Chapter Eleven
“Was wondering when you were going to get here,” a voice muttered. I opened my eyes and looked around seeing purple walls. A purple shade that I would recognize anywhere. In the center of the room was a Queen sized bed with bedding that was a different shade of purple. The room seemed so familiar to me because it was the place where I had spent countless hours alone in there, creating artwork. I scanned the room for the owner of that voice.
Sitting in the corner of the room in my furry white chair was a young girl with dark complexion. She had curly black hair and an award-winning smile. For some reason, the girl seemed familiar to me, but at the same time, I had absolutely no idea who she was or where I could have met her. Or why she was even in my bedroom? I wasn’t supposed to have any friends, so no one should be in my room. That was virtually against the rules. I bit my lip and shook my finger about, as if trying to place just who she was.
“You don’t remember me, do you, Kaylie?” she asked, her face falling as if she were disappointed. Having someone look so disappointed because I couldn’t remember their face made my heart fell. How dare I disappoint someone in such a way!
I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. “I’m really sorry.”
She chuckled lightly. “Well, in all fairness, I didn’t actually expect you to remember who I am. I was just being hopeful, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Kaylie, I didn’t even remember you until I was transported into your room. I found your pictures hanging on your wall, and it was then that I remembered you and everything that we went through.”
I bit my lip, feeling ashamed that I still hadn’t a clue who she was. “I’m sorry.”
The girl smiled and extended her hand out to me. “Hi, I’m Bethany,” she smiled, and as I shook her hand, a feeling of familiarity rushed through me. My mind flashed back, and there we were at some sort of old arena, meeting for the first time. Then there was the realm of blankness, the enchanted forest, the corn maze, and the village, where we had died.
“Did we… I mean, is it possible that you and I…” my voice trailed off, searching for the right words to use without sounding creepy, or anything. I sighed and walked over to my bed, falling over on top of it. Bethany fell next to me and gave me a knowing glance.
“I think I know what you’re trying to say, Kay, and I really don’t know. All I remember is a ton of pain and those flames… Then, my life flashing before my eyes.” Bethany shivered and teared up at the memory. I put my hand on her shoulder to help comfort her, and she reciprocated, knowing that I also needed some sort of comfort in my life.
“Can we agree that we died, then? Is that fair to say?” I asked, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Bethany shrugged. “If that wasn’t death, then I can’t wait to experience it,” she added, sarcastically. “I mean, Kaylie, I was suffering. Really suffering. My body had gone numb and then the flames just went and swallowed my body, like it did to yours. It was painful and the smoke had gotten to my lungs, I could hardly breathe. Then, all of a sudden, I couldn’t breathe, and everything became really limp. And then I couldn’t feel anything at all.”
Tears began sliding down my cheek. “I felt your hand go limp in mine. Not long after that, I blacked out, as well.” We gave each other a glance before holding onto each other, crying into our shoulders.
“I wonder what happened to Benny.”
“Don’t,” Bethany pleaded. “I don’t even want to think about him, and how he felt watching us die. Well, at least, he’s a male, and so he won’t be accused of being a witch. That’s one last thing for him to worry about, you know.”
“We left him, all alone,” I cried.
“Kaylie-”
“His father had died, and know we had, too!”
“Kaylie, stop it.” Bethany gave me an angry look, and I knew that I should stop. However, all of the words just rushed out of me, and I couldn’t take any of them back. I needed to get them off my chest.
I shook my head, continuing on with my rant. “What if it was wrong for me to bring him back with me when I went through your memory?”
“He would have died, had you not,” Bethany sighed.
“But maybe he was supposed to! Or maybe someone would have intervened and saved him, bringing him home to one of his family members? But no, I had to intervene, and take him away from his family. Then, I allowed him to become close to you and me, then we failed him and we died right in front of his own eyes, when we promised that we would be the ones to take care of him and hold him and make sure that he survives…” My speech became incoherent and grammatically incorrect, but I didn’t care. The tears poured down my face like bees to honey.
“Kaylie, we did the right thing. We couldn’t have left him there, and we did all that we could to save him. There’s nothing more that we could have done, Kay. What’s done is done and that’s all there is to it, honey. Now, dry your eyes because things are only going to get more complicated from here, as you and I both now. Don’t act like you don’t because I know that you do.” Bethany handed me a tissue and I wiped away my tears. I knew that it was foolish to be crying in front of her, while she was putting on a brave face for me, but I couldn’t help it. I needed to just let it out, and sometimes it was best to just let out all of your emotions. Allow them to run free.
Bethany sat on the edge of my bed, looking around my room. “Kaylie, I’m completely stumped. I’ve always been the smartest girl in my class, and finally, here’s an answer that even I can’t solve. Not to say that I’m the smartest girl in the world, who holds the answers to everything because that is so far from the truth.”
I shook my head. “This is just driving me crazy, Bethany. What secret is this voice hiding from us?” Bethany sighed and fell back over onto my bed. Of course it was a rhetorical question that no one has an answer for. No one except for that mysterious voice.
