We got to Krea's house a little sweaty, but it was cool inside. There were little lines left on our clothing, an imprint of the burning hairs of the Lulliwatt bug. I was really hungry though!
We went into the kitchen and I put my bag down. We were both huffing, still catching our breath. The pink vial was low and I had to make another one soon. It holds three doses. I think krea had some more gum.
"Hey Krea," I took a gulp of air, "could I borrow some more gum? I had some but I ate a little bit too much."
I shook my head and was amazed we encountered a Lulliwatt in Calicrow. This place is starting to be something else.
"Wow you should have stocked up." she shook her head.
I saw something glow about her once again… I paused, then said, "Yeah that goes very well. Like I need a whole room of bubblegum!" I spread my arms out to emphasize the amount I needed and really craved.
"OMG! Stop eating all of them up!" She squinted at me as if she was my mom.
"They are soo good I just can't help myself."
I puffed my cheeks out and made a chewing motion. I am going to also keep my eyes on Krea because I just knew something was up with her.
She shook her head grinning then went into the cabinets to find something to eat.
"I have flour, marshmallows"-
"Yeah I need some more marshmallows it makes my drink so yummy too!"
"Oh yeah!" she remembered "You been eating that too huh."
I looked away and tried not to laugh. She shook her head.
"Here's some cereal and noodles and macaroni…"
"Umm. I'll take some macaroni." I said, tapping my nails on the table.
I quickly lifted them up and saw little pinpricks where they touched. Oops. I rubbed the spot as if that'll make it disappear. Krea saw and rolled her eyes.
She just said "Yeah we have to make that though. Let me get some cheese out and a pot."
She went to the other side of the kitchen and into the refrigerator. The cool air from the fridge gave me goosebumps as she foraged around for the cheese.
I started thinking. There is one more puzzle left. My mind was blank though... I looked at Krea and the stove was on... The water steamed, coming to a boil. What if…
There was a tap on my shoulder. I looked up and sniffed something super delicious. A bowl of macaroni was in front of me. My best friend was staring at me.
"Eat." she commanded.
"…Thanks!" I whispered.
"You okay?"
"Yeah…"
"What is it Zi?" But she already knew.
I didn't say nothing but the only words that would come out again, "Thanks…"
It was awkward but I didn't feel like saying anything else at the moment. I dropped the fork I was holding.
"Hey Kre?"
I looked up at her and rested my chin on my hand. I glanced down at my sky blue nails out of the corner of my eyes and tapped them on my cheeks. They were cool to the touch.
"What is it?" She sat at a chair around the table and pulled it over near me.
"So… I think…" I struggled to say "with the color green, to try some algae or sea moss. That stuff is popular…"
She raised her eyebrows. "Hmm. More food? What if this puzzle you're trying to figure out is another thing altogether? Like how the light is to do with helping your eyes and the potion to do with your very taste buds."
"Oh... So then, smell? Something green and smelly?" I wiggled my nose and gave a slight smile. I put my other hand on my chin and puffed out hot macaroni air.
"Yeah!" she said. "I don't know if algae or sea moss have much of a smell though. I would think this stuff would have to be kind of potent, don't you think?" she asked.
"Right." I slowly nodded and slowly chewed.
"That is what I would like it to smell. Really fragrancy… really good… Like in my dream! Yeah!"
I reached over to my bag and carefully took out the vial with the pink gooey substance inside. I swished the liquid around and poured what was left onto the rest of my macaroni.
"Hm. So-"
"Ew. You really mixed that in there." she said giving a look of disgust.
"Hehe." I ate the rest of my now pink macaroni and it tasted pretty awesome…!
"Cabbage!" Krea eyes lit up and she started giggling.
"Krea what? Doesn't that smell about the same as other greens?"
"Girl just wait until its rotten though!"
"Ew."
"Yes!"
I looked at her and started giggling as well. I rubbed my temple. So I was going to try this. This is so gross.
"There might be some at the bottom of my refrigerator!" she said smiling hard.
"Ew." That sounded really gross.
"Just joking."
We finished up our bowls of macaroni. Krea let me use her kitchen to make more pink vials to stop the spells that are making me feel so woozy. She boiled the bubblegum and marshmallows into a thick sauce and I added the other ingredients with meticulous remedy.
If I could actually take the purple light with me, I wouldn't have blanked out at the table. But something was going on with Krea. As normal as she seemed, I was starting to think she was a mystical too.
"Hey, I know somebody that has a garden and probably grow cabbage." she said, crossing her arms.
"You think they're home?" I asked.
"Let's go see!"
We grabbed our bags and cell phones and headed out. Kre told me if we take the bus, we should be there in 30 minutes. The couple we were meeting were friends of her parents.
We waited at the bus stop for about 15 minutes. I was a bit excited to get the last ingredient to all of this and a little nervous about meeting these people. What to say to them… I wore my beanie so my glowing flyaway hair wouldn't scare them…
We walked up the bus steps when the driver arrived and we sat on the bus. It was empty. The bus driver took off and all of a sudden things started shifting. We both looked at each other sideways, hesitant, and then next thing you know the bus went off the road. We held on for dear life. I could not believe this.
"Whoa could you take us back home!" said Krea, frightened, holding on to her seat.
I frowned, quickly stood up, and the bus driver turned around. Like all the way around, but just their head. Nope, not their body, just their face rotated.
"No." It said.
I stared big eyed at Krea and she stared right back at me and screamed. What are we going to do…
I tried to open a window and Krea tried to kick one open but they all shifted into a blank metal wall before we could even reach them. I plunged my nails at the wall trying to rip it open but the walls kept shifting, knocking them away, immune to my attacks.
The bus was rumbling on what seemed like a rickety road. It made me nervous, though I took some medicine before we left.
"What is this Zi…"
Krea didn't know what to do. She wasn't raised around mysticals like I was.
"I don't know."
I didn't want to look back up at it. I think it was still staring at us. I heard cackling. I tried clawing our way out again. The metal screeched and shifted. Whatever the monster, -cause it looked ugly but somehow could still drive a bus- whatever the monster did to the bus, my nails wasn't working. I could usually cut through metal.
The bus flipped unexpectedly. There was more cackling. We all went tumbling. The monster roared. It came for us.