Monsters Under the Bed

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Risa moved out of the way as the creature had been slammed to the ground, and shortly then after attacked by Ally. She watched the other children run to the boat in response to the fox's orders, and she obeyed as well. The internal nagging scolded her again for her rash behavior, claiming that if she han't have followed the other snots, she wouldn't have been in the mess she is now. Perfect girls listen to their elders, and perfect girls don't explore. But she kept on. As she waited in the boat while others discussed the possibility of waiting for Ally, she watched him fight the creature who threatened them.

her face flushed white at the sound and sight of Ally's wound, an she turned away for a second before watching him bound back to the group. It caught her attention when the colour of his paw bled into the water, and it made her wonder something.

"Ally, your paw. The colour seeped away into the water, why is that? Does this water absorb our colours?"
 
Trevor wasn't watching the battle behind him. For one, he was too scared. Terrified, actually. Terrible creatures, a terrible world. Leah's terrible situation. His own terrible situation. It was enough to push anyone over the edge. The only thing that kept him from totally losing it was the thought, the hope, that this whole thing was just a horrible nightmare. Elijah jolted him back to his senses when he shoved the boat from the shore. "Come on, we have to row!" he shouted to no one in particular. Who even had an oar? It didn't matter to Trevor. He started rowing. Rowing, rowing, rowing. Rowing to escape. Rowing into the grey sea. Rowing to a place unknown. Any place. It didn't matter to him. Any place would be better than that grey, depressing, terrifying beach.

It wasn't until the little boat was a good way out in the water that he stopped to think. The panic left him, his heart rate slowed, and he breathed easier. "Ally..." he asked cautiously. "Where are we going? And... will we be able to get back?" The thought that he wouldn't be able to return home was too much for him. Tears began streaming down his face. He tried to hide it. A guy his age shouldn't be crying, especially in front of the little ones. But the more he tried to put on a brave face, the more the fear gripped him. Will we be able to get home?
 
When Elijah shouted his order to start rowing, Martin was glad to comply. He would finally get away from that terrible lizard-man-fly... thing that managed to almost kill him. He still could not believe that he actually made it out alive from that situation and he knew that he must have used up all his luck under the course of those few moments. While Ally was not really faring better than he was, at least he had no attachment to the creature and leave it behind without a hitch... Or at least so he thought, but then, the realisation hit him. Ally was the only one who could guide them in this realm, so if they lost Ally, they would lose the chance to get home.

Luckily, though, the fox managed to escape from the strange creature just barely, hopping on the oar first, and then going straight into Maddie's lap. Martin was a bit surprised at that, but then he noticed that one paw of Ally briefly touched the water and now it lacked colour. Appearently, he was not the only one who noticed this oddness, as Risa spoke up. What she said made sense: Ally had warned them about not touching the water, but what harm would it do if one lost their colour? Colour was not an essential part of life after all, but before he could ask Ally what significance did colour hold in this world, Trevor started crying.

"If there is a way in, there is a way out," said Martin to Trevor. "Ally can always take us back, right?" he asked of the strange creature, glancing towards him, which was when he noticed the pool of blood forming around the foot of Elijah. "Elijah... your leg!" That was all he managed to say. The blood was already starting to creep its way into the middle of the boat and if he touched it, or he touched the blood... Blood was full of horrible things. It was the harbinger bacteria, viruses, of diseases. He could feel himself freezing up, so he tried to force his eyes to look elsewhere, but the sight of the blood was just so attractive.

"We have to treat it immediately," said Martin with a shaky voice. "You will catch something otherwise," he added, voicing his own fears.
 
It was a remarkably large jump and fear gripped at his throat, cutting off his breath while he watched Ally soar through the air. It didn't look like the fox would make it, and if it didn't, where would that leave Elijah and the rest of the children? Just as lost and terrified as they'd been the moment Leah had been taken. Only now they couldn't pull their feet up onto the bed and cower in fear. They had to press on.

The few seconds that it took for that battle-scarred fox to make the jump felt like an eternity of waiting to Elijah. One paw dipped into the water, just one, but it was enough to send the young man's heart racing with concern. He'd been suspicious of the fox. Now he was just grateful for it saving his life and wanted to do the same if he could. So when Ally made it into the boat, he let out a sigh of relief and quickly returned to rowing.

He could still see the boat with Leah, just barely though the haze radiating from the approaching storm and the sense of urgency awoke in his chest again. Seeing the poor girl laying so lifeless, draped on the beast's back, made him angry and it was at times like these when he felt such horrible emotions that he'd sneak away from the orphanage or the foster home and go vandalize something. But he couldn't do that here. He couldn't afford to lose his cool around his foster siblings.

