Nightmare's Daughter

by Aurora Smith

  “I think I already love where you’re going with this.” Magnus’ adorable, playful face lit up.

  “And you kept the recipe for the serum? You have all of the stuff to make it again?” I asked.

  “Oui, you’re correct. How do you think that precious Pixie that threw Abby in the water would look with chicken wings?” The whole table erupted in insane laughter at the thought of Ashley having her perfect physique messed with.

  “Will she go back to normal after a while?” Christina hiccupped.

  “I created an antidote; we can let her suffer till she’s had enough.” His face was glowing with some kind of past person who used to be there.

  “How long will it take you to make it?” Magnus asked, elbowing his obvious new prank hero.

  “A few hours, I can make it while Maya and I are cleaning up the part of the forest I blew up.”

  “Tomorrow then?”

  “Tomorrow.” Liam looked down and happily ate his breakfast, his shoulders relaxing out of defence mode, a new man peering from under his scars and former life. Guilt was still eating away inside my chest.

  ***

  I heard scraping nails against the long, gaunt hallway that my father and I were walking down together. Mice. Our shoulders were touching and my rabbit was already in my hands.

  “Maya, we’ve been here for a few seconds. Put that thing away!” My father was clearly frustrated but I wasn’t in the mood to play around while these walls exuded sweat from the humidity. These weren’t my father’s oozing walls, this was real ooze. Although slightly less freaky, I was still on guard.

  “You’ve made me neurotic, what can I say?” My dad touted but didn’t say anything else about Fred.

  “So tonight we’re just observing. I want you to see what makes him tick, see possible memories or observe his subconscious. No interacting.” I nodded with relief. I had gotten an earful from Christina and I deserved every second of it. The guilt was heavy and not having to lie tomorrow would lessen that. I hoped.

  The hallways opened into a large room, the same one I had seen twice now in Liam’s dreams. Above our heads were electric balls, they buzzed and clicked like locusts in a field of wheat. A smell hung: formaldehyde, salt and burnt hair, just to name a few. There were dancing shadows on the walls; the dark figures looked like human organs. A floating heart was on a particularly wet spot on a wall, above a pipe that seeped steam from its unfixed cracks. My stomach cramped and I wanted to throw up. Liam’s life was basically what my nightmares were made of. Caution that stiffened my muscles, loosened as the cute blond haired kid I’d been thinking of around-the-clock, ran past me. His bare feet slapped and echoed off of the walls as he ran to a man who stood in front of a large, glass pool that was filled a with green thick jelly substance. Liam hugged his father’s leg and looked up to him with wonder in his eyes.

  “When can I play with him?” Liam said in broken up toddler language.

  “Soon, my boy.” A man with long, curly hair that stood up on his scalp looked adoringly down at his son then back to the pool. As I went around the boy’s father I saw what they were looking at and I dropped Fred’s cage and clasped my hands over my mouth. My bunny’s cage fell to the ground soundlessly and my dad scowled.

  “Is that a kid?” I asked, pointing to the little form that floated in the green goo.

  “That is Justin,” he answered, clearly unsurprised.

  “You knew about this?”

  “Of course I did.” My dad gave me a contemptuous look. Of course he knew. My dad probably knew more about each individual in this family than they knew about each other.

  “So his mom didn’t have twins.”

  “Not traditionally, no. Justin’s mother did not carry him in her womb, but she wanted him very much.” My dad gave a little sigh and looked down at me with grateful eyes.

  I watched quietly as Liam ambled around the room, playing with things that should have been classified as dangerous toddler toys. I was guessing that Liam was around two years old. He was such a beautiful kid. His eyes gleamed with excitement every time he turned over a beaker or inspected a floating organ.

  “He really was a born scientist, wasn’t he?” I heard a slight croon in my voice when I spoke of the child.

  “He was.” My dad nodded as he watched me look around the room. Nothing was happening besides Justin’s creepy floating baby body and Liam’s snooping around test tubes.

  “When did you first meet Justin?” I asked the toddler and the scenery quickly changed.

