The Shadow House

Chapter 7 - Portal In A Top-loader

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Author's note-

Here we go, guys!

Have a lovely day, boys, girls, neither, both, or in-betweens!

-pix

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"So where did you say this portal was exactly?" Huffed Clover as they ran through total darkness, in the general direction of a softly glowing something. 

"The washer. Why?" 

"I... don't like washing machines. I have no idea why, but I have an extremely irrational fear of washers. Especially top-loaders. They freak me out like nothing else in this world ever will." Clover squeaked. Suddenly, her eyes closed. She stumbled and fell. She remained in this trancelike state for a few more seconds before Ash shook her awake. 

"What was that!?" She said

 "What was what?" Asked Ash, helping her up.

 "Well, I closed my eyes, and had some sorta vision. I was running through total darkness, calling your name for some reason, and then in front of me was this glowing door. I peeked out, and I saw my neighborhood! I went through the door, and then I fell into a trance or something. Then you shook me awake." She stood shakily. "That was weird." She smiled tightly at Ash. 

"Let's keep going, shall we?" She strode off briskly in the direction of the glow, leaving Ash to keep up or get left behind. He sighed, then got up and ran after her.

When Ash finally caught up to Clover, She had already entered the laundry room. 

"Woah..." she breathed, because being presented with an interdimensional portal is quite a thing to behold. There was also a small white cat padding around her feet, meowing like crazy. The minute Ash entered the room, it fixed him with it's sharp yellow gaze.

 "Finally." Clover said. "Is this cat another one of you shadow-people? Or is it just a cat?" There was a sudden puff of smoke and light and then there was a person standing in front of Clover. She wore a white cloak instead of Ash's black one. She had her hood all the way down, so they could see her startlingly blue hair. 

"Hi!" She chirped. "I'm Ethrina. Who are you? Are you new here? Where's your cloak? Can I see your cat form?" She asked Clover. Gesturing to Ash, she asked "And who's he?" Clover seemed a little flustered being asked all these questions at once, so Ash tried to jump in. 

"I'm Ash. I'm a clan supporter, though I'm not part of one right now." Another puff of smoke later, Ash was a cat. Puff! Human. Or... monster. Or whatever he was. By this time, Clover had collected herself and started to answer her questions. 

"I'm Clover. Yeah, I'm pretty new here. As for my cloak; I'm not sure I have one. I mean, I'll check my bag, but..." She started rustling through her bag. She pulled out a long, dark blue cloak, speckled with white like stars. 

"What? I don't remember this being here last time I checked my stuff." 

"Ooohhhhh! Put it on! Put it on! It unlocks your cat form!" Squeaked Ethrina, bouncing up and down with excitement. 

"OK?" Said Clover as she put the cloak on. "Ohhh... This is comfy!" 

"Now try turning into a cat!" Said Ethrina, still bouncing. 

"How do I do that?" Asked Clover, who was still checking out the cloak. 

"Flip the hood up, and then just imagine yourself as a cat. Super simple, right?" Said a still-vibrating Ethrina. 

"OK...." Clover flipped the hood up, closed her eyes, and then Puff! She was a little, midnight-blue cat. She was speckled with white, just like her cloak. Her paws and the tip of her tail were completely white. She meowed, and again, and louder, and even louder, until it turned into a wailing screech. Ash and Ethrina quickly turned into cats. Clover was wailing something about how she couldn't turn back. 

"Calm down!" Ash cried. Clover quieted almost immediately at the sharpness of his voice. 

"But..." She stuttered. "But I can't turn back. I'm trying. I CAN'T!" Ash turned to her.

 "You can, and will, just calm down! If you're calm, everything will be easier." Clover took a couple deep breaths, and replied 

"Ok. I'm trying..." She screwed up her face as if she had just eaten something sour, and poof, there she was, in human form again. Ash turned back as well, and in the midst of flipping his hood back and tucking the Key, which had fallen onto the floor in that whole process, back into a pocket in his cloak, turned to Clover and smiled. 

"See? It wasn't that hard. Once you calmed down, I mean." Clover flipped her hood back as well, and said, looking down at the starry fabric 

"I think I might as well keep this thing on. It might prove useful." 

"That's a smart decision," Erintha piped up as she pulled a menacing-looking, curved sword and a couple curved, small daggers obviously meant for throwing out of her bag, examined them in the dim portal-light, and tucked them all into several scabbards and sheaths on a belt around her waist Clover hadn't noticed before. 

"Seeing as we don't know what lies in the parallel world beyond this portal, turning into something that runs faster than a human may be a good idea." 

Clover swallowed hard. To go through this portal, she would have to conquer two of her longlasting fears: her fear of washing machines, and her fear of going into the unknown. The latter was even more terrifying than the first, because god knows what lay beyond this here swirling mass of colour sitting in one of the scariest machines (for her) to ever exist. The metallic scrape of Ash pulling - was that a spear!? - out of his bag and giving it a few good clangs each against a bow and a quiver full of arrows that he must have pulled out of his bag as well broke her thoughts. 

"Well? Are we ready to go?" He asked the girls. "Got all your weapons? Supplies? ..." he faltered as Ethrina wrangled a bundle of sleeping bags from her pack. 

"...Other stuff?" He continued weakly, much to Ethrina's amusement. 

"They're sleeping bags, silly!" Clover added. Both looked at her. 

"How... How did you know that? They're under a fibbonacho charm. It's virtually impossible for you to know! But you did... The probability of finding someone with these skills... Especially an out-of-houser... They are slim to zero!" She fell back, murmuring theories and percentages and jotting notes on a small pad with a bright blue, seemingly glowing pencil. Ash turned to Clover with an overjoyed expression on his face. 

"I knew it! My sister had... Has! The same abilities! You have matching cloaks-" 

"Which, I'm assuming by the way you're talking about it, is also very rare?" 

"Yes! You have the same attitude-" 

"Excuse me? I have an attitude?" 

"Well... yes. But that's not the point! You're almost exactly like my sister! And she ran out of the house as well, and no one has seen her since. But... We may have found her. You! You're Star!"

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Author's note-

Ooh, drama! Hope you like it, because things are gonna go downhill- FAST.

Have a lovely day, boys, girls, neither, both, or in-betweens!

-pix

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