(no subject)
Georgia had always loved the playground the local church had behind her house. She loved the swings; they made you feel like you could fly. She loved to sing while she flew. Most of all Georgia loved to sneak out after dinner and swing at sunset. She felt like she could fly into the sun.
Georgia snuck out the patio door while mommy and daddy watched Cheers. She ran through the dead frozen grass not really minding the pokes from thistles as she got to the cold, raspy gravel of the playground. She started to run over to the swings when she heard someone from the tube maze whisper her name. She looked over and knelt down, looking into the dark hole. No one else was ever out this late; she hoped it wasn't a stranger! As she squinted to see inside she heard her voice again...it sounded like Adam from down the street. "Adam?" She whispered into the tube. The sound reverberated as though she had yelled and she looked around quickly, afraid someone might have heard. She didn't want to get into trouble.
"Georgia. Come here! I want to show you something." She heard Adam whisper from deep in the maze. "Don't be afraid, it’s really cool."
"Okay..." Georgia slowly entered the tube with some reservations...she didn't like the dark. It was really dark in there. She followed Adam's voice through a turn, and was confused to suddenly feel leaves and stickers under her hands. They hurt really bad! "Adam?! Adam where are you, I'm scared." Adam didn't answer anymore. Worried that the stickers hurt him, or that he was in trouble she strayed deeper inside. More and more it hurt till she was almost too tired to think.
She started to cry, she was afraid of the dark, and starting to really bleed. Every bone in her body told her to turn back. When she did though, all she found were more brambles in the dark. Then suddenly she felt a sharp grab at the back of her shirt. She screamed, and it was the last thing heard in the real world from Georgia. Instead, a small girl came running out of the tube, past the swings and skipped back home to get into big trouble for sneaking out without her parents noticing.
~~~
Georgia looked in fright at the frightening boy holding her up in the air. He was barely older than her but still exceptionally taller. He smiled at her with a maw of sharp teeth before a sickening white tongue came out of his mouth, licking the tears from her face. Then he put her down on the spongy bramble like ground. His flesh was white and his fingernails looked old and crackled. It was like something out of a dream, or a nightmare. His eyes were completely black.
Georgia was frightened, but angry. Who was this bad kid? What did he do with Adam? He took her sharply by the wrist and hand leading her through the last of the brambles. They scraped and ripped at her, at one point it ripped her favorite red sweater clean off. She watched it as he dragged her along flapping in an unfelt breeze.
Finally Georgia's temper got the best of her. She wanted answers, but she was too scared to run away. So, she stamped on his foot and pulled away from him to make him stop. She was cold and he was mean. In the rapid succession only a young child can have when asking questions she blurted out, "Where are we going? Who are you! Where are my parents?"
The man looked down at her with those endless black eyes, unphased by the foot stomping. "To The Palace of the Choir Empress. You are to be her newest servant. I am Vestigere, her minion. Your parents are back on Earth. You will never see them again."
Georgia furrowed her brow. Only her parents told her what to do. That's why mommy home schooled her. "Why can't I go home...My feet are tired!"
Vestigere promptly picked her up by the waist and carried her like a sack of potatoes. "Your new home is with the Empress."
This simply confused Georgia more. "Who? I can't work I’m only 5!" Panic started to rip through her heart, making it feel like it was going too fast. She realized this man was a stranger! He was going to kittie-napper. Georgia's flight responses kicked in at that point. "I want my mommy. I WANT MY MOMMY" She started screaming before kicking him in the chest. "I want to go home!" She started throwing a temper tantrum then, fighting back, screaming, kicking and wriggling as best as she could.
Vestigere put her back on the ground, creepy long fingers holding her by the shoulders. "The Choir Empress, Lady of the Dulcet Tones, she is your new mommy. Her palace is your new home." Though he didn't hurt her when he touched her, there was no gentleness in his words, simply cold statements of fact.
This man was bad! "No. I WANT MY MOMMY!" She screamed at him as he tried to restrain her in place. She bit his cold, clammy hand and the oddest tastes came through for such a horrific looking thing. It tasted like grandma's snicker doodles and Xmass time. The bite broke his hold just enough that she did what mommy told her to do to bad people. She kicked him in the crotch.
He winced but he didn't let go with the other hand and this time grabbed her harder and pulled her to him, in the normal world it would have been a hug but here it was a way she could not fight back. She screamed bloody murder but the only effect it had was for him to wrap his long evil fingers around her hair to drag her ear around to his mouth, whispering "Scream louder." Into her ear.
She started sobbing, unable to control herself anymore. It was all she could do not to pee herself. "Y-you taste l-l-like a cookie. This is a dream....a bad dream! Please *sob* please wake me up."
The evil boy licked another tear off her cheek, whispering into her ear again. "You will never wake up. You, just like I, belong to Her now."
Georgia kicked Vestigere in the groin again, this time hard enough that he dropped her on the spiked floor. "NOOOoooo! You...You're DUMB" She wailed as she tried to scramble away. Again he caught her and held her up off the ground by the shoulders; suddenly a terrifying feeling came over her. She felt her fear...her life draining out of her body and into his. As she tried to wriggle free, she sobbed with the last of her energy for her mommy and daddy, before finally passing out.
Vestigere picked up his quarry and wandered back into the Empress’s realm.