extension of her. I sucked in a breath and stepped away from the lake only to run into a wall. The hunched figure I was looking for straightened up and threw off their cloak. An abyss for eyes saw right through me.

The trees stood with her like they were trusted soldiers holding knives. My ears rang and my eyes darted from her to the trees. Her black lips opened and her voice echoed off the trees." Το θέλεις αυτό; Θέλεις να πέσεις;?" The winds whistled louder until it felt like multiple people were screaming in my ears. I don't understand. I raised the volume of my voice to compete with the screams.

"I don't understand. I don't understand what you're saying! Please! Where are we? How do we leave?" I begged her to tell me, and she just…cried. Weeping like a baby with her mouth hanging so open I thought it dislodged. Like the ones my reflection had shed, a stream of ink flowed from the empty holes down her face. Her mouth opened again, but all that came out was a rush of that black liquid.

"EW!" Then she opened it wider. Horrifyingly wide, and a flock of birds erupted from her maw. I screamed so hard my ears popped and stepped back. Fighting with the birds that threatened to poke my eyes out, too. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD! I took one misstep. Just one. And that was all it took to make me fall backwards into the lake. Cold water engulfed me, and I opened my mouth wide to scream, but all that went in was water. I screamed bloody murder and woke up with a start.

Sweat poured down my neck and from my forehead. Beneath me, I could feel sweat drenched fabric and smell something herbal. Familiar. Incense. It smells just like her. What have they done? I scratched at my arms and face to get rid of the raised skin from their pestering.

"GET IT OFF! GET OFF ME!" The door slammed open and hit the wall.

"Miseria?!" Warm hands pulled me up and out of the covers I was under. Strands of platinum hair brushed my face. What? I looked around and saw a large face looming over me. White eyebrows pulled together with concern.

"What's wrong? Why did you scream?"

"..." Although this feels plenty real. Maybe this is a trick. I didn't recognize her earlier, but…it was a nightmare. Nightmares aren't—Oh. Oh I'm going to rock her shit. Oh, she better pray, "Mel, if that was you... I'm going to kick your ass." Swear to God.

"..."

"Did I die?" Maybe that was like one of those bad dreams people in novels get when they die? Then they get superpowers or like a script for the future. If only I could be so lucky. This feels pretty real, though. My hands are tiny again. Making little fists I struggled out of her iron grip to no avail. Niathe blinked and looked up at the sky for answers. No matter how much she prayed for them, the gods decided to let her figure it out on her own. Who is Mel? Is that a servant in the household?

Niathe smoothed out her expression to something charitable and tried once more, "Excuse me? Ria, it's me. Your mother." I narrowed my eyes with suspicion and sneered, "Sure it is. Well played, Mel. Well played. I've got something for you too. Chicken duty for a month!" At least! Even though I was playing along the thunderous sound of my own heart served as a warning. Maybe, I shouldn't overtly threaten her.

The Niathe look-alike tilted her head, caressed my skull with delicate, slender fingers, and started to push on it with her fingers.

"If only I could just pull it open…. Just like this…I'd put it right back…" Chills crawled up my spine, and I pushed her away from me. She's doing a real good job of nailing Niathe's usual weirdness— [Ria enough. That's not Melinoë.] Penguin? [Yes, it's me. Glad to have you back.]