Chapter 24: Party in the hut
Shade was gone and I still couldn't believe it. Didn't we agree to find his colony all together?
But now he was out on his own while Marina and I stood behind to stay here in this chalet with the banded bats. And even though Marina looked happy to be with bats who won't segregate her because of her band, she probably missed Shade as much as I did already.
I felt wrong at this place and I didn't believe a word from what Shade said about it had to be my destiny to be with these bats. Who cares? I had sworn to myself I'd help my friend find his colony, and I was not about to break that promise now. If these bats really need me, then they can wait until I'll come back. Then again, ... maybe it was right for me to be here. Maybe it was important like Shade said. Argh, it was so confusing. I sighed wondering what I should do as I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning around, I noticed Betty standing behind me with a concerned look on her face.
''Are you alright?'' she asked, and I nodded smiling.
''Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about my friend that's all.''
She nodded understandingly. ''I know how you must feel. Losing a friend is never easy but don't worry you and Marina will quickly grow to love it here.''
I still had my doubts about it but I didn't object as two more bats landed beside me after Betty left.
One was a female with red hair and small round ears and purple fur and wings and the other a pudgy male with blue-green fur and long rabbit-like ears. As he greeted me he showed two large canine teeth in his upper jaw, making him look like a vampire bunny bat or something.
''Hello, I'm Cassandra,'' the female introduced herself.
''And my name's Boris,'' the male energetically added.
''Eh, ... hi,'' I greeted them, feeling a bit unsure about their enthusiasm.
''It's so great to meet the first bat, who got turned into a human. I bet you must be blessed by Nocturna herself,'' Cassandra said cheerfully.
''Well, actually...''
''Just too bad your band got ripped off before you could grow as well. Finally, being a human but still stuck in mouse size. Too bad!''
''Yeah, but tell us how did it feel getting turned into a human?''
I quickly gave up convincing them to believe me I was never a bat at all. Instead, I told them as much as I could about the blue pearl, the bright light and how I ended up in Shades colony. Of course, they kept on believing the pearl or more the bright light turned me into a bat sized human instead of shrinking me. Both kept asking me more and more questions about how it felt being human and all and if I missed anything about my former bat life. I just wanted them to leave.
Eventually, after what felt like hours, my prayers were answered and Betty came back to release me from those two. She told me that there was a surprise for me and let me towards a crack in the wooden door that led into another room. I followed her inside and found myself in a small bathroom with a bathtub, a sink, and a toilet. The moon was shining through a small window next to the sink. There I saw three more bats, all female, hovering above it.
Before I could ask what they were doing, Betty simply grabbed my hands with her feet and flew me up to the three ladies, who were all smiling at me friendly.
One was a Silverwing, the other two Greywings.
''Hi...'' I greeted them shyly still wondering what was going on here. Then I looked down and noticed the sink half full of freshwater. I was truly amazed by the fact they had managed to fill the sink with water. Betty noticed my surprise and smiled happily.
''I thought you would like to have a warm bath after all the trouble on your journey. It must be hard to keep yourself warm since you don't have fur anymore.''
''Ehm...yeah,'' I said, wishing she and everyone else in this colony would stop with this nonsense.
But a bath didn't sound so bad after all. I could really use one since the last time I cleaned myself completely was when I was back at the hotel before I got into this adventure. My hair was greasy for days and probably still had the smell and taste of salt from the seawater in it too.
Despite my protests, Betty and her friends helped me out of my clothes and I quickly jumped into the water before they could get a closer look at my bare body. Even though they were all female, I felt kind of embarrassed being naked with four strange women around me.
While Betty and the Silverwing collected my clothes and took them out the two Greywing ladies helped me with my bath and gave me some shampoo for my hair by squeezing some of it out of a little sample bottle and turned the faucet on, so I could wash it off again.
Then after my hair and body was clean, the two Greywings left as well, giving me some time for me to relax a little. It sure felt nice. The water wasn't too hot and really helped to warm myself up. With a sigh, I leaned myself back in the sink and closed my eyes for a few minutes, enjoying this moment.
''I hope the water is to your utmost satisfaction,'' a manly voice suddenly said, causing me to shriek and to plunge deeper into the water with only my head sticking out of it. ''I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you, my lady,'' the voice said, and I turned around to see Scirocco standing on the edge of the sink, an apology smile on his face.
''I just came to see if everything is alright.''
''Yeah, everything is...fine,'' I said feeling abashed and slightly angry about the fact that he had the nerve to come here without asking while I was taking a bath. Luckily the water and the foam in it hid my naked body before his eyes but I did notice him trying to get a glimpse of it for a second.
