Wings of A Hummingbird

Chapter One

Alida is standing in a large ballroom, the floor pearly white; her reflection is shining bright in the linoleum, her hair knotted in to a bun at the top of her head, wisps of hair escaping from the knot.  There is the faint sound of music, slow and soft, emanating from the walls, resonating around her. 

She is standing alone in the middle of the hall, wearing a long flowing dress, a beautiful pale blue, the train nearly dragging on the floor, causing her to clutch the hem at her sides.

“Hey there, Al,” Chuckles a voice from a side of the room, echoing in the wide space, reverberating around every wall.

She turns, as if in slow motion to William, wearing a handsome black jacket, and a sky blue tie, as if their clothes were made to match.  He beams at her, holding his hand out, merely a metre away from her, inviting her to take it.

She takes it, rather shakily, and he twirls her effortlessly, clutching her waist.  They spin, stepping out of tune to the music, but dancing nonetheless, just gliding over the floor, around the circular room.

“What are you doing here?”  She asks him, a wide grin spread across her face, the couple still swaying to the music.  “Where are we?”

His equally excited expression becomes confused, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration.  “I don’t know, actually.  This is your dream, after all,” He smiles again, his eyes glinting.

Alida looks at his eyes, intrigued by the gleam in them.  She squints her own, examining his violet iris and gasps, backing away abruptly in astonishment, pulling her hand away from his as if stung.

His eyes are violet, yes, but they are filled with a green hue, and flames flicker in them, burning brighter.  “W-What is wrong with your eyes?”  She points at him, her hand shaky, though she doesn’t know why.  “Why are they so mean-looking?”

He cocks his head and touches his cheek tenderly, giving her a quizzical look.  “What do you mean?  My eyes are always like this!”  His tone becomes rough, and sneering, as if it isn’t him speaking.

Alida shakes her head, bewildered.  “What are you?”  She cries shrilly, She trips over the hem of her dress, having let it drag on the floor so she and Will could dance.  She falls backwards and widens her eyes as he slowly advances on her.

“I’m William, Alida, nothing else,” He tells her simply, shrugging, his smile becoming mean and cunning.

His mouth is shaping into an overly wide grin, spreading from cheek to cheek, as if he was demonic.  He then reaches out to her, smiling evilly, his hand elongating to her, trying to touch her- poison her.

She crawls backwards, standing up and backing away as quickly as she can, too frightened for words, her voice stuck in her throat, as if she was choking on her tongue.

After much stumbling, she comes to the wall of the ballroom, stopping her escape.  Suddenly, as William advances on her, almost lethargic in his movements, taking one step at a time, she succeeds in yelling out, crying to whoever could hear her.  “You’re a monster!  A demon!”

The music comes to a sudden halt, and the well-lighted room becomes dim and murky.  The cream paint begins to peel off, falling in corkscrew-like pieces onto the floor, quickly becoming bare.

William’s grin becomes wider, and his teeth get sharper, his skin slowly melting off of his bones, leaving a blue flesh, oozing and scabby.

 He becomes shorter and slowly morphs into a dwarf-like creature with stubby legs and elongated arms, swinging to the ground, ape-like.  His eyes turn from violet to black, the flame still flickering in his pupil.