Annabelle was surprised by a whisper from behind her.
"Miss Abbie... Miss... Are you okay, do you feel bad?"
One of the helpers was talking to her in the lowest voice she could manage so she didn't get startled, calling her back to what normal people called reality.
"Yes, Anna. I just remembered something."
The helpers looked at each other and wondered scared if she had seen something and didn't want to say it.
The stories about her looking at the void had been around for a while already, but since nobody has seen actually anything, and the noises could be explained, they can't really say the house is haunted, or the girl, in any case.
She knows that the helpers are still wondering what she was looking at, but she doesn't care what they think.
The march to her room restarts and they spend a couple of hours to finish arranging everything in the right place, especially her medicine cabinet.
After a very interesting day outside, a tired Annabelle sat on the edge of her bed, changed, and ready to go to sleep.
She stood there contemplating the new amber bottle that the doctor gave her, a new medicine that is supposed to help her sleep.
Normally she had short periods of sleep of about four hours, without dreams or nightmares.
Mostly, she used to think about that, her dreams were the very visual images she had in "Real life," of the many characters that she had read before so many times.
Daydreams, instead of any other kind of unconscious dreams.
She liked it that way, it gave her at least relative control over something, call it her mind, her company, even her reality if you will. She needed that feeling of control.
At least the slight illusion that something in her life could be moved by her sheer will, yet, she was soon to discover how wrong that idea was.
She took one of the pills out of the bottle and put it in her mouth, moving the glass of water close to her lips, and getting just a small sip.
The glass was immediately after, sitting on the mahogany nightstand, and the girl wrapped herself in her bedsheets and blankets.
The bed was really comfortable, and she wasn't sure if it was the pill, the little sun she caught that day or the general excitement and tiredness of a day close to a normal real life.
Annabelle thought the pill would do nothing for her, really, but it didn't take long for her body to start feeling relaxed and heavy.
The girl started noticing that when she blinked, every time it was getting harder for her to open her eyes once again.
And slowly and slowly, she was not being dragged or push, but softly slid into that heaviness and relaxation like she hadn't felt in a few years.
She was still aware of her surroundings when some images started to form in her head, those that look like an animated picture.
People in very peculiar clothing on a sunny cool day, walking in cobbled streets, in a very long trail that seemed to end up far, far away in a walled, huge city engulfed in clouds that gave the appearance of it to be floating.
She slightly opened her eyes and wondered what was the reason for all she was seeing.
Still surprised by the clothing so unfamiliar, and in many cases, too revealing, mostly in tones of brown, gray, black, with occasional darers that wore red or green in darker tones, and by the glare of that place that looked so distant, she had to look around.
The streets were wide and cobbled, and she mostly asked herself what was that place that she was seeing and was so unfamiliar.
she blinked heavily a couple more times, still peeking between her room and that place in her head.
It seemed like that night she was not only going to sleep more than enough, but she was up for an adventure.
She was very excited.
As we mentioned before, she never had dreams while sleeping, so she took the chance and let her mind free on that journey, and with deep curiosity, she focused on that place, and the surroundings, feeling less and less in her room, and more further away, in that appealing alternate reality.
After all, if this was her thoughts, she reflected, what could happen to her if it all was inside of her own head?...
Or was it?
She found herself more solid, in that place, on the slopes of a mountain, where people were coming and going in this peculiar clothing.
They didn't wear dresses. Most of the ladies were wearing their corset over a delicate and thin blouse, most of the time, white, while others were using just the corset, and those seemed very revealing to Annabelle.
Their bottom parts were combinations of thinner materials in just one layer of fabric in asymmetrical designs and assorted but predominantly dark colors.
She could easily see even above the knee of them, and it also made her notice that nobody saw it weird, or unusual.
Men wore fitted pants, some wore them baggy in the hips and thin down the knee, with flat boots where they'd stuff the lower, thinner part of those pants.
Many of both, men and women, wore trench coats, and dressing coats with tails.
The top hats were definitely in fashion, and as many men as women wore them. The ladies wore them in different sizes, and there were some that looked as merely decorative for how tiny they were.
Their make up was not excessive, but widely used, mostly by ladies, but in some cases by men as well.
Some of them had shapes drawn surrounding one of their eyes, like gears, spider webs, or very long lines that came from their bottom eyelid to their jawline.
