A cold water hit her face, and she opened her eyes in shock, black hair flying widely as she flew up.
It was her friend Carlisle. But where were they? Carlisle was wearing odd clothing, and her hair looked a wreck. As she looked down, she saw dirt. Dirt!
"Carlisle?" She muttered, ragged breath, and she felt as if she couldn't say anything else.
Carlisle turned to her and shook her head. "There is no Carlisle here. left, as did her old ways of life." Carlisle said calmly, and a stout lady lifted her head up and looked into the girls eyes, her eyes icy still.
"What is up with my daughters today! Xotyli thinks Del'ril is Mariah, you think Xotyli is Carlisle, it is impossible, you girls! I am only a mother to you, not a guider!" She yelled, then tended to the girl she claimed to be Del'ril.
" that is Carlisle, and that is Mariah." She muttered under her breath, and the woman turned to her and sharply glared.
"Never again mention those names." Her hard voice said, and so the girl glanced at herself. She was naked.
"Miss, I'm naked." She said calmly now.
"Call me mother." She yelled. "And for Christ's sake, Xotyli, show Tinskela where we keep our clothes at."
"Tinskela, clothes are under our mattresses. Choose an outfit and help."
Wrapping herself in a blanket, Tinskela, or so she was named, fumbled with the mattress, another girl laying asleep, and pulled out a shabby looking dress, big and bulky, and slipped it on. She had leftover room in all parts except for the bust area and her arms seemed to feel light as the heavy, dull material enveloped them.
"Ca-or X, Xohlya." Tinskela stumbled over the other girls name.
"It's Xotyli." She said sharply, and then ran over and grabbed Tinskela's arm, dragging her into the kitchen area of the house. She ducked behind a counter.
"Just look out the window." She whispered, and Tinskela stood up, cautiously looking at the plump lady and finally finding a window. She looked at it, then decided to pull back the curtains because she was not a coward, she was rather brave.
She gasped. It was swirling black, mystifying, and enchanting. She wanted to stare, but a part of her held back, telling her that if she stared it would have a consequence. She finally let go and turned to Xotyli.
" is it!" She gasped again, and the angry woman roared with anger.
"Tinskela, do you want to keep Del'ril alive or are you bidding and praying for her death! I would rather this be you, dying and shriveling in pain, than my precious firstborn. You are just the third wheel, and Del'ril is what keeps our existence alive! Contain yourself please or I will take your life when Del'ril slips away!" She yelled, then angrily muttered to herself while tending to Del'ril.
"What is her deal?" Tinskela muttered to Xotyli. She shrugged in reply and kept her work going.
"But she'd prefer if we not talk, I know that." Xotyli finally said after a long hull of silence, and Tinskela burrowed her eyebrows.
"So should I shut up?" She asked Xotyli.
"Yes, silence yourself." She said painfully.
After another half an hour, Xotyli finished was she was doing and turned to the plump lady.
"I must use the bathroom ma'am." She muttered, and the fat lady flung her hand as if dismissing her off so she could go do her business. Tinskela ran to follow her, but the lady yelled again.
"Now Tinskela, where do you think you are going! You do not follow your sister into the bathroom! Must I explain the concept of our family again! I love Del'ril with all my heart, she is my favorite of you and your three sisters because she is the eldest. Then I love your little sister, because she is the youngest, and that is weak for the heart of an old woman to find she can only bear one last child. Then I love Xotyli, because I bore her second and that has to mean something, I was just a newly mother practically. And lastly, I love you. You are just a third wheel, the third child. I would give anything to have you laying her dying instead of my Del'ril, or you out there instead of my husband, but no! You are still here, torturing me day by day and night by night! Just give an old woman some peace and leave! Leave me and Del'ril to die on our own, to decay on our own!" She yelled, and Tinskela felt anger boil up inside herself, feeling as if she would erupt, and to her regret, she did.
"Oh mother you are so pathetic! You sound as if I should take pity! Well I would gladly make noise since you hate me already its plain as day to see and you expect me to love you all the same! Day after day and night after night you give ME nothing to live for but I am forever bound to you because you gave 'birth' to me! I really do not care, and I wish I could be Del'ril, at least I wouldn't have to look at your face ever again!" Tinskela yelled furiously, and the fat woman stood.
"You take that back you that's it! Sit on the cot for three days, never to move even to pee!" She yelled. "Little brat thinks she can disrespect me, that's worthy to being fed to the dragon!" And she kept muttering to herself while stroking the dear Del'ril's hair over and over again. Tinskela moved over to her cot.
Xotyli peered out and smiled at Tinskela, motioning with her mouth 'I heard everything.' She then moved to the cot and sat down beside Tinskela.
"I know it's different. But we have to manage with that putrid lady. Please. Please Kira." Xotyli said.
Kira. She had known her name wasn't really Tinskela, but through out the whole moments she hadn't known her own name, although she knew Del'ril was really Mariah and Xotyli was really Carlisle. But now she knew she was Kira.
And she sat there, pondering the thought of where she was, and noticed that as she was calming down, she felt bonded. Bonded to what, she didn't know, but it was a force that kept her locked in.