Deadly Nightshade
A child, aged around six, stands in a park. Her face is blurred, but who she is – that's rather obvious. She's me. I'm Bella, age fifteen. This right now is a dream – a rather third-person one at that. I would like to sigh, but I apparently have no body right now. So I settle for watching myself play in a park.
She, like me, has brown hair, but it's quite a bit shorter than it is now. Understandable, as this is taking place nine years ago. She steps toward a pond that I swear didn't exist a second ago. The pond is green, and it contains many frogs. Now that I think about it, I have been here before, around nine years ago.
The wind starts to blow. Her, or my, hair blows into my face. O yeah, this. I fainted, all those years back. I can see that the version of myself standing by the pond is looking a little light-headed.
But then the unimaginable happens. Beautiful black wings emerge from my back. My face completely changes, or at least the expression on it does. I now look deep in thought. My eyes reveal something else – I am now over a century old. I can see wisdom in my iris, which is not colored, but iridescent, like a diamond. A very breakable diamond. I wonder what I have seen in this form, and what sadness has brought upon the empty look on my face.
A single word escapes my lips. "Master."
I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock, which reads '7 AM'. It has gotten me up on time. I pat it on its head, thanking it for doing its duty, and shut it off in the process. I smile. I actually feel oddly refreshed after my vivid dream. I sleepily think that some kind of weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I laugh and roll my eyes at this crazy thought and decide to actually get out of bed.
I slip my clothes on. Then comes opening my door, and walking across the hallway – a difficult task on some mornings – and going to the bathroom. So I proceed to do that. And then stop in my tracks midway through.
Standing right in front of me is my best friend, Keshiki. Her family is Japanese and only moved here – which is Victoria, Canada, if you don't know – three years ago. Note that I mention 'her family'. As in, not my family. Not my house. So what is she doing here, and why does she have such sleepy eyes?
"You-"I start, before being interrupted by Keshiki explaining.
"My family kicked me out." She says, utterly serious. "I spent all of last night not sleeping, but hiking my way here. Through the forest between our houses. Which, if your state of waking isn't remembering so well, is ten miles." The last two words came out as a growl.
"I remember." I say.
"Oh, and before you ask why they kicked me out, I can tell you. Oh yes, I remember the exact words they used. 'Honey, we love you, but you have committed a great sin. Women are meant to be with men, not other women. We refuse to provide you with food, water, or shelter until you've corrected your ways.' End quote." Keshiki seethed.
"You always said they were going to catch you with Daphne one day…" I mutter.
Keshiki is just staring at me expectantly. "So… I can live here, right?" She questions, halfway shrieking.
"I don't know. After all, I'm not the only person who lives here." I reason, then pause to think. "My mom should be up soon…"
Speak of the devil, and she shall come. Out of the bedroom on the other side of the bathrooms, a certain women who I know very well pops her head. She looks more tired than me and Keshiki combined. Her eyes seem about to fall off.
"Who is that you're talking-"She starts, "Oh! Keshiki! How nice to see you! I'll be right out, just let me put my clothes on…" Keshiki and I exchange a glance, even though we are used to my mom's sudden mood changes.
My mother is a speedy changer, so it only takes a minute or two before she comes out of her room.
When she does, she cheerfully says, "Good morning! Would you two like some orange juice and bagels before we all go to school?" If you need some explanation for that last part, my mom's the art teacher at my school.
Keshiki nods to the orange juice and bagels. "Please, I'm starving." She begs, clearly not joking.
"By the way… why are you here, anyway?" My mom asks.
"It's a long story." Keshiki moans.
"Actually not that long," I modify, "It can be explained in four words: Religious parents, lesbian child."
"Oh. They kicked Keshiki out?" She figures out. Deadpan nods from both Keshiki and me.
My mom looks genuinely sad for Keshiki for a while, then reverts back to her usual cheer and marches downstairs singing some song about breakfast. My mom is a strange one.
By the time breakfast has been eaten, I glance at the clock. Lo and behold, it is 7:50! I need to leave by 7:40 to get to school on time.
"Um, guys…" I start, "We're late."
My mom jumps out of her seat and screams, as Keshiki and I stare at her. She looks sheepishly at us, before grabbing my hand and dragging me to the garage where the car is located. Keshiki follows.
It turns out that I am late to school, but not by much, as my first class, English, is starting late today. Actually, I think as I sit in class, very late. Fifteen minutes in, and the teacher is nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, the door bursts open. Everyone quickly stops talking and takes out their books, to appear that they're studying to the teacher. Except the arrival isn't the teacher. It's a dark-skinned boy with oddly blond hair and a tattoo of a flower on his arm. Despite the common association between flowers and girls, this particular flower is not girly at all. I actually think I might recognize it…
"I'm Adonis Argyris, a transfer student here, and I'm beginning today. Ms. Reye knows all about it…" He stops and looks around suspiciously. "Where is Ms. Reye?" He asks accusingly.
The whole room gives a collective shrug. Adonis sighs and takes the seat to my right, without asking.
"Sure, you can have that seat." I say sarcastically, pretending he was polite enough to ask.
"Oh, sorry," He stammers, "I should have asked. " Then, with a grimace, he adds, "I was really rude about that whole thing, wasn't I?"
