Visiting Hours (Dreamchild)

[helgadl]

It was just typical that after going all the way to England in search of one girl it would turn out that she was attending a boarding school back in America.

To cut a long story short, Helga Sinclair had almost helped to destroy an ancient civilisation for her own personal gain, and had paid the price dearly for it. A strange, crystalline infection had permeated her cells, and was slowly but sure turning her flesh into solid crystal. Helga had consulted the best doctors that (admittedly stolen) money could buy, however none of them had ever seen anything even remotely resembling her condition before. As the crystalline mutation began to spread across her face her desperation to find a cure increased, and when it seemed that all hope was lost one of her hired scientists finally found an answer.

There was a certain genome that, if given to Helga through a blood transfusion, would completely reverse the process. The problem was that this gene was incredibly rare, and even if you found a person with it they had to be the same blood type as you in order for the transfusion to be safe (which was disastrous for a rare O negative type like Helga). She had only been able to locate one bloodline that had the gene she needed, of which only one member was also an O negative blood type: Alice Pleasance Liddell. This was the girl whom Helga had gone to England searching for, and whose room at St. Blair’s academy she was currently breaking into.

Helga’s condition had long since passed the point where she could conceal it without it being incredibly obvious that she was hiding something, thus preventing her from trying to arrange a meeting with Miss Liddell in any authorised manner. Instead she had elected to sneak into the school under the cover of early evening whilst the students were distracted by dinner, quickly locating the correct room with the help of a layout she’d found by hacking into the school’s systems and picking the lock. Slipping inside, Helga locked the door behind her in case someone happened to check it, before looking around the room. The database she’d found had said that Alice did not have a roommate, and Helga was relieved to see that this was indeed the case, for it meant that they would be able to talk uninterrupted.

Settling into a chair beside the window, Helga half turned to look out into the night so that the crystalline side of her face was away from the door. To anyone entering the room, it would seem as if she was perfectly normal, at least until she turned her head. Now all she had to do was wait.

[Dreamchild]

Eventually, there came the distinctive sound of a key scraping through a metal lock, followed by the turn of the door handle. The door was unlocked and someone pushed it open. The silhouette of a young girl stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Alice made a habit of turning on the room's lights with a flick of the switch whenever she entered her room at this time. Unfortunately, the light in the room didn't work. Alice shrugged it off. Nothing serious; she would just have to replace the bulb soon. Following that, she gently tossed her bag on her bed and faced the door to unfasten her uniform's necktie. She hadn't noticed the stranger in her room, but this was soon remedied.

As Alice loosened her tie, realization etched her face; she felt the presence of a complete stranger. Not only was it in close proximity, but it was inside her room. Alice, with a half-loose tie dangling on her neck, turned swiftly and gasped when she saw her. There was a unfamiliar woman in her room, sitting on a chair by the window. What she could see, with the bare minimum of light inside the room, was half of a woman's face. From where she stood, Alice couldn't see the other half of the woman's face. Alice's mood shifted from shock to uneasiness, and finally to annoyance.

"Who are you?" she asked sternly. She placed her hands on her hips and stared at the woman with a serious look. "What are you doing in my room? And how did you get in here?" Alice's biggest regret in this situation was that she couldn't disguise herself as Dreamchild. She had her costume in her bag, which was zipped tightly, but she couldn't simply put on the costume in front of this stranger. Moreover, this was Alice Liddell's room; becoming Dreamchild in this room would have drawn too much suspicion on herself, which she couldn't afford.

[helgadl]

Helga tensed instinctively as she heard the sound of the key turning in the lock, and she quickly double-checked that the crystalline side of her face wasn’t visible from the doorway. She recognised the girl who entered as her target (having seen her picture on display back in the Liddell household when she’d visited them – not without them knowing of course), and couldn’t help but smirk as she realised that Alice hadn’t even noticed her presence yet.

She remained perfectly still and quiet as the girl began to go through the motions of relaxing after another day at school, waiting for Alice to notice her before she made any move. Curiously, Alice seemed to tense up as if aware of her presence before she even caught sight of her, and Helga was forced to conclude that she must of made some kind of sound without realising it. After all, it wasn’t like the girl could have magically sensed her presence.

“Alice Pleasance Liddell,” stated Helga with a sly grin, her one visible eye fixed on Alice (or as close as she could get it given the odd angle she was sitting at, “how... nice to finally meet you.” Normally for this kind of encounter she would have dressed in a luxurious evening gown, however in her current condition this would have exposed far more of her affliction that she was comfortable with showing. For this reason she’d elected to simple wear her usual work clothes and overcoat, for what they lacked in elegance they made up for in utility (providing plenty of spaces to conceal useful devices).

“To answer your questions one at a time, my name is Helga Sinclair,” she continued, brushing a spec of dirt off her sleeve as she did so, “I’m in your room because I wish to speak with you on an urgent matter, and as for how I got in: your lock couldn’t have been easier to pick unless you’d actually left the key in it.”