  “Maya!” My dad growled at me but I ignored him. We were standing in a large room with crimson velvet couches and hardwood floors that had blue Victorian rugs laying perfectly over them. Old, expensive looking paintings hung on the stark white walls and a crystal chandelier hung above us. Liam and his mother were sitting on one of the plush couches while Dr. Frankenstein brought a limp body over to his family. Mrs. Frankenstein held her hands out and he placed Justin in her arms.

  “Give it a few minutes, I’m almost positive that it worked,” he said to his wife. A perfect replica of Liam lay in her arms, down to the pointed lips and high cheekbones that were still evident on Liam’s burnt face. Liam was jumping on his butt, excitement bursting from each smile line around his eyes.

  “Wake up, Justin!” the little boy squealed and I couldn’t help but smile as I watched.

  “Justin. Justin, wake up my darling,” Mrs. Frankenstein sang to her little boy. But nothing was happening.

  “It’s not working, papa!” Liam crossed his arms and his look mimicked his father’s frustration.

  The room began to fade but I fought it, “No, show me,” I said and time sped forward. The shadows in the room were longer and the same people were sitting in their spots, with stars twinkling outside instead of the sun. A groan came from the boy and the soft, unused muscles twitched.

  “Papa!” Liam stood on the couch and Dr. Frankenstein’s head snapped out of a sleepy state.

  “It worked?” he said, lunging forward to feel the boy’s neck for a pulse. The boy looked confused and his head swivelled chaotically, like a new born baby’s might.

  “He’s perfect, Edward,” Mrs. Frankenstein said and clutched the little boy to her chest;tears were running down her soft face.

  Chapter Eleven

  “So, is it working?” I asked Liam who was standing over the bubbling concoction that would soon turn Ashley into a hairy, knobby knuckled, chicken winged Pixie.

  “I think it is.” He looked up at me and smiled. His big goggles were back on as well as his lab coat. We were back in the forest and I was the one left to try and figure out how to mend the burnt trees; I was thinking of calling on Dominic, who, as an elf would be able to heal it.

  “Well, I think I’ve done all I can do to the trees.”

  “Ok, I’ll let you know when I finish,” he said without looking up.

  “Oh, I was thinking of staying and keeping you company.” I felt suddenly embarrassed.

  “That’s fine too.” He was still looking down when he spoke and the words stung a little. It’s fine if I stay?!

  I should go.

  I was standing here wanting his attention and I shouldn’t want his attention. I woke up this morning wanting so badly to be alone with him that it almost hurt. My father warned me, now that I had spoken to his subconscious a couple of times and he responded, my feelings would now be that much stronger. I knew I needed to follow my father’s sound advice, but Liam looked so cute standing over a beaker with a small flame under it. His eyes were squinting and he was dropping different liquids in at a time.

  “Can I ask you a personal question?” I blurted out. He took his attention off of his work for a moment to look up at me.

  “Yes,” he said with no conviction.

  “Are those burns on your face?” I went for it. I wanted him to talk about what he had unknowingly let me get a glimpse of a few nights ago.

  “They are,” he said and went back to his dutie
s.

  “What happened?”

  “Well-I.” He looked back up and cocked his head. “Why?”

  “Just making conversation.”

  “Tell me something about you first,” he finally said.

  “Okay, what do you want to know?” I asked, happy that we were finally talking.

  “How come you have purple hair?” I laughed at his question and he smiled at me.

  “It’s lavender, and it’s not that bad!”

  “I never said it was bad, I’ve just never seen it. Is that normal for nightmares?”

  “No, it was my attempt at red hair, but it didn’t take. I think I may have to stop dying it for a while, my hair is going to fall out and I’ll be a bald freak.” I felt my face go red. “Well, that sentence should have been thought through.” I tried to make humor from my poor choice of words.

  “I agree, not everyone can pull this look off.” He wasn’t looking at me and I couldn’t tell if he was being gracious or serious. Did Frenchmen have dry humor or no humor? “Well, my natural hair is black but I’ve been bleaching and dying it since I was eight.”

