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The Invisible

The sun shone brightly overhead as groups of teenagers walked home from their daily prisons, otherwise known as school. After mocking and eluding them all day, they were now allowed to bask in the warm glory of the sun so that they may forget some of the weight on their backs caused by homework.
One small group of five crossed the street, a tall girl with light brown hair and a reputation for rarely ever looking before crossing the street, was in the lead. Granted, Laurissa had no misfortunes to tell of as of yet, but it was bound to one day catch up with her.
Tanya allowed her attention to drift to the guys, who were now in deep conversation about what had become the most important thing in the world to them. Hackey sack. A ‘sport’ that, in her opinion, would not be missed if it dropped off the face of the earth, never to be seen again.
Laurissa, clumsy as usual, stumbled over the curb. “Okay, who didn’t see that one coming?” she asked them all as she righted herself.
“Who’s coming to the dance tomorrow?” Kurt asked Matt, completely ignoring her.
“Let me think,” Matt said, combing his memory for the names. “There’s you. . . and David. . . I think Jaci and Terri. . . Other people. . .”
“Like me. . .” Tanya added with a humorous air. Seeing the street that led off to her complex, she realized this was her time to separate from the group. “Later everybody. Have fun at your Dad’s, Laurissa.”
Tanya’s mother was there when she got home, back from her hairdressing school early. “Hi girl,” she said with that faint oriental accent that she had never quite been able to get rid of. “Sit, I’ll cut your hair, make it stay out of your face.”
Once her long locks of brown hair with a slight red tint were meticulously cut to a manageable shoulder length and her nonexistent bangs were layered, her mother also offered to do her nails as well. Tanya agreed to it, since she was utterly incompetent with cosmetics and did not often wear them. Her mom even added cute nail stickers, making her certain that her mom was in a good mood.
At quarter after six, in the middle of a radio countdown, her mom called her down to leave for the Oriental Buffet. They were going to leave her dad and brother behind, since they did not eat a lot when there, to see the people they had grown up with. 
She sat down at the ‘kid’s table’ feeling a bit annoyed that they insisted on using that name when she was fifteen. Granted, there were people seated there who were seven and eight, but still. She was soon chatting with everyone at the table, or at least trying to. Jeremy, Janice’s older brother of fourteen, was a brick wall when it came to conversation.
Hearing the call of her stomach, she got up and left the table with the rest of the half-Thai ‘kids’ to reap the benefits of the buffet.
As they all split up to get food, Tanya found a blond girl in about grade five in a pink sweatshirt pop up beside her. At first she took little notice, but soon found that she could not rid herself of her follower. No matter where she went the blond girl in the pink sweatshirt was there. Even after she had left to eat, with her return to get dessert brought the girl’s appearance.
Tanya tried hard to keep the girl out of her mind as she and her friends walked slowly to the door to leave.
“It cant be her,” said a hushed but insistent voice. It was the blond girl in the pink sweatshirt talking to a man shrouded in shadow and surrounded by what looked like a couple of lackeys. Instantly, she knew they were speaking about her.
“And why, pray tell, not?” the man asked in an airily demanding voice that chilled her to the bone. “All signs point to her.”
But our girl is supposed to be long of hair and not wear cosmetics,” she protested. “Her hair was short and she went so far as to wear nail decals! It can’t be her!”
“Oh, but she is,” The man retorted calmly. “Things like that can change in an instant when her mother is said to be a beautician. We shall take her-”
With the gentle thud of the glass door, the conversation and Tanya heard no more.
The next day brought working for free. Tanya had willingly allowed the previous night’s events slip from her memory and tried to enjoy herself as she and her fellow volunteers helped the preschoolers with whatever they happened to be doing.
And again, there was the little blond girl in the pink sweatshirt, wearing a green dress this time. But it couldn’t be, she was much too young. Maybe it was her little sister, maybe it wasn’t, but the similarities between her and Tanya’s stalker the previous night were uncanny. Tanya felt a small involuntary chill run up her spine.
After an hour and a half of the little girl popping up everywhere she went, Tanya’s job was over and she flew out of the community center after many good byes and words of thanks from both sides.
After a few long minutes, Tanya finally remembered the combination to her bike lock and was zooming down the street on her way home. As the wind whipped her hair, or rather what was left of it, she felt a sense of freedom as she flew down the road without a care.
