It was a moonless night at the rainbow friends play place. The hurried pants of two teens running for their lives sounded in the halls as they were pursued by a tall, blue, monster with a yellow crown and drooling maw.
"This way!" Said one of the teens, a boy, pulling his friend, a girl, into another corridor with him into the vast play area, hoping to find some place to hide as soon as they were out of sight.
"It's coming this way," whimpered the girl, "what do we do?"
"Psst hey!" Called a voice from above, the two looked up to see a white figure with a ring floating over it's head waving at down them, from what looked like a typical ivory tower out of a fairy tale, with a twirling slide going down, "Hide up here! Quick!"
The two were unsure at first, but decided to take their word for it and climbed the tower's ladder.
Blue arrived looking to and fro for his prey. Only to find nothing before moving on to the next room.
The three sighed in relief.
"Thanks for helping us." Said the boy.
The white creature, though having no mouth, smiled at the two who stared in a mix of wariness and astonishment. She was an angelic, humanoid being with three eyes, whose spherical head levitated above her body, kind of like those figures on traffic signs, finger-like digits over her stubby hands, a pair of wings on her back made of floating digits connected by an unknown force, and what appeared to be a halo floating over her head.
"Who are you?" Asked the boy, "Are you one of those things?"
"Well… sort of," answered the white rainbow friend, "but I'm not quite as hostile as the rest of them. They call me White, but once upon a time I used to go by a different name."
*Flashback* *White's POV*
It all started with a high schooler by the name of Selene Lumiere.
A young girl who lived with her mother, Lorraine Lumiere, who wanted nothing more than for her daughter to make an effort to pursue what was necessary for her future and as such saved up for Selene to attend college since she was 6.
But Selene, not wanting to put in so much effort, had high hopes. She dreamed of becoming instantly rich and famous, to be able to live without having to work a single day in her life.
Lorraine was concerned for her daughter chasing after something so unrealistic and tried time and time again to convince her to try for a more obtainable goal.
"Honey, maybe you should try looking into some good courses?" Suggested Lorraine to Selene who was reading a fashion magazine on the couch. "You know that becoming rich and famous takes work and most importantly an immense amount of luck to obtain right?"
Selene rolled her eyes resentfully, "Blah, blah, blah. You don't know nothin' mom."
"Honey I just-"
"Lemme get this straight," Selene bolted upright pointing into her mother's chest, "It's not about effort or how hard you try, when you have looks and grace like mine you never have to try. Which is why one day, I'll be the most famous model in the fashion industry."
Lorraine gave a worried look and sighed.
Selene was an arrogant and delusional person who believed that she could make it big without having to work for it. As such her grades dropped like a stone, she would make others do her homework for her, ignored advices from her teachers, and hung out with a bad crowd. Not a week went by when the school board hadn't called her mother on her daughter's ill behavior and over confident attitude.
"Selene!" Yelled Lorraine one day while her daughter stood in front of the mirror doing her make up, "I received a call from the school! You've been skipping classes again haven't you?"
"Ugh, so what if I am?"
"So what?! Honey, can't you see that you're ruining your life as we speak?"
"Oh shut up mom!" Selene shouted, slamming her foundation brush on the end table before standing. "It's my life I can do whatever I want with it!" A car horn sounded from outside.
Selene grabbed her purse. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going out with my friends."
"What time will you be back? It's nearly 6 pm you know! You have school in the morning!"
"Shut up! You're not the boss of me! I can stay out however late I want!"
"Selene!"
With a loud slam from the door, Selene left her angry yet concerned mother standing in the middle of the living room with a baffled look.
Lorraine didn't know where she went wrong in her daughter's upbringing but she seemed to get worse by the day.
It wasn't until Selene graduated high school that things took a turn for the worst. She got together with a troublesome young man named Chuck.
Her mother had warned her countless times that he was bad news and shouldn't have anything to do with him. But Selene, malignant and in love, refused to listen and got into all kinds of trouble with this young man without a care in the world, even if it did nearly gave them a criminal record once or twice.
Then one night she broke into her mother's safe, where Lorraine kept the money she was saving for Selene's college fund, and ran away with Chuck to New York City. Where they prepared to live lavishly and fulfill their dreams on seventh avenue. Selene doing her modeling and Chuck as her manager.
