La Dolce Vita
By Seniya
I is for Illusions
Part 2
Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain
The room was dark.
It was pitch black and void of even the very notion of light and sound. There was no way to decipher shapes or size or where or when in this place, and that was when Caleb started to panic.
He knew himself to be crumpled on the floor of this dark place, hearing nothing, seeing even less than that. His breath began to slip out through his nostrils in harsh, rapid puffs and his hands slipped along the cold floor, seeking familiarity.
There was none.
He remembered falling, plummeting from the Earth burial ground - and that was all. Nothing else, and then here.
He tried to stand, but the darkness seemed too heavy. Caleb had no voice, nothing to scream in any case. Was he alone? He felt alone. Were the others dead? Wide, cinnamon eyes flashed through his mind for a second and suddenly, Caleb found the strength to stand.
It was then that he noticed it. It must have just appeared, because he knew he would have noticed his own reflection, hanging sweaty and still from an ornate, gold rimmed mirror. There was light now, a sliver at least an inch long behind the heavy frame that did enough to illuminate the hollows and curves on his face and body.
He stared at the beast in the mirror for a long while, coming to terms with the feeling of nausea that touched him when those blood red eyes stared back at him.
The reflection grinned, cruel as it mocked him and his heart thudded faster. Caleb took in the waves of long, brown fur and then he closed his eyes.
One. Two.
And then it was gone.
And so was he. At last, the room had dissipated, leaving him now, drenched in sweat in a patchy lawn outside of a run down apartment building in the middle of the angry afternoon sun, where a tiny red haired girl played (by herself) in a corner of the yard, beside a neglected rose bush.
He knew it was Will before she turned around. The red hair, alabaster skin and tiny limbs were unmistakeable, even as he realised that this Will had to be at least ten Earth years younger than the one he knew. Had he fallen into the past? Still, that couldn't explain the dark room he'd just emerged from. This breed of magic was indeed strange - and was he the only one affected? That couldn't be. This vision was clearly distinct to Will, she had to be around here.
He was snatched out of his reverie by a series of loud shouts from the other side of the street. For the first time he noticed a gaggle of human girls with dead-eyed dolls clutched in their chubby fists giggling loudly from across the street, ignoring the girl in the rose bush.
Could they see him?
It wasn't likely. No one spared a glance at the burly stranger in the dark shirt, dripping sweat in the semi-deserted garden. Little Will saw them though, from her vantage point behind the roses. Her large brown eyes would dart between the branches every few moments, as if trying to ensure that they were still there.
She wasn't dressed like the other girls, who were wearing a rainbow of colourful dresses with polka dots and flowers and ribbons. The red head was in shorts, a t-shirt and barefooted. She was dusty and clutched a stick in her tiny hand.
This child was the Will he knew. Without a doubt. If there were any (doubts) those vanished when the regular Will stomped up beside him.
"What are you doing here?" She was frowning deeply, as usual, and her sword was clutched in her hand. Caleb, naturally, frowned back. "I did not come here by my own doing. I just ... appeared."
She considered this before accepting that it must be the truth. "Yeah," she mumbled, "I just appeared too."
She had shed her heavy jacket and thick sweater because of the heat, and was now wearing a simple white camisole and her jeans. Her short red hair had curled slightly in the humidity, the crimson strands stuck to her nape and to the slope of her shoulder where they mingled with sweat. It troubled him that he noticed anything so subtle. It further annoyed him that his hand itched to brush those strands away.
"Do you know this place?" Caleb asked, clearing his throat in an effort to regain his control. Will hesitated before nodding slightly. He looked at her watching the little red headed girl, who was poking holes in the dusty earth with her stick. "This is Austin, where I grew up."
The peace of the afternoon was disrupted when a lanky redheaded man sauntered into the garden, stirring clouds of dust as he moved. "Hellooo," he slurred to the child, who shrank further into her bushes. From across the street, Caleb heard the giggles from the girls grow louder. Beside him, Will stiffened considerably.
"I've tried to use the sword to get out but I can't. My powers aren't working." She spoke in a loud, clear voice, as if to distract from what they were seeing.
"Ma!" As if to foil her efforts, the man spoke louder as well. "I'm hooommeee!"
An older lady, with her faded silver hair almost hidden by massive purple curlers rushed from the bottom floor of the apartment. She was in an expensive looking dress, and her face was covered in those fancy paints that Cornelia and Irma always used (although to much better effect). "What is it Tom?" She hissed in a drawl similar to the easy way Will spoke. "My stories are on!"
"Ma, I need a couple hundred dollars. Tell me ya got it. These guys are crowding my ass for their money."
"Where am I supposed to get that kinda money boy?" She hissed, her brown eyes flickered to where little Will stayed curled into her spot, clearly trying to decide if she could hear.