Keshiki, seated in front of me, nods. Adonis looks really embarrassed and hides his head in his hands.
The teacher never shows up. Apart from that, the whole day goes normally. Somehow, Adonis ends up sitting next to me in almost every class, probably a blunder caused by the school board, like the blunder that caused Keshiki to sit in front of me in every class.
My mom has to work overtime today, and my dad's on a business trip, so Keshiki and I arrive to a deserted house.
"That boy, Adonis or whatever, gave me the creeps." Keshiki says.
"Yeah, tell me about it," I complain, "I think he was staring at me all day." I pause and reflect on something I just notice, then ask, "Is Daphne sick today or something? I didn't see her all day…"
Keshiki responds, "Who's Daphne?" I drop my school bag on the floor and stare at her, wide-eyed. I expect her to suddenly burst out laughing and tease me for falling for her joke. Keshiki's expression says otherwise. She's dumbfounded.
"Oh… no one." I hastily say, trying not to make this conversation any more awkward. I try to come up with some place to escape to. An idea strikes, not a good one, but an idea. "I think I left some stuff in the basement. I better go get it." I lie, and then run down the stairs into said basement.
When I get into the dark room, I turn on the lights and sigh. This day is getting really weird. First Keshiki showing up at my house, then the new student, now Keshiki forgetting about her girlfriend… I'm not really sure how to take it.
Suddenly, a strange pain comes over me, like my heart is being constricted and I can't breathe. Yet there's an odd emotion of freedom flooding my senses. Yes, that wall looks like freedom, my strained breathing sounds like freedom… I focus on those things. The pain begins to subside. But the strange emotions don't. If anything, they become stronger.
"Hello." I hear, a soft whisper addressing me, like I was fragile, and anything louder would break me.
I look around the room. There's no one here, especially not anyone within whispering distance.
"Of course there is." The voice whispers again. It's definitely a female voice, I realize. But where is it coming from?
"Is there a hidden microphone in here or something?" I yell into the corners of the room.
"Why are you talking?" The voice asks, "Someone might hear you."
"That's kinda the point," I attempt to explain, "I'm talking to you, Mysterious Voice. That's, you know, how people communicate."
"You know you don't have to talk," She whispers, somewhere between sympathetic and frustrated.
Who is this crazy person and why is she in my room? Or her voice is. Or something.
"I'm Atropa. Nice to finally meet you, formally."
"What do you mean by that?" I ask, my voice a bit lower this time. "And did you just read my mind? What are you?"
"You'll find out, yes, maybe the better question is 'where are you?'." She answers casually.
"Okay, so, where are you?" I ask.
"Tsk-tsk," She whispers, "You have to ask me, not the room."
"Hey, you're talking normally, why do I have to do something weird?" I ask.
"What makes you think I'm talking normally?" Comes Atropa's cryptic response.
I have to admit, it doesn't really sound like normal talking, it's much more… wispy. But I usually assume that someone's using their vocal cords when I hear their voice.
Atropa notices that I'm not speaking aloud, and she approves. "Next time, really try talking to me. You are doing better though. I approve."
"I know you do." I whisper, attempting to communicate the same way she does. There's a pause before I say, "Wait. Why do I know that? Why do I… feel what you're…?" I trail off in fear. This day is way, way, too weird.
Atropa's very pleased. She says, "Start with figuring out where I am. Hint: I'm not in an inanimate object."
"But I'm the only animate object in the room!" I complain. "Wait… are you in me? Like possession?"
Atropa smiles and nods. It's only after she's done this that I realize she moved my head!
Atropa says, "It's not really possession though. I've been here since you were born, though I've actually been alive much longer. I'm a Guardian of a very powerful person… or was, before he died." Remorse. "His successor is just coming to power."
"Why do you need to be in me then?" I ask.
"Hiding. I'm not to show myself for a while yet." Mischief. Longing for friendship. "But you can see what I really look like… if you're up for it, that is."
I understand, somehow, that this is going to involve Atropa taking control of my body for a while, but I feel that she will give it back quickly. So I agree.
"Close your eyes," Atropa suggests, "This might feel strange."
The first thing I would expect to happen losing control of my body is going numb. Apparently, that's not how it works at all. I really just feel like I'm being pushed backwards. Then the strangeness kicks in. I'm used to being able to just take a breath whenever I want. But, suddenly, I can't. I panic a little at this.
"I did warn you it would feel strange." Atropa whispers, her voice radiating calmness. I notice this and try to concentrate on Atropa's presence, as it is calming. I hear something. It sounds like Atropa. 'she really shouldn't worry, though I don't blame her - it is a bit disorienting… oh, it feels good to move again… is Bella okay?... good, she is…' Whoah.
"Um, Atropa, I think I can hear your thoughts…" I whisper nervously, "Is that a bad thing?"
Atropa's surprised. "No, that's a really good thing. You can't do that unless you trust me completely. It means a lot to me, actually."
She pauses. I'm not sure what to say. Okay? You're welcome?
Before I manage to say anything, Atropa asks, "Are you ready to see what I am?"
"Yes." I feel wings erupt from my –our?- back. I see my hair grow longer than it already is, gain curls, and turn white. I smile inwardly. This is just like my dream, but I'm not afraid. This friendship is just beginning.