The willing kidnapee keeps her eyes wide open as they once again pass through the kaleidoscope of colors, and the door opens before her while they pass right through it. She prepares herself for the sudden onrush of forces against her person when she is released from the firm yet surprisingly loose grip and falls gently through the air.
The rush, however, is still too intense and the girl shuts her eyes tightly, not daring to open them until she lands. At which point, she finds herself standing on the marble bridge overlooking the gently flowing stream, but most of all Liza is there waiting exactly as she said she would be. It would seem she is true to her word.
"Welcome back May Bell," the woman greets her guest as she gently holds out her hand.
May Bell bursts forward and embraces her friend. "I've been waiting for this all day!" she exclaims as she bypasses the hand and hugs her friend around the middle, tears streaming from her eyes. "I was, was so worried that it was all just a dream and that I was going crazy." She raises her face and finds her companion sport equally moist tracks down her face. "But you're here, and I'm not crazy."
The two hold each other tight, with Liza slowly shrinking herself to her companion's size. "You never were," she whispers into her guest's er as she leans in.
May Bell feels the displacement and pulls slightly back. "You can shrink yourself?" she blubbers to the miniaturized hostess with eyes still wet.
"Of course I can," Liza sobs without missing a beat and sniffs at the snot dripping from her nose. "I have complete control of my body."
"Why should that be a thing?" May Bell weeps her query while looking over her shrunken arms.
"Because," Liza expresses her sorrow through a single word as though it explained everything and smiles despite herself. "I need to be able to adapt to any horrific narrative that I construct."
"That makes perfect sense," May Bell acknowledges with mirth breaking through the barrier of sadness and wipes the tears from her face with the back of her arm.
"Doesn't it though," Liza responds while pushing back against the sorrow and smiling in return.
The two of them remain in this awkward, slightly remote embrace and allow themselves to feel for a moment, till all they can possibly emote is expressed.
Looking about once again, May Bell takes in the splendor of the bridge they both stand upon. The place maintains that stage-like appearance in which she can only see so far in any direction, but she doesn't care. She walks over to the railing and gazes downward into the tranquil pool of water beneath.
She's enjoying the sight, which Liza joins in beside her, when she sees, through the reflection, a gathering of different lights that hover overhead. She looks up and finds the lights aren't merely refractions from her eyes, but are indeed above her and flitting about. She loves the sight of them and as she gazes back into the water, at the effect the different lights have upon her reflected face.
The image pasted upon the lazily flowing river begins to distort. May Bell is confused and leans just a little closer to the edge. The reflection in the water stops simply mimicking her movements and instead stares full on upon her. It captivates the girl who is filled with wonder over the spectacle that seems to have a mind of its own as it makes silly little faces.
The phantom face distorts and twists, becoming darker with an allure that demands you continue to stare upon it. All at once, it leaps forward with a fierce growl as though it could leave the confines of its watery prison. It is an illusion so powerful that those caught up in the spell are beholden to its authority.
So, it is that May Bell is so taken aback that she retreats rather quickly in a backward direction so as to avoid what her body tells her is imminent danger approaching. She soon catches herself before she's strayed too far, but not soon enough to keep her from violently bumping into the bridge's other railing and spilling over its side and into the water below.
Liza remains frozen in place as the scenario unfolds before her. She watches as though in a trance as the events transpire and there is nothing she can do. That's when she remembers that there is plenty she can do, but she must act fast if she is to do it at all. She hurries to the other end and unknowingly transforms in the process back into her adult self.
May Bell watches in a haze as the event plays before her in a kind of slow motion. Through the distortion of the liquid barrier that stands between them, she hears her friend shout and reach for her. Does she think she can reach her from so far a platform, even with her adult arm's reach? It is simply absurd.
The girl continues to sink like a stone into the murky depths, but she is not panicked in anyway. Why? Because the water is without temperature and she can breathe just fine. It's like she has merely passed into a buoyant atmosphere that causes her to fall more slowly than she normally would. It is much like the falling she did from above.
All the while this is happening, she observes a transformation overtake Liza. She sees her in full panic mode with flailing arms and cries that will not reach the intended victim, but that is not all. As well, she sees a ferocity enter the woman's face and her arm elongates til it is much longer and has grown sharper than it had been before, and is the only part of her to do so.
The woman pulls back and swipes at the stone standing in her way, which breaks upon touch of this new weapon at her disposal, causing bits of it to explode in every direction. Thus clear, the frantic adult jumps headlong into the water and is soon alongside her companion, who is still mystified by what is transpiring.
She reaches out her arm, which more resembles a claw at this point, and takes hold of the slowly descending body, which she unwittingly cuts with her sharp fingers. Blood billows in thick clouds that race to the surface, but are nowhere near as fast as the hostess who dashes through the waves and beaches the two of them on the nearby embankment.
May Bell is curious over the scene as it unfolds before her very eyes with such a displacement that it feels more like a scene from a movie she just watched, rather than events that took place within her life. She can scarce believe any of it, but she can't deny that it happened, in some fashion or other.
She saw the flying debris and the terrible appendage fish her out of the water and back onto dry land. She can even feel the laceration against her skin and sees the blood seep from the open wound, but she does not feel any real pain. She can only surmise that she can't feel it because this is nothing more than an elaborate dream and she has yet to experience such violence in the real world.
What's more, the blood that seeps out of her body performs an act she has never known such a substance to do. It billows upward, forming red bubbles that rise and dissipate with an audible pop into the sky, as though they reached a boundary they could not cross and therefore gave up entirely on their bid for freedom.
