Reanimated

Chapter 5: Surreal

I found myself in what felt like a carnival funhouse. Except it didn’t feel very fun.

I was in a room with decaying brick walls and moist cement floors.
There were two mirrors on two walls opposite each other. The mirrors almost covered the whole wall. The way they were positioned made it so looking into one would be like looking into a repeating void. On the other two walls, there was a small wall lamp that illuminated a fluorescent yellow color, which gave me a headache.

I looked into one of the mirrors, but instead of myself reflecting back, it was the woman. She looked the exact same—her white hair freely flowing at her sides, her dress just as creepy—but she gave off an evil aura that wasn’t there before. Although her eyes were still covered by that white and gold flower wreath, I could tell she was glaring at me.
I didn’t know what I did, though. I accepted her weird deal! She should be happy. Hey, kid! How’s the shack treating you?
But, no. She looked furious.

“What?” I asked, with an unexpected attitude to my tone.
“You and those rats are annoying. I ask one thing from you all, and you can’t even do that! Are you all trying to kill me!?”
I froze. I felt mad that she was calling my friends rats, but I was confused about everything else she said. “What..?”
“Is that all you know how to say? Do you mortals have no respect for a goddess?”
What?
Did she just say goddess? Woah, I was getting some weird and powerful vibes from this lady—but I did not expect her to be a goddess.
I never believed in all that stuff. My parents were huge Christians, which kind of made me an Atheist out of spite.

Naturally I said something super smart, like, “You’re a… Goddess? Like, for real?”
She let out a long exasperated sigh, “You’re dense.”
We stood there for a moment, in complete silence.
“So, what did you mean about my rat-friends and not doing what you want?” I asked. It was the first question I thought of, and I just needed anything to distract this goddess from evaporating me or something.
“Findley, you do not understand anything that’s going on, do you?”
“No, not at all. Could you tell me?”
“No, I can not-”
“WHY!? You’re a god! You should know this!”
She glared at me through her flower wreath, and I wished I had stayed quiet. “I am forbidden to tell mortals information like this. Mortals must find it out for themselves and share it.”
“So, Dain figured everything out all by himself?”
“Yes, I suppose that man is, surprisingly, wise. For a mortal, anyway.”

I stared at her for a minute. I was kind of shocked that she complimented a mortal.
“Anyway,” She spoke coldly, but also awkwardly, “I mustn’t tell you what you and your friends owe to me. They know it, and will eventually inform you. I just need you to pass on the message.”
“What message- Oh! You mean that they need to do what you want or something?”
“Yes.” She sighed, “Now get out of my sight. You’re going to give me a headache.” She flicked her wrist, and everything started to warp and fade out, making me feel like I was falling. Talk about headaches.
Then, I woke up.
I was still in my mattress but everybody else was up and doing their own thing. I got up and sat at the dining table, Tori was making food.
I felt myself get excited seeing her cook, I hoped I would get some.
I hadn’t noticed, but Alon was sitting next to me. He looked just as tired as I felt.

He was drawing in a small, black sketchbook. I peered over at the sketchbook and saw that he was drawing a woman. I’d never seen anyone like her before, but she looked similar to Alon. She was beautiful in a way that felt pure. She was smiling, with small traces of wrinkles spread across her face.

“That’s really good,” I said, “Who is she?”
Alon glanced at me before quickly shutting his sketchbook. “Nothing.” He muttered. Calling the woman nothing seemed to have really pained him. I decided not to continue asking—he seemed upset.
I glanced over to my side right as Liz sat at the table with us. She was smiling as bright as she usually does, and also seemed as excited to eat as I was. “I overheard you and Dain last night,” Liz mentioned, “I wonder if he’s actually going to tell you—knowing him, he’ll just put it off to another day.”
“Why does he not want to explain anything?” I asked.
“Well, it’s a pretty hard subject- It took him a week to finally tell me! And when he did, I kind of wished he didn’t.” She shrugged like it was nothing.
“Liz!” Tori turned, “Stop that, you’re scaring him! Sorry about her- It’s not that bad, I promise. It’s just hard to bring up. But after it’s said, it sets in pretty quickly.”
“Why is he so dead set on putting it off?” I complained. For some reason, Liz laughed at my choice of words.
“It’s not that-” Tori sighed, and turned back to cooking, “He just cares about you all very deeply. He knows it’s always confusing to hear for the first time, and he wants to make sure you guys are settled before saying anything… Scary.”
I paused. I wanted to be mad, or argue, or something. But I couldn’t bring myself to feel that way. Dain had been so sweet, I’d seen it first hand. From when I first came, to last night with Alon, to now—it was obvious that Dain just wanted the best for everyone. I liked him for that.

Just then, as if on cue, Dain walked in through the front door.
He looked tired—more so than me and Alon—as if he’d been up all night. Despite this, he had his signature kind smile on his face.
Liz ran up and hugged him, followed shortly by Ace. I was about the same height as Liz and Ace, and seeing them right next to Dain made me realize just how tall he actually was.
Alon got up, said something to Dain, then went down to his mattress and continued drawing.

Dain went over to Tori and whispered something to her, but I heard, “He found out I wasn’t sick last night- I think he’s a little mad.” He laughed. Liz and Ace ran up to me and pulled me out of my chair.
“Come, let’s go outside!” Ace beamed, dragging me out the door.