When the concerns of the children reached him, he forced his gaze away from the boat fading into the distance and glanced down first at Ally's colorless leg, then at his own deep red one. A bit of surprise showed on his face, just enough to have his eyes widen a little before returning to normal. His face might have been a little bit pale though, considering the amount of blood already staining the bottom of the boat. It wasn't too much that it would cripple him, but it would be soon if he didn't do as Martin suggested and take care of it. "My backpack," he voiced, pausing in his rowing to shrug off the pack and hand it to Martin. "There might be something in there." Honestly, he couldn't remember all of what he'd grabbed in his hurry. His mind had been so numb at the time, as if he'd been on auto-pilot.

He didn't take up rowing again just yet though. Trevor was upset, they all were, but he was showing it the most. "We're going to get Leah and go home. All of us. Together," he insisted with a steady voice, reaching out to ruffle Trevor's hair. And he made sure there wasn't even a speck of disbelief in those green eyes when he said it.

Having hope was just one of the many things needed to survive.
 
His eyelid felt heavy and his breathing was slow, but Ally was alive. Maddie's lap felt warm and comforting, enticing the fox to sleep.
The others had started to row the boat in panic, putting a swift distance between them and their attacker. He lifted his head wearily, glancing at the others. His gaze stopped on Trevor, unfocused.

"Go to the island. It's where they've taken your friend," he replied in agony. "The water here is tainted. Falling into it won't kill you but it washes you away. Your soul, your personality, everything is gone. You turn gray. It's what the Emperor here deems perfection. He doesn't want love he doesn't want hate, he wants indifference."

The scenery was changing rapidly. A fog bank appeared out of nowhere on the water's surface, rolling straight towards them. Moisture covered their skins and their sight was instantly obscured. The coolness felt abnormal. Ally's hackles instantly went up, a growl deep within his throat. The color was starting to return back to his paw as a light shade of pink. Hesitantly he stood, placing weight upon his other broken paw. He winced as the pain shot through his body, whining not because of the pain, but at the realization that he was useless at their next obstacle.

"The Emperor knows you're here."

Eerie singing filled the air, engulfing the foster children in strange music. For the men in the group, the sound was alluring...

"Boys cover your ears! The girls will have to keep rowing, just keep your eyes on that light in the distance!"
 
Lesedi's heart calmed only a little as Ally made it to the boat, only to race again as she quickly swung the handle of the oar in a rounded motion. She's never paddled a boat before, or even been on a boat. Hell, she could barely swim... well, it seemed drowning was only a small concern compared to the monsters wandering about in this world. "A life jacket would still be nice..." she muttered to herself, arms already growing a little sore from her task, even though she wasn't rowing alone.

A sigh escaped her and she decided to take a short break, turning on her seat to get a better look at the surroundings, once again eyeing the dark waters and the island in the distance. "The Emperor guy sounds like a real loser. He's boring, so the whole world has to be boring? Talk about lame," she said with just a hint of humor. She stretched her arms out in front of her, but it did little to relieve the stress of being in a strange world full of monsters. But then Ally spoke again and Les paused before taking up her grip on the oar again. "Knows we're... so something else is coming?" Les didn't have to wait for an answer, even though the strange music was far from anything she was expecting at this point. "Wh-what is that? Why just the boys?" She asked as she started rowing again.
 
Martin could already feel himself shaking from the sight of blood, but at least, when Elijah passed the bag to him, he had something to take his mind off the bleeding, of the strange things of the infections... Ugh. He reminded himself not to think of the secondary implications that he associated with blood. After all, it was not as if he was afraid of the blood itself. He was merely afraid of what it could cause. He had read about how blood could spread diseases and now he wished he had not, for now there was one more thing he was afraid of. Fortunately, though, now the bad that Elijah passed to him obscured the bleeding leg from him somewhat, so he stopped rowing and started to look for some medical supplies. He managed to find some bandages, scissors and wrap, which was when he started to hear a song.

It was a strange, but eternally beautiful song that becokoned him to swim ashore, however, as soon as he heard the first few notes, Ally interrupted the song, telling them to put their hands over their ears. But why would he do that? The song was so beautiful so serene, and it was beckoning him so gently that he had no reason to refuse its call. After all, if something was so beautiful, what harm could it do? Beauty always equaled being good in the fairy tales after all, and this land looked like it came from the fairy tales. So obviously, the rules must be the same here. Obviously, this beautiful song could cause no harm to them.

