“You would want to be a sorceress?”
“I don’t know what it means to be a sorceress here, but having power, the way magic feels when it runs through you, is wonderful. At the same time though, sometimes these boots control my behavior, my words. I say things I’d never say. I may have thought things like it, but I’d never say it aloud before. It would be nice to have them off. I’m hoping the Wizard will know what to do.”
“He will,” she assures me, and the way she says it makes any doubt I had wash away. “Let us wash you off now,” she says and leads me over to the plunge pool and up the green crystal steps. At the top, I hesitate.
“I can’t get the boots wet. They won’t come off and haven’t for days. My feet will get all squishy,” I say and shudder. “My feet are so gross by now already. If I add water to the scenario, I can’t even fathom the repugnant stench they’ll produce or the fungus that’ll run rampant. I’ll end up losing toes…” I say and stop, grossing myself out. “Sorry.”
A magical green mist emerges from the water and sweeps me off my feet. I hope it elevates my legs so I can wash without worry. But it drops me in the water with no regard for my very valid concern. Shocked and submerged, I leap to the surface and gasp for air, the shimmering emerald mud running off me in streams.
“No,” I whimper as the mud disperses into the water.
The streams of green that dissolve into clouds sparkle as they effervesce. Soon, the entire plunge pool fills with bubbles that scrub my body, rise above the bath, and float through the air until it fills the entire space with shimmery bubbles. They are in my boots tickling my toes, and I hope they’re disinfectant bubbles with antiseptic antifungal properties that can keep my feet from corroding in these boots. If not, I need to see this Wizard pronto and get these wet, sloshy boots off my feet.
Bubbles smother me, rubbing all over me and it’s overwhelming, suffocating. Just when I think I can’t take another second, right before I get up out of this tub and run, all the bubbles pop, one after the other until they disappear altogether, and I gasp a deep breath trying to get some air in my lungs.
“That was oppressive,” I say and Jellia giggles as she approaches the side of the tub with an ornate emerald bottle containing a glowing green viscous liquid.
“Now I will wash your hair,” she says and waves me over.
I wade over to the edge of the tub where Jellia sits, and I get settled on a built-in bench beneath the water. With the bottle uncapped, she pours some of it on my hair, lathers me up, and scrubs. Dainty fingers knead my skull and my body melts like butter.
“That’s so great,” I breathe and hear her soft giggle behind me.
“Tell me, is that young man your love?”
“You mean Nick?”
“The human,” she clarifies.
“No,” I say with a light laugh as my cheeks get hot. “Just friends.”
“Oh. That is unfortunate. He is very attractive,” she says, and I huff a laugh.
“He’s available if you’re interested.”
“Thank you, but no. I am married,” she says with a smile.
“What’s that like?”
“Wonderful most of the time. And then sometimes it is not. Men can be a nuisance,” she says, and I giggle.
“Speaking of that, can I ask you a question?”
“Yes,” she says as she scrubs my scalp.
“What’s with the cheesy game the guys run here?”
“Cheesy game?”
“How they hit on girls, approach them. It’s so blatant and… repulsive.”
“How do you mean?”
I do my impersonation as best I can, turning to face her. I give her an upward nod with a wink as a lascivious smile takes over my lips. With a waggle of my brows, I say, “Shifter, zombie, or human? Meet me at the Copper Jewel tonight.” I smolder and appraise every inch of her body just like that snake tattoo guy did, and she laughs. “I may have a huge two-foot-long horse wang, but I think you could handle me,” I say with a cocky half-smile like the centaur’s, and she guffaws.
“A horse shifter invited you to the Copper Jewel?”
“No, the horse shifter was on my way into the city. When I was floating around in the bubble that brought me here, a human asked me to meet him at the Copper Jewel.”
“You’re sure he was human?”
“He looked human. I saw him on a balcony with only a pair of pants, and his skin was dark and toasty, so I don’t think he was a zombie. The guy was hot, had a badass snake tattoo all over his cut torso, but his game was sleazy. Same with the horse shifter—gorgeous, but a sleaze.”
