On the run in a strange world after pirates kill her parents, Elise plows into Dorothy Blainwick, a young and powerful witch with a monster inside her. Like fire and water, the two have to learn to get along as they try to escape the law, ancient ma...
Unfortunately, Dorothy and Elise ran in different directions. Turning each, they looked at one another across the growing divide.
Mouthed Elise, "Dorothy!"
Without a moment's pause Dorothy dived for Elise. 'Fleet of foot' didn't describe the Herculean leap she made across the breach. However, as Dorothy fell into Elise they heard a voice.
"Who was that?"
There wasn't the time to escape up another set of stairs without being seen, so Dorothy grabbed Elise and pulled them into the dark corner. Elise fell against the witch's body; her bottom sunk into her pelvis. The witch took a sharp breath.
Down the steps trotted a soldier in mustard fatigues. Tall and suspicious, he extinguished the last of his cigarette on one of the many thick walls surrounding him. Slowly he made it to the bottom of the steps; then, with even slower eyes looked around.
Meow!
Germón rushed past, making such a ruckus as he slid across the ground that he scarcely sounded feline anymore.
"Damn cat! Git!"
Making a kicking motion, the soldier sent Germón on his way. After that he shook his head and returned the way he came.
Dorothy released Elise's middle. Thankfully for Dorothy, in the rush of adrenaline Elise hadn't noticed something strange about the witch's body, however pronounced it had grown when flesh against her. Dorothy hadn't felt it act that way before; and now, looking down at herself, realized it had become visible, too.
She quickly turned around to hide it, like she always had.
"Dorothy, what's the matter? I think we lost him."
Raising a palm, the witch's face flashed with anger. She slapped it hard against the wall.
Elise watched as Dorothy tried to breathe easier. Somehow, and although Elise scarcely believed it, Dorothy's red eyes seemed to emit a threatening light all their own.
"Dorothy... are you all right?"
Her nails scraped against the wall before she drew them away."Yes."
In the lull between words their cat returned to them. Although speaking no longer, Germón hadn't lost his wits entirely. After all, he had saved them quite on purpose. Like the lover of fabric he was, though, he returned to Dorothy's leg and nicked at her stocking. It was his wont.
"Which way should we go?"
Turning her nose to the air, her irises still pulsing strangely, the witch spoke the words 'follow me,' and Elise followed. Before, it felt as though she walked in the wake of a shadow. Now, she did. Elise's mind raced back to her dream for clues, but she could only hear a small Dorothy crying.
The steps continued to rise and then fall half as far in a slow but constant trend upwards. As they moved deeper into the base, into the still and silent labyrinth, Elise at last caught sight of windows and doors. But only a few. She saw the low pink light of a barbershop, men laughing and sharing stories inside, and a dark wooden door that didn't reveal where it led.
At last the path opened toward a large, open structure. To you and me it might appear like a parking garage, lit warmly orange and deeper than the eye could see. To Elise it looked like the most hostile warren she could imagine. The concrete beams cast strange and angular shapes across a floor which, with a dozen different colors, depicted arrows, signs, and numbers. Directions, she assumed, intended for people that belonged here. She didn't want to think, what if they caught them. They almost had.
They proceeded inside. All the while, Elise tried to make as little sound as she could, but she had never known echoes like these. Turning wide corners up ramps and shelves, she heard her breath against every wall. Never once did she hear Dorothy. They passed rows of plated automobiles and a gunboat on mechanical legs. The witch showed no interest for these things. There were more arrows, and more numbers, and more ways to go. The witch never stopped.
Then at last, down a tunnel lit by hazards, Elise saw a checkpoint at the end of a full orange arrow. Behind the bullet proof glass stood a soldier with a rifle across his shoulder, who guarded the entrance to a door that didn't belong. Elise knew at once they had discovered the doorway into the Empress Ogre. But how had Dorothy known?
Dorothy breathed heavily. Had she breathed hard all along? Elise hadn't heard, and yet she hadn't remembered her stopping, either. For a while now Elise had not been able to see her face.One foot in front of the other, the witch approached the armed station. Elise stayed back and took Germón into her arms.
"This is a security checkpoint. ID, please."
Silently the witch reached into her breast pocket.
"That's right. Up here at—wait, your eyes... Who are you?"
Elise could not see Dorothy's hand as she drew it from her breast pocket, but when she swung forward it shattered the glass. The horrible gasp lasted only as long as that liminal fraction between life and death. Silence ensued.
White, Elise stepped forward. She first saw the blood. The soldier slumped murdered in his seat, drenched in redness. Then she saw the wound, in the size and shape of a massive claw. Then at last she saw terror. It had been frozen to his face.
Dorothy turned around, weak and confused. After one dazed step, then, she stumbled toward the only thing which gave her any comfort. The cat got away just in time for Elise to catch her fall.
Looking down, Elise saw a beautiful black tattoo just snaking from beneath the witch's sleeve.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
