Sorry for the delay. I'll work harder to prevent that from happening. After this, the story will pick up again, promise! The pace of the story will speed up a bit! :)
Bethany's POV:
My eyes snapped open once I remembered what had happened. How much time had passed? What happened back there?
"You're awake. That's a relief." Someone blew out a sigh, rustling the stray hairs on my forehead.
I noticed my head was resting on someone's lap and both of my hands were linked through two people's hands. I sat up sharply, causing Dick to jerk back to avoid getting hit by me.
"Where are we? What happened?" I sputtered.
"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down. It's all right. We're all right." Dick smoothed out my hair with his free hand. "Well, at least I think we are."
"Not comforting." I replied. "M'gann, what happened?"
"Well, it's complicated." She said looking around.
"Uncomplicate it." I demanded.
"Well, you're mind was so full of emotions when you were thinking, and I was still partially in my mind because Martian Mahunter hadn't completely drawn me out yet, so we got sent back. Usually, I'm supposed to be the one in charge of the memories, but Bethany's emotions and mind was so strong that she drew us back into her mind. And since we were all in contact with each other, the three of us got sent back together." She sighed. "So here we are."
"So what do we do?" I asked, because honestly, I just wanted to go eat some pizza and take a shower, I was so tired.
"Ummm... That's the complicated part. I don't really know what to do. I'm sure that Martian Manhunter, Batman, and Zatara are all trying to get us back out, but it's up to someone inside the memory to push on the other side, too."
"So why can't you do that, M'gann?"
"I don't know! For some reason, my powers aren't bringing us back. I think that maybe you're the one that needs to bring us back to reality, since it was you who brought us here in the first place."
"I don't know what I did! I was just thinking about something that had happened with Ash and Cain a while ago and then suddenly we... Why are we in my old house?" I froze.
We all looked around, as if just now noticing our surroundings. M'gann's eyes were wide and Dick's eyes were critical, both sizing up anything they laid their eyes on. Me? My eyes were a burning red of anger and hatred.
I could remember every detail of this house, every piece of dust on every furniture. This was my prison, my cell, and my old life. How could I forget?
Most would say that the house was big and beautiful, but I would say that it was the worst Hell in the world. The kitchen was wide set and open, a huge island planted in the middle and cold stoves and ovens three times as big as the one in the Cave. The steely gray refrigerator loomed high over the counter, casting a dark shadow over the long sink. The place was utter cold and darkness, full of dark memories.
In the middle of the vast kitchen were three kids. Cain had his usual smirk plastered on his pale face. His tousled blonde hair covered part of his forehead and sharp features on his face made him look part angel. His body was pretty fit for just a thirteen year old and he was tall for his age. He was handsome, but I knew who he really was. The gleam in his eyes told me everything. Next to him, Ash rivaled his height. She was beautiful and skinny, anything a modeling agency would dream for. Her hair was long and draped over her pale shoulder like a silk blonde curtain. Her eyes were an icy blue that could freeze you and her red heart shaped lips could manipulate you into doing whatever she wanted. She was gorgeous, but deadly.
And right in between both of the taunting children was a much smaller girl with dark hair that covered part of her face. Her wide eyes conveyed the message that she knew that nothing good would come in the next five minutes. Her eyes were a dull brown and her lips looked dry, like they hadn't smiled in a long time. Her arms were wrapped around herself and she squirmed uncomfortably between the two smiling blondes. She stuck out between all three of them. She didn't look gorgeous and didn't resemble anything like a model. Instead, she looked like she wanted to run far away and never look back.
"Cain, why don't we show Bethany a magic trick?" Ash asked from the other side of Bethany. She leaned into Bethany's face, a smile dancing across those perfect lips.
"Sounds great. Should we use knives? Or fire?" Cain flashed perfectly white and aligned teeth over at Ash, then looked down dangerously at Bethany.
"How about both?" Ash got two butcher knives and a lighter. She handed Cain the two knives. "I like the fire better, though."
Between them, Dream-Bethany shrunk and started to back away. "I don't want to -"
"You don't want to what?" Ash cut Dream-Bethany off and started to approach her. "If you don't play with us, then I might have to tell Grace. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Dream-Bethany shook her head fast.
Beside me, Nightwing took a step forward, his hand in such a hard fist it was shaking. I stepped up and spoke to him, "It's okay, Nightwing. It's just a memory. It's not real."
"But it was real." Dick shook his head.
"Okay, Cain." Ash tapped her brother on the shoulder, "You go first. Show us a cool juggling trick."
Cain grinned that malicious grin before taking a breath and tossing up the knives. But he was standing so close to Dream-Bethany that she started to back away again. Cain, surprisingly capable of juggling two knives, started to follow Bethany in a taunting way.
"What's the matter, Bethany? Scared?" He glanced at her horrified expression, but in that split second, he'd missed one of the knives and hit it with his other on accident. The sound of the blade hitting flesh filled my sensitive ears. The blade clattered to the ground in slow motion, the sound echoing around the kitchen.
M'gann gasped next to me and Dick tensed up. Dream-Bethany's arm was now decorated with a red line, which started to form little droplets of blood. Eventually, those droplets grew so heavy, that they started to drip down her arm. Dream-Bethany let out a scream from pain and started to cry.