The first photo shoot of the headquarters they tried out for… didn't quite achieve the desired results.
No matter, they'll just try for the next one. They're sure to get lucky the second time right?
Wrong.
Selene was getting stressed. Frustrated and eager to make it big. But having her beloved at her side made it all the more bearable thus her ambition never died out.
Third time was the charm.
She made progress at first, the judges seemed vaguely impressed.
However midway of the shoot Selene got nauseous, getting sicker by the minute, her stomach starting to ache; she passed it off as nerves and did everything to keep it down as long as she could.
But in the end fate took it's toll and the contents of her stomach evacuated then and there right in front of the judges.
Needless to say she didn't get the gig and had to be rushed to the hospital.
Turns out she was pregnant and what had happened was morning sickness. The couple was infuriated by the news, if they have a kid now they'll never be able to achieve their dreams.
The next day, Selene received a call from her mother.
"Honey, it's me. I heard about what happened."
"And? What you're gonna mock me?"
"No honey… look while I'm still angry with you for stealing money from me and running away, please know that I still love you and I'm worried about you."
"Oh ha! You never had faith in me or my dreams! If you loved me you should've been more supportive!"
"But I do support you sweetie, I just wanted you to understand that you can't simply obtain something without putting in any effort."
"Well you should've tried harder!"
Lorraine gave an exasperated sigh. There didn't seem to be any means of talking sense into her daughter.
"Look just come home, please?" She said, "we can work through this."
"No way! You're the one who jinxed me from the beginning you old witch! That's why I had morning sickness during the shoot!"
"Morning sickness? Are… honey are you telling me you're pregnant?!"
"So what if I am? As soon as Chuck and I get rid of it we can finally get back to basics."
"No! Sweetie! Please. If you don't want the baby then why not let me take it in? You don't have to take such drastic measures just because of a minor set back."
Selene should've taken the offer but chose to listen her ego instead and took the moment to spite her mother for what had occurred.
"Fine. If you really want this kid so bad, them pay me $100,000."
"W-what?! Dear! You know I don't have that kind of money! I'm still paying off the mortgage on the house and-" Before Lorraine could finish the other end hung up. "Selene? Selene!"
Selene hung up on her mother. Cutting all ties with her.
She and Chuck tried to look up any cheap abortion clinics but a majority of their funds had been plunged on their luxuries and hotel expenses. They had little other choice but to have the baby.
Not wanting to put up with the burden, my father left my mom after my birth.
That baby, a girl with platinum blonde hair, was me.
*pause flashback*
The two teens looked at one another then intently back at White.
"So Selene was… your mom?" Asked the girl.
"Yes," answered White, "but she wasn't a very loving one at that. In fact sometimes I wish she had gotten an abortion."
*flashback conti.*
She wanted so little to do with me that she didn't even bother to think of a name for me. She would often refer to me as "The Kid", "That Thing", or sometimes "That Stupid girl".
For five years since my birth, she kept me alive but never quite showed the proper care and attention that every child needed from their mother.
All of her focus went to keeping a roof over our heads through dishonest living. That being looking up wealthy sugar daddies to leech off of for a while before moving onto another one.
I did all I could to get her attention, but was always met with coldness.
"Mommy," said a small voice, trying to get the attention of her mother, who was talking to a man on the phone. "Mommy!"
"Hold on just a moment," Selene said to the voice on the other line before reluctantly turning her attention to her daughter, who held up a drawing. "What?"
"I made dis fo' you!" The child held up the drawing of three stick figures, presumably of the two of them holding hands, to show her mother.
Selene took the sheet out of her daughter's hand, looking at it with a scowl. "You mean to tell me that you've interrupted an important phone call just to show me this chicken scratch?"
She suddenly crumbled the paper before throwing it aside, "stop bothering me with this crap and go to your room. Stupid girl."
The little girl was heartbroken but did as she was told.
She would often keep me locked in my room just so that I wouldn't get in her way. I was often scolded for the smallest annoyance and was punished for it.
The child went up to her mother, who was prepping for a date, with a flyer in her hands.
