From The Other Side

Chapter Seventeen

  Rae and their assistants decided to wake us up early the next day. I think it's for some 'makeovers', because "you can't have a good rescue without a glow-up scene." I can't say I disagree, but my head isn't in the right space to get tattooed in the woods.

    Hell, I'm not even in the mood to be in the woods period. It's fucking cold, and blankets hardly do shit!

    As far as I'm aware, I must be the most mundane person here. My hair dye washed out weeks 

ago, leaving the natural brown, and I'm also the palest person here.

    You could say I like this place better. There was much more diversity here. The kingdom felt incredibly different in comparison. . Come to think of it, the citadel probably hadn't seen jeans or non-dress shirts before. Just the shirt and skirt combo. Here, on the other hand, there are fairies, dragons, witches, you name it. Rae even has a friendly wolf as a companion. Mari's already fallen in love with the tigers here, and Ashley found a small black cat named Sparrow.

    There are angels, too. In small quantities, sure, but there are angels here, with the wings and all. I've met one. His name's Oliver, but he prefers Oli. I'm not sure why he's here besides being an angel. He's not from Rae and Sierra's kingdom either. It seems the other kingdoms exile difference as well.

    The music here is beautiful. It's always playing, reminding you that silence isn't the answer. Everyone here was forced to be silent about themselves, Rae told me. It's a miserable feeling.I can't relate, but the best I can do is accept everyone for who they are. I wasn't welcome in the kingdom like the rulers would have had me believe, and I'm someone who fits their standards. I physically cannot imagine what they went through. I may have struggles, but I still have privilege. They don't. So it's my task with my privileges to change what I can.

   I'm snapped from my philosophical trance by Rae, who is pulling my arm out of bed. I scowl at them,

   "HEY! Let me sleep..." I groan.

   Rae chuckles, "Not gonna happen. Evil never sleeps, and it's opposing force won't either."

   "The hell happened to you? I mean, you don't joke much..." I question.

   "Being home happened. Now, get your ass out of the damned bed before I make the bed disappear." Rae smirks. They have a good sense of humor.

    I can see the ink on Rae's arms now. It's intricate, and I have no clue how long it took. Rae's been here a while, from what I can see. It's like a real-life Isle of the Lost, from that old live-action movie Disney threw together.

    I'm not sure what's playing right now but, it's usually instrumental. There aren't loudspeakers they blast it on, they play music live, almost like it's a given skill here. Young me would have adored this damned place. It's incredible here.

    "C'mon, Vi. Get your ass up, or I will drag it. This is my last warning." Rae growls.They're being playful, not aggressive, but it's still quite threatening.

  "Alright, Ms. Queen of Mean..." 

   What's the gender neutral equivalent of Mr and Ms? This is gonna get confusing...

I step out of bed and follow Rae to my inevitable doom, thanks to my severe fear of needles. There's a girl in gloves who I assume to be my tattoo artist. She's covered head to toe in colors, from roses to skulls to swords. Her hair is neon pink.

"Ghost, nice to meetcha. You're Violet, I presume?" 

"Sure am. Rae dragged me here." 

"Eh. Don't mind em. They do that a lot, ya know?"

I chuckled. I can tell I'll like Ghost already.

Three hours later and I now have a tattoo reading the word rebel on my neck, and the makings of a skull on my neck, which I have to finish in another session. Rae ends up dyeing my hair blue and teal in some parts, and I'm fond of it.

I've met the team, aka Rae's friends. There's Tyler, Ghost, who I already knew, Alex, Kai, Jeremy, who goes by a nickname I Still can't spell, Chris, and Caleb. 

The second we come home I'm lost in my thoughts again. There's been something bothering me all day. I can't tell what it is. When I brought it up, Rae just patted my shoulder and told me I'd be fine, or that it was just jitters. I may be anxious but this feels off.

Suddenly, something flashes in my minds eye. A woman, blonde, blue eyes, fair skin. She's wearing a crown. The sky is black, dark, and cloudy. It reminds me of the scene from A Two Hundred Years War. The walls are an eerie red.

I can now see the woman walking, and I'm scared shitless. There's a room of chairs with numbers.

The one thing that scares me is the lack of light. And the lack of others. Only half of the chairs are filled. The ones that are filled look just like her. Blonde, blue eyes, fair skin. 

I know what it is now. It's the jury that exiled Rae. 

Then I see it. The bloodstains on the wall. What looked like a head on the floor.

The heads look different. Different skin, hair, eyes.  

It occurs to me who the woman is. Sierra and Rae's mother. I take a good look at one of the heads. It's Ashley's. 

She wants him dead. She wants all of us dead. And she won't stop until she gets her way.