“Kacey! Oh my gosh! How’s New England been?” Alison squealed at her friend Kacey standing at her front door dressed in a blue graphic t-shirt with bunnies on it, black jeans and red sneakers.
“Huh- wait what?” Kacey spun around and analyzed her surroundings. She noticed a row of identical wooden doors along a corridor, thick purple carpeting floor and a door in front of her with the number twenty engraved on it.
“Why am I at the Greenhouse hostile?” she asked though the question was directed towards herself Alison answered anyway.
“To visit me of course and the mansion was it huge?” Alison asked pulling at her varsity friend’s arm to enter her room and Kacey still confused followed along.
“When did I tell you I was visiting you?” Kacey asked with furrowed brows being dragged along to the bed in the corner of the room, as she eyed the bed on the other side of the room where she used to sleep.
“You called a few weeks ago, telling me you wanted to move back into the dorms, I guess New England is just not for you, right?”
“I did?” Kacey ignoring her comment and running her hands through her hair.
“Hey, are you okay?” Alison asks placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Yeah, don’t worry Ali the drive- yeah the drive was tiring, I just need to sleep it off,” Kacey lied to her friend, got off from the bed and lay on her bed.
Alison told her to take all the rest she needs, walked out the room and softly shut the door. Kacey lay on her back and stared at the ceiling.
“What the hell is going on?” she muttered to herself and placed an arm over her eyes, letting out a sigh.
“Well, well, still haven’t figured it out and here I thought my successor would have brains,” a sly voice of a women echoed in her head, this propped Kacey up.
“Who said that?” she called out to an empty room.
“You don’t even know it’s me, really really underwhelming,” she spoke once more.
“Hela?” Kacey responded.
“Well, look at that, you not as dumb as you look,” she snickered.
“What happened?” Kacey mustered up the courage to ask.
“In short, you fell through the portal I made and I altered your friend’s memories, made a portal for your car,” before Kacey could ask why she had done this, Hela cut her off.
“Don’t ask why, because I’m not telling,” she giggled like a school girl around her crush.
“Wha- why?!” Kacey screamed though fell backwards from exhaustion.
“Sleep dear child, sleep and forget,” Hela’s voice coerced and faded out in Kacey’s head as her eyelids grew heavy.
“I’m not tired, I- I- I need to get back to my friends” she dozed off.
The week went by quickly, as Kacey Troy attended her journalism classes and wrote a few examinations. She packed all her clothes from her suitcases in her car to her cupboards in the Greenhouse hostile. Kacey had been invited to a doubled date with Alison Jones’s alongside her and new boyfriend, she declined at first though after much pestering Kacey agreed.
“You look so cute, of course because I dressed you,” Alison gave a hand clap.
“Ali, this is too much,” Kacey gave her a nervous chuckle as she eyed herself in mirror, a flowing crimson dress with white blossoms patterns on it and a pair of white slip on heels.
“It’s a date, it’s appropriate, okay?” Alison told her and stood next to her in the mirror wearing a black leather pants, white off the shoulder top and red stilettos.
The girls met up with their dates, Alison’s date a tall young man with rich olive skin, tattoo and piercing covered, wearing black from head to toe and Kacey’s date, he was medium height pale skinned and wearing a white blank t-shirt with black denim jeans and red sneakers.
“Hey, Alejandro, James, how are you guys doing?” Alison said in an unusual high pitched voice while waving to them across the street.
“Sup, Mamacitas,” Alejandro said with a gruff voice as they met up with the girls on the otherside.
“Hello,” James greeted with a curt nod.
“You look fine tonight, baby,” Alejandro grabbed the waist of Alison.
“I like your shoes, I have the same pair,” Kacey told James with an awkward grin as Alison told her to smile more.
“Thanks, I wanted to wear the black ones but something told me to wear the red,” he truthfully explained and also tried to smile though it came out just as awkward.
“I need water, you know gotta stay hydrated let’s hit the convenience store,” Alison said and they walked to the nearby store with a neon side in cursive letters written 9toFive.
Kacey followed closely behind them alongside James, she grabbed her bottle of still water and went to the cash register.
“Hey, look at this,” Alison picked up a box sitting on a pile of chewing gum.
“I’ve never seen that before, what is that?” Alejandro asked taking from her.
The cashier asked if they would like to pay for it as well but Alison shook her head and they walked out the store.
“Where’s Kacey?” Alison asked as she looked around the entrance of the store for her friends.
Inside, Kacey picked up the box and slowly spelt out the words on the box, P-O-C-K-Y she spelled out and the cashier speaking pulled her from her thoughts.
“It’s a new product from Japan, it comes in all different flavors,” he said to her though she wanted to ask to purchase it, Alison walked in.
“What’s wrong?” she asked and Kacey told her it was nothing and they left the store en route to the movie theater.