"Mommy…" she spoke.
"Uuuugh… what?" Answered Selene with a groan.
Her daughter hesitated for a moment before holding up the poster, displaying an ad to a children's party venue called "The Rainbow Friends Play place."
"Can… can we go to da… wainbow fwiends pway pwace? Pweeeease?"
Selene gave an agitated glare before turn back to finish her make up. "How many times do I have to say? I have no money to waste on you. Just go back to your room and keep quiet."
"But mommy…"
"Argh! That's it!"
Annoyed with the child's neediness, Selene grabbed her poor child by the arm before dragging her all the way to her room and locking her inside.
"You will come out when I say so."
The little girl stood there sadly, her dreams of going to the play place crushed, as the flyer fell from her small hand.
As time passed, mom's looks began to fade and hardly any guy wanted anything to do with her anymore and rent and overdo payments were piling up by the day that we couldn't afford to stay in the apartment we lived at anymore.
As such we had to move out. But with the little savings we had left, we were forced to live in an old, dilapidated, one-story house on the corner of town.
Even then my ignorant mother still never learned her lesson and refused to get an actual job to make ends meet. She took all their frustration out on me, hitting me, making me feel like a burden, blaming me for all of her misfortunes.
Selene glared down at her frightened child accusingly after having shoved her to the dirty floor.
"It's your fault that we now have to live in this dump!" She yelled. "If you hadn't been born your father wouldn't have left and I would've been a model and have lived the life I wanted! You better be prepared to pay me back for all you've put me through!"
Mom grew depressed and turned to drinking while wasting our funds on lottery tickets and scratch offs. Day by day she grew lazier, forcing me to do all the household chores even though our new home was so old and worn out that clean up was almost impossible and pointless. She would often deny me a proper meal, keeping me going with mere table scraps; and when I wasn't being demanded to do chores I was forced to go out onto the sides of the streets to beg for money.
Selene snatched the money from the little girl's hands before counting it.
"18, 19, 20. That's all you've made today?!" She shouted, bringing her daughter to tears. "You're so useless! What kind of kid can't provide for her parent?"
She then delivered a sharp slap across her cheek before throwing her into the backyard.
Whenever I came home, my mother would take whatever amount I made and if she weren't satisfied, I was forced to sleep out in the abandoned doghouse in the backyard.
*pause flashback*
The two teenagers stared sympathetically at White.
"That's… so awful…" stated the girl.
"Didn't anyone try to help you?" Ask the boy.
White gave the two a sad look, "The world is a cruel place where people often turn a blind eye on a poor child trying to get by." She said dishearteningly. "If it hadn't been for that one night, I probably wouldn't still be alive today."
*flashback conti.*
I was punished once again for the meager amount I brought home and made to sleep outside again.
It was cold, dark, and raining. The dog house barely provided the means for me to keep warm and dry.
That's when I took notice of a loose board falling from the rotting fence that surrounded the backyard. I was hesitant at first, but I knew that I couldn't keep living like that and squeezed my way through the fence.
I had no where else to go but what other choice did I have? It was either stay and wait to be beaten again or leave while I still had the chance.
I wandered down the neighborhood, cold, soaked, hungry, and tired. I needed a place to spend the night but it's not like anyone would take in any random homeless kid they meet on the streets.
Finally I came upon a church, luckily someone forgot to lock up so I went inside. It was spacious, nothing but rows of pues facing an altar with an aisle going down the middle of the room.
It made me think of scenes from weddings that I saw in magazines or on tv, I had always hoped that I would one day walk down the aisle in a beautiful dress to the preacher and my potential spouse to recite our vows and bind our ties for life.
I curled up in one of the padded pues before letting myself drift off to sleep.
Someone found me the next morning, the priest, who had arrived early for that morning's sermon. He was shocked to have found a small child, wet and dirty, sleeping in the chapel hall.
"My Child!" Said the old man worriedly. "What on earth are you doing here by yourself?"
The little girl tried to speak but let out a loud cough as she breathed raggedly. The priest placed a hand over her forehead, she felt hot.
"You're ill!" He exclaimed, removing his coat and placing it over the small form. "hang on I'll call for help!"