“When you say tattoo, do you mean an imprint of a snake was on his chest?”
“In my realm we call it a tattoo when someone uses needles and ink to draw a permanent picture on their skin.”
“Ah, I see. But that was not a tattoo you saw on him. It was his imprint.”
“Imprint?”
“Yes, when a shifter becomes a shifter, their animal imprints itself on their human form. He was a snake shifter in his human form. If he had been a raccoon shifter, that is the animal you would have seen on his skin.”
“Oh. I thought shifters only shifted once because it’s so painful.”
“Most keep their shifter form. I have heard the pain of shifting is unbearable. But there are many like the shifter who asked you out who took forms like snakes to make it to the City of Emeralds with little trouble who had no intention of keeping that form. A snake is a form you can take to escape and fight if you must, but while here in the City of Emeralds there is no reason for him to live in his snake form. He will still associate with shifters though. They tend to remain in their groups. The Copper Jewel is a shifter tavern.”
“Oh. Weird,” I say, and she giggles.
“As far as your question goes as to why those men were so brazen, it is because you are beautiful.”
“Aww, thanks, but that’s not what I mean. Their approach is lecherous.”
“Not all males in Oz are this way. My husband was not this way. But the ones who are very attractive, who have no intention of committing approach women this way because they can. The women know what these men want, that it is all they want, and they are so attractive the women do not care.”
“Wow. And I thought it might have had something to do with how they could die at any moment in this monster-ridden land of yours.”
“Perhaps that plays a part, but I believe it’s a result of laziness. They don’t want to put in the effort because they have no intention of continuing with the woman beyond intercourse.”
“How charming,” I sneer, and she giggles.
“But not all men are this way.”
“Yeah,” I say and sigh.
Once she thoroughly scrubs my scalp, she rinses my hair, applies a glittery green conditioning mask, and rinses it again. When she’s finished, the mist appears, lifts me out of the bath, and carries me over to an enclave at the other side of the room.
On a small platform inside a curve in the wall, the magical mist sets me down on my squishy, wet boot clad feet. From the tips of my toes up over my head, glittering fog coils around me and spirals, gaining speed, moving like the cyclone that brought me here. Beads of water lift off my skin as my hair whips about me twisting with the coil of the winding wind. And as fast as it came, it stops. My hair falls, hanging in my face like a thick curtain. I reach up and part the strands covering my eyes. The deadpan look I give Jellia must amuse her because she lets out a boisterous laugh.
“Come,” she says as her laugh dies down, proffering her arm to me. When I step off the platform, I notice my feet are as dry as the rest of me and the tension in my shoulders loosens a little.
The next enclave has a table covered in vials and jars of shimmering oils, creams, and powders. Old fashioned crystal perfume bottles filled with green liquids of varying shades line one side of the table. Flat and fluffy brushes with silky green hairs lie side by side on the other end of t
he table. Mini feather dusters with soft green feathers and green crystal wands of varying widths and lengths that glint and glimmer when they catch the light stand upright in a tall emerald glass.
First, she covers my body in oils, then she passes a wand over my skin and I watch as the glittering light makes the oil absorb in an instant. Next, she slathers my body in creams and runs another wand over me. My skin soaks up the cream the moment the light of the wand shines on it. Then come the powders shimmering a rainbow of colors. One after the other, she brushes them on my skin and no matter how hard I try to hold it back, a fit of sneezes erupts from me that make her giggle. Once I’m covered in highlights and luminescent powders from head to toe, she takes another wand and passes it over my skin. The powders go from sitting atop my skin to merging with it, giving it a natural glow that makes me look photoshopped. My skin has never been so flawless or felt so silky smooth.
