I heard something giggle. I quickly scanned the room. I couldn’t gauge where the sound came from, but it seemed to enjoy my verbal self-abuse.
“That’s right, I was a total loser jackass jerk-ass.” The giggle got louder. I still couldn’t locate its origin so I continued. “I am a colossal raging asshat assmonkey and I beg your forgiveness.” Now I was giggling and the book started laughing.
Something changed—quickly and violently. An invisible pressure pushed me down on my bed. My room got hazy and blurry. The magic in the air was thick and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. I should have been terrified but I wasn’t. I was excited. Clearly I’d lost it. My inner Demon was emerging more and more every day.
The book materialized and began to spin. The faster it spun, the bigger it got. A cascade of silver liquid flew from the pages and sprayed my room, making everything glow. I looked down at my t-shirt and jeans and gasped. They were covered in millions of teeny tiny lights—and I thought I was electric before. . .
The force from the magic in the room held me immobile. I could feel my heart beat in my throat and although I couldn’t move, my body trembled. I was both hot and cold. It was difficult to focus, but I knew something important was about to happen. Whether I survived it or not, remained to be seen.
The book’s binding shredded itself with a high-pitched squeal and pages flew everywhere. The liquid changed into a fine silver dust and began to swirl like the funnel of a tornado. A woman’s arm popped out of the funnel. I screamed. Then another arm. Then a foot. Then it laughed. The laugh sounded familiar. . .
The pages danced violently around my room, obscuring my view of the morphing glitter-dust funnel. Being Lucifer's daughter, I’d seen a lot of hoo-doo, but this was nuts.
“Who are you?” I called out. There was no way in Hades the magic tornado could hear me. The wind from the flying pages alone was deafening. I’d just have to wait it out.
As quickly as it started, it ended. My room was eerily quiet, and as far as I could tell I was still alive. I sat up slowly, halfway expecting to see body parts and book pages strewn around the room. But no. I could never have imagined what I saw. It made no sense and at the same time it made all the sense in the world.
“Dixie,” she said as she waited for my reaction. She looked exactly the same except her skin was silver.
“Blanche?” I whispered. “Who are you?”
“Not who,” she whispered back. “The question should be what am I?”
“Okay, I’ll bite.” I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer, but she looked pretty determined to tell me. “What the Hell are you?”
“I am what I have always been,” she replied.
“And that would be?” Enough with the cryptic bullshit.
“What do you think I am?” she asked.
“I thought you were my imaginary friend, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Oh, I’m still your friend.” She walked toward me and I backed away. Hurt flashed in her eyes, but she quickly recovered. “Don’t be afraid.”
“Okay.” I was still uneasy. It wasn’t every day you found out your invisible friend was possibly a book, had silver skin and moonlighted as a tornado. “Are you a book or a person?”
“Neither.”
She was beautiful in an alarmingly spooky way. We still looked alike, aside from her ice blue eyes and her silver skin, but she was slightly transparent. I couldn’t see completely through her but I saw shadows. I wondered if her skin was going to stay silver.
“Yes, it will.” She was very matter of fact.
“What will?”
“My skin will stay silver.” She sighed wearily. “It’s my natural color.”
Holy crap, did I say that out loud? I’d swear I just thought it. I was truly going crazy now.
“You’re not crazy.”
“You’re inside my head,” I accused her as I slid off my bed to put some more distance between us. Did I even know her? I began to pace. I always thought more clearly when I moved.
“Of course I’m inside your head,” Blanche laughed. “I’ve always been inside your head.”
“Do you even exist?” I yelled. Confused didn’t even begin to define how I felt. “Are you me?” I whispered.
“You’re getting warmer.” She was excited. “Guess again.”
“I’m schizophrenic and you’re a weird violent weather pattern?” I moaned as I ran my hands through my hair and continued to move restlessly around my room. I was feeling the need to burst out of my skin.
“Cold.” She laid down on my bed and rolled her eyes at my stupidity.