The kind priest dialed 911 and stayed by my side, praying non stop for me as I slowly lost consciousness.
I woke up in the hospital with an oxygen mask over my face.
Turns out being out in the cold and damp gave me pneumonia.
The doctors were horrified by my condition, not only was I deathly sick but also malnourished and covered with bruises.
They knew they had to get the police involved.
I told them everything. About my mom, our living conditions, and how I was being treated.
In the end my mother was rightfully apprehended and they managed to contact another family member that would take me in.
My grandma, Lorraine. Who I've never met before until now. I was cautious at first, fearing that she might be no better than my mother.
But When she came in to my hospital room, she cried in both happiness and grief as she took me into her arms. Apologizing up and down for being so powerless to save me.
Lorraine wept as she held her granddaughter tightly in her arms.
"I promise," she said through tears, "I won't let anyone hurt you."
I knew at that point, everything was going to be okay.
After my grandmother took me in she gave me her last name and legally named me after her late twin sister, "Bianca".
*pause flashback*
"Bianca," questioned the boy, "so your name was 'Bianca Lumiere'?"
"Yes." Answered White, Matter-of-factly. "For the next several years since then I was happy. Finally leaving behind the horrible life I knew and living with someone who cherished and raised me. I'd say that it was the end of it, but that all changed when I entered high school."
*flashback cont.*
You see even though I finally managed to live a normal life things started to take a turn when grandma's health began to deteriorate. Doctors diagnosed her with dementia and specified that she would lose her memory before she turned 80.
I owed her my life, I knew it was time that I paid her back for the years of love and care.
In addition to keeping up with my studies I also took on a part time job at the supermarket to pay off for Grandma's treatment.
It wasn't easy and I always came home exhausted. oftentimes I would have to rush home between school and work hours just to check in on grandma to make sure she didn't fall down the stairs or set the kitchen on fire.
Believe me I've had such experiences.
But I did all I could to keep a level head for both if our sakes.
"Grandma," spoke Bianca, bringing in a tray of tea into the living room where her grandmother, Lorraine sat nearly napping in her chair.
"Wha! What's that? Whose there?" Shouted Lorraine, startled.
"I-it's me grandma." Acknowledged Bianca, setting the tray of tea aside to assure her grandmother not to worry. "It's Bianca."
"Wha-…w-who?"
"Bianca? Your granddaughter? I brought your tea."
"…oh…oh thank you dear."
Bianca gave a small smile as she poured a cup of tea for her grandmother.
We did our best to get by, I was determined to make the most of it.
However There was one other obstacle that disrupted that ambition.
Bianca walked down the school hall when a sudden force caused her to stumble, dropping her text books.
"Oops," laughed an insincere tone. "Sorry, my foot must've slipped."
Bianca looked over to see three mean, pretty girls mocking her, along with their ringleader, an auburn haired beauty. Bianca glared in disgust at their ill behavior before standing up to gather her books.
Her name was Margret, pageant queen and head cheerleader who took whatever chance she could to harass anyone she deemed lower than her.
Because of her, school life nearly became completely unbearable for me.
Bianca gathered everything together and stood upright when she was suddenly shoved into the lockers. The impact causing one of the lenses in the glasses she wore to pop out and break onto the tiled floor.
Margret and her friends laughed at her unfortunate plight.
"Oopsie, so clumsy!" She mocked as The other girls carried on.
"Look, one of the lenses in her stupid glasses fell out!"
"I've heard of "four-eyes" but never "three-eyes"."
"Three-eyes! Three-eyes!"
They chanted the mean new nickname while they laughed and pointed at the mortified Bianca, nearly bringing her to tears.
After a moment of mockery, they left the poor girl on the ground, sniffling and hiccuping on the ground before straightening up and gathering her things together again when a knocking from three lockers down caught her attention.
"Hello?" Called a young man's voice. "Is somebody out there?"
"What? Hello?"
Bianca swerved and searched fir the source if the voice.
"In here!" The voice called from one of the lockers. "Can you help me out?"
"Who could be in there?" Thought Bianca.
The knocking persisted.
"Some guys locked me in here and now I can't get out." Said the boy. "Can you get this open for me please?"