People started noticing a girl standing in the middle of the trail, with a gray nightgown that covered her entire body, and her long, black hair loose in the wind, while she started to notice that, not only that place was amazingly real, but she didn't feel her pain anymore, the constant, chronic half ache, half burn that she had been handling for so many years.
That was not completely surprising, not as much as it was good news.
It meant that in that place, Abbie could do whatever she wanted without worrying about her sudden death.
She was thrilled and hoped that she could remember every single detail once she woke up.
Since this was her first dream, in general, but especially, of this kind, she was not sure of the rules of the dreamland, but since people was seeing her in that peculiar way, she wanted to try to interact with them.
She was about to try when a couple, a man and a woman, close to Abbie's own age came from behind her and took her by her arms as if they had been friends for ages.
"HI!" Said the young woman in a higher, but still comfortable pitch, showing how cheered and happy she was.
"Hello, nice to meet you," added the young man. "My name is Myron, and she is my wife, Raquel," He said with a comical reverence, also in a very interesting and happy mood, that besides taking Annabelle by surprise, were extremely contagious.
"It is very nice to meet you, My name is Annabelle" Abbie responded with a curtsy, feeling that it was the proper way to introduce herself to the strangers.
"Oh, hello Annabelle. Would you let me call you... Belle, maybe?" Myron said.
"No, no, let's call her Belly cat," answered his wife before Abbie could answer.
"Wifey, not everybody likes cats," Myron told his wife.
"But I think she does, don't you Belly Cat?" The very young woman kept her stare focused on Abbie, with a very wide and genuine smile.
"I do like cats, yes, but... I would rather not be called belly if you don't mind." Abbie said, a little shy for so many years with no practice on talking to strangers.
"Belle it is, then," Myron said, keeping the smile in his face.
"Belle Cat, hubby. She did say she liked cats."
"You're right my love, then Belle cat. If you don't mind us asking, why are you wearing sleepwear in the middle of the street?" Myron curiously scanned the stranger that seemed to be in dire need of some style sense.
"Oh, well. I just entered the dream, and I was sleeping. I am sleeping, as a matter of fact, so, what else could I be wearing?"
"Definitely there are no coincidences and no accidents. We've met for a reason, and is to get you out of that sleeping gown," Myron said even more joyful.
The volume of his voice was a little bit up for a normal conversation, and Annabelle was slightly shocked that he seemed to be talking for a crowd, instead of for only her.
"Let's take her to the store," Raquel small-jumped in her place.
"Wait, I can't go to a store," Annabelle said.
"Why not?" Myron wondered, question marks in his face.
"Because I didn't bring any money. I don't even know what money can be used here," Abbie said worriedly.
"Oh dear, have you never dreamed? This is Dreamland! Come, you'll love the store." The joyful couple took one of Annabelle's arms each and pulled her in direction unknown by her.
In what kind of place did she end up now?
A very happy trio came into a clothing store.A young, handsome man with very bright eyes and smile, lightly tanned skin and almost six feet tall, dressed in black from top hat to toe, except for his dark green coat, walked first into the store.Following in the middle, a disarrayed girl in gray sleepwear, and last, but never least, a very beautiful lady with pink hair and all-black clothing.Her curvaceous body was hugged by a stylish corset dress that ended up in a skirt a couple of inches over the knee in the front, and almost ankle length in the back.She was about five feet and three inches, with two additional inches that her black, over-the-ankle boots gave her.She was also wearing a very tiny top hat, holding from a bunch of her hair on the right side of her head.To end her image, the same way as her energetic and charismatic husband, she wore a big, genuine smile.The store was almost directly in front of
"Isn't it the cat got your tongue?" Raquel said innocently, as Myron moved his head sideways to his wife, so she didn't follow on her thought.When Raquel looked at the other two people in the room, she noticed.The air felt tense suddenly. Dominik's tone was obviously not well received by Annabelle, who now was no longer looking at the floor.How was this guy managing to touch the nerves of their just arrived new guest in so little more than a phrase?Why?Yes, he was good looking, but, oh what an attitude.Especially with Abbie, who hated to be always the "Rescued" one."Too much of a nerve for a stranger to say something in that tone. You know nothing. I didn't come to be rescued. I'm not helpless, and unlike you, I don't go defensive and attacking people when I first meet them.This is only my first visit to this place, and they are nice, decent people. Something I can see it's not known for you.Now, if
