Sickly Sweet

Something's Wrong

"Lana! Lana! Please, wake up," Sophie begged, shaking her shoulders. Lana had suddenly slipped into unconsciousness and she didn't know what to do. Obviously, she couldn't tell anybody that the Princess had fainted next to her in the park for fear of her being hauled back to the castle.

"Martek," Sophie mumbled. Yanking out the black triangle with one blue button and one red, she pressed the red to power it on and the blue to speed-dial Martek.

"Martek!" She whisper-yelled.

"What is it, Sophie?" He sounded annoyed for some reason. Could it be because of the weird way he had been acting earlier? Possibly. But Sophie didn't have time to think about that.

"It's Lana. She fainted. We were just talking about family and twin stuff and then she smiled and fell back on the bench. Please, help! I don't know what to do."

"It's okay, I'll be there soon. Where are you?"

"Sweete Park. Come quickly, I'm really scared."

"Calm down. I'll be right there." he muttered a few curses and then pressed END CALL.

Sophie sat, listening to the white noise on her end of the phone. What if Lana never woke up? She had to, right? What even caused her to faint?

~*~

"Where are you taking me?" cried the little girl. The man glared at her with icy blue eyes.

"Trust me, you'll like it there. Diamonds ARE a girl's best friend, right?"

Her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Whatever," dismissed the stranger. He had white hair formed into a peak at the top, not exactly a mohawk though, more of a mountain on his head. His face was pale white with no wrinkles or marks, and icy eyebrows formed a glare.

He tugged her out the door and they were back in the preschool. But something was wrong. All the children were huddled in the corner, Ms. Ardenale protecting them. All except one.

Sophie looked on curiously as the man tapped his wrist-watch and a hologram of a man looking just like him, only older, appeared.

"Package secure. Heading through the portal."

"Good job, son. Make sure to wrap her in the plastic so she isn't damaged."

The man turned to Lana and covered her in a plastic blue tarp with a small hole for her head. He pulled out a see-through head cover with holes for the mouth and nose and yanked it over her.

"Done and done. Heading back."

"Alright. See you soon."

Lana turned to Sophie with wide eyes. Sophie gave a small smile and waved.

"Bye, Lana."

"Bye, Sophie."

The man tapped his wristwatch and, with a bright flash of light, they were in another world.

~*~

"Sophie....mom.." Lana muttered.

"Lana! Are you awake? It's me, Sophie. Lana? Lana!"

"Sophie?" Lana's eyelids fluttered and eventually opened wide. Sitting up she looked around, dazed. "What...."

"You fainted. Um, like, for a while. I was so scared." Sophie smiled and threw her arms around Lana. Lana stiffened and pushed her off.

"I saw something, something weird - almost like a memory - but, it can't be. I mean..."

"It's okay, everything's probably fuzzy. We'll get you home and you'll be fine." She smiled brightly, elated that Lana was okay.