Welcome to Crazytown

Curiouser and Curiouser

I don't know why I was told to record the conversations, but that wasn't the only thing I did. As I walked out of the library, I met Marcie and Michael's eyes, and a smile washed over me.
"Here it is."
I handed Marcie the device she told me to use, and a couple of other things. Like a tiny glass vial filled with dust, a specific book, and most importantly a key that unlocked a room. She looked through everything and smiled.
"This is perfect."
She paused staring into space, and then turned back into a smiling little girl.
"So! Where to next?"
Michael looked at her,
"How about you go exploring?"
She jumped up and down, handing Michael the stuff and running off. I raised my eyebrow,
"Yeah, as smart as Marcie is. She's only seven. That 15 year old girl who we were talking to this whole time was Macy."
What?
"Macy is a special one, her physical body doesn't surface when her soul does. Never found out why."
He laughed at the expression on my face,
I took that opportunity and grabbed the stuff out of his hand. I didn't know what that stuff was but I knew I didn't trust him with it,
"What? Are you scared I might run away with it?"
"Yes. I am actually."
He sighed, looking at me up and down
"Do you not trust me?"
"Give me a reason to."
"Oh dear Jane, don't you know?
Playing games
Is playing with the lock on your cage
When I'm in front
With the only key."
"What does that even mean?"
"You'll know soon enough," He started walking off down the hall but then stopped, "Oh and that stuff, it's yours. You'll need it." Then he continued leaving me standing in front of the library.
Okay so that whole interaction made me feel uncomfortable and utterly confused.

***

Back in my room, I sifted through the stuff. I found out the dust was poison (found out by the tiny letters on the bottom), but that was it. I flipped through the book a couple times but it was written in a language I couldn't understand, and I had no idea what the key was for.
Before I knew it, it was pitch black outside leaving only the moonlight seeping into the room. A familiar knock at my door. It was Marcie.
"Yes?"
"The game starts Friday. Be ready."
"Ah alright." It was Melodie, not Marcie.
Friday...
"What's today?"
"Monday."
"Only a week from now?"
"We'll prepare you for it, don't worry. We might as well give you a calendar too."
A week. It had only hit me now, but a week from now I would be a murderer. Taking a life from someone. From the silence she could practically hear my thoughts,
"When you hear the rules about the game on Wednesday, you won't feel guilty. In fact, your conscience will feel relieved."
When she left, the words kept spinning in my head. Whatever would make killing someone okay?
The days went by fast. Too fast. I found clothes that weren't considered for boys that I actually like. It was a white long sleeved shirt, a belt and some jeans. While we were training for whatever reason. I put my hair in a side ponytail with a black ribbon to just keep it out of my face. Michael and Marcie would help prepare me with physical stuff like sword fighting or dancing, Melodie and Macy would help with the rest. At the end of every day, I was exhausted. Especially with the fact that I had to learn to dance, I didn't have a partner so I had to dance with Michael. No matter how many times I tried all day, I could not for the life of me step on his feet. Look, I had to wear this beautiful yet uncomfortable lengthy dress, in unreal high heels, in the sun. Could I atleast get the 'honor' of stepping on them.
"You think I don't know what you're doing?"
"You probably do. That's not stopping me though." I said, reaching my foot forward.
Of course like the last 20 times, he dodged it by lifting up my arm and spinning me around. When I turned back to him, he smiled.
"I don't think so."
"I honestly don't care what you think." I said, but this time I had a strategy. I would pretend to try and then when he spun me around I would actually step on them.
"Oh c'mon Jane, you would do something so silly as to step on my feet. I thought you were older than that."
"Really? Think again." I put the plan into action, I stepped forward and just like before he spun me around, but this time right when I saw his eyes, I stomped down as hard as I could and... I missed... again. Not only did I miss, but I also tripped. All I could do was feel myself fall, but at the last second, he caught me. Damn it. To make it worse I could feel him about to laugh.
"You really thought that would work?"
"Yeah. I really did."
He made that dumb smile and chuckled, he lifted me and helped me stand up straight.
"That's all for today, Jane. I wish you luck for tomorrow."
With that he left the room, and left me standing there with my arms crossed. I grunted.
Why does he have to be so infuriating?!
Wait, tomorrow? Right. The game rules. THE GAME RULES?! This was going way too fast. I quickly made my way back to my room, changed my clothes and went to meet with Macy. Apparently she was the smartest out of the three, pretty much the smartest one in Crazytown. I just wonder what Marcie meant by angry, but whatever she meant it didn't really matter to me at the moment. It was almost time for the game to start, was all this going to work? Was it worth it? Was all of this really worth it? I guess either way, I didn't have a choice now. Once I said yes, there was no going back.
As the night slowly crept behind me, I got even more nervous. I thought of all the possible outcomes, and none of them ended well. I was running in circles trying to figure out how it came to this point. It started with a familiar humming and opening my eyes to find my mother. It started with walks down to a pond and her brushing my hair. It started with her putting me to bed and playing games with me. It started with those simple things that I missed so much, but then it went sour. I ran away one day, I don't remember why, just my mom's voice in my head telling me that I had to run. Then I bumped into this man who absolutely ruined my life by locking me up and using me as his guinea pig for his unworking medicines and telling me I was insane, telling me they didn't want to leave me alone out of fear of what I might do to myself when they were doing far worse. It angered me, it angered me so much.
"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down."
Without realizing, I had completely shattered the vase, and was on the ground punching it with my fists leaving blood all over the floor. A hand had grabbed stopping me,
"I'm sorry." I said
"It's okay, it'll be fixed."
I tried to choke it back, but it didn't matter. I started crying, I couldn't help it. I wanted everything to be normal, before that old man took me away.
I looked up barely able to make out the shape of who was in here with me,
"Why are you here, Michael?"
"Well I was bored but then I saw this, found it a little amusing and then got concerned when I saw your hands bleeding. Are you okay?"
"Am I... okay?" No one ever had asked me that. "I don't know..."
He paused,
"You don't know?"
"No one has asked me that before."
"Well that's evident now. If you need to talk to me you can."
"Aren't you a psychopath?"
He laughed,
"Aren't we all?"
"No, not really." I sniffed.
"God, I just can't win with you, huh?"
"No."
He sighed and hugged me, and for the first time in a very long time, I felt safe. I felt myself drifting off to sleep. I knew this place was dangerous, yet it felt like home, Curiouser and Curiouser.