"Oh come on, it's not even that bad! See?" Cain grabbed her arm and twisted it to look at it. That made Dream-Bethany yell out again from the sharp pain. On instinct, Dream-Bethany did a quick snap kick right in Cain's man part, making Cain yell out and clutch his balls.
"What the hell?! Why did you do that? I didn't do anything to you!" Cain squealed while doubling over.
Ash stepped up next to Cain defensively and held up the lighter. "I heard you're supposed to clean a cut to get rid of the bacteria. I learned that heat is also an effective way to clean bacteria. Wanna try?" She held up the lighter, sparking it, and holding a flame. Ash began to approach Dream-Bethany with a glint in her eyes.
Dream-Bethany's eyes doubled in size and she cried out and closed her eyes. Dream-Bethany struck out at Ash and punched her in the nose. Ash's scream could be heard reverberating around the entire house, which caused Dream-Bethany to look carefully around the house, expecting monsters to pop out at her.
By now, Dream-Bethany was shaking from fear. But I knew, not from fear of Ash and Cain, but for the monster that was about to come out to make her regret everything she had done, even if it wasn't her fault. Just like Dream-Bethany, I began to shake with the same fear. I remembered clearly what had happened that day.
"GRACE!" They both yelled in unison. I began to shake and I tightened my grip on both M'gann and Dick's hand. M'gann yelped next to me and Dick looked worriedly over at me.
"You okay?" Dick asked next to me.
"I... I..." I couldn't breathe. Grace was going to come and Dream-Bethany was so utterly screwed.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain slice across my arm. I cried out in pain and glanced over, all I could see was a red line with something oozing out of it.
"Bethany!" Dick cried out next to me. He used his free hand and gripped my arm really hard, applying pressure with his gloved hand on the wound that came out of nowhere. It relieved some of the pain, but my arm still throbbed.
"What is going on in here?!" A high voice screeched, causing the sound to reverberate around the room and thunder in my eardrums sending chills. The sound sent waves of chills down my spine. I hadn't heard that dreadful voice in a long time.
I looked to see a strange woman coming down the staircase. Her hair was chopped short and it had turned from a friendly reddish brown to a dark brittle brown. Her skin was dark and her face had light wrinkles. Her dark eyes were narrowed down at us in a critical way and her thin lips were pursed in an angry line. She was wearing a slim dress that went down to her shins, revealing the curves in her body. She had gained weight since the last memory. The friendliness and beauty from the last memory was all gone without a trace. Grace was like a totally different person, one who haunted my nightmares and drove me to run away.
She descended the stairs in a taunting way that set a feeling of doom all over the room, her high heels clacking on each step. Out of habit, I started to back away from the room, out of fear. But my legs started moving in thick cement again and it strained my muscles just to move a centimeter. It was because I was moving too far from Dream-Bethany. I started to shake a lot and I couldn't breathe. Was it getting hot in here? Why were the walls moving in?
No no no no! My anxiety attacks couldn't be coming right now! Not now! Why?! I couldn't let Dick and M'gann see!
"I'm trying to have a conference call upstairs and there's so much nonsense noise coming from downstairs. Ash, you tell me what is going on right this instant!" Grace's voice was dangerous.
Ash pointed a slender manicured finger down at Dream-Bethany. "She punched me in the nose!" Ash's nose was bleeding, but other than that she was fine.
"And she kicked me in the balls." Cain squeaked from the side, still doubled over and clutching his parts.
Grace's face turned red and she stormed over to Dream-Bethany quickly, causing my heart beat to race even faster. She grabbed Dream-Bethany's arm tightly and dug her nails her skin. A searing pain moved through my own arm and I cried out alongside Dream-Bethany. Grace was grabbing my cut and her nails were digging into the tender flesh!
I fell to my knees and almost let go of M'gann to hold my arm. God, it hurt so bad. What was happening to me?
"Bethany!" Dick's voice rang out next to me, his voice laced with fear and worry. "What's going on? Talk to me! I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on!"
"It... Hurts..!" I wheezed. My head was muddled and jumbled up. Why were we here? Why would I ever want to come back here? Why did we ever go into my memories in the first place? My anxiety attack was making everything worse.
"M'gann!" Dick yelled.
"I - I don't know! I think she's losing control of the memory, so she's actually feeling what her memory self is feeling too. That would explain the sudden cut in her arm." M'gann spoke really fast. She was panicking, too. "Do you know how to get out?"
She was talking to me, but my mind was only focused on the scene unfolding in front of me. It brought rushes of emotions pain. It muddled my brain and sent them scattering across the room. I was wheezing and taking short shallow hiccups of air.
"You!" Grace yelled in Dream-Bethany's face. Dream-Bethany's eyes were filled with a fiery hatred as she glared right into the eyes of Grace. I felt her pain, but also encountered her burning anger.
She tried to pull her arm away, but Grace's hand was like an iron grip and it hurt the flesh on Dream-Bethany's arm to try to resist her. I felt a little jolt of pain slice through my arm, too, as Dream-Bethany struggled.