“That’s tickets for four then?” the female front desk receptionist asked wearing a green bellboy outfit.
“Yes, please,” Alison said handing over the money.
“I like your name,” Kacey said pointing to the name tag on the woman that read, ‘Eliza’.
“Thanks,” she responded with a smile.
“Imagine having to wear that all day,” Alison remarked with a snicker.
They sat down in one of the rows closest to the movie screen, the movie started with the viewpoint of a little girl in a pink decorated room. The movie ended with Alison crying as it was a romantic comedy; they walked out the theater and talked about going to get something to eat. They took a road with vendors lined up on both sides of the streets; Kacey took notice of a clothing shop window that sold kimono style robes.
“Maybe we should just get food here,” James noted while they stopped at the vendor’s food stall.
“Beef tongue, oh, hell no!” Alison squealed and briskly walked away as the vendor gave her a disapproving look.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“It’s not that bad, actually,” Kacey caught up to her and Alison asked how she knew that.
“I- I don’t know,” she muttered and they walked off to a nearby restaurant.
“Oh, this place is cute,” Alison stared at the chandelier that hung above them as they sat at one of the table in restaurant called Crème de la Crème.
The waiter came and took their orders, Kacey ate a few bites of her steak before Alison and Alejandro excused themselves from the table.
“So, how long have you been at Greenhouse University?” James asked while taking a sip of his red wine.
“From the beginning?” Kacey asked confused by his question.
“Oh, I thought you were a transfer student like me since I haven’t seen you around at all,” he says and Kacey stayed silent.
“So… how’s dorm life?” James awkwardly changed the conversation.
“It’s fine, it’s not home but it’s not like I can complain,”
“You shouldn’t feel like it isn’t your home because it is, home is where you are,” he advised and immediately grabbed a table cloth.
“What the- why are you crying?” James asked frazzled while Kacey sobbed in her arms on the table.
The group left the restaurant after seeing Kacey in that state, as they walked back to the dorm rooms a freakishly large and handsome man walked past them and winked at Kacey. Alison asked if she knew the man and she shook her head, her throat still sore from her crying. Alison left her at the dorm as per Kacey’s request to be left alone.
At midnight she fell asleep and at three in the morning she tossed and turned in bed.
“Jiro Harada’s Pocky sticks,” Kacey stated and shot up from her lying position.
“Junior Pilloweather in his green bellboy suit, Chesa chose the name Eliza Fanning, Macy Fitzgerald’s pink room, Akira Harada’s blue kimono, Mandisa’s beef tongue at Christmas and Colchester’s words to me,” she began to sob once more and rubbed at her eyes.
“Raphael, that idiot, always interfering where he shouldn’t!” Hela screamed from within Kacey.
“Shut up!” Kacey equally screamed back at her.
“You! You made me forget my friends,” Kacey seethed in the dark of the dorm room.
“Well, well, look who’s gotten up the courage to face me, as if” Hela laughed.
“Why did you do this?!”
“Because, I need you to keep your mouth shut and disappear as I take over your body and ultimately your life,” Hela began to manifest in front of Kacey in the Angelos Transfiguration form.
“Like hell you will!” Kacey shouted at her and got off the bed looking up at Hela as she towered over her.
“And what exactly do you think you’ll be able to do against me, huh?” Hela spat her words like venom in Kacey’s face.
“First you transport me away from my friends,” Kacey pushes Hela’s shoulder with one hand.
“You make me forget my friends and make me carry on my life as if I’ve never met them,” she pushes her with two hands this time and makes Hela stumbles back.
“Your nothing without me, who the hell do you think you are to try and take over my life!” Hela laughs.
“You little-“ Before Hela can counter Kacey kicks her in the abdomen as she falls to the ground on the purple carpeted floor.
“You listen and listen closely interfere in my life again, I’ll take you out for good,” Kacey’s head held high as she peered down at Hela.
“What exactly do you think you can do to me?” Hela no longer laughing sneers.
“This!” In her hand Kacey materializes a lightning bolt and stabs Hela in the forehead sparks flew and she slowly turns to dust, disappearing out of sight.
Kacey snickers and walks over to the mirror where her appearance changed as her hips curved out, body slimmer, features sharper and more prominent and her usual ginger locks turned completely white.
“I’m coming, guys” she whispered to herself.
“You look hot, oh my, gosh, you finally tried make-up and dyed your hair and worked out?!” Alison shrieked in delight at her friend’s new appearance.
“Thanks Ali, but I need to go,” Kacey told her carrying her suitcase out the door in the morning.
“What about your final exams?”
“Don’t worry hopefully I’ll be back before then,”
Kacey took her usual drive home, though her destination a place she considered her real home. She stopped at the tree she had an accident at also a scene of when she first met Mandisa played in her mind’s eye. A small smile played on her lips. She parked the car and got out with a piece of white chalk in her hand, drawing a circle around herself and the car knocked twice outside the circle and was teleported to New England.