"Oh of course!"
Bianca felt bad for whoever the person was and did all she could to unlock the locker. Finally after fumbling with the lock the person inside was free.
Much to Bianca's surprise the young man was quite tall, dressed in a green shirt.
"Oh thank god." He said, looking down at his savior.
"A-are you okay?" She asked, almost intimidated.
"Yeah, yeah I'm alright." He said with a friendly smile before switching to a worried expression. "Are you okay? Your glasses!"
Bianca smiled and looked away shyly for a moment. "I-it's nothing, really." She said pushing her glasses up her nose with a finger.
The tall young man took a good look at her and felt a sense of warmth overcome him at the sight of her platinum blonde hair tied in two braided pigtails, her glasses missing a lens, her pale complexion covered with cute freckles. He wanted to make a good impression, trying to think of something to say.
"I-I feel bad about how they treated you." Said the lad, momentarily cursing himself for what he said.
"No it's fine," said Bianca, "what were you doing in that locker?"
"Some jerks sort a stuffed me in there."
"Oh, that's rough." Bianca felt a little flustered, unable to look the boy in the eye without blushing. "Um… my name's Bianca. What's yours?"
The lad blushed, this pretty girl that smiled so sweetly at him.
Feeling unable to find the words. Butterflies formed in his stomach when he spoke. "M-my name is…"
But before he could answer the bell rang so suddenly alerting Bianca.
"Oh no, third period," she said, "I really should get going, bye!"
The tall lad in green said nothing, cheeks pink from infatuation as he reached an arm out to her while she left hurriedly for her next class.
He smiled as he breathed a gentle sigh.
*pause flashback*
"Yeah things weren't very easy in school," White stated.
"I can imagine." Said the girl, "you've been through so much."
White sighed, "I could've gotten a new pair of glasses but all the funds we had went into my grandma's treatment. I had to make do with what I had even if it did make things more difficult. Thankfully I was able to manage through high school up until it was time to start college."
*cont. flashback*
I chose a local campus that wasn't too far from granny's house so that I would be able to keep up with my classes while taking care of her.
Unfortunately, my tormentors attended the same place as well.
I did everything I could to avoid them, taking detours to my classes even if it did make me late at times.
Bianca left the classroom when a voice called after her.
"Hey, excuse me," it was a handsome young man with ruffled blonde hair and the body of a surfer. "Bianca right? Brandon. Think you can help a bro out with some after school tutoring?"
"Um… s-sure?" Stuttered Bianca, a little flustered from having such a handsome guy speaking to her.
Unbeknownst to them an envious pair of eyes glared from the shadows.
You never know what harmless acts can lead you to.
It wasn't until one day, Margret and her friends from the cheer squad started passing out invitations to her birthday extravaganza that she was throwing at the local amusement park "Odd world".
I haven't thought much if it until Margret came up to me so suddenly, offering me an invite.
I was hesitant but she tells me that she was sorry for everything she put me through and that she wanted me to attend her birthday. I was reluctant at first, since I couldn't just leave grandma home alone, but her insistence and promise of friendship reeled me in like a fool.
I waited until grandma went to sleep that night before I snuck out. Meeting Margret and her two friends at the campus parking lot where her mini van was parked.
We drove to our destination, I was nervous but excited for a fun night with potential new friends. Little did I know, I was in for a rude awakening.
I couldn't help but notice that we weren't quite going down the correct path to the amusement park. But whenever I tried pointing it out to Margret but she kept telling me not to worry, that she knows what she was doing, the others agreeing with her. As worried as I was I kept my mouth shut, letting them do what they wanted.
Half a mile later we stopped suddenly at the entrance of some abandoned building. The broken down sign read "Rainbow Friends Play Place". A sudden wave of nostalgic familiarity overtook me as I gazed over at what remained of the place, it must've been closed down for some time and I felt sad that I never got to go as a child while it was still open.
Anyway I had asked what we were doing there.
"Oops," said Margret, "Looks like I made a wrong turn. We're gonna have to ask for directions."
"Directions?" Said Bianca. "But it doesn't seem like anyone is here."
