Crisp autumn air swept through the simple, boring suburban streets. At least that would be how Elizabeth Montgomery would describe the town she lived in. She pulled the hood up on her jacket and continued texting her best friend Sheila as she walked down the street from Casey's gas station and General Store, a large Styrofoam cup of Cherry Pepsi, light ice, in her hand and a half dozen glazed donuts in a plastic bag hanging from her wrist.
Today was one of the more exciting days of Elizabeth's year; the Renaissance Festival. Every year like clockwork Sheila and Elizabeth would plan a day where they would take turns hosting the other at their house to dress up and set out for a day of pretending to be something and someone you're not. Since Elizabeth believed she was a run of the mill basic 22 year old community college student, pretending to be someone else was a welcome change.
Opening the front door to the single floor ranch house she called home, a tidal wave of barking dogs, TV voices and her younger brother screaming at video games flooded towards her. The familiar sounds of home.
"Shelia's in your room Lizzy!" Elizabeth's mother yelled from the kitchen.
"Thanks mom!" Elizabeth yelled back to her over the rest of the noise.
Anxious to get started, Elizabeth waited no time running down the stairs to the basement level where her room was located and flinging open the door. Sheila was inside as promised, attempting to lace up a pleather corset on her own. Her endeavor was not going as planned and the more she heavily sighed from frustration, the looser the corset would become with the swell of her rib cage.
"Amazing, Liz you're here! Cinch me in will you, my waist needs to be snatched."
Elizabeth set down her cup and the bag of donuts on the vanity table next to her and came to her best friend's aid.
"How tight do you really want this thing?" She asked Shelia with apprehension in her voice.
"As tight as you can." Her friend answered. "Just do it quick, I'll suck in my stomach and hold my breath until you're done."
Before Elizabeth could comment on how she didn't think that was a very healthy thing to do her friend took a dramatic deep breath and sucked in. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and made quick work tightening the laces and tying it off. Shelia let out her breath loudly and seemed pleased with Elizabeth's handiwork.
"Can you breathe?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Enough." Was Sheila's reply.
Elizabeth made a mental note that if she noticed anything off about her friend while they were out she would force her to loosen the corset. Elizabeth didn't know much about proper corsetry but she knew enough from her cosplay circles that you usually ease yourself into the tighter lacing. Unfortunately Elizabeth knew Sheila was one of the most stubborn women she had ever met and there would be no use arguing with her over it.
Making her way over to the closet where her costume was hanging on a hook, a giddy feeling fluttered in Elizabeth's stomach. She had been looking forward to the Renaissance festival since the first day of the fall semester when the flyers advertising student discounts on tickets are hung around the campus of her community college. This year she was going as an elf character she had put together herself. Dark brown fake leather leggings, thigh high brown boots with laces, a peasant off the shoulder top with an under-bust corset and a green cloak with gold trimming. She finishes it off with some nature themed jewelry, a belt that has a few pouches attached for her phone and wallet, her prosthetic ears and a long wavy ginger wig styled in a series of intricate braids at the crown.
Sheila was going as a "Tavern Wench", basically a low cut peasant top, her corset to boost up her ample cleavage and a skirt. This year she had been distracted by some difficult first semester classes at her university and didn't have the time to put together anything particularly special. Barmaid was tried and true as she already had the basic pieces purchased from earlier years at the fair. Sheila had a gorgeous head of chocolate brown tight spiral curls and seemingly perfect dark skin to match. Elizabeth couldn't go a day since turning 12 without being jealous of the fact Sheila seemed to never get acne.
Elizabeth started to pull on bits of her costume until eventually she was seated at her vanity table doing her makeup. She saw a makeup look on Pinterest she wanted to replicate which was pale skin with a natural eye look and lips and an intricate pattern of swirls painted across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose in white eyeliner. As she was fairly active in the cosplay community she had great elf ears that you attached using Spirit Gum and blended into your own ears using a tiny bit of liquid latex and makeup. By the time she was finished you wouldn't be able to tell they weren't her real ears unless you were up very close. To complete her outfit she had a quiver of fake arrows and a prop bow to carry around.
