𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

015. my mommy's got a gun, you better run

NAOKI FELT THE WORLD MOVING. She had fallen asleep inside Camp, the toy store, curled up inside the tube on the playground that had been installed. A stuffed purple unicorn was between her arms, and a burrito Squishmallow was her pillow. She had considered changing into the sprinkle-dotted pyjamas that were hanging in the store's window, but if a Damia came charging in, she refused to be caught like that.

But now the ground was shaking, her tube rocking and rolling. Naoki jolted up, gripping the unicorn to her chest. She crawled to the end of the tube, tossed around, and peered outside.

A giant crane. A giant fucking construction crane had strapped wires to her sleeping tube, and was lifting her up, over the city, and plopping her down atop the Vessel. The crane was black and smokey, bits of metal gleaming through the swarming shadows that covered it. Naoki stuck her hand out and tugged on the wires that held her. They looked like smoke, but they felt alarmingly solid.

"What the fuck is happening right now?" Naoki demanded. "Shadow Bitch! What the fuck are you doing?"

The Queen of Shadows materialised inside the tube, long white legs kicked up. "Darling, language, please."

Naoki recoiled, nearly toppling out of the tube.

"Ah," the Queen snagged her by the wrist, pulling her back inside. "Careful, dear. You don't want to splat on the floor below. It'd be a pity."

Naoki wrenched out of her grip. "Where are you taking me? You said I wasn't a prisoner."

"I never said that," the Queen gave her an innocent look. "I just let you believe that."

Naoki sneered. "You think holding me hostage is going to make me cooperative?"

"You'll give in, one way or another," the Queen sighed, blowing on her nails. "Either by force or by choice. And either way works for me. You'll come to realise how right I am, in time."

The tube landed with a bone-shuddering crunch, and Naoki spilled out onto the top of the Vessel. Instantly, she scrambled up, darting to the edge of the towering structure.

"Tell me where Illias is, or I'll jump," she demanded, clutching her purple unicorn to her chest.

The Queen scoffed. "First of all, I could just catch you. Go ahead. Second, I don't have him."

"Liar," Naoki snarled, throwing her leg over the side.

The Queen watched her, disinterested. "I'm not."

She snapped her fingers and Illias materialised, running to Naoki, arms outstretched. "Naoki, my love!"

He grabbed her, and the second his fingers touched her, he evaporated into smoke. Naoki was left frozen, arms half outstretched, heart pounding in her chest.

The Queen smiled. "Illusions, darling. Smoke and mirrors, if you will."

Naoki looked helplessly at the space between her arms.

"Walk with me, will you?" the Queen offered her arm, all lithe and sleek with muscle.

Naoki shrank away. And forgot she was half-dangling off a 150 foot high ledge.

The Queen poked her head over the railing, listening to Naoki's screams get further and further away.

"That was rather embarrassing," she murmured, lips pouted. "Poor dear." 

NAOKI WOKE UP SCREAMING, the feeling of falling shooting through her stomach. She jolted up, and slammed her head into a metal wall.