She even runs a hand along her wound only to find that not only is there no more blood oozing out of it, but the opening is in fact quickly closing, knitting itself back together till there is only a thin, pink line to indicate it ever having been there. A kind of scar that she is curious to know if it will remain, as she feels it to be her own badge of courage.
Meanwhile, Liza is still frantic on the other side of the small clearing and it is only too evident by her rapid breathing that she is in a state of panic. Her eyes never waver from the claw that still drips with the blood of her friend and as she slips further into a state of sorrow over the act, she finds herself shrinking back into the form of a child, but the hand does not revert to its more human self.
It is only in this state of mind that she gives any real thought to the frightening power in her possession. In her mind's eye she can clearly see the wound she caused along with the stone she broke as it plays over and over in her head and is made very much afraid. She withdraws herself completely and uses this destructive weapon to cradle her head instead.
She begins to weep openly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she says over and over again as she rocks back and forth on the grass.
May Bell is perplexed by the scenario and wonders if it truly was as terrible as the other little girl is expressing even now. She can remember the pain, but it was slight. If she had to put a face to it, she would say that it was likened to a beesting she once endured. Terribly painful at first, but quickly numbing to the point of being no more. In fact, she was more intrigued than scared by it.
She looks over at Liza, her friend, who is still scared and crying, all alone. She won't even look her way, neither is she even amused by the blood and water that rises in the air, the same as it had done for her. She thinks to speak up, to let her know that everything is alright, but for some reason, she just can't find the words to do so.
Instead, she opts to cross the expanse between them, takes hold of the claw, which she draws to her face, and rubs it gently against her cheek. All the while, the other girl looks with frightened eyes upon the display and can't believe what she is seeing, or rather, not seeing. There is no fear, or screaming, there are only smiles and happiness.
This gesture reaches down into the pits of the sorrowing heart and warms her back to life. She smiles in return and rises from her seating with naught but love exuding from her person. Together, the two of them embrace once again and allow the tears to flow till there are no more to be shed.
They barely even notice the bridge which is still broken and falling inward as the pieces return to smoke.
"There's nothing to worry about," May Bell assures her and plants a kiss on her forehead. "I'm alright and I'm not frightened."
Liza sniffs as the last of her sorrow slowly leaves her, but not her melancholy. However, she will not allow that facet to spoil the mood and so, pushes it to the back of her mind while she wears a face of happiness that no else know of her silent suffering. In this manner does she walk, hand in hand with her friend.
All the while her mind is cast back to a time once before when a very similar event transpired between her and another friend. Her name was Alice, but she was not so understanding. She had seen the wounds inflicted upon her in ignorance and she screamed. She never stopped screaming and Liza, who was then known as Mary, had to send her back to her bed.
Alice had woken in her own room screaming and attracted the attentions of her parents. She told them all about her strange nightly visits, but they only half believed her. Even showing them the bell did not completely confirm her story. The rest of the night she spent in her parents bed and the next day she threw the bell away.
From that day on, Mary watched from afar as Alice slept. She wanted to take hold of her friend especially when she witnessed her in the throughs of a nightmare, but she dared not. Just like May Bell she had given her the choice and promised not to disturb if she did not wish it. Still, it hurt and she pined away her days under this morose watch.
Liza looks to May Bell and though she sees that same screaming girl from before, this time is so radically different that it is almost beyond belief. She thought for sure that it would all transpire much as it had done. That her friend would rebuke her in the end, throw away the bell and never wish to see her again. But that is not what happened.
She can hardly believe that she is still smiling and looking very happy, as though shde hadn't just been cut by a careless touch. She'd even told her that it was alright. It nearly drives the hotess back to tears, but these tears would have been strictly for the sake of joy and she would have been more than happy to shed them.
The little girl takes hold of her friend's hand and leads her away from the water. They continue to walk and the scene unfolds before them with each step taken. The path that manifests sparkles and twinkles as though it's made of stardust. A multitude of rainbows erect themselves like archways over the path. A brilliant orb, akin to the sun, rises into the sky and beams down upon them.
The two of them continue their constitutional which doesn't lead anywhere, but the sights that greet them are a wonder to behold in themselves. Sometimes there's a dragon that sails on by. Sometimes there's a magnificent castle with all the splendor and fanfare of a day reserved for jubilation. Other times there are many small children dancing about a maypole.
May Bell enjoys each of the sights they encounter, equally. She's delighted by it all. What's more, though the road seems to go ever onward, she doesn't mind. She's not overcome with monotony, but rather the simple wonder of knowing what lay ahead and still being enthralled by it nonetheless.
Liza couldn't have been happier as each squeal of delight she hears come from her friend makes her heart rise and soon she's in pure ecstasy. She feels so good in fact that she grows back into her adult self. Her guest is indeed something special and she vows then and there to do her utmost to maintain their special bond.
The woman stops and looks to May Bell as the orb in the sky slowly descends closer to the ground, casting long shadows directly behind their persons. This can only mean it's nearly morning, the preordained time of their parting. They are both still quite happy despite what is going to happen outside of their consent.
The little girl embraces the taller figure. "I love you, Liza," she speaks softly as she holds her friend tight around the waist and gazes into her face.
The woman kneels within the embrace and together they melt. "I love you too, May Bell," she gushes and gives her a kiss on the forehead.
They do not break of this tender affection. Instead, the little girl dissipates from the place and awakens in her bed. The little girl can still feel the warmth and for a moment she thinks to remain in bed. However, she's not able to once she hears her mother call to her from the foot of the stairs. She assures her that she will be down shortly and keeps to her word.
Liza is still crouched holding her friend tightly, even though there's no one there. She wishes she could stay like that forever, but she knows better. She slowly rises from her place, allowing the lingering warmth to still enshroud her until it is no more. It's just as well, with all things considered as she has work to do.