At the next station, Jellia sits me on an elegant emerald chair. Beside the chair is an emerald table and on it is a hairbrush with a green crystal handle, many copper clips and combs with emerald embellishments, and in a glowing urn are cylindrical crystal wands of different lengths, girths, and sizes. Jellia sits me down and brushes my hair. Then she takes one of the crystal wands from the urn, takes a section of my hair, and coils it around the crystal like it’s a curling iron. When she unwraps my hair from it, all the frizz disappears, my hair shines, and it leaves a perfect loose curl behind. She goes through my hair with the crystal wand then uses two of the combs to pull my hair back out of my face. From there, she takes me to the final station—makeup. This time, inside the enclave we find a vanity with a large mirror and a cushioned bench set before it. Powders that sparkle, creams that shine, and liquids that shimmer in all different colors sit in ornate crystal containers atop the vanity.
“Oh, no, I don’t need makeup. I doubt I’m going out tonight,” I tell her.
I have no money to buy or do anything here. It’s got to be late by now. No one has come by to see if I want to go anywhere. Ardie said he’d come by for Toto in the morning, so I don’t think he’s planning on hanging out tonight. It’s not like we’ve known each other for long. I can’t expect them to invite me to hang around.
“Your traveling companions will not come to call on you?”
“I mean, it’s been a while and none of them have come by.”
“Perhaps you will go to the Copper Jewel and meet that handsome shifter.”
“No,” I say with a chortle.
“Let us put only a small amount on so that if you go out you will be ready.”
“Fine. But only a little, please.” I don’t want to offend her, but I don’t see the point of putting on makeup to hang out alone in my room for a few hours then go to sleep.
She sits me down before the vanity and works her magic. I’m surprised by how much I like what she does. It’s subtle but pretty—a little blush that adds just the right amount of pink to my cheeks to appear natural; the smallest amount of shimmery highlighting cream dabbed in the corners of my eyes, on the tip of my nose, and on my cheekbones to give them a natural glow; a cream on my lashes that curl, thicken, and lengthen the strands while enhancing their darkness; and a very sheer lip rouge that makes my lips the most beautiful shade of reddish-pink. Too bad I will just be washing it all off in a few hours.
Now that we’ve hit every station in this spa-style bathroom, the green mist carries in clothing for me, setting them in Jellia’s hands. Every article is a shade of green, and sure enough, my undergarments are pettipants and a camisole. But it is a nice, comfortable, emerald green dress with a flattering cut. Not that I’m going anywhere. I thank her for all her help and before she takes her leave, she tells me if I want to call on her for anything to place my palm on the wall and the magic of Oz will alert her.
Once she’s gone, I go into the living room area to find Toto isn’t there. Worry niggles at my chest as I hurry into the bedroom. When the crystal door slides open, I find him lying on a plush dog bed covered in green silk and velvet. Belly-up and blissed-out, Toto lies on his back with his eyes closed as a green misty hand rubs his belly and scratches him in all his favorite spots. As I turn around, I chuckle and tiptoe back into the living room area.
The city outside the windows glows and twinkles against the dark night sky. As I walk out onto the balcony, I take in the glamorous, magical city before me and thank God, or the Universe, or whatever brought me here for such an amazing adventure and such wonderful friends. Despite the monsters, this trip has been a dream come true. Scratch that—it’s been beyond my wildest dreams. I only wish there was a way for me to visit someday. I hate this is goodbye forever.
“Dorothy?” I hear Nick say behind me, and I startle, spinning around to face him. He looks surprised too. And so dashing. He’s wearing a green, form-fitting henley with a dark green jacket and well-tailored dark green pants. He’s clean and shaven, groomed to perfection, but somehow he still has a rugged quality that makes him even hotter.
“Nick,” I say and take a deep, calming breath. “You startled me.”
“I apologize. I pressed the doorstone to ring the bell, and the door opened for me.”
“Oz must have known I wanted to see you,” I say, and the enchanting smile he gives me in return makes my heart race in my chest.
“It is too late to go out, but I thought we could talk awhile. We may not get to do that again.”
The truth of that statement makes my heart hurt.
“Tomorrow we will get to see the Wizard,” he says and sighs.
