Week 2, Title: The Girl
Dec. 14th, 2015 06:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swirlsofpurpleMia’s afraid for a moment after she wakes but then realises the figure is just a girl, around the same age as her.
“Who are you?” She asks.
The girl doesn’t answer, her eyes just dart around the room and she bites her lip.
“Are you scared? You don’t have to be. I’ll put the light on, that will be better.” She flips the switch and the girl disappears.
By the morning the girl is lost to the world of dreams.
*
Mia’s playing in the garden when she sees the girl. She’s familiar, Mia’s seen her before; maybe in a dream. She remembers the green dress and golden curls.
“Are you my imaginary friend?” Mia asks.
The girl stares blankly, biting her lip. The light seems to pass through her. It’s weird. The girl grins and in a lilting giggle asks, “Follow me.”
Mia’s hesitant at first but the girl’s eyes are sparkling with promise and so she follows. They run together through the grass laughing and dancing and spinning around.
Suddenly the girl pauses, her forehead crinkling as though she’s remembering something she forgot. She looks afraid for a moment and then shakes it off.
“Where are we going?” Mia asks.
The girl just giggles and runs on. Mia eventually catches up, panting to get back her breath. Then she looks up. There’s a waterfall, running off into little streams.
Mia’s mouth opens in awe, “It’s beautiful.”
*
The next time Mia sees the girl it’s winter. The bottom of her green dress is torn and her feet are bare.
“Mama says it’s too cold to go out without gloves and scarves. You should put your shoes back on,” Mia states.
The girl looks at her with wide eyes, teeth against her lip, she holds a hand out tentatively, with a voice that sounds like crying she pleads, “Follow me.”
Mia knows she shouldn’t, it’s cold and getting dark, but the girl needs her help and she can’t not go.
She’s slow, stomping along the snow-slushed ground and the girl keeps flitting looks back at her, silently urging her to keep up. The girl moves faster than makes sense and seems brighter against the dark.
Mia asks, “Are you a ghost?”
There’s a determination and urgency to the path they take. She’s probably imagining it. Mama says she has a wild imagination. But she wonders whether the girl is taking her to a place where something bad happened.
Before they get there a neighbour finds her, tells her off and turns her around, placing her in their car to take her back home. She sees the girl through the car window, face crumpled in desperation, she looks lost.
*
It’s the middle of a hot summer day and Mia’s using a newspaper to fan herself. She spots the girl in the distance.
“Follow me,” the girl orders. And immediately turns around and begins walking. There’s a surety there. She needs to lead Mia to something and knows just where it is.
Mia has to run as fast as she can to keep up, but as they head into woodland the tangle of brambles slows her down and she loses sight of the girl.
*
It’s frustrating, her inability to help the girl. She looks all around the area, researches using all the local history books. There’s nothing, no odd deaths of a little blonde girl in a green dress.
Mia is surprised the next time she sees her. The girl is so small, and crying, she whimpers out, “Follow me.”
Mia knows the girl’s the same size she always was and that it’s her who has had the growth spurt. She also realises that those are the only two words the girl can say and that the girl doesn’t need her to follow her anywhere. The girl just needs her.
She holds her arms out and the girl runs into them. Mia doesn’t really understand how the hug works, given how insubstantial the girl is. But it seems to soothe her.
*
The girl haunts Mia long after she sees her for the last time. It burrows into her soul, filling her with the need to save others like she could never save that girl. She joins The Corps straight out of college. And two years later is recruited to a secret black ops division. She’s good at her job, like she’s born for it. She saves people.
She’s been in the division for three years when it begins. Ghosts start popping up everywhere. There is chaos. The creatures can’t be stopped, none can land a blow. The world is ending. Mia likes to think she’s an expert. She puts herself forward. And that’s how she comes to be sitting in a plain room with a man staring at her pensively.
“Have you heard of the weapon we have?” he asks.
“To get past the ghosts and fix things? Sure, don’t know the details though.”
“The weapon is a person. They have a power. Their kind are the ones creating the ghosts. They are the only ones who can stop this. We need this person to trust us, to co-operate with us. They won’t. You were tasked with a special mission. You don’t remember that now, it was a different timeline.”
Mia runs the words over again and again in her head, “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
“Let me show you.”
*
Mia stares. She can’t believe her eyes. The girl. The little ghost girl, is strapped in a chair unconscious with nodes and needles all over her head. How did she get here?
“You’re torturing her!”
“No. We’re just keeping her in stasis. Training her to be what she needs to be. She’s the only one who can save the world. But she wasn’t co-operating. So we decided to provide a connection for her. A pleasant world. You volunteered. Every time she tried to escape we let her, used her own power against her, and sent her projection back through time to you.”
“It was not a pleasant world. She was terrified.”
“We provided a friend, a peaceful environment, she rejected it.”
“That’s because she knew it wasn’t real! She knew something was wrong and she was trying to escape.”
“Well we did what we had to. It’s irrelevant what either of you think. This project had the added benefit of making you both invested. She will protect you and you will protect her. And to do this you must both do what we ask.”
Anger flows through Mia but she grits her teeth and helps the girl the only way she can, she nods. The man grins obnoxiously.
She kneels in front of the girl and her eyes flutter open. Mia gives the girl a smile and there’s a dangerous determined spark in her eye as she says,
“Follow me.”
