Tattooed Away

Chapter 4

The smell is the first thing that nearly buckles me over. The air is dripping in sweetness, like nectar from the heavens. I wanted to eat the air.

Then the creatures. They were nothing like Spirited Away.  Anime has a way of showing everything-the scary, the gross, the cute-as art. My building's lobby was different, chalked full of small, medium, large animals, spirits, humans, vegetables, plants; they were realistic. No softened edges or erased flaws. And there were just so many.

"What. Is. This. Smell?" I said between gulps of air to Aika while my eyes continued to dart around the transformed lobby.

"You've seen Spirited Away, the food is something that movie actually got right, and the food is what you smell. Actually we are going to need to grab you something quick, don't want you to disappear on me." She says the last part with a chuckle that makes me look down with a pang of fear at my nearly invisible body and suddenly I am very urgent for a nibble of spirit food.

Aika walks with giant strides, much too large for her body, over to the doorman's stand and grabs a peppermint candy. "This will do for now," she tosses it over her shoulder to me.

"Wait, can't I just have something that smells good? I know what peppermint candies taste like, not very exciting. What about that?" I point through the glass at a food cart. It is shaped like a small house and as creatures walk toward it they shrink to enter it like a real restaurant. A long wormy creature is wrapped around the base and poised to welcome customers into the shop. What catches my eye is the purple stream of smoke coming from the tiny chimney. It does not move as normal smoke, it is dancing.

Aika turns and grabs my shoulders tight, "Snap out of this you foolish girl. The Spirit World is not to be lusted after. You are here for a purpose, you must be singular in your agenda or it will suck you in and you will never return. Try to keep your eyes on the street in front of you out there, everything will be trying to distract you. I want you to follow close behind me, do everything I do, we only have a couple of blocks to go."

I nodded to her, trying to look solemn. It all honestly felt like a dream. For some reason I still thought I could just wander back upstairs and sit with Pete. This illusion of comfort and safety would be fleeting, I didn't know what I was in for.

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Writer's Note

Wow! Thank you for reading these four chapters! If you have a moment, please give me feedback on what you have read so far. I want to improve and make good stories and I need your help! Also, message me if you want a friend :)