“I just know he’ll let you stay. Do you like it here so far?”
“It’s lavish here at the palace. I am sure the other homes in the city are not like this.”
“I’d guess not,” I agree.
“So, tomorrow we may never see each other again, if all goes well that is,” he says, and my heart grows heavy.
“Yeah,” I sigh.
“I will miss you too, Dorothy,” he says, knowing just what I was thinking. My head drops. “But it is best that you go back to your family in Kansas. It is dangerous in this realm.”
“I know.”
“After everything we have been through, you must want to get far away from here,” he says, reminding me of why this is for the best. I think of all the battles, zombies, Kalidahs, vampires, blood, and vanquishing, and… it wasn’t so awful. But that’s because I have these boots.
“It wasn’t so terrible. These boots, they make it so I’m able to fight and stay protected. They make me fearless. If I didn’t have them, I’d have run screaming from every one of those vampires,” I admit. “These boots make me feel strong. The life I lived before I came here never tested me this way. I assume I would have run away screaming in fear, but I’ve never had a similar experience before to know.”
“You are the strongest woman I have ever known,” he says to me.
“I don’t feel that way all the time.”
With him, I feel sad and weak. Sad this is the end of us knowing each other, sad he won’t kiss me. If he did, I would be so weak I would want to stay, and he doesn’t feel that way for me. We’re friends, good friends, but he doesn’t see me the way I see him. It hurts, but I am happy to have his friendship, even if it will be over in a matter of hours.
“I’m glad you’re here in the Vampire-Free Zone. You don’t have to wear your armor all the time anymore. You don’t have to walk around with axes strapped to your body here,” I say with a smile. He smiles back.
“I will miss you smiling at me most,” he says, and I swoon a little. I’m sure he noticed because he lets out a soft chuckle.
My cheeks go so hot I turn away from him, awkward and mortified, and bump into the copper and crystal chair behind me. Desperate to cover up my goofiness, I sit in the chair and do my best to act nonchalant, like I meant to slam into the chair before I sat. When I muster the courage to look at him, I find he’s sat down opposite me at the ornate breakfast table to my right th
at looks like it grew right out of the floor of this massive balcony. His smile lights up his face and I realize I’m being so dumb right now. Tomorrow I may never see that face again. I shouldn’t worry about all this other crap. What I should do is hang out with my friend for the last time. It sucks, but it’s how it has to be. My place is there, not here.
“I hate I have to go, but I want to go home. I need to. Beyond this journey I do not know what I would do here. I’d be alone. I mean, I’d have you, Ardie, and the Werelion as friends but that’s it. The Werelion will return to the forest once he gets his courage. Ardie will become a man and stay here. You will meet a girl and get married. I have no place here. My place is in Kansas, at least for now. I may move to another part of my world at some point, or I hope to anyway.”
“Where will you move?”
“Somewhere more exciting than where I am in Kansas, so I can have adventures like the one we’ve had, but without vampires.”
“What adventures do you want to have?”
“I want to go to school in a place with color. I want to meet all sorts of people, fall in love, try all sorts of new things, taste all different kinds of foods, see sights, amazing sights, all over my world—I want to travel, but not on foot, like we did. It takes too long.”
The emerald tabletop before us opens up in a kaleidoscope of geometric emerald shapes and we both shove back, but when we do, two emerald trays holding emerald dinner plates with juicy cheeseburgers and big fat steak fries, black and white milkshakes with whipped cream and a cherry on top, a slice of cherry pie à la mode, and mozzarella sticks. I laugh in shock when I see it, my favorite meal of all time. Before I moved to Kansas, I lived in New York with my parents. There was a diner near our house that my dad and I would go to when my mom had stuff going on at night and gave him the task of making dinner. We’d order breakfast from there on Sundays when we’d let my mom sleep in. I have missed this meal.
“What is all this?” Nick says as we both scoot our chairs back toward the table.
“It’s my favorite meal from when I was a kid.”
Dorothy In the Land of Monsters Page 25