“Who are you?” She asks.
The girl doesn’t answer, her eyes just dart around the room and she bites her lip.
“Are you scared? You don’t have to be. I’ll put the light on, that will be better.” She flips the switch and the girl disappears.
By the morning the girl is lost to the world of dreams.
*
Mia’s playing in the garden when she sees the girl. She’s familiar, Mia’s seen her before; maybe in a dream. She remembers the green dress and golden curls.
“Are you my imaginary friend?” Mia asks.
The girl stares blankly, biting her lip. The light seems to pass through her. It’s weird. The girl grins and in a lilting giggle asks, “Follow me.”
Mia’s hesitant at first but the girl’s eyes are sparkling with promise and so she follows. They run together through the grass laughing and dancing and spinning around.
Suddenly the girl pauses, her forehead crinkling as though she’s remembering something she forgot. She looks afraid for a moment and then shakes it off.
“Where are we going?” Mia asks.
The girl just giggles and runs on. Mia eventually catches up, panting to get back her breath. Then she looks up. There’s a waterfall, running off into little streams.
Mia’s mouth opens in awe, “It’s beautiful.”
*
The next time Mia sees the girl it’s winter. The bottom of her green dress is torn and her feet are bare.
“Mama says it’s too cold to go out without gloves and scarves. You should put your shoes back on,” Mia states.
The girl looks at her with wide eyes, teeth against her lip, she holds a hand out tentatively, with a voice that sounds like crying she pleads, “Follow me.”
Mia knows she shouldn’t, it’s cold and getting dark, but the girl needs her help and she can’t not go.
She’s slow, stomping along the snow-slushed ground and the girl keeps flitting looks back at her, silently urging her to keep up. The girl moves faster than makes sense and seems brighter against the dark.
Mia asks, “Are you a ghost?”
There’s a determination and urgency to the path they take. She’s probably imagining it. Mama says she has a wild imagination. But she wonders whether the girl is taking her to a place where something bad happened.
Before they get there a neighbour finds her, tells her off and turns her around, placing her in their car to take her back home. She sees the girl through the car window, face crumpled in desperation, she looks lost.
*
It’s the middle of a hot summer day and Mia’s using a newspaper to fan herself. She spots the girl in the distance.
“Follow me,” the girl orders. And immediately turns around and begins walking. There’s a surety there. She needs to lead Mia to something and knows just where it is.
Mia has to run as fast as she can to keep up, but as they head into woodland the tangle of brambles slows her down and she loses sight of the girl.
*
It’s frustrating, her inability to help the girl. She looks all around the area, researches using all the local history books. There’s nothing, no odd deaths of a little blonde girl in a green dress.
Mia is surprised the next time she sees her. The girl is so small, and crying, she whimpers out, “Follow me.”
Mia knows the girl’s the same size she always was and that it’s her who has had the growth spurt. She also realises that those are the only two words the girl can say and that the girl doesn’t need her to follow her anywhere. The girl just needs her.
She holds her arms out and the girl runs into them. Mia doesn’t really understand how the hug works, given how insubstantial the girl is. But it seems to soothe her.
*
The girl haunts Mia long after she sees her for the last time. It burrows into her soul, filling her with the need to save others like she could never save that girl. She joins The Corps straight out of college. And two years later is recruited to a secret black ops division. She’s good at her job, like she’s born for it. She saves people.
She’s been in the division for three years when it begins. Ghosts start popping up everywhere. There is chaos. The creatures can’t be stopped, none can land a blow. The world is ending. Mia likes to think she’s an expert. She puts herself forward. And that’s how she comes to be sitting in a plain room with a man staring at her pensively.
“Have you heard of the weapon we have?” he asks.
“To get past the ghosts and fix things? Sure, don’t know the details though.”
“The weapon is a person. They have a power. Their kind are the ones creating the ghosts. They are the only ones who can stop this. We need this person to trust us, to co-operate with us. They won’t. You were tasked with a special mission. You don’t remember that now, it was a different timeline.”
Mia runs the words over again and again in her head, “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
“Let me show you.”
*
Mia stares. She can’t believe her eyes. The girl. The little ghost girl, is strapped in a chair unconscious with nodes and needles all over her head. How did she get here?
“You’re torturing her!”
“No. We’re just keeping her in stasis. Training her to be what she needs to be. She’s the only one who can save the world. But she wasn’t co-operating. So we decided to provide a connection for her. A pleasant world. You volunteered. Every time she tried to escape we let her, used her own power against her, and sent her projection back through time to you.”
“It was not a pleasant world. She was terrified.”
“We provided a friend, a peaceful environment, she rejected it.”
“That’s because she knew it wasn’t real! She knew something was wrong and she was trying to escape.”
“Well we did what we had to. It’s irrelevant what either of you think. This project had the added benefit of making you both invested. She will protect you and you will protect her. And to do this you must both do what we ask.”
Anger flows through Mia but she grits her teeth and helps the girl the only way she can, she nods. The man grins obnoxiously.
She kneels in front of the girl and her eyes flutter open. Mia gives the girl a smile and there’s a dangerous determined spark in her eye as she says,
“Follow me.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2015-12-15 07:32 pm (UTC)