Chapter Eighteen
Waking to a Nightmare
“My, aren't you cute.”
The words fell on Richard's ears like weights and reverberated through his skull painfully. He opened his eyes to the bright sunlight and looked upon the cute face of a young girl no more than twelve years old. She had long blonde hair pulled back into a thick and intricate braid and large piercing green eyes that sparkled in the bright light coming from above. She stood a few feet away from Richard and bent slightly at the waist so she could look him directly in the eyes with a sweet and wonderful smile. There were many things wrong with this scene, and it hit Richard like a ton of bricks as his brain furiously tried to figure out just what in the world was going on.
First of all, he recognized this blonde girl as a younger looking May. She had the same shining blonde hair, the same green eyes that could trap a man's gaze and hold it, and the same beautiful smile that she had once flashed him on a daily basis when they had been back on Earth. The second thing Richard realized that wasn't right was that she stood taller than him. Now that wasn't abnormal, as she had always stood a few inches taller than he did as she had been (when in her young form) three years older than he was. What was odd was the fact that she didn't look older than twelve years old and she was still taller than him, even though she looked to be no taller than four and a half feet. Richard could have been sitting or laying down, but he could feel his feet under him and the push of gravity on his upright body; so he knew that he was in fact shorter than her in that moment.
“What's your name?” May asked and flashed him the same smile once more. For reasons unknown to him in that moment, Richard found his body automatically moving away from this young girl and hiding behind a larger and more adult body that had been standing next to him. “There's no need to be so shy. My name is Monica. Won't you tell me yours?”
“Monica?” Richard heard a childish and frightened voice ask. He had been about to ask that very question, but it surprised him when that strange voice seemed to come from his mouth and he stopped halfway through the word. Which made it odd that the voice continued to speak on its own like that.
“Yes, Monica,” the girl replied and then took her eyes away from Richard and looked up to the person who he had been hiding behind. “Is this boy alright, Marcus?”
“I do not know, milady,” a rough and wheezing male voice said softly, and Richard looked up to find an old man dressed as a personal attendant standing before him. This was the man Richard was hiding behind and he didn't recognize him at all; so it was totally beyond him why he would be using this man like some kind of human shield against May. “I was just asked to bring him from the palace. As far as I know he grew up on the streets, so it wouldn't surprise me if this brat couldn't understand anything we are saying.”
“Marcus!” May growled and pointed a small and slim finger at the tall man who stood facing her. “I will not have you say such horrible things about such a cute boy! You have done your job, now leave!”
“Forgive me, milady,” the old attendant said quickly and bowed. He quickly turned on his heel and retreated from the room, disappearing behind a door and out of sight. Richard watched as the man left, but the action of turning his body and neck were done without his consent. It was like he was simply sitting in another person's body as a passenger, and he had no control over what was going on around him.