"There's gotta be like someone around, why else would they keep this place in tact? Just go inside and look for someone."
"What? Me? Why me?"
Margret just scoffed at her. "Fine, if you won't do it then I guess we can't be friends with you. You can forget about coming with us to Odd world."
"No! No, I-I'll do it…"
I was naïve but didn't want to lose the opportunity.
"Oh and leave your phone," said Margret, "don't wanna lose it in there do you?"
Even thought it was absurd, I did as I was told and made my way inside.
It was dark, haunting. I was overcome with a sense of unease, searching for any sign of life within the halls.
"Hello?" Called timid Bianca, her voice echoing off the walls. "Is anyone in here?"
A sudden clatter startled her as she bolted around to look behind her, finding nothing.
"I don't mean to intrude… it's just.. my friends and I got lost and…"
A low, hollow, groaning sound emitted from within the walls.
I wanted nothing more than to get out of there but I couldn't let my friends down. I came upon an open door only to find an empty room full of shelves of discarded parts, that was when I was shoved from behind.
A hard push sent Bianca falling forward into the storage room, her glasses fell from her face, the remaining lens cracked, before the door behind her had shut closed with a snap.
Bianca picked herself off the floor, her surroundings were blurred before her eyes without the aid of her glasses, as she heard laughter from the other side of the door.
"Wh-what's going on?" She called.
"You are such an idiot," called the mocking laughing tone of Margret, who must've followed Bianca inside with her friends to exact her plan. "You didn't really think we'd be friends with a loser like you did you three-eyes?"
"Margret?" Called Bianca, feeling her way to the door, her hands finding the door knob. But it wouldn't open no matter how hard she tried. "What's happening? Lemme out!"
"This is what you get for flirting with another girl's man!
Anyways we're going to Odd world while you stay put here until we come back for you. If we remember that is." Margret let out chuckle at the girl's plight. "Later!"
"No! Please! Let me out!"
I begged them not to leave me, jiggling and twisting the door knob in hopes of getting it open. Unable to contact anyone without my phone. I cried, scared out of my mind, calling non stop for help as I slammed my fists to the door. But my screams went unheard until my throat became raw and sore. I crumbled to the floor in a sobbing heap, sightless and trapped in this freakish facility that had been left to rot ages ago.
The situation reawakened painful memories of my heartless mother and how she would lock me away to punish me. It filled me with despair, I was drained by immense feelings of hopelessness. Above all I was worried for my grandmother, home alone without me to look after her. I didn't know what I would do if anything happened to her.
I waited, hoping to hear a sound. For someone, anyone to save me. I eventually lost track of how much time had passed.
My eyes started to droop, I was on the verge of sleep when a voice called from outside the store.
"Hello? Are you still there?" Called an English male voice from the other side.
"Wha-? Hello?" Said Bianca, "Yes I'm here!"
"I saw everything from the security footage. Do you need help?"
"Yes please! Just let me out of here!" She cried fretfully.
"Hang on," said the man. His voice sounded a bit off, almost robotic, but the girl was too desperate to get out to care.
The door opened. Bianca, though her vision was limited by astigmatism without her glasses, could make out a humanly figure with a red face. She tried squinting only to develop a slight headache.
"There you are," said the man, warmly, "are you alright dear?"
"Yeah, sorry my glasses fell somewhere and I can't really see all that well."
"Well then why don't I be your eyes for the time being? Come I'll lead you out of this place." The strange man took Bianca by the hand, guiding her out of the room and into the hallway.
"What's your name miss?"
"Bianca."
"Bianca, I do believe that's Italian for 'white'."
The stranger seemed friendly enough, but I should have known he had malicious intention from the start.
"I'm just gonna need you to stand here for a moment." Asked the stranger, leading the nearsighted young lady into a machine.
It wasn't until the door had shut, trapping Bianca in a tight space.
"What? What's happening?" She said, shocked, feeling the smooth metal interior of whatever hellish mechanism the man led her into. "What is this?!"
"For what it's worth my dear, I do pity you for what those horrid girls had put you through." Said the man's voice from outside, who stood by a lever that activated the machine. "But business comes first. I do hope you understand."
