CHAPTER#96

After a few minutes of this, they got through the first section. Tink slid ahead of them, her bare ass on the ice, then returned to declare a more serious cave-in up ahead. The others started to work again, and Beth stood back, marveling at how they all worked together.

I want to help.

Beth pulled Jenny out of the bag around her hip, running her fingers over the porcelain doll's features. Looking at the others, she realized that she didn't have the strength or magic to help them.

But Jenny would.

"Let's do it."

-

"Ow." Mike sat up, blinking rapidly. Unable to see, he wondered if he had gone blind. Waving his hand in front of his face, he snapped his fingers. At least he still had his hearing. Standing carefully, he stuck his arms out, feeling around the edges of the room. He smashed his fingers painfully into the wall, cursing silently to himself. Moving around the room, he stumbled over something small and then crashed into a stack of objects that made a huge racket when it tumbled over on him.

"God damnit!" Pushing his way free of the pile of objects, he found the wall again. Moving across, he felt the knob of a door. Moving his hands around the door, he found the switch and flicked it. Blinking away the sudden intrusion of light, he saw that he was inside of a large broom closet with a drain in the corner. Stunned, he looked at the mess of buckets and mops he had tipped over.

Where the fuck was he?

A small groan came from beneath the mess he had made. Kneeling down, he pushed away the mess to reveal a young girl with long, dark hair. She opened her eyes, her vision slowly focusing on Mike's face.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked. Something was wrong with his voice. It came out at a higher pitch.

"Mike?" The girl sat up, her hair falling across her face. Mike saw the scale patterns on her neck and shoulders. She wore a simple white dress with flowers on it that reminded him of lotus blossoms.

"Ratu?" He helped her up. "What happened to you?"

"What happened to us." She corrected him. Directing Mike to the other side of the broom closet, he saw a small mirror over the drain. Looking into it, he saw that his short hair was longer and slightly tousled, a haircut he hadn't seen since his thirteenth birthday when his mother had started calling him a little girl.

Mouth opening and closing in disbelief, he lifted the white shirt he was wearing. The scars on his chest and stomach were still there.

"Why are we little kids?" Mike asked, leaning closer to the mirror. One of his eyes was the wrong color. It was a swirling sea foam green that reminded him of Naia's hair. Pulling his hair back for a better look, he found a shock of stark white hair beneath that reminded him of Cecilia. "Is this the Dreamscape? Or somewhere else?"

"I'm going to have to get back to you on that. I haven't been this young since before Jesus was born." Ratu was looking at herself in the mirror. She quickly pulled her hair back out of her face, fastening it with a piece of ribbon she had pulled off of her wrist. Closing her eyes, her skin became mottled all over, her snake pattern briefly appearing and disappearing. "And it would appear that I'm stuck this way. No transformations."

"Where are we?" Mike asked, picking up the brooms and mops.

"A broom closet."

"That's not a helpful answer."

"Well it's the only one I have." Ratu turned away from the mirror, her hair flaring out dramatically. "This could be a side effect of the artifact, but I suspect something else is involved. While we are here, trust nobody, not even me."

"That sounds a little dramatic." Mike tested the doorknob. "It's unlocked. We should check it out."

"Hold on." Ratu searched all around. "I don't see the goggles lying around."

"I suspect our bodies aren't actually here," Mike said.

"If we aren't in our bodies, than we are in spirit form." Ratu shook her head. "That doesn't bode well at all."

Mike took his hand off the doorknob. "How so?"

"Spiritual injury is some of the worst kind," she said, grabbing him by the wrist. "Think of it like phantom limbs. If I cut off your hand, that doesn't damage your soul. Your body feels a phantom limb not only because of misfiring nerves, but because your soul still has a hand - well, metaphorically speaking. What happens if the opposite occurs? Injury to the soul while the body is intact?"

"I imagine bad stuff," he answered.

"Your immortal soul is only immortal if it passes over to where the bad things can't harm it. If you die here, you cease to exist."

Mike shivered. "That doesn't sound good."

"You are severely understating our circumstances! You should be terrified!"

"Last week my soul was almost eaten by a succubus." Mike put his hand back on the knob. "In the Dreamscape. I had several days of being afraid like this, and I came to a singular conclusion." He pushed on the door, swinging it outward.

"Well?" Ratu asked.

"Better to go down swinging," Mike said with a wink. Ratu rolled her eyes, then followed him out of the broom closet. They were standing in a long hallway with several doors and lockers in both directions. The lights above flickered ominously.

"What is this place?" Ratu asked.

"The worst place on Earth," Mike answered. "Etheridge Middle School." He recognized the hall they stood in now. It was on the upper level where the eighth graders had their classes. How many times had he been pushed down in this hallway alone? The names of his tormentors had long ago faded - even though he had hated them, he had to go home to the worst of them all.