So here is Chapter Two, worked on it abit. Right now, I am writing to get the story out, not paying so much attention to grammar and wording. Anyways, nit picks are welcome, go ahead and shred it, or just tell me what you think!
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Chapter Two.
Opening her eyes, Alicia groaned at how bright everything was. The colors of her room seemed to scream at her in neon, popping out brightly if she focused on any one thing too long. She sat up, swaying slightly as she was attacked by a sudden head-rush, and gripped the edges of her bed for support. As the dizziness faded, Alicia stood slowly, head pounding, and made her way down the hall towards her bathroom.
The clock that hung in the hallways claimed it was nearing 8:34 pm. Whoa, have I been out that long? It was two when I lay down! Wondering why no-one had woken her up, but too groggy to care much, she took some medicine to help with her head, and began the seemingly endless trek back down the hall. A small hand snaked over her shoulder, propping her up, and her mothers small body was suddenly supporting hers.
“Shhh, honey, you have a fever. Why are you up? I thought you might sleep longer.”
Her mothers deep blue eyes looked up at her, full of care and worry. Her other hand held a glass of water, and she offered when she say Alicia looking at it.
“It’s for you hun, go ahead and have some, but not too much!” she said quickly, as Alicia started to gulp it down. “Don’t make yourself sick.”
“Thank you, Mom,” Alicia said, sounding weak. “I’m just so tired, and my head hurts…”
Glancing down, she saw her mothers eyes riveted to the necklace, something like horror in her eyes, her mouth half open. “Where,” she gasped, “Where did you get that necklace?!”
“Mom?” and suddenly, Alicia was the one holding her mom up as they sat down on her bed. Her mother took the pendent lightly into her hand, holding it up and twisting it so that the dark blue gem caught the light, the glowing red eyes of the silver tigers twinkling and snapping in sharp contrast.
“Why…it looks just like it!” Mom muttered in wonder, so quietly Alicia wasn’t even sure that was what she said.
“Mom?” Alicia said again, starting to feel worried.
Head snapping up, eyes focused once more, her mother stared hard at her. “Do you remember your Great Aunt Esmeralda?”
“Of course” Alicia said softly, “She thought she was psychic, read the future and all that.”
“The day you were born, oh we were all so happy, your great aunt especially, she sat around and muttered, that odd shawl around her head, something about how you’d save them all, the one place she loved most.” Her mother gave a small smile. “She sat around drawing this exact same design, all over everything she could touch with a pen, her eyes were rolled back into her head most of the time, I swear it, and your father was starting to act a little strange, like he didn’t want her there.”
“It got stranger. Once you were born, all cleaned up and brought back to me, she wanted to hold you, and so I let her. She was old then, and older still when she died, but something about the way she gazed at you with such wonder, such devout reverence, bothered me. Your eyes, you opened them then, and you two, you seemed connected in a way, neither of you blinking. Finally though, she looked away, and handed you back, and turned to leave the room, talking about how she needed to get back to her garden, and right before she left the room, she turned back, stared hard at me and said “Take care of her Jane, don’t you dare let any harm come to her.”
Her mother shuddered slightly. “The steel in her gaze when she said that, as if I would let harm come to my own daughter!” She pat Alicia’s shoulder softly. “I think you should keep the necklace on, I wouldn’t take it from you, but it’s strange that it should show up now, isn’t it?” Alicia told her mom about how she had found it on the floor next to the window; how she thought it was a late birthday present of sorts.
“It might be, you never know, but be careful I guess is what I am trying to say.” Mom sat the glass down on the bedside table, “Well, I guess I will let you sleep now, you feel warm still.”
In truth, Alicia had forgotten all about her headache, but when her mother mentioned her fever, it returned with a vengeance, and Alicia groaned, laying back with her hand to her head. She heard the door close softly, the light tip-tap of her mother’s footsteps down the stairs, and then silence.
