The four girls turned in soon after Stacy and Quinn's confrontation. Quinn was visibly trembling, while Stacy seemed as curious as she was sorry about what she had said. Stacy's increasingly strange behavior was eroding Quinn's strength as much as Sandi's illness. When they had simply been lost, Quinn could cope with things, she always had been a problem solver, like her mom, though Quinn's method of solving problem's was generally manipulating others to solve the problem, or bribing Daria to do it. But the things now happening were completely baffling to her. Quinn had always been a materialist, believing in what she could see. But what she was seeing now, she almost couldn't believe.
Sandi struck down by a mysterious illness. Stacy acting like she was turning into somebody or something else. Tiffany's naive comment about the Exorcist movie, and demonic possession, almost perfectly timed. In the dim, firelit cabin, huddled next to the softly moaning Sandi in the old bed, with the terrified Tiffany pressed closely on the other side, Quinn had the feeling of being trapped in a horror movie, and not knowing the ending. She was exhausted from the days events, the lack of food, like they all were, and fell into an uneasy slumber
The two benches had been pushed together next to the bed, forming a sleeping place for Stacy. The normally awkward, nervous, girl was calm, serene. As she lay silently in the darkness, her vision while buried in the snow earlier today had drifted back. The incredibly beautiful woman filled her thoughts. Like most teen girls in America, Stacy had a keen idea of what women were considered beautiful, and which were not. She had been glad to be in the Fashion Club, next to beautiful people, like Quinn, Sandi, and Tiffany.
She had almost worshiped them. She had imitated Quinn, even dressing like her once, and totally freaking out the normally confident redhead. But the longer she knew them, the more flaws she had seen in them. Quinn's fear of physical intimacy, Sandi's insecurity, Tiffany's fears of being on the wrong side of any conflict, even to being careful of how she spoke.
Stacy had long been aware of her own flaws, of her insecurity, of her fears of rejection. She was always aware of being the pretty one of the Fashion Club. The little sweetheart, but not the beauty.
But Sandi's crisis of faith when she had broken her leg and gained weight, followed by Tiffany'srefusal to do anything, had cracked the Fashion Club framework. Stacy had assisted the obnoxious, though intelligent, Charles "Upchuck" Ruttheimier, in his magic show, incurring Sandi's increasingly impotent wraith. The end had come this past summer, when Stacy had used her birthday wish to curse Sandi silent, and Sandi had contracted laryngitis. Doctors later said it was psychological, caused by Sandi's guilt at controlling Stacy for so long.
But Quinn and Stacy started improving together, leaving a struggling, increasingly desperate Sandi behind, and a Tiffany almost unable to even comprehend it. Still, they had tried. They had been together for so long. But Sandi's mother, Linda, had seen Sandi's need for friendship as hopelessly naive, a trick of Quinn's on Helen's behalf.
Stacy had seen her star rapidly rising, passing Sandi, and Tiffany. She was smarter than they were, she knew that now. Tiffany was going nowhere, would be lucky to become a small time model. Sandi was so abrasive because of her insecurity, but becoming extremely needy for reassurance. Her schoolwork had slowly bettered, but still, after their graduation from high school, would probably be stuck with Lawndale Community College.
Stacy smiled to herself in the darkness, amused by her analysis of their group dynamics. Now I'm babbling to myself, like Quinn does when she's nervous. Still, Quinn hasn't been a bad role model, as long as I'm aware that she's not perfect.
Stacy breathed deeply, relaxing herself, listening to the sounds of the old cabin, the creaking noises of the stove, the rush of the wind outside through the trees. She had never been so aware of nature before, always rushing from place to place, inside a car or building. But now, surrounded by this storm, no electricity, no radios or TV. And oddly, she didn't feel cut off, so much as freed, from civilization.
Her thoughts focused again on her near death experience. The feeling of her blood slowly cooling in her veins, her breath leaving her body. First the snow, then the earth disappearing. And then she appeared, like a star in the darkness She's so beautiful, but she's dead. I thought when you died, you just saw a bright light, and then you were gone. But then, what are ghosts? Tiffany scared me, talking about that "Exorcist" movie. But the Snow Lady isn't evil, she doesn't feel good or bad, she just is, like, like a snowstorm.
