SHE PROMISED ( the originals )

0021. I THINK I NEED TO GO TO A MENTAL ASLYUM

SHE PROMISED
( part one, chapter twenty-one )

IT WAS LIKE ELLE WAS AN OUTSIDER LOOKING IN. She could see a young child, a girl with pretty brown hair and hazel eyes, standing in front of a blonde woman, presumably her mother. They were standing in a small home, the walls around them wooden and small, and the floor grass and dirt with a few animal pelts covering it.

"Where the hell am I?" Elle whispered as she walked around the mother and daughter. "Hello?" They didn't seem to hear her or even see her.

"Mother, what's going on?" the little girl asked, her voice quiet. Her eyes were puffy, like she'd been crying for a while. "Why won't anyone talk to me? Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?" The girl looked young, maybe eleven or twelve. "What's wrong with them?"

"My love, I'm sorry," her mother whispered, kneeling down and placing her hands on her upper arms. There were tears in her eyes. "But I can't tell you anything yet."

"Why not?" the girl asked. "Please, what's going on?" The girl shook her head, angry tears falling. "Everyone has been lying to me ever since 一"

"I know, I know!" the mother said. "But I need you to do something for me, okay? Can you do that for me?"

The girl, quickly wiping her tears away, said, "What is it?"

The mother turned to a small table beside her, picking up the bowl of green liquid. "I need you to drink this." She gave no explanation other than that.

"But why?" the girl asked. "Is it... dangerous?"

"No, no, I promise," the mother said, handing her daughter the bowl. Hesitantly, the girl placed the bowl to her lips and took a sip of the green liquid. She cringed at the taste and handed it back to her mother. "What I'm about to do is..." The woman sighed.

Elle's brows furrowed and she quickly tuned out, ignoring the two behind her. "What is going on?" she said aloud. She saw the small window, walking towards it; a whole village surrounded her, with homes similar to the one she was standing in, and people conversing with others. All of the women wore long dresses, the color either faded or bland; the men wore tunics and pants of the same color, some of them with leather belts.

Elle walked back to the girl, waving her hand in front of her face. "Can you hear me? Hello?"

The girl didn't even seem to notice Elle as she moved to lay down on one of the many pelts, resting her head on the makeshift pillow. "Mother, what's going to happen to me?" the girl asked. Her words are begin to slur just a bit, but it's nothing major.

"It'll be like... you're going to sleep," the woman said, kneeling on the ground. She brushed a stray hair from her daughter's face, smiling and leaning down to kiss her forehead. "You'll wake up soon, I promise."

The brunette girl nodded. Her eyes started to flutter shut with her breathing slowing.

Whatever was happening to the girl seemed to be happening to Elle. For her eyes too were becoming heavy and her legs feeling weak. Before she knew it, her legs betrayed her and Elle collapsed, her head hitting the grassy floor.

☆ ☆ ☆

Elle woke up with a start, eyes snapping open and a gasp in her throat. Her eyes focused on the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling. Groaning, Elle pushed herself up into a sitting position and pursed her lips.

She slowly swung her legs over the bed, resting her toes on the wooden floor. She was back in her room, laying on her maroon bed sheets with her tiny elephant stuffed animal beside her. She was back in her room, all of her furniture in its usual spots with her dirty clothes sprawled in the corner.

"That's it," Elle whispered, "I'm crazy. I'm crazy nutso-whackjob-insane." She ran a hand through her hair, sighing loudly. "It was... just a dream. That's right, just a dream."

But little did Elle know, that was not in fact a dream. She did not imagine the little girl or the mother or the home in the village.

It was a memory.