Dainanashō!
AnonymousZGirl: Close, very close.
Disclaimer: I do not own Marina and the Diamonds or any of her songs.
One hour
21:00 (British Summer Time)
He couldn't be thinking what he thought he was thinking, but he was. It was so stupid Rex wanted to cry, but, like the plan of a drowning sailor, he put all his effort into it. He had hidden his bag behind his bins and was now planning to sneak, invisible, into Fear Co. How he had come up with a plan so idiotic, had no idea, but he'd managed it.
Shaking with fear, he clambered over the fence, careful to avoid the barbed wire over the top of it. As soon as he touched down on the other side, he was off like a bullet across the grass verge towards the building.
###
21:03
Mary was bored, so terribly bored. She lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing that Tessa would hurry up and put that plan into action. Whatever is was.
###
Tessa was pacing up and down in the kitchen, wondering if she should go and tell Boo the truth. That she knew almost nothing of what the plan was. That this was bad, that her immediate boss Kaarina Garrastazu had told her just how bad this was. That Garrastazu never exaggerated.
###
21:09
Rex had done it. He'd got into the building. Now all he had to do was find a door to England, which, according to the Monster Intelligence agencies, was where Randall had originally gone. All he had to do was work out which doors went to England without being caught. He couldn't bear to think of what might happen if he was caught. Nothing good, he knew that much. So that was all he had to do, right? Right? Just find a door to England without being caught. Easy.
Yeah, right. If there was one thing this was not, it was easy. This was the most terrifying thing Rex had ever done in his entire life. It even beat the time he'd jumped, invisible, off the school roof in an attempt to loose his attackers, and that had been pretty scary.
Actually, that had been stupid. He could have climbed down the wall quite easily, but he hadn't been thinking. Like he wasn't thinking now. Surely there had to be a better alternative. Surely? But if there was, he couldn't think of it.
Concentrate!
He got back to work.
###
21:18
Mary looked up as Tessa entered. Tessa cleared her throat. "Do you suppose it's time for a music lesson?"
It was a measure of Mary's boredom that she agreed. Rolling off the bed, she took her instrument from its case, putting the mouthpiece in, and, out of habit, checked it for spit.
###
Stanhope, Durham, England. Rex had no idea if this was anywhere near where Randall had gone through, but did it really matter? England was a small country, right? It wasn't like he could afford to see if there was anywhere closer, anyway. It was this or nothing. The door began to open. Rex tensed.
Just a little wider...
As soon as the door was wide enough, he shot through the gap, past the monster coming the other way, – "Hey, did anyone else feel that breeze?" – and dived under the kid's bed.
###
21:19
"Airflow first, get your instrument warmed up." Tessa stepped into her role as a teacher, hiding her worry under her professional confidence. She's removed all make-up as soon as she'd got inside – along with her leg braces – and her natural blue complexion was so startling to look at that she hoped Boo couldn't see her anxiety through it.
###
21:22
As soon as Rex's breathing calmed down, he crept out from under the bed. He really hoped the windows weren't locked. They weren't.
###
21:25
"Tonguing, tonguing! Ta-ta-ta-taa, taa-ta-ta-ta! The three quavers are triplets, and they're all staccato. Try that bit again, starting at bar thirteen."
Mary screwed up her nose. There was something bothering Tessa, she could tell.
###
21:27
Once out of the streets, Rex instinctively climbed up the side if the highest building in view. He had to find a way out of this village before he could relax his camouflage, or got stuck. Keeping his camouflage moving constantly took up a lot of effort, and he couldn't control it properly yet.
###
21:30
"You never get those chromatic runs right first time!" Tessa said, exasperated.
Across the room, she saw Boo roll her eyes. "That will be because they're not chromatics? They're irregulars, which are way harder."
"Oh, you're right. They are, aren't they?"
###
21:37
He'd made it out of Stanhope. Now he was out of immediate danger, he relaxed and his brain started working again.
What was he doing? He couldn't possibly find Randall. There was no chance of that happening; he could be anywhere by now. And what was he planning to do if he did find him?
Stupid!
###
21:40
"That's it, pack up your instrument, lesson over and all that: I need an early night."
Mary allowed herself to relax; it was finally over. There was definitely something wrong with Tessa.
###
21:41
Boo had definitely realised that something was wrong, Tessa decided. She wished she was better at hiding her emotions.
###
21:42
The full stupidity of it all hit Rex like a herd of stampeding elephants as he searched for shelter. What had he been thinking? He had risked everything coming here, to the human world, and now he was stuck here with no plan, no supplies, nothing.
###
21:45
Mary was so bored. Where she lived it would only be half five in the afternoon, so she wasn't tired. She also lacked Tessa's ability to fall asleep at will. Her brain twitched feebly in her skull. For something to do, she changed into her pyjamas.
###
21:45
Rex wished his natural colour was less bright. It was hard to find a place he could safely relax and maybe sleep. The constant camouflage was exhausting and the adrenaline that had been coursing through his veins was fading into memory.
###
21:50
With nothing better to do, Mary found her ipod in her hand-luggage and put her ear-buds in. Flicking through the songs, she set the ipod to shuffle everything by Marina and the Diamonds, put it in her pyjama pocket, and got into bed.
###
21:52
Rex had made a compromise. He had decided that the copse of shrubs were thick enough to hide him. It may have been dark green, but he was too exhausted to care. If he didn't get rest soon, he would revert to orange anyway wherever he was and that would be worse. It was night, anyway, there weren't going to be many people outside.
###
21:55
I was pulling out my hair
the day I got the deal.
Chemically calm,
was I meant to feel happy that my life
was just about to change?
One life pretending to be
the cat who got the cream.
Mary rolled over and started singing along quietly to the music.
"Oh, everybody said,
'Marina is a dreamer'.
People like to tell you
what you're gonna be,
it's not my problem
if you don't see what I see"
###
21:59
After seven minutes, Rex finally managed to find a comfortable position that concealed all of him, and waited for sleep.
###
22:00
Primadonna girl, yeah
All I ever wanted was the world
I can't help that I need it all
The primadonna life, the rise, the fall
You say that I'm kinda difficult
But it's always someone else's fault
Got you wrapped around my finger, babe
You can count on me to misbehave
Primadonna girl,
Would you do anything for me?
Buy a big diamond ring for me?
Would you get down on your knees for me?
Pop that pretty question right now, baby
Beauty queen on a silver screen
Living life like I'm in a dream
I know I've got a big ego
I really don't know why it's such a big deal, though
…
Slowly, slowly, Mary drifted of to sleep.