He pulled the switch, a loud hum sounded in Bianca's ears as a bright burst of light enveloped her. She felt her body morph, twisting and warping, turning her skin white.
After a few agonizing moments the device had finally ceased before reopening it's door, letting out a hazy mist as the figure inside stepped out before falling face forward in a dizzying state. Before passing out her vision cleared just enough to finally make out the man's face. Completely red with bulging eyes, dressed in a white lab coat, kneeling next to her with a sinister look.
"Welcome to the gang, White."
When I woke up The first strangest thing I noticed was that my sight had somehow improved. I found myself in some kind of padded room. Which turned out to be some kind of play section, fitted with a slide.
*pause flashback*
"Pretty much the very spot we're sitting in right now." Said White, pointing out the location.
*cont. flashback*
Fortunately the red man was considerate enough to leave a mirror.
But when I looked at myself, I was beyond bewildered by what have become of me.
A Swan white body, Three eyes, round head connected to my body by some invisible force in a way that made me think of the Rayman game series, wings made of floating digits, my fingers longer, and a halo-like ring levitating over my head.
There I was, a three eyed, angelic looking freak. I had to get out of there before anything worse happens.
I slid down the slide to reach the floor when I was met with another shock of my life.
Bianca, or rather the creature that used to be her, made her way down the twirling slide when she was suddenly met with a towering, green, creature with googly eyes and sharp fangs that was roaming the area, feeling it's way around with it's long, noodle like arms.
I was rather unfortunate to have been caressed by it's long fingers before it coiled an arm around me.
"Ah! No!" Shrieked Bianca as the creature held her up at eye level, in spite of it's blindness.
"What do we have here now?" He suddenly asked in a menacing tone. "Another intruder?"
"What are you? Let me go!"
"Well no sense in letting good food go to waste," the green beast lapped at his lips with a long serpentine tongue. "Just say it with me now. Ahhhh…"
He held her up, making to consume her head first while she screamed in horror.
"Green wait!" Called another voice, a drooling blue creature with a yellow crown and one of it's eyes a large white button walked in, catching his rainbow friend in the act. "She's not an intruder, she's a new rainbow friend!"
"Is that you Blue?" Green called back. "What do you mean this is a new rainbow friend?" He brought his second hand up to feel his victim's face, noting her three eyes, lack of a mouth, among other oddities about her.
"Trust me I know," continued Blue, "looks like Red got to that other girl in the storage room before the rest of us could."
"Hey guys what with all the racket?" A new voice sounded, "it's disrupting my midnight snacking." From one of the halls entered what appeared to be a small, orange, lizard with a gaping maw full of sharp teeth.
"Yeah," came another voice, "I can hear it from the vents too."
From out of a nearby ventilation slithered a tall, thin, purple creature with long arms.
Green set the white angelic figure, who by now was shuddering and sobbing in fright, back onto the floor. All the rainbow friends surrounded her.
"Hey whose this?" Ask the orange lizard.
"A new friend?" Ask the purple monster.
"Back off guys give her some space," said Blue, attempting to comfort their new friend. "Can't you see the poor thing's scared to death?"
"Who are you guys?" Whimpered Bianca, "I wanna go home!"
"Hey, hey, it's alright." Soothed Blue, "you're among friends. I'm Blue, this is Purple, Orange, and you've already met Green. We're the rainbow friends."
"What's up?" Greeted Purple.
"Nice to meet ya!" Greeted Orange.
"Hey," greeted Green, looking ashamed of himself. "Sorry for almost eating you."
But I wasn't in the mood for friendly welcomes. I demanded they direct me to the exit.
But they seemed reluctant at first, saying that even if I could leave there was no guarantee that I would be accepted back into society as I was.
"You don't understand!" Stated Bianca, "My grandmother, she's not well and is home alone! I've gotta leave and make sure she's alright!"
The colorful quartet looked at one another worriedly. They may be monsters now but they're not completely heartless.
"Alright, if that's what you really want." Said Blue. "But don't say we didn't warn you."
"Oh thank you! Thank you!"
Like that I left the play place, traveling several miles to get home.
Sure people who saw me along the way either screamed in terror or took pictures. Someone even called the police.
But I wasn't going to let it stop me from getting home.