The tiny shoulders didn't move, but the hands were frozen on the stick and Caleb knew by the way Will was fidgeting by his side, that she had heard every word.
"Didn't her mother send anything for her this week?"
"Aw, Jesus, Tom! You can't keep taking the kid's money. She needs it for ..."
"For what?" He snapped, and the sentence echoed through the quiet afternoon, "What she damn well need but crayons and Barbie dolls?"
"Tom! Keep your voice down! You're drunk!" But he'd already shoved past the old woman, and rushed into the sliding glass door at the back. He was gone for a mere minute, returning to the porch moments later, while shoving something into his pocket and then brushing a noisy kiss against his mother's rouged face.
Then, he was gone the way he'd come, this time walking only an inch in front of Will and Caleb. Will was holding her breath, Caleb noted, the tension around her was that tangible. He'd walked right out of the gate without a backward glance before turning around suddenly, "Bye, Princesssss." He cooed at the child and then continued on his way.
The little girl with the messy red hair watched with brown eyes that were much too old to be in such an angelic face and finally mumbled, "Bye Daddy."
The scene faded to black and Caleb thought he heard a spattering of applause. Will, who had been staring at her feet said, "I don't want to talk about it."
He had been planning to ask her if this was a memory or a dream, but from the whiteness in her knuckles clutching her sword - it was more than obvious.
His chest ached for the little girl. Both of them. The urge to touch her began anew, and this time, he let it win. He dropped a heavy hand against her shoulder, and to his surprise, she let him.
Hay Lin stayed crouched behind the heavy ivory drapes for a long time. Her knees, which were always knobbly and tough, were curled up to her chest and stabbed her chin unrelentingly.
Still, she didn't dare move. Her hiding spot smelled of mothballs and Lysol, a heinous combination at the best of times - absolutely sickening in the worst.
She was in the funeral parlour - the one three streets away from her house where they'd had her Great-Uncle's memorial a few years back. She hated it then, with its white and gold furnishings and tidy beige walls. It was immaculate, from ceiling to floors to caskets. And it was terrifying now that her Nana was only a few feet away in a dark mahogany box.
The only sound she could hear was her own racing heart, going crazy in her chest. There was a cold layer of sweat on her upper lip that was slightly distracting but nothing was worse than the freezing terror moving through her spine.
She would have stayed there indefinitely, if Taranee hadn't eventually invaded her space and pulled the drapes away with a single, sharp movement.
The black girl was covered in sweat and gasping for air as though she'd been running for miles. Her glasses were askew on her nose, and her messy, curly braids were scattered all around her face. "You're the only one here?" She snapped, and HayLin nodded before mumbling, "New girl?"
"Taranee," she corrected, and then pointed to her Nana, still belly up in her coffin. "This is only a nightmare for you, for most of us, it's like Mardi Gras."
"Don't say that!" The smaller girl howled through tears, "she's all I have."
"You do realise this is a dream right?" Her voice had taken on its usual 'I know everything' vibe, actually Hay Lin found the bossiness comforting. "I ... Kinda ... But it's still scary."
Taranee sighed, "We have to find whoever is doing this. If I could find you, I don't see why I can't find them."
Hay Lin nodded but kept her eyes trained on the ground. "What was your nightmare?"
It took Taranee a long time to answer. She was used to working on her own terms. Despite initial appearances, the Oracle wasn't a terrible taskmaster. She was given a lot of free range. It was only when she was truly convinced of the innocence of the question that she whispered, "Spiders."
Hay Lin giggled, "Seriously? Bugs?"
Taranee's lips twitched in annoyance. "When I was younger, on my family's vacation to some ruins in the Amazon ... I fell into a Tarantula nest. They were all over me."
"Oh ... Sorrry ..." Hay Lin offered a small smile. "Well, you know I used to be afraid of chickens. Only because we've killed so many at the restaurant ... Their cousins must be out for revenge."
Taranee didn't look for the logic in the sentence. Instead she pointed her chin towards the door. "If this is Mr. George's place, this door should lead us onto Hale Avenue, right?"
"Yeah ... Well, in real life but ..."
"But we can control our own dreams can't we?"
Hay Lin had a few more questions but a sudden thump against the coffin stopped the conversation. Both she and Taranee turned in time to see her grandmother, climbing jerkily from the wooden box. "Nana - I knew they couldn't keep you ... "
It wasn't her. If the milky white eyes and the slack jawed face hadn't proven it, then the dozens of spiders creeping from her ears may have been an indication.
Hay Lin screamed, only to realise that Taranee had already turned around and sprinted towards the door. She followed suit, racing into the white hot light as her Nana spewed arachnids in her wake.
