I was too afraid to open my eyes after the brightling spirited me away. I still couldn't wrap my mind around the situation. Just minutes ago, I'd been overthinking what had happened to Max and trying to plan my life, since it didn't involve him anymore.
My concerns had escalated into not being eaten alive by some goat-
headed monster.
"You don't have to keep your eyes closed," the brightling said. "The time has come to open them."
Time has come? "Do you always speak in such fancy and vague terms?"
"That question is worthy of my corroboration."
"Corrobo-what?" I should have done my readings during English class.
I knew that my command of language was subpar. At least I was fluent in ukulele. That made it so I wasn't completely useless. During a zombie apocalypse, maybe I could serenade the zombies to sleep. Either that, or
scare them away by playing the wrong chords.
Around me, I heard chatter. The voices belonged to girls. They too were
confused about their surroundings. The brightling tapped my back with his
finger. He had sharp claws that would cut my skin if he put any more
pressure. That made him even more intimidating.
"You must open your eyes eventually," the brightling said. "Your visual attention is needed should you want to pass your classes."
"Classes?" I asked, peeking one eye open. "Like school?" I'd flunked
out of high school at the age of seventeen. Me and academics never went
along very well. Music had always been my passion and was the only thing
I could imagine myself doing, but my school never really allowed me to
develop it. "I don't want to go to school." It was only after uttering that
sentence that I realized I sounded like some whiny child.
"You must. That is the process of becoming a goddess."
"So, I'm not one yet?" I asked, not bothering to hide my sarcasm. I still
couldn't believe that any of this was real. None of it probably was.
"You have to graduate." The brightling nodded to itself, satisfied, as it
it'd just solved all the problems of the universe. "I must go and fetch more students here. There will be a big feast before you all commence school."
The feast sounded like free food, and I loved free food. Never mind it
came from some questionable place with a cryptic name like "the
Sanctuary."
The brightling tipped its head down. "I shall take my leave. Enjoy your
stay here, Ms. Valencia."
"Call me Cara." I opened both eyes to look at the brightling more
clearly, ignoring some of the fear boiling in my gut. If he'd wanted to skin
and cook me alive, he would have done so long ago. Maybe he really was
just weird and friendly.
Oh, and also a kidnapper. I had to take a hundred points off the Does
Cara Like You scoreboard for that, which put him in a deep negative. It
didn't help that he was ugly. Not that I hated ugly people, but the sad truth
was that they were harder to like, which was why Disney animators always
had to make their princesses pretty with perfectly curled eyelashes. Hell,
maybe I was ugly, which was probably why I didn't have any friends.
But never mind about me being ugly. I needed to focus on the
brightling. He wasn't just butt ugly. He was next-level—goat-butt-ugly.
"I do not appreciate that comment," the brightling said.
"What comment?"
"Calling me ugly."
"Ah." I looked up at the ceiling, pretending I hadn't just insulted him. I
had this horrible habit of voicing my thoughts. I needed to take control of
that before I blurted out my social security number—actually, did my social
security number even matter anymore in this strange place?
The brightling cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes at me. "As
mentioned earlier, I must go. I wanted to wish you a pleasant stay, but you
have offended me greatly, and thus I shall curse you to a horrible experience
in the Sanctuary. Goodbye, Ms. Valencia. I hope we never cross paths
again."
I cocked my head. "That is the most formal way I've ever heard
anybody insult anyone. Well, fuck you too, ugly goat man."
The brightling bowed and saluted me, before stalking away. I flipped
the finger at him. He was acting polite, but that didn't change the fact that
he'd just torn me from my room screaming and transported me to a place I
didn't want to be in. Now that my attention had slipped from him, I could
focus on my surroundings.
Grand couldn't even begin to describe the place.
We were in a courtyard of some sort, with flowers that spanned the
scenery. A huge waterfall poured from above us, misting into existence as if
from nothing at all. Its waters played like a melodic tune as it gushed, and
the sound of birds chirping mixed together with the chatter of the girls that
surrounded me. I didn't know any of them. They looked about the same age
as me—teenage girls, some older, some younger. Some dressed in PJs,
others in other kinds of casual clothes. One looked like she'd just come
from prom. Some of them were accompanied by brightlings, too, but just
like the one who brought me here, those took their leave quickly.
Pillars, made of a rustic orange stones, enclosed us in the space we
gathered in. Golden vines twirled around those pillars. I walked up to one of
them and plucked a leaf, expecting to touch a foil-like texture, like one of
those fake leaves you found in the craft store. When I sniffed the leaf, I
smelled a dewy, fresh scent. The vines were alive. And golden? Nothing
about this place made sense.
That dude from earlier—Hansel—must have drugged my Heineken.
Was I on LSD? This couldn't be real.
I pinched then bit myself. I was tempted to walk up to one of the girls to
ask them to slap me, but that wasn't a good way to make introductions. I
wasn't sure how long I might be stuck in this dream with these girls for.
"I demand to speak to your supervisor!"
