Escape

The heat rose up to the sixth floor of the brick apartment complex, where it became unbearable. However, the heat wasn't noticeable to the group of people standing in the kitchen; some would consider it a family.

"You told me you quit." A young woman stood behind a counter holding up a small plastic bag that contained crushed up green leaves.

"No. I told you, I'm trying," a man stood on the opposite edge of the counter pitifully reaching across trying to reach the bag.

"Well, it's not good enough," the young woman opened up the bag and stuffed it down the sink.

The man let out a roar of despair and ran to the sink, desperately trying to recover his lost life. The woman stood watching with her hands crossed, not upset about his despair, but seemed rather accomplished.

The little girl, who had been watching from the corner of the room, looked up at her mother. Her eyes were so cold.

Her father crumpled to the ground holding his face in his hands. "How could you do that?" he sobbed.

"You know why," her mother started to calmly heat up a frozen dinner in the microwave and ignored her crumpled husband on the ground.

"Why?" With a feat of strength her father shot up from the ground and tackled her mother.

The girl screamed and ran as far as she could to her room. She shut the door and curled up in the corner. Her parent's yelling was muffled by the sounds coming from the streets below her open window. The sirens, bass beats, and boisterous laughter echoed off of the adjacent buildings.

A tear slid down the girl's face and fell onto the teddy bear sitting next to her. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, after ten counts it would all be better. 1,2,3,4,--1,2,

A flutter went past her face and she opened up her eyes to see a bird sitting peacefully on her windowsill. Its colors brightened up the dark room. It had bright blue wings and a yellow breast, the tail was longer than she was tall, and spurted feathers created somewhat of a crown on top of its head.

She smiled and went up to get a closer look at the bird. It stared right into her eyes as if it could communicate through them.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" a rough, but smooth voice said from behind her.

She turned around and an almost manlike figure was standing behind her. He was just a little taller than her, but not by much. His body was mostly hidden underneath a worn black cape that failed to cover up his severely aged hands. It wasn't the skin that frightened her, it was the eyes.

His eyes were a tangled maze of green webs with a white circle in the middle. They didn't blink or move, and yet he was looking right at her.

She turned around and grabbed her teddy bear for protection.

"There's no need to be scared of me, my dear," the man said. "I mean you no harm."

"Who are you?" the girl asked, muffled by the bear that she held against her mouth.

"I am a humble servant. Your kingdom needs you."

"My—my kingdom?" She lowered down the bear from her mouth, and smiled.

The man slowly nodded. "You are the heir to my kingdom, you were sent to this place for a while." He motioned to the room around them. "But we need you again. You are ready to become our queen."

She grinned. It wasn't her first time visiting her kingdom. Every time she went there it was different, but she always knew that it was the same place.

"Come with me." The man held out his decaying hand.

The girl hesitated, but dropped her teddy bear to the ground and grabbed his hand as he smirked down at her. The bird flew from the windowsill into the wall in front of them and all went white.

When the white cleared, the girl was standing on top of a hill, still holding onto the man's hand. A land of gray cascading hills was in front of her. A hint of orange sunlight peeked around the landscape painting it with spots of color. She laughed at the bright pink tree that was just to the left of her.

She ran towards it. The tree smelled like her mother's old perfume, the expensive stuff. The leaves fell around her covering her in their scent and color. She picked up a leaf off of the ground. It slowly fluttered in her hand and formed into a winged creature that flew off, leaving behind a hint of sparkle.

The girl giggled and turned back to the man. "I love it here."

He nodded. "And it's all yours. We should get going; there is someone that would like to meet you."

They walked for a few hours across the landscape. It was desolate. They didn't meet up with any other people on the way, and there was only the occasional movement in the trees to hint at life.

Suddenly a large castle appeared in front of them. It sat on a large boulder the size of a small hill. The castle was also made from rock, but it didn't appear to be finished. Only a skeleton of a castle sat there, there were large stone beams that indicated the edges of rooms, but there were no walls.

"Who lives here?" the girl asked the man.

"She does." He gestured to a form coming towards them. The blue bird called and flew towards it, resting on her shoulders.

A woman stopped in front of them. She was inhumanly tall. A tight-fitted blue and gold dress formed over her perfect body. A pair of gold and black wings perched on top of her head, spanning out to a great length. She reached out into the air and pulled in a treat for the blue bird that greatly accepted it. The woman stroked the bird's head and muttered an incoherent sentence.

The girl stood in awe of this woman and the undeniable magic she held.

She woman looked down at the girl, a soft smile on her blue lips. "Welcome to your home, Tess." Her voice was soothing and seemed to flow in the air.

"How do you know my name?" Tess asked.

The woman laughed warmly. "Everyone knows your name here."

A loud siren filled Tess' ears and the sky suddenly flashed red and blue lights. Startled, Tess looked back at the woman and the man, but they didn't seem to notice. As soon as the noise and lights had started, they stopped.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" The woman's eyes were full of worry.

Tess nodded her head slowly.

"Thank you for bringing her back, Geroff. You may go now," the woman turned to the old man.

"Yes, m'lady," the man bowed his head and faded into the land behind him.

"Let me show you your home." The woman gracefully made it up the rock formation and to the castle. "This castle was once beautiful, but I'm afraid that it's slowly dying. Soon a new one will have to be built," the woman said as they walked through the empty halls.

"What happened to it?" Tess asked.

The woman looked at her. "It was time for a change."

Smoke appeared in front of Tess and she accidentally breathed it in and coughed. It smelled like her daddy's breath when mom was made at him.

"Bless you," the woman said and stopped walking. Tess caught up with her and glanced down at what the woman was looking at.

It was a large, dark hole with no clear bottom.

"What is that?"

"It's a passage."

"To where?"

"Look closer and you might just see."

Tess looked at the hole, but didn't make any move to get closer to it. "It looks scary."

"It probably is." The woman put a warm hand on Tess' shoulder. "But so are all things uncertain." She leaned down to Tess' ear and whispered, "Be brave."

Tess looked up at the woman and into her deep eyes. She nodded and inched closer into the hole and leaned to get a closer look. It was still dark.

The woman stood behind Tess. "I'm sorry, dear," she muttered and moved closer to the girl.

She grabbed Tess by she shoulders and threw her in.