CHAPTER#116

"I thought I still had time."

"Please. I gave you a deadline based on when the Society will ask me questions. That hardly meant I was going to leave you alone." He grabbed at the air and folded down a large flap, revealing stony walls and Yuki walking up ahead. "So what's her story?"

"None of your business. Besides, don't you know? You've been watching me this whole time."

"Ugh, you've been so distracted lately that the signal has been poor. And all those portals didn't help either. Let's see what I can find out on my own." Oliver hopped impossibly high through the opening and vanished. Through the gap, she heard her own voice speak out loud.

"Yuki, where are we going?"

Yuki looked over her shoulder and shrugged. "I already told you, we're going upstairs so that I can keep a watch on the front yard. I would like to talk to you some more about what's going on."

"We're taking the reflecting pool, right?"

"Of course, unless you want to hike up that hill. The path may have closed anyway, and I don't feel like wasting any time."

"Okay, good," Beth/Oliver replied.

"No, no, no!" Beth tried to hook her fingers into the gap, but they passed through it as if it were made of mist. "Asterion, someone, help me, that isn't me!"

Yuki's ear twitched and she turned around. "Did you just say something?"

"Me? Nope." Beth/Oliver cleared her throat. "I don't think so, I'm dead on my feet."

"Fuck, Yuki! Yuki, don't let him take me!" She pressed her face into the mist and screamed.

"Actually, there is something. I get terribly dizzy going through the pool and was wondering if you would be willing to help me when we get there."

"Help you how?" Yuki's tails swished impatiently.

"Hold my hand?"

"NO!" Beth swiped her fingers and jumped up and down. "Don't listen to me!"

"Can't your friend do it?" Yuki looked at Asterion, who in turn looked quizzically at Beth.

"He could, but he's a little clumsy." Beth/Oliver stated while looking at Asterion. A knowing look crossed Asterion's face and he nodded.

"Don't listen to... dammit!" Screaming wasn't doing any good, she needed to find a way out. The viewing screen Oliver had made was just to torment her, foreplay for the torture to come. Could he really take Yuki, too? If so, what would happen to everybody in the house? Looking up and down the beach, she realized there was nothing but sand in both directions, and the ocean was calm. In the distance, the toy boat began to sink, a pink tentacle wrapped around it.

What if she killed herself? Would that cause her to wake up? Dying in a dream was scary enough, and always caused her to wake up in a cold sweat. Her options were limited, and she decided to throw herself in the waves and see what happened.

Wading out into the water, her clothes fell away until she was naked. Submerging her head, she swam as far down as she could, the water miraculously clear. Fish made of colored glass swam around her, and she inhaled a large breath.

Nothing happened. Instead of a mouth full of water, she kept on breathing as if nothing had changed.

She swore, a stream of bubbles coming from her mouth. Each one had a capital letter in them, and the F made the surface first. Looking toward the distant drop-off underwater, she thought about the pink tentacle. Would the ocean of her mind have sufficiently dangerous creatures to do the job?

As if willed into existence, a large shadow emerged from the depths, headed straight toward her. Beth's heart pounded in her chest as it reached out with hungry arms made of teeth and claws.

She swam toward it.

"I don't think so," Oliver said, a current yanking her away and back toward the shore. Large waves tossed her onto the beach, slamming her into the sand.

"Goddamnit!" Grabbing a handful of sand, she threw it in frustration, hot tears stinging her eyes. "Somebody help me!"

"There's nobody who—" Oliver's voice disappeared, and the viewing screen collapsed.

She waited for several minutes. Oliver didn't reappear, and the only sound was the rough surf. Out on the water, something pale had floated to the top.

"What is that?" She thought the words, but they echoed around her as if spoken. The object was floating, carrying something pink and blue with it. Moving away from the water, she wondered if this was another of Oliver's tricks.

The creature was tossed about on the waves, eventually carried onto the sand. It stood, huge clumps of seaweed hanging from its body and lurched toward her, a pink and blue blob hanging from its limbs. Once away from the water, it shook off the seaweed, revealing pale limbs and dark hair.

"Je...Jenny?" It was hard to believe, but she was looking at Jenny, who seemed to be dragging a large, deflated beach ball with her.

Jenny grunted, tossing the deflated ball into place. Upon closer inspection, Beth realized it was a deflated kiddy pool.

"Where did you get that?"

Jenny put her mouth on the nozzle of the pool and blew. It inflated almost instantly, revealing a plastic bottom with crabs on it that reminded Beth of one she had as a child. Setting the pool down, Jenny collapsed on the edge, exhausted from swimming.

"Bucket," she wheezed, then pointed at the ocean.

"If this is a trick, then it's a dick move."

"Bucket!" Jenny's legs were withering away and turning to sand. Panicked, Beth looked around on the beach and saw a series of sandcastles form all around her. Buckets of different shapes and sizes were scattered among them, and she grabbed the biggest one she could find and ran to the water's edge to fill it.

Back at the pool, she poured it in, surprised at how quickly the pool filled. Jenny's body was turning to sand faster now, and Oliver's voice came from the sky, muffled by the clouds.