  “Your mother let you dye your hair at eight?” He actually looked up to give me a contemptuous look. Who was he to judge my parents? His dad cloned him and somehow let him set himself on fire.

  “I begged her and she let me on my eighth birthday,” I snapped.

  “I see. What’s wrong with black hair?”

  “I looked like a freak. My eyes looked even bigger which made my tiny body look tinier; add this stark black hair and you have one freaky looking Emo child.”

  “So you didn’t like the way you looked?” He sounded surprised and I fought my pleasure.

  “I mean, I wasn’t disgusting or anything…I guess I wanted to look like a normal little girl. So my mom let me dye it blond.”

  “I can’t imagine that you were disgusting either,” he said offhandedly.

  “So, I answered your question.”

  “Yeah.” Liam dropped a purple liquid into a test-tube and a burst of black smoke came out in a puff. He moved his head back instinctively. “I was inside of a burning house,” he said and I knew he was lying, but I couldn’t tell him that I knew he was lying. The image of, who I assumed was Carl, running around a room groaning from fright and a woman screaming as he lay fetal on the ground, burning, looked nothing like a house fire. I imagined the walls would actually be flaming if that were true.

  “Your house burned?” I pushed.

  “Yes.” Well okay with the one word answers.

  “Sorry if I’m offending you,” I said, wishing I had just left like I should have.

  “You’re not offending me; I’m just trying to concentrate,” he said.

  “Alright, I’ll leave.” I smiled and tried to sound upbeat.

  “Okay, I’ll come and get you when this is done.” He didn’t even look up.

  “No problem,” I said in a chipper voice and I made sure a happy smile was plastered to my face. I walked away and welcomed my blue macaw shadow, grateful for the company. He squawked loudly in my ear.

  “I know!” I said, treating him like he was the one who was telling me how dumb I was and not my mind that was actually speaking. “You need a name; I’m tired of calling you bird.” He squawked at me, the sound piercing my ear.

  “How about Simon?” He flapped his wings in what I assumed was protest which made me love the name even more. “Simon it is then.” He snapped his obnoxiously large, black beak at me but before I could continue my boredom-induced bird taunting he flew straight up into the trees, not making one more chirp.

  In front of me, through the trees was a group of people: those dreaded populars, and in the back was Justin, surrounded by three different girls. They had already seen me so there was no chance to hide or try to escape, or go back to warn Liam.

  “Maya?” A tall girl with the most beautiful, perfect body I’d ever seen waved at me. Her name was Lisbeth and she had always been perfect. Even at twelve when she looked like I did now, she made super skinny more appealing than I managed to. But the sad truth was that some of the scarier, legendary beings were a little different looking by special design. But the pixies and fairies and Elves who were created to basically be fruity forest people embodied the beauty of the forest. Lisbeth was one of those passively aggressive nice bullies.

  “HI LISABEEETH!” I yelled, which made her flinch. I hoped that Liam would hear me and get rid of the incriminating evidence he had brewing. Ashley, who was tucked behind a large shouldered boy, was eyeing me suspiciously. Not that she thought I was doing anything; it was just how she always looked. If that girl smiled at people she would be unstoppable.

  “Are you yelling for Liam?” Justin asked and I laughed obnoxiously loud, hoping my voice carried.

  “Oh, hi Justin didn’t see you there. Your brother? Don’t you know where he is?” I asked.

  “No, I don’t keep track of him.” Giggling followed his words but he looked annoyed by it.

  “Well, he isn’t with me.” I said.

  “He’s left you to clean up his mess, I see.” Justin’s hands were in his pockets, his eyes drilling into me and his remarkable face looked more worried than his words let on.

  “No, we’ve been doing it together, thanks for your help by the way.” I added the end just for him and his fans, who gave him a questioning look.

  “I had nothing to do with it.”

  “Well, neither did I!”

  “Then next time you’ll follow my advice and get as far away from him as possible.” A moment of awkward silence wrung in the air.