Or at least she did until everything froze around her. Cars and people went still. The wind died instantly. A squirrel in mid-leap crossing the street halted in the air. Even the wheels on her bike had stopped moving, throwing her over the handlebars to kiss the concrete, skinning her arms and wrecking her favorite pair of pants.
To her surprise, she lay at a pair of boots that had not previously been there. The boots were ancient, not even from the same century. She looked up at the man for a better look, seeing now that the footwear belonged to a man in a long flowing cloak and clothing that seemed to come out of a fantasy novel. At his side was an all too familiar looking voluptuous woman with long locks of golden blond wearing a green dress. A number of other men, lackeys to Tanya’s nearest guess, had begun to surround them to ensure no chance of her escape.
Frightened did not even begin to cover what Tanya felt at that moment. She was terrified of the fact that nothing but this small group and her were the only ones who had not yet fallen victim to this absence of time, and these others did not seem all that friendly to say the least.
“You must come with us,” the man in the cloak requested softly, as though making sure that no one could over hear them. “You can trust me.”
“Trust you?!” Tanya said in utter disbelief. After this? Hell no.
“Yes,” the woman insisted. “My name is Tarisana. You have a power within you that can help us. Hey!” she exclaimed suddenly. “Don’t do that! You don’t know what it might do?”
Tanya had begun attempting to form words to protest, but instead found herself speaking in tongues, as she so often did when she was scared or nervous beyond words. She was confused about why she would be worried about a few words spoken in tongues, after all, she was one of the people who had frozen time, but soon found out what had worried her so.
Tanya found herself back on her bike with a slight lurch, riding carefree down the street once more. All injuries that she had accumulated had vanished without a trace and only the mental scars from the event remained. She briefly considered that she may be losing her mind as she continued home pondering over the fact that the same girl had appeared three times in the past two days, each time at a different age.
By the time she was home, she decided it best to try and forget about it, for her sanity’s sake. She prepared for the dance tonight and tried to remember who was coming, or anything else that might divert her mind from the day’s events.
The dance was great, considering there were about twenty people who showed up at the fire hall. Terri obsessed for the better part of five minutes over how incredibly cute Tanya’s new haircut was.
Tanya went out onto the floor and danced her heart out, as usual. It had once been the bulk of her life before she moved and now these dances were about all she had to recapture those days. She went on without pause until her bladder called her away.
She took her leave of the floor for a moment, only to find that when she emerged from the ladies room, there was a group of familiar people awaiting her, and she was not at all pleased at their sudden appearance. These people looked, now more than before, as though they had come directly out of one of her fantasy novels. They were quick in blocking off all exits or any hope of a getaway.
“What do you want?” Tanya pleaded loudly. “Can’t you just leave me alone? I didn’t do anything to you.” C’mon, she pleaded silently, Why aren’t you coming? You can still move this time.
She felt a hand fall on her shoulder, and then all fell into blackness. She wished she were a screamer, that she could have gotten her friend’s attention. Then again, she believed someone would notice her disappearance as well.
She awoke to find herself in a translucent blue room. The walls seemed to radiate energy, but they did not seem to be generated by anything, or have any power source of any kind. It did not even have any supports to keep it up. It was as though it were made of blue light. When her head went to rest against it to see if it was actually there, she received quite a shock that spread through her and lingered for minutes longer.
She also noticed that her wrists seemed to be suffering from rope burn and her hands remained firmly tied behind her back. Her feet seemed to be enduring the same conditions.
“Sleepin’ Beau’y’s woken up,” a man with a gruff voice and a British accent called.
“So, what is your name, honored guest?” The cloaked man asked regally.
Tanya stared at him in disbelief. Who was he to ask her this, as though she might be royalty when he had made sure that her hands and feet had been tied, leaving her without any chance to defend herself? Who was this guy?
“Ah, our guest isn’t much of a talker,” He concluded from her silence with the same self-important regal tone. “I shall introduce myself then first. I am commonly known as Merlin. I believe you know of me from those stories of King Arthur? And yes, he did actually once exist.”
“I’ve been switching names endlessly since the Salem witch trials,” the woman explained lightly. “Actually, I was before that too, come to think of it. What was I before? Tarisana? I don’t like that name anymore. I think today I’ll be Peaseblossom.”
“The fairy?” Tanya asked skeptically as she struggled with her bonds. This was becoming weird beyond all reason. “Right. That doesn’t tell me what you want with me, or who these other people are, or what you want with me!”