Finally I returned to my home. Breathing a huge sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.
Bianca entered the house. Looking to and fro around the living area.
"Grandma?" She called out, "It's me! Are you alright?" No answer, "Grandma?"
She must still be in bed. Bianca thought, looking to climb the stairs only to come upon a crumbled heap at the foot of the steps.
Bianca's heart sank when she inspected it only to see that it was grandma, lying on the floor, her neck jutting from one side as though she broke it.
"No, no!" Cried Bianca, kneeling by the body in sorrow. "grandma!" She gathered her in her arms, the eyes were still wide open, the skin felt cold, there was no pulsation.
"No… no…no… grandma…" Bianca wept, holding the body close as her tears cascaded down her face.
She must've slipped down the stairs, forgetting that she lived in a two story house.
I was devastated, the only person I've ever considered family was gone. And I was all alone.
I took the moment to mourn and say goodbye before placing her back down and dialing 911 on the house land line to have someone pick up the body before leaving the scene.
I watched from the shadows as the paramedics gathered at my house, zipping up my grandmother's body before loading it up.
All the while I thought about what to do seeing as I had no where else to go.
That's when I saw a vision before my eyes.
It was of Blue and the other rainbow friends looking concerned.
"I sure hope she's okay," said Blue's voice. "I can only imagine what she must be going through. Remember how it was for us?"
"Do you think she'll be back?" Asked Orange.
"I don't know Orange," answered Blue, "That's up to her."
I jumped in surprise, as though I had just woke up from a dream. I decided at that moment that I should return to the play place, at least there I'm among those who won't see me as some kind of walking side show.
The journey was long, but after retracing my steps I managed to find the foundation just fine. Everyone was surprised by my return and I told them everything.
"I'm sorry for leaving," said Bianca, "Will you take me back? Please?"
Blue and the others smiled warmly.
"Of course!" Said Blue, "You're a fellow rainbow friend now."
"We gotta do our part to stick together." Said Green.
"We've all had it rough but we'll pull through." Said Orange.
"And we promise we'll never let anyone hurt you again." Said Purple.
Bianca, or rather White, bursted into grateful tears before leaping into Blue's arms in an embrace. Blue hugged back as the other rainbow friends joined in to comfort the newest addition to their group.
*end flashback*
"And that's how I became part of the gang as White." Said White, finally done with her life story. "However the thought of having to kill any intruders that entered the rainbow play place disgusts me. I can try and help you survive in hopes that you'll be able to escape however the best I can do for you is keep tabs on the whereabouts of my friends as well as offer a hiding spot for you here in my tower. During my time here at the play place, I've found that this third eye of mine gives me clairvoyant powers, allowing me to locate the other rainbow friends throughout any part of the play place."
"So you can see where they are?" Asked the boy, "like right now?"
"Yes," said White closing two of her eyes, searching for her friends. "Right now Blue is in the eastern most wing, Green is currently stumbling near the showers, and Orange is still hold up in his territory. You should keep to the north western region of the place to avoid the other two while keeping Orange fed and docile."
"Okay great," sighed the boy in relief, "that should heighten our chance of getting out of here alive."
"Can't you come with us?" Asked the girl.
"My place is here," answered White, "I may be helping you now but this is all I can do for you. I can't completely turn against my friends." She then went over to the entrance the two came in, checking to see if Blue or Green were lurking about. "It seems clear now, but it's only a matter of time before the alarm to Orange's meal time goes off. You two better head out while you still can."
The teens were hesitant at first but slid down the slide before heading out.
White saw them out when something had suddenly came to mind. "No, No!" She said in frustration to herself, "I forgot to tell them…" suddenly the power went out.
Meanwhile the teens had arrived in the northwestern most location before the power failed. But otherwise they felt safe.
"Alright," said the boy, "we should be good as long as we keep hidden here."
That was when they both stepped in a puddle of water on the floor before being grabbed by an elastic pair of arms reaching out from the vent.
Their screams echoed across the hall as the entity inside took their lives.
Meanwhile a sad White scolded herself for forgetting to tell those two that her powers weren't strong enough to search the vents for purple.
"Please… forgive me."