It was the sound of radio scratches and static that caused Charlie to stir from her the sleep that she had exhausted herself into.
"Confound this ridiculous device!" A voice said. "I don't know why he insists we use this, it's impossible to get it working. My arms and ears are hurting from trying to get a signal. Chit-chatter! That's all I get from you, stupid radio!"
Charlie slowly opened her eyes and when her vision cleared she could make out a door that had been left open a crack and from behind it, she could see a strange but pretty female fiddling with a radio. She looked at the machine like it was something not of this world, kind of reminded her of the time the TV broke and Stolas had spent hours trying and failing to fix it. Poor man almost electrocuted himself at one point.
Charlie started to sit up, the female saw her and bustled over to her side with a welcoming smile.
"Feeling better dear?" She squeaked primly.
"Where...Where am I?" The girl asked groggily.
"Why you're safe and snug inside our little house. Although little is an understatement."
After a few minutes, Charlie took note of her new surroundings. She was in a very comfortable and pretty bedroom garlanded with flowers. Lilies, primroses, morning glories, and apple blossoms, so lovely and their sweet perfume was all around. There was a balcony that was outstretched and with windows that opened like doors so you could step out and see the remarkable view. The furniture in the room was simple but the shelves and tables had the most beautiful array of music boxes laid out upon them. Some were wooden ones with exquisite images painted on the lids, some were mechanical with porcelain dancers, and some were silver and gold boxes with a small bird singing inside.
Next she started to look over the person who had come to greet her. Like everyone else in this world, she didn't not appear normal. She almost looked exactly like a china doll. Though she had never seen a doll that size before nor one that could move and talk on its own.
"You know it's not polite to stare." She said to Charlie.
"Oh sorry." Charlie looked downward. That's when she saw that she was just wearing her bra and some ripped pants. "Oh God!"
She quickly pulled the covers over herself in embarrassment.
"Don't worry Charlie, we already have something decent for you to wear. Oh course you'd probably want to get cleaned up first before you get dressed.
"You know my name?" Charlie stuck her out of the blanket.
"Oh I know much more than that." She said. "You're pretty much the second child to ever give Levana the slip."
She chuckled.
"Oh what I wouldn't give to have seen the look on her face when she realized that you had escaped. Must've been a very ugly face. Of course her face is always ugly."
"Does she know I'm here?"
"Oh no, she'll never find you here. She never comes to this part of Mystique Hollow, cause she can't see."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't Louis tell you? She can't see anything unless it's through a mirror and we don't keep mirrors here. So out in this place, she's as blind as a bat. The perfect sanctuary."
"Huh...So that's why it's all pale, white, and blank out there. But didn't she ever think to plant mirrors here?"
"Of course but there are only so many mirrors she can plant in this world. And to be perfectly honest, she's not even aware of how far this place goes. She thinks it's just a random, small piece of property, not worth a second thought. That's why we chose to hide here."
"We?"
"Me, my husband Moxxie, Loona, and Alastor. Oh and I'm Millie by the way."
"Alastor!" She sat up quickly. "Is this his bureau?"
"Yep."
"Then that means Octavia's here! Please tell me, is there a little girl here?"
"Why she's just downstairs beating my husband at a game of chess."
"Octavia!" Without thinking, she jumped out of bed and almost went straight out the door, but Millie caught her by the arm.
"Now wait a minute! There's no need to rush out so quickly!"
"But I have to see her right away!"
"I understand but are you sure you want to go out just in your bra and ripped jeans? In front of my husband and a teenage boy?" Millie pointed to Charlie's now, rather revealing apparel. Charlie blushed.
"Oops! Heh-heh, I guess I could spare a few minutes for a wardrobe change."
"I think you need more than just new clothes. Look at you, look at your arms and legs, you're cut up and bruised."
Charlie finally realized that her arms, legs, hands, feet, and even her stomach bore scratches, bruises, sores, and dry blood stains. She could also now feel the pain that had been left by that awful assault and battery. And with that pain, came the memory of getting separated from Angel.
"Angel!" She gasped. "Oh God! He's still out there!"
"Don't panic." Millie said. "Louis is with him, he'll be fine. Now let's get you cleaned up. I'll run you a flower petal and aloe leaf bath, then give you a good astringent to prevent infection."