Sitting up, she reached for the cup, only to have to grip onto the bed once more to keep herself from falling. The room seemed to stretch around her, and a sickening dizziness came on, and then…it was gone, as fast as it had come. Alicia groaned and looked around her cozy room, trying to find solace in the familiar walls and paintings.
Wait.
Something was different…felt off somehow. The room had stopped bending and warping out of shape, and feeling slightly out of it, Alicia stood. She felt the effects of the medicine she had taken, made to knock her out so that she would sleep the headache off, but she shoved it aside. Something seemed out of place…and she had to find out what it was.
Moving over to one of her favorite paintings, a darker one from when she was fourteen. It was of a dark mountain line against a golden sky, the sun setting behind them. The glitter of a far off see was off to the right, a sparkling castle by a cliff, towers rising gracefully. In the fore field, a cozy cottage, smoke drifting lazily, and in the twisted, gnarled trees with purple leaves, a doe walked down a forest path with her fawn.
Alicia started violently. The painting…it was moving!
The smoke wafted gently, twisting and turning and eventually fading in soft tendrils up to the sky. And there! A bird fluttered. The fawn and doe moved cautiously, stopping to nibble here and there, ears perked and swiveling around to catch the noise.
“This is unbelievable…” she muttered to herself, and reached out a hand to stroke the canvas, to make sure it was still solid. Her hand sunk into the surface, and she jumped back.
“Whoa…” Reaching her hand forward once more, she submerged it into the canvas again. It rippled to the edges, and the sensation was…odd. Slightly cold, a little warm, and it sent tingles up her arm. Leaning in closer, nose almost touching the liquid surface, her necklace fell forward, twinkling madly, and submerged into the landscape.
Alicia gasped, feeling as if hooks were behind her naval, and she fell forward, jerked into her painting. A wave of darkness washed over her, and the last thing she remembered was falling…falling….
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
What was that?
Alicia sat up. “I swear I just heard a bird…”she muttered in confusion, and then her eyes widened. “Where am I?” she gasped quietly.
The light around her was tainted with green, falling through the leafy green canopy in gently waving speckles. The wind rustled quietly through the leaves, and she stood up. A bird twittered lightly somewhere, and though the trees were dark and twisted, this forest exuded happiness.
A small stream trickled to her left, and she crouched down next to it, tasting the water. Eyes widening in surprise, she cupped her hands full and gulped it down. It was sweet and icy cold, and tasted cleaner than any water she’d ever had before. She drank until she was no longer thirsty, and then stood, looking around.
Don’t freak out, don’t freak out…she told herself…Stay calm. Find your way out of the forest, ask questions later. See if you can find someone to help you. Looking around, she moved down a small path, going towards the right. The light seemed brighter this way, maybe the way out was there too. Her mind wondered at the strangeness of the situation. I have a bizarre dream, wake up stranded in a strange forest, have no idea where I am or how long I have been gone…her eyes widened in horror…Oh god, what will mom think when she finds me gone, I was sick last night, oh she will probably think I faked it and snuck out. Great…I am so grounded. She stumbled through some underbrush, and suddenly, there weren’t any trees around, just blinding sunlight, light green grass beneath her feet, and a whispering breeze. Momentarily stunned, she blinked once, letting her eyes focus, and then gasped. “I know this place…where have I seen this before?” she whispered.
A small cottage, smoke gently wafting from the chimney…mountains rising starkly against the cerulean sky, and far off, very far off, the subtle flashing twinkle of the ocean, a small castle by its side. This was her painting. Her dream…it hadn’t been a dream? Whoa…
Dealing with this latest revelation, she debated on whether or not she should go knock on the cottage door. The sun was starting to go down, and it was getting cold. She didn’t want to stay outside all night, but what if it was some scary stranger inside? Any number of things could happen to her.
Mentally berating herself on being such a baby, she made up her mind. She walked slowly up to the leaning door, and hand trembling, knocked gently. She heard the sounds of movement inside, a soft rustling, and then slowly, the door started to open...
told you!! Haha, great work. Really, I will be watching you....