TW: auditory hallucinations, distrust


Chapter 29- A Kingdom Of Isolation (Anna)

Anna looked to the person who was allegedly her father. If he was such, might as well make use of it. "So Dad, I've made up my mind. I want to dye my hair red. Can I? This white hair is so…I just don't like it. Can I? Mom said yes before the whole thing with what's his name happened. Can we visit Mom later? Maybe she's doing better." She followed Ian to the car, assuming that they were going back to his apartment.

Ian stared. "Uh sure. I'll pick up some hair dye on the way home from work and we can do it then. After your hair is done, we can go see your mother." He unlocked her doors and went to his side. Ian got inside, Anna following suit. "So what brought on the sudden change of heart with your hair?"

"I'm just tired of seeing white hair. I think it should be red. I've always imagined myself having red hair."

"Oh? Well, I can see why. I do have reddish hair. If you want to try it, why not?" He backed up the car and they drove to his place.

Anna frowned as she stared out the window. Why had that other girl, Elsa was it, been in control of her body? Well, what she was forced to have as her body. Anna swore up and down that she had red hair, teal eyes and like, a hundred dozen freckles all over. what had Elsa done while in control of her body? Hopefully she hadn't done anything drastic like tattoos or piercings. Wait, that was absurd. Elsa sounded way too young to have either of those. So that was a small relief. But what about eating? Elsa had probably pigged out on a bunch of food. 'I know what I gotta do when I get back.' Anna sighed. After a few minutes they were back home and Anna was taking the drink to her room. 'I don't even like Kool-Aid, why did she get it?' She tossed the drink onto the bed and went in the bathroom. "Damn it, I keep forgetting I'm in this short body."

A knock sounded on the door. "Elsa, I have to go to work now. But I'll be back around 4. We can get your hair done then, okay?"

"Okay. And call me Anna," Anna replied. Ian just shook his head with a smile-a smile that told Anna he thought she was joking. He walked away and she rolled her eyes. "God, don't act like I'm a child. I'm 13 for fucks sake!" She groaned, hearing the front door open and close. She waited a few minutes to be sure he was gone before she turned back to the bathroom. "I feel so fat and gross." She frowned, staring at what was forced to be her reflection. "This isn't how I look. This isn't me! Why am I in this body! Back in the castle, I looked how I'm supposed to. But when I come here, I'm this 4 foot tall child with white hair! No!" A few sudden thoughts crossed her mind. What if the two female voices in her mind had put some kind of drug in her food or drinks to make her see things? What if they were witches who has cast a spell on her? They weren't her friends, especially not the black haired woman. No matter what Shaylinn said-Shaylinn. What if she was in on it too? What if she knew about the voices? Or even worse-was working with them?! She couldn't trust anyone but her mom. Forcing silent her storm of thoughts, Anna leaned over the toilet and stuck her finger in her mouth. She didn't move it until she was puking up pancakes. After about 20 seconds of vomiting, Anna grabbed the towel from the sink and wiped her mouth. "I don't," she shuddered, "even like chocolate chip pancakes." She frowned, flushed it away and went to the sink. After searching the medicine cabinet, she found the toothbrush, toothpaste and mouth wash. After proper hygienic habits were done, Anna laid down on the bed. "Now what do I do? I guess I'm staying home today. But why?" She couldn't get passed the feeling that something was out of place. "Something doesn't quite feel right. But what?" She tapped her fingers on her forehead, trying to think. "It's like I've missed out on something important but I'm not allowed to remember what! Could this be the work of those voices? Maybe they are witches! Oh god does that mean I'm possessed?! I don't want to be possessed by witches!" Were those voices the reason for the dude coming by and her mom ending up in the hospital?

That was ridiculous, that girl Elsa had warned her about him. Wait, maybe that was just part of an act. Just thinking about it made Anna's head hurt. But still she was suspicious of the voices. And now that she thought about it, Shaylinn, too. It was strange to Anna how of all the kids in school, Shaylinn was her only friend. Why was that? Was Shaylinn just doing it so she could mock her behind her back? What were the other kids planning, if they were planning something? And this man that was allegedly her father, what was he planning? Why had he kept her home? This whole situation made her uneasy. Glancing down at herself, Anna shook her head. The tank top and capris she was wearing weren't to her taste. She got up and walked to the closet, starting to look through the clothes. A banging on the front door made her jump. If that was Ian, he wouldn't need to bang on the door. And he wasn't supposed to be home for hours yet. The banging continued until the front door gave way. Anna, freaking out, bolted to hide under the bed. It was probably burglars and Anna wasn't too willing to be seen by them.

'Did Ian know this would happen? Is that why he wanted me home alone? That's the only thing I can think of. He keeps me home from school, doesn't tell me why and is cooperative with what I request. Then he doesn't bother to take the day off. Mom said I was 9, well who leaves a 9 year old home alone!?' Anna scooted back as far as she could under the bed and closed her eyes; waiting out the bangs and crashes. Time seemed to slow down while the apartment was being burglarized. Somehow, Anna fell asleep under the bed. She was rudely awoken when the noises came into her room. Two sets of feet moved about the room, upturning everything. After several long minutes, the steps moved back the way they came and the door slammed. Anna remained under the bed until she was sure it was over. After several more minutes, she immediately ran to find a phone and call the police. Giving all the details she could, Anna sat in the living room, waiting for the police. Too long seemed to pass when the knock finally sounded. Anna was still on edge and it made her squeak. "Who, who is it?"