With that said she led Charlie into another room with a tub. Millie quickly filled the tub with hot water, oil from aloe leaves, and the crushed flower petals. After that she handed Charlie a towel and left her to bathe in peace.
For a moment the girl just stood there, quiet and confused. Her mind still needing some time to absorb everything. After that she undressed herself and slowly stepped into the bath. At first she felt a horrible stinging sensation as the water first made contact with her injuries. She hissed and went stiff, almost tempted to jump out of the tub right then and there. But soon the aloe took effect, and the warm water combined with the scent of flowers soothed her. Though she told herself not to soak long, just enough until she was clean and her injuries had soaked up the aloe.
About ten minutes later she came out of the bath, picked up the towel from the floor, and wrapped it around herself. By the time she had dried off, Millie returned with the astringent and some clean clothes. She carefully rubbed the astringent on her wounds and helped her get changed.
"What's this?" Charlie asked inspecting what she was given to wear. It was an off the neck, below the shoulder, gold-colored dress made of satin. Pretty but not exactly what she thought would be appropriate for the situation.
"Loona told us that it might be a little odd having you wear that, given the circumstances." Millie said. "But he thought you'd feel better if you wore something pretty. If you don't like it, please forgive him, he doesn't know much about girls but he tries."
"Oh no it's very beautiful, and I do like it. I just- Wait a minute. He? He who?"
"Alastor. When we found you passed out by the door he was mortified. But once he realized that you were alive and only hurt mildly, he set to work trying to make everything comfortable for you."
"Um...I'm afraid to ask, but where did he get the underwear?"
"You'll have to ask Loona that. He told her to get you clean underwear. Amazing really, he doesn't even flinch at the sight of blood but if you just mention the word panties in front of him, the boy turns squeamish."
Though this was a huge relief on Charlie's part. At least now she knew without a doubt that he wasn't a pervert. Charlie then proceeded to pull the dress over herself, tie her hair into a braid, and put on her shoes which had been left by the bed.
"Can I see Octavia now?" Charlie asked.
"Just follow me."
She follow Millie through a vast, illusory chamber filled with stairways. The walls and shelves were decorated by magnificent cuckoo-clocks, more lovely music boxes, wooden, hand-carved radios, and the most wonderfully crafted toys. Charlie could not help stopping for a second or two to admire these beautiful things.
"He made them, you know." Millie said, noticing the girl's admiration.
"He did? All of them?"
"Them. This house. The gardens. The whole bureau. He made them all himself."
Charlie was wonder-struck, looking around at the whole house in stunned disbelief.
"That's impossible. How could one person create all this?"
"In this world, you'd be amazed what one person can do. Especially if said person has an incredible sense of imagination and creativity like you and him do."
"I'm sorry, like me?"
"Sure. You're just as creative and imaginative as he is. The way you refuse to let your dreams stay inside and your determination to make them a reality, it's a wonderful gift. And I think that's why he likes you so much. Most people nowadays just let their imagination fade away upon reaching their teenage years but you and him hang on to yours."
"And that's a good thing? I was always told that it could be crippling."
"Well it could be, if you use it in the wrong way. Imagination is like childhood in general, you can't let it dictate everything in your life but at the same time you don't throw it all away. Personally I think imagination and childhood should be used to make maturing easier."
"Does Alastor do that?"
"Definitely. Instead of just wasting away with daydreams and what ifs, he creates things. You could do it too."
"What are you, nuts? I can't build anything like this." Charlie gestured to the entire building.
"In this world if you're a child or a child at heart, you can pretty much do anything. That's how Issac designed this place. And it's also why Levana perceives you and Alastor to be such a threat to her, because you both have the same gift of creation and wonder that Issac had, which she could never duplicate."
Charlie didn't have the slightest notion to what Millie was talking about. Her mind was still having trouble reeling in the fact that she was going to have to fight an evil, crazy woman, rescue her best friend and another girl, then somehow try to get them all home. Now this living doll was telling her that she had some kind of special power or whatever? And to think, people told her that her biggest worry at sixteen would be learning how to drive and to say no to alcohol.