She was surprised how the path seamlessly transformed from stage to audience booth. Somehow the chill of the air plunged, her feet felt the spongey carpet… And before Calypso knew it, a seat was prepared for her. Just suddenly there, as if it was there always.

As much as Calypso wanted to sit down, finally rest after—what, three days of nonstop terror? She knew she couldn’t take this at face value. It could grow legs. Teeth. Legs with teeth dotted across the surface.

But the “lights” started to dim, clearly the cue the “show” was about to begin. With a grimace, the skeletal monster girl sat down in her seat.

The surrounding shadows acted as curtains, as the stage lit itself, which slowly fanned the darkness away.

A high-strung, yet browbeaten shape clicked across the stage. As the figure sauntered, barely doing so, the stage around it slowly built the scene: the forest of Willow Reverie, down a very rough, barely used path. Despite the limitations of the “technology”, the jittering pace of the shadow animatronic expertly conveyed how this poor shape was doing both physically and mentally.

A lithesome frame, the definition came into play when it was clear she was constantly on alert. Not necessarily fearful, there was a routine to the horizon scanning, a purpose. The outline of very… Interesting array of clothing mashing together. Some hung off, other desperately clung to the exhausted girl’s body.

The most interesting of the assortment, was the girl wearing these goggles on her face. Racing goggles, strapped over her eyes... Not being able to hide that exhaustion through the tainted lenses.

But the thing Calypso noticed the most, was the girl’s hair. Not the fact that it was shorter than hers—still had bangs and volume to it, but that wasn’t the point. It was the fact that this girl, after looking around herself… Touched the back of her head. Not in pain… But it was very clear that Calypso was missing context here, at this moment.

It was such a trip, seeing the girl respond to something before Calypso could gather her bearings. She didn’t even understand what was going on at first.

But as the fleet of bicycles began to swarm around the exhausted girl… Calypso winced.

This “kind” of scene, the skeletal monster girl saw in all sorts of forms when she was human. When she was in high school. She counted herself among the lucky, not only knowing someone that could absolutely fight for her, but the fact that her greatest sin if it were, it built a reputation that added to her unapproachable aura.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

So when she saw bullying in progress… She couldn’t help but be sympathetic.

Now every single name and threat Calypso issued out, stabbed into her brain and chest. Rightfully.

Despite their differing body language, it didn’t matter, the stage rendered them all the same, basic human shape. The group scrambled away from their thrown-down bikes, started the chase the moment the exhausted girl made her move. In an impressive display of skill that Calypso never would’ve guessed the girl had, she immediately climbed up the nearest tree. But there were simply too many of them.

They gathered around the trunk, a mass of grasping hands grabbed the exhausted girl from the back and yanked her down all together. So fervent in getting the girl to stand back up, Calypso thought they would fight each other for the dubious “honor”.

But they managed to do it, kept the girl in their shared grasp so she didn’t run away. The shadow puppets’ heads formed mouths, but were still primitive enough that Calypso couldn’t read the lips. But it didn’t matter. As the animals gloated, the agonized girl shrunk in place, despite not being able to move.

The pack animals proceeded to turn her around, spun her roughly, purposefully, so she could end up nauseous and dazed. The agonized girl’s animatronic manifested a “flap” for the back of her head… One of the beasts lifting her hair up, which caused an immediate uproar of laughter.

There was this… White spot, on the back of the girl’s head. Which was notable, given the lack of color in these presentations. It made Calypso’s already boiling blood spike in pressure. Were they making fun of her disability? Did they hit her so hard, that it was a welt…?

But no. It became so… Disgustingly clear, once one of the pack animals lifted something from their mouths. A wad of gum.

Laughter that not only echoed throughout the theatre, but made the seat rattle. But Calypso was already shaking in her seat, gripping the arms and raking her claws against the tips.

The beast that had the wad leaned over the agonized girl, taunted her by waving it in front of her face as the rest of the band writhed with mirth. Kneed her in the back for good measure, just to confirm that they held the power in this fucked-up scenario.

It soon became clear that they didn’t want to instigate further, after a few pained moments. They let her go, but not before kicking up dirt from the trail, so the girl could be coated in it. Stomped on the bag that she had, before cycling away with their heads thrown back into the night.

Calypso pursed her lips, to keep from tearing up. She might have figured why, the girl wore those goggles now.

The agonized girl knelt down, before her ruined back. Trembled alone, in the dark, buried her face in her gloved hands.

Calypso wanted her to let that pain out. Not hold it within, not let it eat her from the inside. The skeletal monster girl knew outside hurt enough, knew more importantly of how dehumanization can take its toll.

But she knew this was the past. Knew that this was going to go south.

And nothing highlighted that trajectory more, as the agonized girl dug into her dirty bag, thus pulled out the two pieces of paper of the Tome.