“Oh, that’s simple,” Merlin replied casually. “You are magic incarnate, just like the rest of us. You were born with a soul of magic and we want it. If you are stupid and decide not to give it to us, we will have you destroyed.”
This was more than she could possibly take in. She held her tongue and attempted to look defiant and sure of herself, while inside her mind there was turmoil. How was she supposed to, hypothetically, give them her soul? Wouldn’t that kill her anyway? Wasn’t magic only present in fantasy? More questions flooded her mind and she desperately hoped that they were bluffing.
The staring contest between them finally broke as Merlin was called away and Tanya was left alone in her cell. She was cold, hungry and desperate for escape. She was finally able to bring her hands in front of her, giving her slight hope of untying some of her bond, though was quickly discouraged and horrified by the fact that there were no knots.
A thought suddenly occurred to her out of the back of her restless mind. This was exactly what happened in one of my stories! Tanya quickly brushed the thought away, unwilling to even consider it as a possibility. Her stories couldn’t came true. It was impossible.
Her unusual captors returned a few hours later with a sandwich for her, looking pleased and slightly disappointed that they would not have to force feed her. Tanya was only able to hold out for fifteen minutes before she could not bear it any longer. Though her starved stomach welcomed the food, her mind soon wished she hadn’t. Soon after the last bite, the room began to swirl into a familiar darkness.
“Four of you to make one decent spell!” Peaseblossom was screeching none too quietly at four cowering figures as Tanya awoke with a head that was as heavy as a bowling ball and a buzzing in her ear. “Go on and kill the brat before she wakes up!”
“But Merlin said-” one began to protest.
“I don’t care!” she shrieked. “Just get the magic and get rid of her! I’m not gonna sit around and wait for Merlin to convince her to join us!”
Tanya was jerked fully awake now, all aftereffects of the drug forgotten. She began to stumble over her words, speaking in tongues as she had done before and silently praying that this would save her once more.
A sudden wave of power burst forth from within her, breaking apart all the bonds which held her captive and threw back her arguing captors. They were stunned from the blow and soon gave in to the darkness.
Merlin burst into the room, totally unaware of what had just passed. He saw his allies sprawled on the floor, unconscious, and then he saw Tanya floating a few feet in the air, her eyes clouded over as though conferring with some divine spirit. Instantly, his priorities became clear and he began to do all in his power to stop her.
Tanya was completely unknowing of all this, preoccupied with many other voices suddenly flooding her head. They all had their story to tell, to explain why they were present at this time and what they wanted of her. She felt none of the lightning or fire that was aimed at her, nor did she hear Merlin’s desperate protests.
Once the voices in had subsided and everyone had come back into the world of the conscious, she looked at them as though they were bad children. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves?” she asked them, feet still hovering above the ground. Merlin’s relentless attack subsided slightly, as though to show he was listening. “For centuries, you have been feeding off of other people’s magic so as to give yourselves immortality.
“Do you know how many sprits and souls have taken refuge in me because I’m an invisible? Or rather I used to be before they all came to me for refuge and blew my cover completely. They thought I could hide all of them from you, little scourges of what remains of the magical world. You are the reason magic doesn’t exist any more!”
Tanya paused a minute, both for dramatic effect and to consider their punishment. She did not wish death upon them, but something much worse. Finally, the perfect punishment revealed itself. “You wanted to be the strongest in the land, so I’m gonna put you in the one place where you will have no competition, limbo.”
Her mouth formed those strange words once more and soon a black pit swirled beneath her feet and began to suck in all around it. Those whom it was attempting to seize would not easily give any ground to it, so instead of just taking anything within range of its maw, the hole began to suck in the building itself. Peaseblossom and the four incompetent minions were soon swept into with the wall.
Merlin protested, even against the crumbling building, to share the fate of his former allies. After only a few moments, however, he was soon caught in the trap of the black hole and, with a flash of light, he was gone to never bother another soul of magic.
Tanya collapsed onto the ground where the black hole had once existed, utterly exhausted from the entire ordeal. She willingly gave way to the blackness that soon consumed her and fell into its reassuring rest.
Her eyes opened a while later, only to find herself in the last place she would have expected. She was back at the dance, full of energy once more. It was as though she had never left as she went to join Terry and Jaci, and she began to dance away her problems. She could worry about them another time, and ponder over the mysteries of what had happened another day.