Jean knew it was not the princess who spoke this time because she did not open her mouth.
“I’m scared.” Said the little girl, holding on to the princess’ golden dress.
“Remember what I said, little one. You cannot help by just wishing for it. You have to be brave. You have to fight the lion.”
“But… there’s a giant snake!”
I will help you.
The voice rang in her head, a female voice. But it was not the princess. Jean looked up at the serpent with the gem-like scales. It flicked its forked tongue at her. When she looked back at the princess, the princess nodded.
He slowly, cautiously, walked back towards the glass door. The voice kept repeating in her head. Jean noticed that she always heard the voice when the snake’s tongue flicked. Then, it would strike the glass with its head, making a loud, thudding sound.
She looked at the rabbits and found that they were still there, unknowing of the danger they were in. The lion cub crept closer. She saw it rear back, like it was about to pounce.
Jean pushed the door wide open. The breeze picked up and blew stronger, messing up her hair and making her dress flail. She wanted to and scream at the lion. She was not afraid. The cute bunnies will not be dinner. She will make sure of it.
One step in and the snake moved towards her at a dizzying speed. It coiled its cold, scaly body around her. The scales felt smooth on her exposed skin. Jean was momentarily gripped with fear and wanted to cry out. The snake, having coiled the entirety of her body, brought its head forward level hers. Beyond it, she saw the oblivious family of rabbits still in grave danger. Jean remembered what was important.
The snake flicked its tongue.
Let me. I will help.
Unable to move, unable to help, the little girl forgot her fear and got angry instead.
“So help me!” She said, screaming at the snake.
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the great serpent reared its gigantic head and tightened its hold on the little girl. The snake maintained the hold but slid its scales backwards and forwards, its muscles bulging. Jean felt hot but did not flinch. She was angry. Her anger was fiercer than the heat the serpent generated.
Her eyes fell on the fluffy, helpless rabbits as the snake continued. The lion cub was only a few feet away. She stared deep into the serpent’s eyes, rage written on her face.
~0~
She kept blinking and looking in different directions, fascinated by the phenomena. A series of movements caught her attention just as she was facing left. She continued to blink and faced right again. It was coming from the row of trees to her right, on the left side of the campus. Gina could only see the movements if she kept blinking, so she continued.
Gradually, her vision honed in on the movements. Two girls were playing a game, chasing each other. They only moved when she blinked, so she blinked faster until their movements appeared life-like. One girl was lanky and had thick frizzy hair. The other had bright red hair. She recognized them. It was Annie and Jenna. She picked up her back.
Do not follow. Do no go into the woods.
Gina called out to her friends. She had difficulty approaching at first, adjusting to walking while blinking rapidly. Annie and Jenna stopped chasing each other as they heard her call. They squealed, beckoning her to follow them then ran into the wooded area. To Gina, it was like watching stop motion film. Each time she stopped blinking, her friends would disappear.
They called to her again, their voices excited and giggly, like they were up to something. Something that might be trouble. Gina smiled as she followed.
What are you up to this time, Jenna?
Jenna always came up with stupid ideas and they always ended up doing it. Gina hurried, her pace turning into a jog. Halfway there and she could not see them anymore. She could only hear their squeals. When she reached the trees. She stopped, blinked several times and was glad. The trees were not rearranging anymore.
Turn back now.
Encouraged by the new development, Gina went into the woods without hesitating. She needed to catch up. Her friend’s voices were starting to sound like they were quickly gaining distance. Her pace turned into a jog and still she could not catch up to them. The pace soon turned into a run. It was starting to go dark.
The sound of Jenna and Annie’s laughter began to change. Although it still sounded distant, it also started to sound like it was coming from all directions. Gina started to panic. Abandoning her intent to join her friends, Gina turned around and headed in the opposite direction, back where she came from.
She fell into despair soon. In her hurry to catch up to her friends, Gina did not take note of the way she took. She stopped and squinted as the darkness grew, trying to find a familiar marker, a tree, a rock, anything she could use to backtrack. No matter how hard she tried, she did not find anything familiar.
She tried the blinking trick again. Nothing changed. Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes, panic setting in. She wheeled around, over and over, where she stood, hoping to find a way out. Every possible path looked unfamiliar.
~0~
“Matt, babe. Don’t-”
She wanted to look back at him but even if she were able to, her body stopped her. All her muscles tensed. She bit down on the mattress, exhaling with force through the nose while grunting loudly. Both of her arms gripped the edge of the bed as her body was rocked with uncontrollable spasms.
Matt did not stop. Instead, he placed his hands on her shoulder to pin her down and continued to ram her in even faster speeds. His grip on her tightened fast that in a short period, his nails dug into her flesh. It hurt a little but the buildup of another orgasm came again and it held more power than the pain.
She was forced to brace herself as it quickly built up. She could not recall when the last time was when she came this quickly after having just finished an orgasm merely seconds ago. But she was not complaining, just reveling in the almost depraved way they were enjoying their time.
With his hands pinning her down, she had no choice but to look forward and stare at the wall while her thoughts ran to a million different directions as it tried to make sense of the waves upon waves of pure, unadulterated pleasure passing through her like a hurricane. Emmy convulsed, almost violently, almost like she wanted Matt off her back. A wide smile painted itself on her face.
A smile soon erased.
Her eyes grew wide from curiosity, then bewilderment. The wall was disappearing. As Matt grunted and growled behind her, lost in his pleasure, she watched with horrified expression as the wall disappeared. She could see Jean’s room. Then the wall in Jean’s room disappeared too, affording her a view of Gina’s room. Where Gina slept.
Confusion gripped her. Her children were downstairs. She looked to Jean’s bed and did not see her there but Gina was in hers and she was soundly asleep. When fear rose up in her, Emmy found that she was rendered immobile.
The grunts behind her became animalistic growls. They no longer sounded like the lustful growls Matt made earlier. She felt the hands pinning her down harden and lengthen.
She felt helpless. She was being taken from behind by someone she knew was not her husband. Or something. A feeling of disgust erupted within her. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. All Emmy could do was look in front of her.
Her eyes caught something in Gina’s room. It looked impossible. She narrowed her eyes into slits to see better. A gasp escaped her lips when she realized what was happening. Her sleeping daughter was rising from the bed.
Her maternal instincts kicked in, but it did nothing to help her. She tried to struggle but her body would not respond to her will.
“Gina, baby. Wake up. Wake up!” She yelled.
The terror rising inside her made her forget about the thing that was penetrating her from behind. Her fear for her child was too great for her to feel anything else. She only focused on her child that was slowly levitating from her bed, calling to her, imploring her to wake up.
As Gina’s body rose, it also turned. Her blanket slid off her, her arms and legs hung limp. Emmy’s tears flowed freely as she watched. When Gina’s body was high enough in the air and her side was completely turned towards Emmy, her spinning stopped. Emmy searched her daughter’s face and was horrified.
Gina was awake.
Her daughter’s eyes were open. She was petrified just like her. She was aware what was happening but could not do anything about it. The light in her room began to dim as her body floated towards Emmy.