''I'm very pleased to hear that,'' he said smiling, ''In case you are finished now, may I bring you to the new clothes I've ordered for you?''
''Eh, ...sure but I need a towel first to dry myself up.'' ''And to cover me up before you, you perv!'' I added in my thoughts. Scirocco nodded and offered me to bring me one as. To my relief, right then Betty came back with two little towels, that looked like ripped off pieces from a bigger one.
After she managed to get Scirocco to leave the room again, with I found very grateful, she gave me the towels, so I could dry myself up as I stepped out of the water on the edge of the sink next to the faucet. After this, I wrapped my body in one towel while drying off my hair with the other one before letting Betty carry me back down to the floor. There I met the two Greywings and the Silverwing female again. They greeted me and showed me a dress that Scirocco had picked out for me to wear.
To put it bluntly, the dress was ... nice.
It was a long light pink dress with long sheer sleeves, a white belt around the hips, decorated with tiny daisies and a transparent shoulder color with another small daisy attached in the middle.
All in all, I had to admit; the dress was pretty, just not exactly something I would wear except if I happened to be in a Disney movie or something. However, not wanting to be rude I faked up a smile and put on the dress together with a necklace made of tiny white pearls and a pair of golden-colored, doll-sized ballet shoes one of the female Greywings gave me.
Afterwards, they helped me brush my hair with a small toy brush and pulled it up into a nice bun with two strands of hair falling down on my face.
As they were finished I walked over to a broken piece of a mirror, leaning against the wall and took a good look on me. The dress was fitting nicely and looked indeed kind of pretty on me. But still, it was not exactly something I would have liked to be caught dead in it. Hopefully, I didn't have to wear this for too long.
''Do you like it?'' Betty asked me with a smile, wanting to be sure I was happy and all.
''Yeah, it's...beautiful but why do you give me that dress in the first place?''
''Well, for the party of course,'' she replied gleefully.
''Party?''
''The welcome party for you and your friend of course.''
Before I could ask her any more questions, Betty grabbed my hands with her feet and flew me back into the other room.
There colorful lights filled room caused by multicolored glass shards, reflecting the moonlight. Disco music was playing from an old CD Player standing in a corner.
I surprised me that they got this thing to work. Then again, they probably live here for a long time. And since they all want to become humans they had to figure out how to use human stuff right?!
Looking at all the bats which were flying and dancing around to the beat of the music I wondered where Marina was. I had not seen her anymore since Shade left. Then I found her, dancing with Cassandra and Boris on top of the bookshelf, looking like she was having the best time ever.
It made me happy to see her smiling again, but I also felt uneasy about this whole situation. It felt so wrong. We shouldn't have been here, we should be outside flying with Shade and search for his colony. Instead, we were here, at a party like nothing was wrong.
''Is there something bothering you my lady?''
I turned around to see Scirocco standing right behind me.
''Great, I thought, ''What does he want from me now?''
''I have to say you look marvelous in this dress my dear. It suits you perfectly,'' he complimented me.
''Really? Well, eh...thank you.'' I said softly, unsure what to think of this.
''Why don't you come and join the party? I'm sure you will enjoy it,'' he said.
''I don't know. Normally I don't go to parties.'' I admitted to him.
''But you will love this one, trust me. Here, may I offer this dance to you?''
Before I knew it, Scirocco gently took me by the hands and pulled me towards the middle of the room where he started dancing around with me.
As we moved and circled around I led the Greenwing completely in charge while trying my best not to accidentally step on his foot or something. He was a great dancer I had to admit, but I didn't like how we were dancing so close together with his hand on my hip.
''Doesn't this feel so much better, dancing around letting all your worries go past?'' he said as we circled around once more. ''Having you here with us is such a great pleasure to our colony.''
''Uh, ... really?''
''Yes,'' he said as we kept on dancing, ''Your transformation into a human may not be fully complete but your look, your scent. It is all human like and no more like that of a bat. Your arrival here shows us all how close we are to the fulfilling of Nocturna's promise. With your help, I can figure out the last secret that will make it come true as soon as possible.''
I looked at him slightly confused not getting what he meant by that.
Scirocco whirled us around one more time before he excused himself and flew off, leaving me with all the other dancing bats around.
I wondered what he was up to and if I should follow him to see what he was doing. But then I thought it might be better if I got away from here. This was my chance. With all the banded bats dancing around, no one would even notice me leaving. All I needed to do first was to figure out where Betty hid my native American clothes. There was no way I would walk around outside wearing this dress.
