Far Away From Home

Part Twelve

She was in a pond, naked, and kissing Caleb. At first, she was into his kisses, but as she took in the area, she wondered how they ended up in the pond. She broke up from the kiss and asked him,
“Caleb, what are we doing?”
“Do you want to stop already?” he asked her, pulling her against himself.
“You know that I have a boyfriend. That was a one-time thing. I don't like Jackson, but I don't like you either. You know that,” she said.
“It doesn't matter, Stephanie. I'm open to any relationship,” he said while he tried to capture her lips.
They kissed for a while until Steph replayed their conversation. No one calls her Stephanie, not even Jackson. She broke the kiss and pushed him away from her. 
“You are not Caleb! Who are you?” she asked.
“Babe,” he tried to say.
“That's the thing. No one calls me babe. Why will Caleb start now?” she asked.
For a while, the thing kept staring at her, like it wanted her to break. She felt grossed out thinking about the kiss. What had she been kissing? Then suddenly, it laughed. As it laughed, its body began to morph into that of the young girl living in the castle. 
“I like you. You are the hardest after that handsome red-haired boy, but I am gay,” she said.
“You look twelve. Why would you try to kiss me?” Steph asked, taking a large step back from the crazy young girl.
“Wrong! I was twelve. I'm twenty. My brother's twelve. Elves tend to grow very slowly, but in your case, very deviously.” she said, while looking at her fingernails.
“What's going to happen to my friends?” Steph asked.
She cackled and said,
“You don't even like them. You hate each other. That was more fun, you know. To practically lay eggs on your minds. It took three hours to grow, but it was worth it. I can save you, you know. You will be my new toy. The others are going to die.” 
“We will escape safely.” Steph said, trying to convince herself that she could do it.
“Oh, they choose the latter. I thought you would be different. Oh well, I guess we have no choice,” she said on a sad note.
Her voice has grown solemn all of a sudden, like she is sad that they will die. Steph looked around her. Her environment looks unfamiliar to her, and she's naked. How did she get naked and fall into a pond in the middle of nowhere? However she did it, she has to get out before something happens. She pinched herself several times, but the illusion still remained. 
All of a sudden, the girl laughed. As she laughed, her body began to morph. Invisible veins turned dark green and were very visible. Dark green vines grew out from beneath the surface of her skin. Thin and very narrow, it spiraled around the girl's body. Her eyes grew larger, making the eyeballs fall off and leaving a hole where her eyes were. Her nose stretched itself, becoming longer, while her mouth widened into an evil smile. The colour of her skin turned green, and her clothes pealed off of her body, leaving her naked. Her belly button is one big green ball, as big as a tennis ball, and the ends of her legs were pointed instead of feet's that were there a minute ago. 
Steph kept on pinching her skin in an attempt to wake up from the illusion, but nothing was happening.
“Run!” she screamed. “Run! See if I can catch you. You are mine!”

In a blink of an eye, Steph woke up screaming. Jackson held her and asked her if she was alright. She was a blabbering mess. She felt sweaty, and for the first time, she thought, Jackson doesn't deserve to be cheated on. It's too late now, she thought. They can make it out alive. 
“We have to go,” she told Jackson. “I had a terrible dream. They want us dead, Jack. We have to wake the others up and go now.”
“It's raining, Steph. How can we leave here in the rain?” Jackson asked her.
“It doesn't matter. Let's go. We will be minced meat if we are not out of here,” she said.
She took her jacket and stood up from the bed. She's a little wobbly, but her resolve strengthens her. She walked towards the door and turned back to look at Jackson.
“Aren't you coming?” she said.
Jackson stared at his girlfriend. He wanted to follow her, but he had heard everything she said. He knew that she had kissed Caleb, and even if he knew that she had been dreaming, it bothered him. Did she like Caleb more than him? Was he that lacking? He lay back on the bed, and just to spit at her, he said,
“It's just a dream, Steph. You are overreacting. I'm staying here until the rain ceases.”
She raised a delicate eyebrow and said,
“Suit yourself.” 
As she opened the door to step out, a spear from nowhere pinned her to the floor. It happened so fast that Jackson wondered if he had just imagined it. But no, Steph's lifeless body lay on the floor with a spear through her neck and her blood smearing the floor. He scrambled to the edge of the bed and stared at the door. 
For the first time in his life, he screamed like a girl. Why hadn't he noticed? This is not how he is going to die. He scrambled out of bed and hid under the bed. From under the bed, he stared at the door, but no one was there. He felt Steph's blood seep into his trousers as he shoveled towards the edge of the bed. The strange iron scent of blood clouded his nostrils, and he fought hard not to throw up or make a sound. He can't alert the others now. They would see him. His best bet is to escape and wait to fight another day.