"It's the authorities, let us in."

Anna carefully got up and looked through the peephole on the door, relieved to see uniformed officers. She unlocked the door and let them in, clutching her braid. "Thank god you're here!" She moved aside to let them in. One went around taking fingerprints and photographs of the damage while another took a police report. They gave her a copy of the report and photos and left, telling Anna they'd follow up with her and the adult she lived with when they got leads or results from the lab. She thanked them and locked the door again, going into her room. She laid on the bed and let out a long sigh. 'At least the authorities came. But wait, it was two of them. And there were two burglars. The officer taking photos seemed to already know the layout of the apartment…' Suspicion mixed with fear to create paranoia. 'What if the cops were the ones who robbed the place? What if they knew I would call the cops and were waiting by the c.b.c radio for the report to come in?' She bit her lip and went into the bathroom. "Kyaaa!" In all the chaos, Anna had forgotten, again, that she was in a body not her own. "And to top it all off, I'm in this god damn stupid body!" She pulled on the white hair, ripping some out. "This isn't my body!" Anna turned on the water and washed her face. "Who am I? I'm in my body when I'm in the castle but I come here to this reality and I'm this supposed 9 year old, white haired girl named Elsa. But that can't be. My name is Anna." Water off, Anna went in the living room. 'All of my life made sense a little while ago until…' She gasped. "Until I heard those two voices! They're the ones behind all the confusion and crap in my life! It's all their fault!" To try and distract her thoughts, she turned on the t.v. to a talk show. After a while, Anna went to the fridge for lunch. She found a meal ready in the fridge and heated it up, sitting down to eat it when it was done. Tired, she set the dishes on the counter and laid down on the couch. Before she knew it, Ian was waking her up. "Hm? Wha?"

"Elsa! Elsa what happened here? Are you okay?!"

Anna drowsily rubbed her eyes. "It's Anna, and I'm fine. Just some dudes came and took stuff while I hid under the bed."

"What?!"

The shock in his voice helped force the last of her drowsiness away. "I called the cops," Anna stretched and sat up. "The police report and stuff is on the table there," She yawned, pointing at the table.

Ian walked over with a frown and read over the papers, looking at the photos. "I'm so sorry you were home alone. I should have taken the day off. Then this wouldn't have happened," he set the papers and photos down, sitting beside Anna. "I got the hair dye. Do you feel up to doing it now?"

Anna instantly perked up. "Red dye? Yeah! Let's do it! I want it!"

Ian nodded. "The closest I could find was a dark strawberry blonde color. Will that be alright?"

"Yeah, sure, let's just get this white hair gone!" Anna jumped up and ran into the bathroom. "Come on!" She waited patiently as he came. After much fuss unbraiding her hair and 25 minutes of smelly fumes later, Anna was in the shower washing out the excess hair dye. Some towel drying and twin pigtail braiding later, Anna came out of the bathroom, dark strawberry blonde hair still wet. "Thanks so much! This is totally awesome!"

'What did you do to my hair!?'

As if she somehow knew, Anna heard Elsa's voice. 'What do you mean by that?! It's my hair! I can do what I want with it!'

'No you can't! It's my hair!'

'You know what? Shut up. My life was fine until you and that shrewd woman came along! Just get back to your life of stupid baby crap!' And with that, Anna ignored whatever else Elsa tried to say to her. She was convinced that Elsa and Kiri were the ones behind all the bad things that had recently happened and nothing would change her mind on that.

They were the reason she doubted herself and her image. They were the ones who had managed to get her to that strange world. They were planning something, Anna just knew it. It was around 5 and Ian was preparing dinner. She was still wary of him and if he knew that the robbery would happen.

"Look at this little girl. Dying her hair to try and fit in."

"You'll never fit in. We already know about your dissociated body image."

'Who are you people?'

"Who cares? We're the manifestation of your fears and doubts. We're you and you're us."

'You can't be me, I'm me! Shut up! Go away!'

"We're here to stay. You can't get rid of us."

"You'll never get rid of us."

Anna covered her ears, hearing laughter. She closed her eyes then peeked one eye to Ian to see if he heard anything. He seemed to not hear the laughter so she just buried her head in her arms. 'I don't hear it, I don't hear it.'

"Everyone is against you."

That was her mother's voice! Anna looked up to see her mother in front of her. "Mom?" She whispered.

"Everyone is against you, Anna. They know everything you feel. I can't protect you. Not anymore. I'm sorry." Her mother faded from view.

"Mom! Don't go!"

Ian looked from the dish he was preparing and saw his daughter reaching out. "Elsa? What is it?"

"You didn't see mom? She was just right here!" Anna replied.

Ian frowned. Perhaps the burglary had affected Elsa more than he thought. 'Maybe I need to get her to a doctor…'


This is the same story as it was before, just rewriting it to fix all the mistakes that I missed before.