"You will not be hitting your siblings! Do you understand?!" She shrieked in her ears.
"But they cut me and tried to burn me!" Dream-Bethany pointed at the evidence of knives and a lighter that had fallen to the floor. Tears escaped both of our eyes as we knew that arguing with Grace was useless. "My injury is worse!" dDream-Bethany screamed through tears.
Emotions and snippets of thoughts scampered through my head. This wasn't fair! Why was life so cruel?! She was going to punish me when I didn't do anything wrong! They hurt me!
"Come here!" Grace's warning voice was shrill in my ear, sending a race of fear in my heart. She yanked Dream-Bethany forward, and she stumbled back to stand. When she looked up, I saw she had taken down one of the-
"Bethany!" M'gann's voice was directly in my ear, shocking me out of my frozen state on the floor. "You need to get us out of here, or we'll be stuck here!"
"What?" My head was groggy, "how... How do we- I mean, I do that?"
"You need to focus! Focus first! Clear your mind." She sat down next to me, holding my hand in both of hers.
I tried to do as she said, but I couldn't breathe. The band around my chest came back and I felt like I was suffocating. Tears kept streaming down my face. Why was I crying? Was it from the pain or from the stress that I couldn't get out of my own mind? Where were we? Why couldn't we leave?
"I... I can't...focus!" I gasped, "I can't breathe!"
The walls started to close in and I began to rock back and forth. I was trapped. There was nowhere to go now. I whimpered and my eyes darted around too fast to actually see anything at all. Next to me, M'gann and Dick were saying stuff to each other, but I couldn't understand. Were they talking in a different language?
A warm hand pushed against my cheek, causing me to turn towards the source. I could see Dick's eyes were darting back and forth under his mask. There was the little hint of blue through his mask. Just seeing that familiar color that I'd stared at many times caused me to calm just a little bit.
He seemed to notice that I had calmed down by looking at him, so he took off his mask, revealing those beautifully pure and electric blue eyes. Respectfully, M'gann turned away so she wouldn't see Dick's face.
"You have me. Focus on me." He leaned forward a little, staring into the depths of my heart.
I studied him, which was my favorite hobby to do, and focused on his movements, on his voice, his eyes. I focused deeply on those swirling shades of blues that always dazzled me everytime I saw them. I loved the way his hair was overgrown just a bit so that it brushed the top of his eyebrows. I focused on every movement he made, I heard every breath he took. He was my life, my everything. I needed him, and he needed me. He was the shoulder that I leaned on when I needed someone's help, the wings that let me fly when I needed to escape.
I realized all of this as my breathing returned to normal, my heartbeat slowed, and I stopped shaking. The room enlarged to its actual vast size and the band dissipated from around my chest. That's when I realized, that this had happened before. When I had first come to this dimension and woke up in the medical wing of the Cave. I had had another anxiety attack because I thought my mom had found me, but Dick was there and he had calmed me down just like he had done now.
He was my anchor, and he had been my anchor from the very beginning, I just hadn't realized it.
Knowing this, I leaned forward and pushed a deep kiss to his lips. Surprised, he froze, but then moved his hand to my hair, running his gloved hands through my hair, soothing me. Through the kiss, I gave him my thanks and poured some of my worries into him. He responded with his lips, eager to help. Begrudgingly, I pulled back from him and opened my eyes. I mouthed my thanks to him again and looked back at M'gann who was still turned around to give us some privacy and so she wouldn't see Dick's face.
"I think you should put your mask back on so we can get going." I said to Dick.
He nodded and used his free hand to put his mask back on, concealing those beautiful eyes.
"M'gann, I'm ready." I tugged her hand and she turned towards us. We all sat in a triangle on the floor.
I completely ignored the shouting and yelling and the sound of things breaking from my memory. I didn't want to be sucked back in, and I didn't want to see anymore. Dick and M'gann didn't even glance away at the scene, no matter how loud it was. They stayed focused on each other.
"Okay, Nightwing, hold my hand." M'gann ordered. So we all were holding hands while sitting in a triangle. "Bethany." She turned to me. "Focus on the Cave. Think about the training platform."
I closed my eyes to help block out the distractions that were my other memories trying to pop up.
"Remind your mind that what this is, this kitchen and those people, are all a dream. Just a memory and a figment of telepathic powers." Her soothing voice floated through my ears.
"When you see a light, chase after it in your mind. The light is from my uncle J'ohnn, who is trying to pull us out from the other side. I can feel it." M'gann stopped talking to let me concentrate.
This is just a dream. This is just a memory. It isn't real.
Once I had convinced myself of that, a small light began to appear from the depths of my mind. I imagined myself getting closer to it. Soon, the sounds of the kitchen ruckus started to fade away and feel a mile away, much to my relief. The light got brighter and brighter, filling up my entire head, causing my eyes to burn, even though my eyelids were closed.
The light engulfed me, and I didn't feel Dick or M'gann's hand anymore. But instead of feeling anxious and scared, I felt entirely at peace, pure bliss. My past couldn't reach me anymore. I was safe.
Good luck in school this week!
Overwhelmed, Underwhelmed, Whelmed.