"Claire! Wake up!" I felt small, cold hands shaking my shoulders and groggily opened my eyes. "What do you want, Kelly?" I groaned.
"Today's our first Glitchketball game! We gotta get all our work done quick so we can play!" Kelly practically lugged me out of bed and shoved me into the bathroom. Quickly brushing my teeth, I dressed in a brown Sloppie t-shirt and shorts.
"Come on!" Kelly yelled, banging on the door until I emerged. The two of us made our way out of the Can and to the cafes to begin work. We were walking across the sidewalk perfectly fine until...I wasn't on the sidewalk anymore.
I was in an exquisitely decorated room, filled with equally important looking people. My hair was black, and longer than usual, flowing past my waist in uncharacteristic waves. "Release it now," I said authoritatively, though neither the voice nor the words were mine.
The people nodded, some of them getting up out of their seats and some remaining in place to type something on the screens in front of them. I wanted to leave, or ask what was going on, but my body no longer listened to me.
I looked down to see that a strange blue light emanated from my body, and then noticed the same light coming out of everyone else. My brain immediately told me that there was something unsettling about that light and those people, something that could only be described as...wrong. However, my body said otherwise. The light and the tingly feeling it produced in my limbs felt perfectly normal, even good. I was completely and utterly bewildered about the whole thing.
Let me go! I mentally requested whatever thing was holding me here, but to no avail. I was still in the strange place watching the strange scene with no control like it was some kind of weird 4-D movie.
"It is done, Your Majesty," said a man in a thick blue coat with a thin smile. "The effects should begin to manifest in a few days or so."
Your Majesty??? Who even was this woman whose body I was in? She was clearly some kind of royalty, but with the computers and glass screen-things (whatever they were), the scene was obviously modern. None of this was adding up, and that only added to my sense of unease...
"But what about the girl, Armetorius?" I asked, my voice quivering with concern and fear.
"She is dead," the man- Armetorius- replied confidently.
"But it is possible if they survived that she did too," I insisted.
"There is no need for you to be so paranoid," Armetorius gave me a smile of genuine care, in total contrast to the fear and hatred with which the others looked at me.
"In all probability, she was killed in the Scorching. Even if she is somehow alive, she is but a puny child and knows nothing of her past," he shook his head. "How can she possibly stand against the Conqueror of Worlds, the Great Ruler of the Lessaenite Empire?"
"Alone, she could not," I nodded in agreement. "But I have many, many enemies," I continued. "Enemies who, until now, have lain quiet in the shadows for fear of my might. She might be just the spark they need to set this world in flames."
"If it is the White Hot Flame you speak of, they pose no threat to you. They are more of a Whine About the Queen Club than an actual rebellion," Armetorius chuckled. "And, at least in my opinion, it would be a ridiculous waste of time, effort, and resources to send our men to a distant planet to search for one harmless little girl who is probably dead already."
"Indeed, separately, the girl and the White Hot Flame are just pains in the neck, not true threats. However, if by chance they should ever come together, they could become something powerful, something that could endanger my throne and possibly my life. "
A powerful Queen hunting down an innocent kid? A rebellion? Conqueror of Worlds? This sounded more like the backstory of a video game than real life. I was probably dehydrated or something, and I passed out on the sidewalk. Yeah, I was just dreaming...just an unnaturally vivid and imaginative dream, I told myself.
"But, Your Majesty,"
"No buts!" I silenced Armetorius impatiently. "And we wouldn't have to send in any men or supplies at all. You may enter!" I called, and a door at the end of the hallway opened.
"I am sure little Amanda here would suffice, wouldn't you?" I said with a sickly sweet smile, bending over to talk to the little girl who stood in the doorway.
"Of course, Your Majesty," she said with mustered confidence. "Anything for Lessaenes."
Amanda??? Oh. My. Gosh. Amanda was a pretty common name, but the girl who stood in front of me was a perfect small version of the President of WGO. She had the same high cheekbones and black hair, the only difference was that she glowed blue, stronger than the other people in the room but not as strong as me.
Before I could fully comprehend what was going on, the scene began to blur. No! Not now! This place was Amanda's past, something I physically NEEDED to know about! Despite my protests, the regal room and glowing blue people faded into blackness.
............................
As I slowly opened my eyes, I heard shouts of "she's awake!" and "finally!" I found that I lay, sweating, between white sheets with the faces of Kelly, Megan, and Justin peering down into mine.
I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was so dry it hurt. Licking my lips and swallowing a few times, I asked "what happened? Where am I?"
"You're in the Ashley Solace Memorial Hospital," Megan said. I was about to ask in what city, but then I laughed at my own stupidity. Of course WGO headquarters had its own hospital, it wasn't like a couple of sick kids who've been missing for about five years could just walk into any old doctor's office.
"You just randomly blacked out on the street while we were walking to the cafes for work. A couple of other kids and I carried you here."
"Oh," I said. "How long was I out?"
"About five hours," Kelly said.
"The Glitchketball game!" I exclaimed, sitting up with a start.
"Claire, you're in no condition to play Glitchketball," Megan frowned. "Competitive Glitching is taxing on your brain, it could make you pass out again."
"Besides, it's against the Codies," Kelly sighed. "We're obviously going to lose no matter what."
"Is she awake?" Asked a familiar commanding voice from behind me.
"Yes, Amanda," Megan mumbled.
"Good," Amanda smiled. "Now, all of you, leave! I need to speak to her alone. After looking around confusedly a few times, my brother and my friends reluctantly walked through the door.
A few seconds after we stopped hearing their footsteps, Amanda sat down on the edge of my clean white bed. "So, Claire, how are you feeling?" She asked in a tone that conveyed that she couldn't care less how I was feeling and was only trying to start a conversation.
"Fine, I guess," I shrugged.
"Good," Amanda nodded, staring past me as if absorbed in her own thoughts. "So, did anything...well...strange happen while you were unconscious?" She asked, looking down inquisitively at me.
My head swam with doubts. Did she know about my dream? Did she know she was in it? Could I trust her? I decided it was best to be as vague as possible.
"Not really, but I did have a dream."
"Describe this dream," Amanda's eyes widened with hope.
"It was just a dream. You know, weird things happen in weird places and nothing makes sense. Why are you so interested in my dreams anyway?"
"It is not your place to question my intent," she said coldly. "Now, was there anything out of the ordinary about this particular dream?"
"No, it was just a dream," I said, though that was far from the truth. While inside the mysterious Queen's mind, I had been able to sense her thoughts. There was not a single one that wasn't utterly twisted and disturbed. Purely evil. She scared me out of my wits, and since, from what I could gather from the dream, Amanda was somehow connected to her, so did she. I wasn't about to tell her anything.
"Oh," she looked down at the floor, disappointed. "I guess it was just a false lead," she muttered as she walked away. I didn't think I was supposed to hear that...