Also, did I want to talk with Marina and try to convince her to come with me and if not then I would go alone, knowing it would be nearly impossible for me to catch up with Shade all by myself. Nevertheless, I wanted to try it at least.
Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed me by the waist and whirled me around without warning, causing me to squeak in surprise. I expected to see Scirocco again but as I turned around, I came face to face with Cassandra, Boris and a few other banded bats.
''Hey, Vanessa, come on let's dance together,'' Cassandra said cheerfully before she and one of her friends grabbed me by the arms and circled and whirled me around and even tossed me through the air, turning this group dance into an open-air acrobatic dance.
''What are you guys doing with her?'' I heard a familiar voice shouting up to us and got a short glance on Marina roosting on the wooden cupboard door, eyes open in horror.
Boris landed beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
''Don't worry,'' he placated her, ''Everything is alright. She is enjoying this.''
''It certainly doesn't sound like that, she is screaming.''
''Yeah, but with delight my dear. When I was migrating with my old colony we came across a huge place build by humans with big weird looking machines that moved around very fast, tossing and turning the humans sitting inside all over the place. They too screamed but also seemed to like it very much. They even rode them multiple times.''
Marina didn't look very convinced as much as I could figure out while being tossed around in the air. Also, I was indeed screaming ... but not with joy.
It was still snowing as the young Silverwing flew through the night, but at least the storm was gone. Despite his plan to fly as far from the hut as possible, Shade stopped right on the next rock just a few wingbeats away.
With a deep sigh, he sat down on the stone thinking about what just happened.
''Marina,'' he said wistfully and caught a snowflake with his tongue, ''I can't believe she was fooled by that big-eared phony. At least Vanessa was still on my side, maybe I should have let her come with me?'' A shadow appeared above him and for a second he thought it was his two friends but to my horror, it was Goth and Throbb and they were flying straight towards the hut.
Oh, Nocturna why? Shade had so hoped the leaves would have made them sleep a bit longer.
He knew he had to do something, his friends were in grave danger, so he quickly dashed back into the air hoping to find a way to lure the two cannibals into another direction before they notice the hut, hidden in the snow.
Shade got as close to them as possible hoping they won't notice him, meaning as long Throbb wouldn't turn around everything was fine. Then he heard Goth sniffing around and froze slightly.
''Hmm, ... I smell a bat,'' he said thoughtfully and sniffed the air again before correcting himself, ''No, many bats.''
''My nose is too cold to smell nothing,'' Throbb complained, his voice sounding nasal.
Goth took a deep breath and grinned. ''Oh, there is a roost full and we are near compadre very near.''
Shade had heard enough. Even though they hadn't seen the hut yet, they knew the banded one's colony was close. Wasting no time, he flew as fast as he could back to the hut, knowing he had to warn them all.
As the dance finally ended, and the music went off, I felt myself being placed back down on the floor, next to the cold fireplace where I laid there on my back waiting for the world to stop spinning around me.
Now it was official, never ever in my whole life would I go on a roller coaster ride ever again.
No way!
''Are you alright?'' I heard Marina asking me with worry in her voice but I felt too sick to answer her.
''She is probably just exhausted from all the fun she had,'' Boris said grinning and roosted on the bookshelf next to her and Cassandra.
Me exhausted? Right. But fun? I was afraid I needed to talk to this guy about his and my definition of fun because I definitely didn't have any.
As my stomach finally settled down, I heaved myself into a sitting position with my back leaning against the stone wall of the fireplace. Then I looked up and saw Scirocco standing on the seating surface of an old chair in the middle of the room, raising his voice for everyone to hear.
''Everyone, with the end of this party I'm happy to welcome our two new sisters into our colony.''
The bats around cheered and began talking with each other with excitement all over the place. Most of them send their greetings to me and Marina but mainly to me. They all still thought I was some kind of chosen one who was chosen by Nocturna herself to be the first bat to transform into a fully human. Oh dear!
''As with all who join our colony,'' Scirocco continued after getting back everyone's attention, ''We begin with the renaming.'' Wait, what did he just say? Like him, I looked up at Marina and saw that she was just as confused as I. ''Brightwing, you will now be known as ... Veronica.''
''It's positively you,'' Boris complimented her but Marina seemed to be far from happy about her new name.
''I prefer Marina, thank you.''
''I would take that other name if I were you,'' Cassandra whispered to her, chuckling nervously, and I wondered what she was so scared about. The rest of the colony also started whispering around nervously, but it didn't bother Marina.
''There is nothing wrong with my name.''
''Then perhaps you prefer a different kind of initiation?'' Scirocco suggested casually.
''We warned you,'' Boris said in a sing-song voice while looking haughtily at Marina.
