Fantasy

Chapter I

     Boom. Crash. Boom.

     Jeez, I wish thunder would sound different once in a while. I wish lightning would be a different color sometimes. I'm being driven to insanity... What am I saying?! 

     I bolted upright on my bed. I was tempted to slap myself, but after a nasty experience in fourth grade I chose otherwise. This was what happens when you’re forced to stay with your kooky aunt over summer break. She claimed she needed, "positive energy that only comes from youth." In other, more understandable, words, she got bored. I was in a mansion in the middle of nowhere, it was raining, and my guardian for the summer happened to be a fortuneteller who worked up a hefty sum cheating people. Life lands you in interesting situations, doesn't it? Anyway, my aunt bought this mansion after a few years in the business, and, I swear, that crystal ball that she bought at the Halloween Super Store made her "see" things. Like me breaking a family heirloom. That is, by the way, why I got locked up in my bedroom for the whole week. What, was I some sort of deranged mutt? No. A fourteen-year-old girl isn't about to break a family heirloom just because someone saw it in her $15.99 crystal ball. But who was I to complain? At least I'm locked up away from "The Mystical Madam Maria," which, for your information, isn't even her real name.

     Anyway, I’ll continue rambling on about my deep excursion into hysteria without bothering you. You may leave now if you wish, which is probably the best choice, but if you are courageous enough and can tolerate some insanity, continue. Consider the end of this paragraph a make it or break it point. But for the sake of those who are curious enough, I’ll go on. Oh, and I’m talking to you, the one holding this page, by the way.

     I heard the glass breaking downstairs. Madam Maria probably had a customer who seemed rich and gullible, so she was putting on a show. I drowned the ruckus out with my thoughts, but then I heard the faint sound of my lock opening and Madam Maria's many beads and rings scurrying across the doorknob. I assumed something was wrong because she would never risk breaking another heirloom by letting the mutt (that would be me) out.

     The lock finally clicked, and my door flew open. In glided Madam Maria in her white gypsy top and flouncy, long, purple skirt. Her red hair was tied back in a bright blue bandanna with quite a few stains. Her bracelets from the dollar store slid helplessly up and down her skinny arms. Her rings threatened to come off the long bony fingers tipped with pointy red nails. Her mascara was running and that really did make her look like a tie-dyed raccoon. She bellowed nonsense as she barged into my room, and, waving her arms about furiously, she shut all the windows, closed all the curtains, and managed to knock over a lamp. She muttered something, but before she left the room I grabbed her frail arm and demanded to know what was going on. 

     "Dear, I’m not entirely sure. You might want to be quiet for a bit,” she said in her fortuneteller accent, which sounded more like a French person who was trying to speak with a Spanish accent. There were tracks of tears running down her face and off the tip of her long nose. Her blue eyes clouded as she quickly yanked herself from my grip, and scurried like a rat down the hallway with her high heels mercilessly scratching the wood floor. I was truly lost. I ended up back on my bed. Five minutes later with the curtains closed, my room was engulfed in the gloomy semi-darkness. I can't say I wasn't scared. I mean no one barges into a room crying, closes the curtains, and tells you to hope for the best. Unless, something bad was supposed happen.

     That’s it. I couldn’t stand this. I went to wash my face, and I assumed everything would be fine. I rose to my feet, stretched out my arms and went into the bathroom. Thank gosh, at least I was locked in a room with it’s own bathroom. When I walked to the sink I saw blue makeup everywhere. Ew, one of the containers of eye shadow had mold on it. I grabbed the nearest item, which happened to be one of Madam Maria's delicates, and wiped the counter down. I threw the ragged piece of cloth into the overflowing hamper and turned to look at myself in the mirror. My long brown hair was horribly messy, and my eyes were puffy. I had a zit on my forehead and, surprisingly, I didn't care. I never did like the way I looked, and I really never cared. Anyway, back to washing my face. It was hard to find a decent towel around the bedroom, so I ended up wiping my face on one of my dirty shirts. As I threw the shirt back onto the hamper, I heard a noise. Now, the fear had come back. I stood and listened. The window creaked open; I could see the curtains going wild in the mirror. There it was again. That stupid noise that felt like an anvil being dropped in my stomach. I froze in front of the mirror, fear paralyzing every limb in my body. The noise was getting closer. My eyes flew to the corner of my reflection, and I saw, well, I don't exactly know. I saw a teenage boy, maybe my age, in a black hooded cloak holding a weird object. It looked like a kazoo, but something more. Oh, and it was pointed at my face. My mind fell silent. What was I supposed to do? Unleash the karate skills that I didn’t have? I made eye contact with him through the reflection. Piercing green eyes. Before I knew it, I saw a weird dart sticking out of my arm. Oh gosh, it was vaccine day all over again. I felt dizzy. It could’ve been because of the dart or the nausea I got when I saw the thing protruding from my skin. I looked at the boy again, right at his face. He would have been cute if he hadn’t shot a dart into my arm. My eyelids started to slip, and I felt myself falling into a deep nothingness.