"Donut?" Elizabeth offered her friend, sitting on her bed, a mouthful of her own donut muffling her voice. Sheila groaned, "I want to but I'm not sure I can with how tight this corset is." she looked genuinely disappointed in being unable to share the delicious breakfast.
"I'm loosening the laces, you'll still look like a bombshell and you'll still be able to eat and not pass out on me. You remember how many steps we do every year right?" Elizabeth wiped any glaze off her fingers before handing one of the donuts to her friend and positioning herself behind her. Nimble fingers made quick work letting out the tension on the lacing enough for the barmaid to take a good breath.
"Alright, let's go."
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Finding a parking spot during the fair was never an easy task but the girls prevailed in securing a spot for Elizabeth's KIA. They walked across the field to the gates and purchased their tickets, flashing their student IDs to the staff at the booth. Hands stamped and with huge smiles on each of the women's faces, they linked arms and walked quickly forward through the "castle" gates into the land of Canterbury.
Music could be heard from a stage nearby where a trio of horn players were seated and giving a show. Their sign next to them read "The Gaelic Brass". The smell of smoked turkey legs and apple dumplings wafted past. The King of the Fair and his queen walked through the main square with their entourage, four guards, a jester, a handmaiden, and a knight as well as two men leading the way holding up poles adorned with the royal crest. It was quite the display and Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder if kings and queens really traveled everywhere like that back in the actual renaissance.
Before Elizabeth was done taking everything in Sheila had begun to pull her in the direction of the jousting show that was about to begin. And so the day went, show after show, playing a few of the carnival type games down one of the alleys and perusing almost every item that was for sale by the seemingly endless amount of vendors. Sheila would often be stopped by young actors playing various characters and attempting to flirt with her. A few succeeded, but many were just awkward teenagers and nowhere near her best friend's usual type.
Leaving Sheila seated in a tavern listening to a bard singing a shanty, Elizabeth set off on her own to find the bathrooms. The fair had a few different options, the "Royal" restrooms, otherwise known as actual plumbing, and the "Peasant" privies; port-a-potties. As the majority of human beings don't have a preference for plastic outhouses Elizabeth highly contemplated making the trip all the way across the fair to use the regular bathrooms. However she had drunk just a bit too much Cherry Pepsi and didn't want the embarrassment of running there. With a sigh of defeat she marched up a slight hill to the peasants potties. After doing her business and attempting to hold her breath the entire time doing so, she stumbled out hell's torture chamber of bathrooms back into the fresh air. Luckily right next to her was some conveniently located hand sanitizing stations that she took full advantage of.
Looking around her she became increasingly confused as to which way it was back to the tavern Sheila had been waiting for her in. It almost seemed like the alley she had thought she walked through to get here was completely different. Not seeing any of the familiar booths along the sides. Thinking that maybe she had remembered the direction wrong she set off the other way. The other way turned out to be a winding path through a wooded area decorated like a fairy garden. Small houses made out of a variety of materials were hung in trees, nestled on the ground and hidden in bushes. Some even had tiny little furniture that made Elizabeth smile at the thought of tiny people with wings sitting on them in the mornings watching the sunrise.
The trees became denser and the path less refined as she walked. She expected to come to an exit at some point but it just kept going, winding deeper and deeper into the woods. It seemed to get darker as she went as well, like hours had passed in a matter of minutes. Soon the fairy houses were gone and she emerged from the woods in a clearing by a lake she had never seen before. This was a part of the festival grounds she had never seen before. She hadn't even been aware of any lakes in this area, nor the park or nature preserve she appeared to have ended up in.
Not wanting to wander any more and get into more trouble than she had already, Elizabeth leaned up against the trunk of a tree and rummaged around in her belt pouches until she found her phone. It was an iPhone 8, the screen was cracked in multiple places from her clumsiness and the internet was slow as hell but it worked. At least it usually worked...
Pressing the home button the phone felt like nothing but a brick in her hand. No lights, no sounds, no vibrations. Not even the little lightning bolt symbol that usually appears on the screen to inform her that it was dead. She held down the small button on the side thinking she may have accidentally turned it all the way off, something she rarely ever does. Nothing. Started to freak out a bit, her back slid down the bark of the tree and she pulled her knees up to her chest.
"Where the fuck am I?"