''I'll let you keep your name ... Marina, if you bring me that human food.''
Glancing to my left, just a few meters away from the chair, I saw Scirocco pointing down to a pair of mouse traps. One had a piece of cheese waiting on the trigger while the other had the trap around the skeleton of a mouse, showing what happened if you dare to get too close to the traps.
I knew something was off with this guy. There was no point in getting that cheese. That was just an unneeded dangerous task for his entertainment.
''We are waiting, Veronica,'' Scirocco smirked at Marina, who looked nervously down on the traps.
There was no way she could get the cheese without facing the same fate as the mouse. If only there was a way, I could help ... But then I got it. Right on to the top of some wooden shelves hammered to the wall, I spotted a salt shaker right above the two traps. Coughing intensely I jolt my head up to the wooden shelves, hoping Marina would notice. And it seemed she did.
Wordlessly, she flew past Scirocco up to the shelves and kicked the saltshaker off the edge where it landed perfectly onto the mousetrap, setting it off. Through the force of the snap, the cheese flung through the air before landing with a plop right next to the banded leader on the chair.
Sirocco huffed unimpressed and looked up at Marina, who looked down smiling triumphantly.
''Very clever, Marina,'' he said slowly, ''But I don't want clever bats. I want loyal ones. Repeat after me: I pledge my allegiance to the banded ones.''
Marina hesitated at first before repeating his words with uncertainty. ''I ... pledge my allegiance to the banded ones.''
''I reject all who are not banded.''
I gasped, not believing my ears. Was this guy for real? I looked back up on Marina noticing her looking just as shocked as I. Sciroccos eyes darkened not liking how she stopped repeating his words.
''Repeat after me!'' he said firmly, ''I reject all who are not banded!''
''No!'' Marina snapped, glaring down at him, ''I'm not rejecting Shade. He is my friend just as Vanessa who also doesn't have a band if I may remind you.''
The Greenwing chuckled softly. ''Yeah, that might be true but since she already got blessed by Nocturna to be transformed into a human ...''
''Now, stop it!'' I yelled. That was it. I finally had enough with this nonsense. Getting back up on my feet I glared angrily upon Scirocco, ignoring the questionable look in his eyes. ''For the last damn time. I'm not and never was a bat chosen by your goddess to become human and I never had a band in the first place. You idiot! I am a human since birth and somehow got shrunk thanks to a weird pearl I've found and this scar on my wrist is from Goth, a cannibal bat from the jungle down south.''
Scirocco shook his head clearly not believing any word I just said.
''My dear, I'm sure the reason you must think you were never a bat comes from your transformation into a human. It must have cleared out your memory from your previous life as a bat, so you can be ready to start your new life as a human.''
Now, I really had enough and wanted nothing more than away from this place.
''Come Marina, let's leave!''
The Brightwing nodded and swooped down to grab my hands with her feet ready to leave this place through the chimney only to be blocked by Scirocco.
''What the?! Hey, let us go!'' I demanded, but he didn't move from his spot.
''Scirocco, if they want to go, maybe we should just let them,'' Betty suggested, trying to persuade him but without success.
Right at that moment, Shade burst out of the chimney, fear written on his face.
''I just ... saw Goth ... and Throbb,'' he called out, panting heavily.
Marina and I gasped in shock.
''Everybody! You've got to get out!'' Shade yelled flying around, ''the giant bats are coming!''
''Giant Bats!?''
''Oh, no!''
''The cannibals!''
Panic broke out among the banded bat colony. Only Scirocco stayed calm.
''The Silverwing is lying. He is jealous of our bands,'' he said loudly, ''Capture him!''
Immediately Shade was cornered by a bunch of bats and turned around, trying to get away from them. Marina and I tried to follow him but Cassandra and Boris blocked our way together with some other bats. ''Get out of our way!'' I yelled then felt someone grabbing my feet and pulling me away from Marina.
''Hey! Let go!'' I screamed while struggling and kicking but the Greenwing, who was no other than Sirocco himself, had me in a tight grip.
''You may be special but I believe I need to teach you a lesson about respect.''
My eyes widen in fear as I saw the look in his eyes he was giving me.
''Shade, Marina Help!'' I screamed struggling more but with no use. Grabbing me by my arm and hair Scirocco dragged me over to the cupboard under the kitchen area and pushed me through the crack of the double doors.
''You stay here! I'll come back for you later after I dealt with your rebellious Brightwing friend.''
With that Scirocco yanked the strings that held my bun up out of my hair and used it to bind the doorknobs so it locked the cupboard, leaving me in complete darkness.