“Bethany, where were you before my bedroom?”
“I died and then came straight to your room,” she replied.
I raised an eyebrow. “No hospital room?”
She shrugged. “Well, no, but I woke up laying on your bed. I had dreamt of some blonde girl taking care of me, though. Why, where had you been?”
“Traveling between realms?” I shrugged my shoulders. “You see, I honestly just don't even know. I was lying on a hospital bed, but through all of the pain it felt so hard underneath me. Except the pillow; that was nice and soft, I must say. Well, I was in a hospital room, and that was clear enough to see, but the room kept fading in and out. Like the walls and everything. It was so odd. And that blonde girl was there, taking care of me, too.”
“Who do you think she is?” Bethany’s eyes widened.
I brightened, glad to finally have some answers. “She said her name was Kairi.”
“Kairi? You talked to her?” Bethany asked.
I nodded. “I woke up while she was there, and she talked to me. She was really upset that I couldn't remember anything and felt really bad about what had happened. At the moment, I had no idea what she was talking about. She even mentioned you, but I had no clue who you were. She said that she could fix it, if I just let her work her magic.”
“Oh my gosh,” Bethany said, slowly letting it sink in. “Do you think that she's the mysterious voice?”
“Her voice sounded so familiar to me, and now that I'm thinking about it, she was definitely the voice.” I sighed. I was speaking to the voice, seeing her in the flesh, and couldn't remember anything. If only I had remembered what was going on! I could have talked to her, and demanded that she remove us from her game. We were not her puppets.
I shook my head and began pacing around my room, wondering what our next step should be. “Why has she even been sending us to these realms? What are they proving to us?”
Bethany laughed. “It's teaching us just how gullible we are, and how willing we are to abide to the wishes of others. Kaylie, I'm so sick of working for others. For once in my life, I want to just do something for myself, you know? And just not care about what anyone else has to say.”
I responded to her laughter with my girlish laugh. “I most definitely understand what you're saying.”
“Then, why don't we start living for ourselves?” Bethany asked, feeling a spark of rebelliousness inside of her. I gave her a sideways glance, and she explained. “We figure out this mystery together, and then we live for ourselves. We don't have to be confined by what people tell us. I can come out and tell everyone that I'm gay, and I won't find a single person laughing at me. I'll be the one laughing at them, Kaylie.”
“I'll support you on that,” I smiled. “Now where do we begin to solve our mystery?”
Bethany shut her eyes, pondering that question. It seemed like a light bulb went off when she opened her eyes, her face radiating with an answer. “You said that all those places we had gone to reminded you of paintings you made, right?” I nodded, waiting for her to continue. “Well, we’re in your room, so why don't you find your paintings and let's take a look at them?”
I smiled and rushed off to find my portfolios. I brought them out of my closet and placed them on my bed, gently taking each one out of the case, and placing them on the bed for viewing purposes. There was one of a ship battling a monstrous sea. A village like the one we had died in. An enchanted forest. A blank-looking canvas, but I had actually placed white paint on top of the white canvas, which added texture. Or different rooms. An arena, a mermaid, an unicorn, and a corn maze. All of the paintings were right there. Including one of my bedroom, which was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh.
“You were right,” Bethany breathed.
I nodded, and placed my fingers on the rim of my bed, appreciating the coolness of the metal. “Are we… Inside my paintings?”
“They're beautiful…” she remarked, breathlessly.
“And terrifying!” I approached her with fear stung in my eyes. “We had faced so many treacherous things in these paintings.”
“All horrible things,” Bethany nodded. “It's funny, though. I mean, these paintings are so breath-taking, while what's inside of them are… Scary. I mean, how could something so beautiful be so evil on the inside?”
“Like the Queen Bee,” I muttered. Bethany gave me a questioning look. “Ashley Wince.” She nodded, remembering our earlier conversation in which I had referenced the girl. “Everyone thinks that she's flawless, but I know that on the inside, she isn't quite made of pure gold.”
“She's hollow,” Bethany nodded, understanding what I was getting at. “But what has she to do with your paintings?”
“Well, she is the spirit behind all of them. My art teacher told me to always release my emotions through art. So every time that Ashley hurt me, I naturally just painted something to escape my mind from her evil,” I said.
“So, she's the reason you made these paintings? She's the evil behind all of them?” Bethany’s eyes widened.
I nodded. “My inner emotions let her off as something monstrous in paintings, apparently.”
“So we need to take down your bully?” Bethany raised an eyebrow.
“Ashley is not the mysterious voice. I thought that we had established that that was Kairi.”
“We established it was Kairi because the girl told you she was Kairi. People pretend and they act as someone they are not, sometimes,” she shrugged.
“I would have recognized if it was Ashley!” I shrieked.
“But only half your mind was there then.” I looked at Bethany, realizing that she had a point. It was then when another portal grew in front of us. We grabbed each other’s hands and walked through it.