I wonder how the poor thing got trapped here. At least, I think she's trapped. She's so sad. I think she's been here a long time. And she touched me! She filled me with, what? Herself? It felt great! It seemed to wear out, but it's still inside me, like a seed. I know it sounds evil, weird, but I think it's right, natural.
Stacy opened her eyes, looking up at the ceiling. She gasped softly in wonder. Instead of the dimly flickering firelight, she saw patterns of color, constantly shifting. The metal of the rusty stove was a sullen red. Tendrils of color broke off from it, drifting through the air, like puffs of colored smoke. To her amazement, she glowed, though not as brightly as the stove. Looking over at the bed, she saw that Quinn also glowed, with an almost white flame. Tiffany, on the other side, dimly shone, with a soft light that reminded her of a full moon.
Sandi was difficult to see with Stacy's new vision. A gray, greasy looking haze seemed to cloak her, that twisted her gaze aside. Stacy hesitated, then tried to focus, bringing Sandi into a sudden focus, and she suddenly saw her.
Sandi looked like the negative of a picture, black bones shining through pale skin stretched tightly over them. Her brown hair was pale, white. A small flame seemed to flicker in the moaning girls chest, through the cage of Sandi's visible ribs. Stacy's vision was drawn to Sandi's pelvis, where her cramps were centered, and she choked in horror. There was a black, gaping hole, that seemed to suck in all light and warmth, there. It pulsed, almost like a living heart, sending waves of cold pain through the writhing girl.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A sudden gasp brought Quinn out of her uneasy, dream haunted sleep. Looking up, she saw Stacy standing over her, a look of extreme horror, on her face, staring fixedly down at Sandi. Her hand's were clenched at her side, her breathing whistled rapidly in and out of her open mouth. Quinn yelped in surprise, and stumbled up, her stiff, sore body moving awkwardly. Tiffany opened her eyes, saw Stacy looming over her, and cried out.
Neither Sandi or Stacy moved. Sandi lay still, her chest moving slowly, her hands clamped tightly over her belly. The still stunned Stacy could see the bones of Sandi's hands intermittently, shining as the pulsing void seemed to beat in their grasp.
Quinn shouted, "Stacy! Dammit, what do you think you're doing?!"
Stacy shook her head in confusion. Quinn's sudden movement was like a flashbulb exploding in her eyes, stunning her, as the redheads white flame seemed to flare up against her. Stacy's strange new vision vanished, and she blinked in confusion, seeing the scene normally, now.
Quinn had grabbed a axe handle, and brandished it like a baseball bat. Tiffany huddled next to Sandi's comatose form, shivering in obvious terror.
Stacy just stood there, blinking. She slowly raised her hands, staring at them as if she had never seen them before. She was so much the Stacy Quinn knew, that Quinn slowly relaxed, though breathing rapidly herself.
Stacy looked up at Quinn, a look of total desolation on her face.
"I'm sorry, Quinn, I'm so sorry..."
Quinn's grip on her makeshift weapon tightened again.
"What's wrong, Stacy? What did you do?"
Stacy shook her head in frustration, unable to explain the Snow Woman's strange gift to her.
"Nothing, Quinn, it was nothing. It was just a nightmare, I guess,,,"
Both girls looked down at the sleeping Sandi.
Things calmed down, though nobody slept but Sandi, still oblivious, to Quinn's relief. Tiffany moved to the far side of Sandi, away from Stacy, leaving Quinn on that side. Stacy laid back down, as well, though her peace of mind was gone.
I thought I knew what was happening here! (Well, most of it!) I think that my vision is what they call, oh, the vision thing where you see heat in the dark, that soldiers and police use to see things with without lights. But Sandi! What's happening to her? She looks like she's all reversed or something! And that black thing inside her is creepy! It feels all wrong!
Does the Snow Lady have anything to do with that? She must. Sandi screamed out the same tune that is running through my head. But Sandi's in all that pain, that's not right at all. Why is she that way, but not me? We're both girls, we do all the same things. I'm nicer than Sandi's been for a while. Sandi was a real bitch, when she got so jealous of Quinn, she still falls back into that a bit, but she's been trying so hard to loosen up. She's been having so many problems at home, too. Her little brother's are real monsters, and her mom is just so ugh! Her dad seems nice, though.
That, that thing, that's inside poor Sandi, it's all dark and nasty, cold and creepy. It's right where a baby would be if Sandi was...OH NO!