“Damn this, Rip in location thingy,” Kacey moaned as each time she got closer to mansion’s appearance it disappeared.
She turned around and drove in the opposite direction headed someplace else, she researched the night before. ‘Madison Madhouse’ is one of the oldest asylums in New England, uncertain as to why they would name the place something that wasn’t a euphemism or something. Kacey thought after she passed the entrance and entered into the large building.
“Are you Miss, Troy?” an elderly man working at reception asked her with a croaky British accent.
“Yes, I’m here for Marceline Fitzgerald,”
The visit was a dead end as the older Fitz was unresponsive to any of Kacey’s questions, she gave up and sat in her car unsure of what to do.
“Kacey!” the voices of several people exclaimed.
“Guys!” she called back recognizing the voices of her friends at Newman Heights.
“Go to Japan, at Tokyo Metropolitan hospital, room twenty three,” the voice of Akira rings out in her ears. She puts her car in gear en route to the airport.
After eleven hours Kacey stands in awe at the amount of people walking on the road at the Shibuya Crossing with more foreigners than she anticipated. In the corner of her eye she spots a boy drawing graffiti on a wall, she walks up to him.
“Hey, do you even know what symbol that’s for?” she asked angered he responses by pushing her away.
“It’s a demonic sigil, what does that have to do with you?”
“Have you even seen a demon, experienced their cruelty, using you for entertainment, huh?”
He ran off clearly spooked and shee walked into the building asked the receptionist to escort her to the room Akira told her about.
[Meanwhile at Newman Heights mansion]
“How many left?” Fitz asked breathless.
“Twenty something,” Eliza replied with a sigh in her Bakunawa form.
“I don’t think we can do this for much longer,” Akira resting his head against the door of Kacey’s room.
“I hope Kacey- Nee got our message,” Jiro, eating a hotdog roll while messing with crumbs.
“I’m certain she did,” Mandisa says wiping her brow with the back of her hand.
“How gracious of them to give us breaks,” Colchester sarcastically commented and the residents agreed before a soft knock fell against the door startling Akira.
“Again!” Fitz whined.
“Jiro,” a disembodied voice echoed in his head halting him at the door.
“Jiro what’s wrong?” Akira asked him as the residents halted as well.
“Moshi moshi?” he responded and Akira asked who he was talking to like it was a phone call.
“Jiro, it’s me, Kacey, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Kacey- Nee,” he said with a smile.
“That’s Kacey, tell her to get her butt back here,” Fitz laughed.
“She said she’s trying to but the Rip in location keeps getting in the way,” Jiro says still munching on lunch.
“Try making a portal like Hela did,” Mandisa told Jiro to tell Kacey.
“She says she can’t replicate it, she’s not that powerful yet and she doesn’t know what to do,”
The room fell silent since the residents also ran out of ideas to get themselves out of the situation.
[Back to Kacey in Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital]
“Wait, I see something,” she speaks to Jiro who is young man slightly older then her with frail looking skin and long matted black hair.
Kacey looks at a translucent hole in the corner of the room, she enters it alongside her is an angelic being she recognizes as Raphael, the angel who helped her with her Angelos Transfiguration and regain her memory. They step into Newman Heights mansion and the demons trembled at the sight of this Holy being. Others still tried to fight back but to no avail. Gherro disappeared out of sight and Kacey ran immediately to her room.
“You guys!” she screamed at the top of her lungs with tears in her eyes.
The residents stood in the middle of the room holding onto Kacey in a group hug, explaining how exhausted they were, she told them they could finally go home.
“But I don’t wanna go home, I wanna stay with you guys” Jiro cried with visible tears rolling down his cheeks.
“I don’t have a home to go back to,” Eliza says and Mandisa agrees with her.
“I’ll buy a house and we can all stay together,” Kacey beams.
“You can’t or rather shouldn’t do that, you have your own life to live,” Colchester tells her and Kacey shakes her head.
“You guys are now my family and part of my what I do with my life involves you guys too,”
“Well, that settles it lets go!” Fitz finalized with glee.
The then residents of Newman Heights walked through the portal abandoning the mansion; Jiro merged with his present self and woke up from the coma, it took a few weeks for him to recover but his memories retained and health stabilized. They went on a hike in the woods to find sixteen year old Akira’s body in a cave, the suggested getting Fitz’s body too but Kacey disagreed.
“You let yourself go and you like thirty” she avoided eye contact with Fitz.
“I’m fat and old!” they began laughing while standing on the curb of a New York apartment flat with suitcases at their side.
“Guys, I promise to never forget you again as long as I live, the memories we made together will never be lost, it will never be a lost memory!” pink in the face, Kacey belted out.
“Okay, okay, we get it don’t scream you’ll scare the neighbors,” Mandisa says laughing alongside her friends.
The end… maybe.