[dream]

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

[warning for light torture elements]
[She's Cinderella, running down polished glass hallways. (She is also, at the same time, a rat.) A labyrinth, with walls stretching above her head, too thick to shatter. There's a goal, a reward, a way out somewhere, if she can just find it.

[The center: sunflower seeds (huge to a human, normal-sized to a rat), colored green and silver. She reaches for the reward.]

ZAP

[The shock is painful and from nowhere (or a hand on the dial in Milgram's experiment). She backs away, turns to try the maze again.]

ZAP

[She freezes, waiting for the pain to fade.]

ZAP

[It continues no matter what, and there's nothing to do. And now the maze is clear (her perspective is overhead, even as she's stuck below) and there is no exit, no reward, only endless glass walls, teasing offers of treats, and now the shocks.]

ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP

[She sags, sliding down the wall and pulling her knees to her chest, and tries to restrain the twitching of her muscles against the torture.]

Comments

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

[She doesn't shrink away, though she looks mildly confused]

Um... not really. Only when they get taken off, 'cause of the hairs on my skin. The shots and stuff hurt, but they're for my own good.

[mnementomori]

Sh...ots? [Xion looks horrified. She doesn't know what they are, exactly, but from her experience--] Who's doing it? Who's hurting you? I'll make them stop.

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

The doctors. They gotta do it so they can find a way to treat it.

[She repeats:] It's for my own good.

[mnementomori]

For your own...? I don't get it, that's just...they shouldn't be hurting you!

[she grasps Jessica's arms, looking around for a culprit she can focus her blame on.]

It's not good! Not at all!

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

[She squirms, worried and upset at the situation.] But... Mommy and Daddy...

[Sniffle]

[mnementomori]

Who...?

[she pulls the suddenly smaller girl into a hug, not sure what else to do.]

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

[Holy shit] Don't you have a mommy and daddy?

[mnementomori]

[she shakes her head.] No...I don't.

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

It's okay... I used to not but they adopted me so now I do.

They're the people that take care of you and make sure you're all right. There's something wrong with me, so they're getting the doctors to try and fix it.

[mnementomori]

People who take care of you...but...you're getting hurt. What's wrong with you? Are you sick? How does all this help?

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

[she sniffles] I don't know! They can't find it and I'm scared I'm gonna be wrong forever!

[At this point she stops being a mass in Xion's arms. Her glasses clatter to the ground.]

[mnementomori]

You're not wrong, you're--

[Xion starts, not sure how to cope with her friend's sudden transparency.]

What...what happened?

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

[She stands, crying intangible tears.] it- it just happens! I didn't mean to do it!

[mnementomori]

Jessica--i-it's okay. I was just confused...

[she reaches out to try to touch her, but can't feel anything. Her hand goes straight through the other girl's arm.]

So it just...happens by accident?

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

[she nods, wiping her face] They don't know why. It's scary.

[mnementomori]

Okay...but...you're not hurt, are you? Is that all that happens? You turn all... [she gestures.] See-through?

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

I wake up on top of the sheets a lot.

And... there's stuff that's there for me but not anyone else.

[mnementomori]

Stuff? What stuff? [she sits on her knees, trying to get a little comfortable. It's not often she's around other people as small as she is anymore.]

[Warning for a gory image- second link]

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

um... I don't really know. They're... just things.

[The wall behind her shimmers, now reflecting the two of them, but inside a doctor's office. Strange (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/furikku/visualize/city_pict8a.jpg) things (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/furikku/visualize/gorefiend.jpg) wander around them.]

[mnementomori]

[Xion jumps, putting a hand on Jessica's arm again. She wonders if she should be reaching for her weapon. She's more startled than scared, however.]

Are they dangerous? Do we have to fight?

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

[One draws near, then passes through Xion. Jessica watches it warily, shifting herself out of its path.]

[mnementomori]

[she bites back a yelp of surprise. But they seemed harmless...]

Oh...so they're like you. But are you safe like this?

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

Like me?

I don't know... sometimes they run into me and it hurts. I fell down the stairs one time.

[mnementomori]

Oh...so they can touch you when you're like them...

Can you turn back?

[notvitiligo.livejournal.com]

They always can touch me.

[She nods, then concentrates. After a few false tries, she does manage to become solid again, quickly slipping her clothes back on..]

Nobody else can see them or feel them or anything. The doctors say it's... um... like dreams when you're awake.