In front of Abbie, there were all kinds of armor, including knives, swords, guns, and also gun holsters, belts, whips, and a series of gadgets she couldn't make out by just looking at them.On her right, a full rack of trench coats, long, and not so long, hooded, in colors or black, with a slit and without.Annabelle wondered at what kind of place she had arrived, while she watched R looking intently at the wall, and then moving to the rack.Was she just picking her something so she was not cold, but it happened to be close to this little armor shop inside her store?Raquel stood in front of the rack as it drew its circles until one of the coats called her attention.It was brown, matching Annabelle's outfit perfectly.R took it from the rack and handed it over to Abbie."Please try it on, Belle Cat. I want to see if it fits you well."Annabelle went to try it and found herself in the mirror, surprised at the
They were just thrown out of the store, and pretty much forced to go to the city together.Dominik had said he could take her, but Annabelle was not happy with the idea.For her, the guy's changes were too much for her comfort, as one minute he was nice, and the next he was uncomfortable and defensive.Maybe people in that dream was a little crazy. From the start, she could say they were different, even from their clothing.She was not remotely close to London but she was very happy about that. What if they were different? They treated her like a normal human being, not a princess, or a porcelain doll.The guy looked shy now that he was alone with her, and looked almost desperately for something to say, anything, hoping that whatever it was, was not as bad as all the other things he had said before."So... We should start walking, I guess," Abbie said, and you could almost think they were in an awkwardness contest. He was glad sh
The city rose before their eyes.The cobbled paths were decorated with colored smaller and bigger pieces of what seemed to be semiprecious stones, in pink, green, brown, and blue, mixed with polished river stones, giving a beautiful effect, especially where the sun touched the streets.The palace was a huge stone structure with four towers and several thin golden chimneys that let out white steam.The streets beamed with happy, relaxed people that came and went from one store to the next one.The most usual theme was motion and the large gears that moved the machinery which allowed that transit.What surprised Annabelle the most was the toy store.It was the biggest window in downtown. Framed in golden with red thin lines, the glass allowed the passersby a peek of a fantasy world within the fantasy world.Trains in their tracks, toy monkeys, little horses, and small walking teddy bears, all made of tin, and moving around, in met
They were standing right in front of the exit of that weird and scary metallic box that took them downstairs. Annabelle looked around her as she listened to Dominik.There were big containers in front of her, almost floor to ceiling tin cylinders surrounded by thick metallic hoses."The cylinders on the right are water containers, the ones on the left are converted energy containers.They both go all the way following the wall to the end of the room, where the energy is distributed into other mechanisms, that power the city.Basically, the water transforms in steam, and move the machines that collect energy from Earth's dreamers, and visitors.Then that energy is moved and stored as needed to keep the City afloat and power it up. Everything, including the mirrors, is powered up from that energy.""Every time you mention those mirrors I get more curious.""There's no way to know what you could see there. The first time at least,
Annabelle and Dominik followed The King all the way from the steam room, where they had met the Monarch, to the hidden terrace of the Palace.Most of the walk was in silence, except when the things she saw were too interesting not to gasp for them. At some point, she was curious and had to ask Domi."I didn't believe much of what you said when you said you could bring me into the Palace. How did you meet The King!!!?""The story doesn't go that way exactly, he met me and invited me, I was still a teenager and used to work at the store, but was always walking around.I have to admit that this place never stops surprising me. So one day, I was standing in front of a portal.It wasn't my first time, but I had a difficult day, so I hesitated. He was walking around over there too and then saw me.He said, "That is not the right mood to get in, you know, right? Why don't you come with me now? It's tea time, and tea can't wait.Later y
"Really!? I almost can't believe we'll go there.""Yes, I will take you there, but we're not entering the mirror.""Why not?""Because they are... Dangerous places if you're not in the right mood, or...""Or?""Come on, follow me."Dominik starts walking faster than the pace he's had for the entire day. It seems like he was rushed now, to do something, or go somewhere he doesn't want to. "What changed his mood? Was it something I said?" The girl thought, trying to catch up with her guide.The fact that he had some mood swings since they've met at the store, and has bothered her, slightly enraged her, and tried her patience was, of course, something she kept in her mind.He had been nice for the last couple of hours, especially with the King and the Queen. Now he was not even talking. His latest phrase got caught up in his throat.Abbie wondered if it was a good idea to try and push him to say whatever he wanted to say, or if it was better just to keep walking for now and see how thing