  “Stay away from who?” Liam’s voice came up behind me and he slipped his fingers through mine. The contact with his rough skin made me jump and I could feel my heart hammering inside my chest.

  “You!” Justin pointed at his brother and eyed our locked fingers.

  “Well that’s not very nice,” he said cheerfully, then tugged on my hand so that I would follow him forward. At this point I had completely forgotten about the ninnies in front of me and could only focus on the limited space between Liam and me. I followed him easily as we walked past the crowd of gawking faces.

  “Freaks!” Ashley’s voice carried forward and hit me hard. I stopped and turned around to give some kind of brilliant retort but Liam’s arm pulled me back.

  “Shhh,” he whispered and I noticed that Justin’s head was down; he was the only one who wasn’t laughing at us.

  “But…”

  “Let’s go.”

  “She called you a freak!”

  “That was plural.” He tugged on my hand even harder and I followed him, a new sting digging into my pride. We walked away from them and when it became obvious that we were no longer near Justin’s new fan club Liam dropped my hand.

  “Thanks for the heads up, I was able to finish the serum and get everything cleaned up.” He was smiling at me and I didn’t see why he couldn’t smile and hold my hand at the same time. He also looked unreasonably cheerful. Much different than how he looked when I left him.

  “You seem like you’re in a better mood now.”

  “I wasn’t in a bad mood, I was trying to think and you were talking like we were sitting in a coffee shop, engrossed in conversation.” He took his finger and bumped my chin.

  “Oh, I forget how guys can’t do two things at once.” He laughed.

  “True. Also, I don’t want to kill the girl, I needed to think.”

  “Did you get it done?” I asked.

  “I did.” He held up the little vile of red liquid and shook it. “Shall we get it done since we know where she is right now?” He had this gleam in his eyes that I only remember seeing in his dreams as a little boy.

  “Sure. You’re a bit of a prankster, aren’t you?” I asked and he dropped his gaze.

  “I suppose I used to be, I haven’t done anything in a while.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “My pranks were a bit…how you say… cruel.” He shr
ugged and changed the subject. “Do you know which room she is in?” We had come through the forest and were at the spot that Dracula had found us after the explosion. The girls’ cabin was a few feet in front of us and it looked like most everyone was down at the lake, canoeing or swimming or sun bathing. Doing nothing, basically. It was exactly where I had wanted to be.

  “So, after this do you want to go down to the lake with me?” I asked.

  “The lake?” He copied my words but it didn’t look like he had heard.

  “It’s a large body of water, occupies things like fish…”

  “I know what a lake is.” He opened the doorknob slowly and saw that we were in the bathrooms. He shut it quickly. “Perhaps you should do this.”

  “Oh, you think?” I glared at him as I grabbed his shirt so he would come forward with me. I would rather have been holding his hand but had no real excuse like he had.

  “I’ll go to the lake with you,” he whispered as we rounded the front door. I smiled but tried to keep it to myself. Was this boy unable to do two things at once? Perhaps this was typical boy behavior— I was just extremely unversed in boy-isms. I closed my eyes and concentrated on all of the people that were inside of the cabins, no one was awake or asleep, which meant it was empty.

  “Okay, follow me and let’s be quick.” I opened the door and led him down to room sixteen which was the closest to the bathroom. Ashley and her pretties liked to be close to mirrors and running water; somehow making you closer gave you more ownership over things, apparently. I opened the door to her room, excitement building.

  “Only problem is, I don’t know which bed is hers,” I whispered unnecessarily.

  “That is a problem,” he said as he looked around the room. “How bad would it be if someone else got it?”

  “Well, they’re all jerks so it wouldn’t be the worst thing that ever happened.” I started laughing.

  “Check her clothes and see if you recognize something,” he suggested. I opened drawers until I noticed a blue, lacy shirt that Ashley had worn on the first day of camp.

  “Here, this is hers, I’m sure of it,” I said as I dug through her drawer and came up with a water bottle.