"I just ... Why won't this work!" Will tossed her sword onto the lush green garden outside of a massive brick school house. Caleb was immersed in the tell tale signs of spring, a symphony of soft, sweet smells were thick and heavy around him. It was too difficult to enjoy though, after having watched an even smaller Will get into an ill fated fist fight with four larger girls. The little shadow was now sobbing brokenly in the corner near a water fountain, where she was cleaning a cut on her cheek.
This was the fourth such vision they had seen. They were all fairly similar. Little Will would be yelled at by someone, she would fight, lose, and then she would cry.
Will grew steadily more irate as they flashed before her eyes. She'd stabbed a miserable school teacher with her sword in the last sequence, and had been notably put out when it hadn't stopped the scenes from coming. Even as she ranted on the periphery of the playground, the images around them stilled, faded to black and then changed.
"Great!" Will yelled, "Now what?" She wasn't to remain confused for long however, as in the next second she and Caleb found themselves on a hazy summer evening on the sidewalk in front of a large store with a variety of pets in the store widows.
"Oh, no," Will covered her face with her hands. "Not this one!"
Caleb was intrigued by her reaction, "why, what happens now?" Will jumped suddenly, as though she'd forgotten he was here. "N-Nothing … it is … I mean …" she sighed, "this is last summer. I worked here for a couple of months for like, a part time job."
He didn't quite get it, but Caleb nodded anyway.
"Anyway … there was this … guy …"
As if on cue, another Will, this time in a tiny skirt, a clingy halter top and her long red hair in a pretty ponytail, darted outside of the store. She was giggling in the most out-of-character way Caleb could imagine. "That's you?" He mumbled, while Will just shrugged. The figure was joined only moments after by a tall boy.
He seemed much older than her, and acted like it too. He was dressed in too tight jeans, a heavy jacket and boots with a stupid looking hat on his dark, wavy hair.
Will was all over him. The redhead clutched at his arms until he draped his arms around her waist. "I think, little lady, that we have every right to close shop early for the night." He drawled in a voice that made Caleb's stomach turn.
"I believe you might be right, Mr. Olsen." She giggled again and then boldly plucked his cowboy hat off of his head. He grinned before lowering his head and meeting her lips.
The real Will rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath but Caleb was livid. "Why is he taking advantage of you like that? Who gave him the right to take those liberties?"
"Are you frigging serious? This is first base." Her face had reddened considerably however, and Caleb could tell she was uncomfortable. It got worse when the couple, still locked in an embrace and stumbling all over each other, managed to make their way into the backseat of a nearby car.
"I really don't get the purpose of showing me this one."
"What were you two doing in there?"
"Get over it Dad," She was trying to brush it off, to pretend like it didn't matter, but she couldn't. "He said me he loved me. Said I was the most beautiful girl in the world. I shouldda caught on." Will rolled her eyes, but sounded sad. "And then he left Austin the next week and I never heard from him again." She made a sound between a laugh and a sob, "I'm not the first girl to get lied to, Caleb. And I was definitely not the first by Matt Olsen."
He was quiet then, not really understanding everything she had said but knowing that she was hurting. Caleb cleared his throat. "He … He didn't deserve you."
This time she did laugh. "You probably don't even get how cliché that is."
Caleb frowned, "I'm serious Will. You …"
The scene vanished before he could finish. This time, they hadn't re-appeared in Austin at all, but in a perfectly white room, covered in mirrors. It was a replica of the prison Will had visited only months ago – when she'd seen Nerissa. Already terrified by the prospect of meeting her predecessor again, Will clutched her sword closer to her side and edged nearer to Caleb, who hadn't moved.
He was absolutely transfixed by something he'd seen on one of the walls. Will, who'd noticed his gaze, tried to follow it but found nothing out of the ordinary. "Caleb!" She tugged at his arm to get his attention, her heart was racing now and she knew Nerissa was probably nearby. "Caleb! Look at me!"
The brunette was still gazing intently at the mirror, and Will squinted towards the corner, trying to make out what had held his attention so easily. It was just a reflection, just the two of them, side by side – until it wasn't anymore. All of a sudden, there was a massive – dog-like thing standing beside Will in the reflection. Startled, she released Caleb's arm and jumped away.
The creature was at least eight feet tall and covered in waves of dark fur. It stood on its hind legs, which only highlighted its massive torso, terrify claws and foot long teeth. It didn't move though, just stared back at her with those hauntingly green eyes.
"C-Caleb … what is …"
Maybe it was the fear in her eyes, but something pulled him out of his spell. "That's ... me."
Author: So I was so hyped about this chapter until the worst month ever happened. First my Grandmother passed away and put me into a funk for a few days, later on my laptop literally broke, as in it broke in two. Then, one of my co-workers quit and I was swamped with her duties until they re-hired.
I actually wrote about half of this on my blackberry. Sigh. I didn't want to do it this way, but I will have to make a part 3 for this Chapter. Thanks for the ongoing support guys, I do appreciate it.