I whipped my head to face the shrill voice nearby. It belonged to a girl
with pigtails and a cheerleader outfit. She had glitter all over her. Her figure
was banging. Unlike this chick, I had a couple of extra pounds around my
waist (I blamed it on having too much love to handle), so I never would be
able to carry off that crop top she flaunted her toned abs with.
"This is unacceptable," the girl said, wagging her finger back and forth.
"I'm supposed to lead the competition, like, five minutes ago. My team
needs me. Send me back home, you stupid monster." Her pigtails bounced
back and forth as she spoke. They were decorated with pink ribbons.
The brightling she was verbally assaulting had a duck head and was
four heads taller than her. It blinked stupidly and didn't answer her query. It
opened its beak in a silly gesture, then closed it again.
She slapped him across the face. The brightling didn't even flinch. I
could tell the action hurt her, because she shook her hand as if trying to shake off the pain after that. "Where is this place? I've asked you that so
many times, but I have yet to receive a proper answer."
"The Sanctuary, ma'am," the brightling replied.
"That doesn't tell me anything!"
I crinkled my brow when I saw the girl do a full spin. She'd tried
karate-kicking the brightling. I cracked a smile at that, secretly supporting
her. I had to hold myself back from shouting, "You can do it!" Was it too
dumb to be cheering on a cheerleader?
Her violent attempts at demanding freedom failed to work out. The
brightling caught her ankle and swept her off her other foot. The next
moment, the girl was hanging upside down. She shrieked. My goosebumps
rose at her high-pitched scream. The girl belonged in a choir. Her skirt fell
over her abdomen, revealing her pink pair of safety shorts underneath. She
had a nice ass. Round and perky. A blush reddened her cheeks. I wasn't
sure if it was due to her being embarrassed or mad.
My instincts to save this girl kicked in. I'd been so invested in that
display that I just didn't want her to lose. I ran up to the creature and did the
first thing I could think of.
I grabbed him by the balls.
Why the balls? Because people usually had two vulnerable spots—their
faces and their crotches. His face obviously wouldn't react to any assaults.
The balls were the only other possible option. I should have kicked him, but
I had a tendency to fall on my face, and I couldn't be sure if my right leg
would trip over my left if I'd tried something that drastic.
The creature jolted and dropped the cheerleader to the ground. She
sounded a soft "oomph," then pulled herself to her feet. Scowling at the
brightling, she said, "That was entirely unnecessary! Now I really need to
speak with your supervisor. Who leads things around here?"
He spun around and tipped its head at me, ignoring the cheerleader. "I
have been molested by a half-blood."
"Half-blood?" I said.
"That is what we call the goddesses in training."
"I see. Can I step out of this program? I'm not sure if such a convoluted
plot will do well for television. You're allowed to stop training me now."
"Television is not something we have."
"What are you talking about? Everywhere has television."
The cheerleader punched the duck man's back, then, stealing my idea,
she kicked the brightling's crotch.
The brightling stilled. Did this creature have the sensory receptors of a
rock? Then, proving my assumptions wrong, the brightling knocked its
knees together and cupped its crotch.
"Ouch," it said, with absolutely no emotion in its voice whatsoever.
"That'll teach you!" the cheerleader shouted. She jumped into the air
and elbowed the brightling's neck. Should I do something about this? For
some reason, I began feeling sorry for the brightling. I shouldn't. All of
them were scary, horrific kidnappers who should be charged by the police
for harassment, then maybe dissected by NASA in case they were aliens.
The cheerleader wrestled the brightling to the ground. The other
brightlings in the area didn't help their companion. Instead, they stared,
dumbfounded, just like I did. This cheerleader was crazy. She moved like a
chipmunk on steroids.
"Stop!" Another woman was shouting. She sounded assertive, her voice
filled with command.
The cheerleader slapped the brightling's chest. "Send me home." She
wrung its collar.
"Stop!"
The other woman shouting came from a carpeted staircase that was right
up front. She walked gracefully, her hips sashaying back and forth. She was
taller than the rest of the girls here, and with her slim figure, she reminded
me of a svelte swan. Long, glowing blonde locks fell from her head and
neatly around her shoulders. The lady dressed casually in a cashmere tunic
and jeans, but she carried herself so effortlessly that for a second I thought
she might be wearing a gown. In her hand was a wand.
She lifted the wand and pointed it at the cheerleader. Golden vines shot
from the ground and circled the cheerleader, wrapping around her arms. The
cheerleader was yanked backward, then fastened into an awkward position.
The vines held her steady and stopped her from assaulting the brightling.
The woman, in her six-inch heels, halted in front of the scene. She
placed her hands on her hips. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line.
"Danna Banks and Caramel Valencia. Troublemakers, I see."
"Good evening," I said. Why try to fight a woman who could control
nature? I didn't even have my hanger with me anymore, which made me
defenseless.
"The both of you will be the first to be sent to detention."
"But you said something about a feast later?" I asked. I hadn't forgotten
about the free food.
"None for you whatsoever. Your time will be better served learning how
to grow up."
I scowled at Danna. I knew it wasn't her fault, because I'd decided to
butt in on my own, but I wanted someone to direct my anger at, because this
place looked like it might provide a good feast.