Ignoring the words of the fox, Martin put the bag down from his lap, and started staring towards the way the song came from. His eyes were devoid of colour, and for the others, it was clear that something strange was happening to him. Slowly, a smile crept across his face as he grabbed the side of the boat and contemplated diving into it, but deep down in his consciousness, his rational mind could still remember the words of Ally. If he were to jump into the water, his personality would evaporate, and he would become but a lifeless shell... However, his mind would not last long under the unresistable call of the sirens, and his body only barely obeyed him.
 
A hand rose from the water, a foot away from the boat...

hand.jpg


Covered in slime, it was as gray as the skies and waters it lived in. The surface broke as the arm and shoulder rose from the lake, its entire body covered in the same gooey substance. The creature exposed herself from the hip up, and she was a marvelous thing. Sculpted breasts, high cheekbones and eyes as pristine as diamonds - how could anyone say no to her? Beneath the slapping waves of water was her tail, swishing back and forth hypnotically.

The Siren still sung, mouth full of jagged sharp teeth. Despite her beauty, there was one great flaw.

There was no color to her body.

She remained where she was, enticing Martin with her melody. Her arms outstretched, she was asking the boy to join her in the depths. ​
 
When the siren's music began, Trevor felt the immediate impulse to seek it out. But he had read stories about ships drifting off course and crashing into rocks, so he immediately clapped his hands over his ears. Martin wasn't so quick to do so, however, and he was obviously enchanted by the siren's melody. "Martin, don't!" He shouted... or tried to, anyway. His voice was weak, and Martin didn't hear him. Trevor felt like he had no choice, so he reached out and made to pull Martin back. But as soon as he heard the song, he froze. His eyes followed the form of the siren next to the boat. Her enchanting face, her satuesque body, everything was truly beautiful. He was as captivated as Martin, even as what remained of his senses told him to cover his ears again. So he remained frozen, still clutching Martin, watching the rippling patterns that emanated from the siren's strong tail.
 
When the fog bank appeared ahead, Elijah could only think of the documentaries that he'd watched on the Sarah Desert. It was for this reason that he was expecting an impact of this rolling cloud of doom to collide harshly against the boat and its passengers. He expected it to feel like a thousand stinging bees. But when the fog burst over them all, enveloping them in thick humidity, he felt nothing more than a gentle breath and an increase in moisture on his hair, clothes, and skin.

Blinking, as if that would help see through the eerie wall of misty white, Elijah's hands reached the oar. He was acting based on the dread pooling in his gut, warning him about some kind of imminent trouble even before he had time to process Ally's information about the Emperor. Together with Lesedi, he managed to get the boat moved a few more feet before his gut feeling turned out to be right on the dot.

Such a beautiful voice... Although he couldn't make out any words, the melodic voice alone was enough to sway Elijah. Nerve endings tingled, hair stood on end. His arms slowly stopped their motions of rowing like a machine that was running out of power until he fell still altogether and just listened.

There was nothing else but that voice. The ambient sounds around him all seemed to fizzle and dissolve away into nothing. Ally's voice was the last to disappear, muffled, distorted, incomprehensible.

It wasn't the siren's body that had Elijah hypnotized, despite him being a healthy young man. It was her singing that had a firm grasp on his attention and the overwhelming sense of peacefulness that it caused him. The boat and the morose backdrop vanished and with it the pain in his leg and the cold that had seeped into his bones. Her song was alluring, pacifying his worries and forcing his mind into a state of reminiscence.

Before his very eyes, the grey-skinned woman grew color - long brunette hair, eyes the shade of emeralds, ivory skin. Behind her, two small children appeared and a man in the very back whose face was hidden behind a newspaper.

Of course in reality, Elijah was really staring sleepily at the siren, but inside his mind, he was trapped in a memory. He was looking at his old living room, at his family and his mother with her hand outstretched for him to take. "Welcome home," she whispered, her voice so soft and soothing, just as it had been every day upon returning from school.

The song and the memory it caused was near irresistible and Elijah's heart ached with wanting. Tears welled up and threatened to spill down his cheeks as he slowly rose to his feet. The boat rocked and swayed dangerously, threatening to tip, especially when he put a foot up on the ledge to get ready to jump into the water. He'd been wishing for years to hear his mother say those words...

But his mother was dead. And Leah would be too if they didn't hurry up and catch up to her. But...Leah... Who was that again? The young man blinked, slipping from his daze for just a split second before he was ensnared once more. It was enough to remind him that there was so much to worry about, even if he couldn't remember just what it was at the moment, so he froze in that position with his foot up on the edge of the boat, unable to avert his gaze.
 
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