[Dreamchild]

Alice felt a lump in her throat when this--who broke and entered her room--said her full name. It shouldn't have been surprising, considering that this woman entered this room without being detected, as far as Alice knew, so it made sense that the woman who entered her room also knew her name. But it certainly wasn't a comfortable feeling. How vulnerable can one be if an ominous stranger could break into their residence so easily?

Alice was visibly reverting from annoyance to fear, but she was still brave enough to hold her own. She remained very still in her place, neither stepping back or stepping closer to the woman. If this light-haired, trench-coated, sultry-voiced woman could be trusted, her name was Helga Sinclair. She had to speak to Alice about something very important. If this woman could pick a lock so easily, and knew Alice's full name, who's to say she didn't know more? Perhaps of Alice's deepest secret? This was a terrible feeling.

After a pause, Alice calmed herself and spoke. Her tone lost most of its annoyance. "What do you want, Mrs. Sinclair? Ms. Sinclair? Mrs., Ms...?"

[helgadl]

“It’s normally Ms,” confirmed Helga, “but please, call me Helga. I don’t usually let people, but I’ll make an exception in this instance because I need your help.” She was rather impressed with how well this child was holding up given the circumstances. Most children her age would have been crippled with fear upon finding a strange adult waiting for them in their room, and although Alice did look scared, she was at least retaining her composure.

“Don’t be alarmed at what you see,” instructed Helga sternly, “believe me, it bothers me a lot more than it could possibly bother you.” Without any further ado she turned to face Alice, revealing the crystalline side of her face for the first time. At the same moment she drew back the clump of hair she’d been using to conceal her glowing eye (lest the reflection from it should appear in the mirror), thus revealing the full extent of her horrific visage to the girl.

“As you can see,” continued Helga in the same tone as if she’d revealed nothing more shocking than a birthmark, “it’s not for any insignificant reason that I’ve gone to such trouble to find you.”

[Dreamchild]

Sinclair wished to be referred to as Helga. Alice was accustomed to addressing to people both formally and informally, so referring to a stranger by her first name wasn't a problem for her. Helga then sternly told Alice not to be alarmed. What was there to be alarmed about?

Alice got her answer, and it hit her hard. Helga turned her head to reveal her complete visage, but half of it was covered by a deeply blue rock, or crystals--what were they?! Even more disturbing than the crystalline half of Helga's face was her glowing, always opened eye. Alice was disturbed by the flaring eyeball. Though she managed not to shriek (fortunately for Helga), she still reacted strongly. As she stared at Helga's freakish visage, Alice instinctively touched her own right cheek, as if to make sure she still had flesh. She was thankfully too dumbfounded to make any loud noises. All she could manage was a soft, sincere whisper.

"Oh, my goodness..."

Alice stared at the glowing eye long enough. She nervously gripped her left elbow with her right hand and looked away. "I'm sorry, but... how could I possibly help you?" She tried to keep her focus on Helga's more human eye, although she inadvertently looked to the crystalline half of her face repeatedly. She hoped that the woman wouldn't be offended. "Wh--what do I have that could, could cure this?"

She hoped Helga's facial problem wasn't contagious. It would have been very unpleasant to explain such an infection inside the academy's infirmary.

[helgadl]

Helga couldn’t help but chuckle slightly as Alice reacted with the usual levels of shock and fear that she noted in people who beheld her, however there was no real humour behind the action. Her condition had long since passed the point where she could be at all flippant about it. On the plus side, the girl’s momentarily dumbfounded reaction did give Helga time to take her first real good look at her unimpeded by the strange angle she’d been previously sat at.

Alice was slightly taller than she’d expected her to be, the photograph that she’d seen at the Liddell home apparently having been out of date by a year or so, however other than that her appearance was mostly unchanged. Seeing her in person like this it struck Helga that there was something oddly familiar about her, and she got the strangest feeling that she’d seen her on the news at some point, although for the life of her she couldn’t remember what the story had been. Probably just some ‘human interest’ piece about the school they’d tacked on at the end to fill up space.

“It’s not contagious,” said Helga coldly as she saw Alice quickly check her own cheek for any change, “more’s the pity.” Every time she consulted someone about this problem, be they a doctor, scientist (or apparently now a schoolgirl too), their first was concern was always for their own health rather than her own. Needless to say, it was beginning to grate on her nerves.

“Tell me,” she continued, tone softening slightly as she recalled that she needed this girl to help her, “how much do you know about genetics; specifically a rare mutation known as the Vorpal Gene?”

[Dreamchild]

Helga chuckled at Alice's initial reaction, but her emotion turned on a dime to annoyance, no doubt because Alice felt her own face to make sure it wasn't crystallized. The girl jolted and removed her hand from her face so quickly she practically chopped the air. Embarrassed that she inadvertently offended the woman, she winced. "I'm sorry!"

At last, Helga was getting to the point, and with better temperament. She asked about a mutation, but, unfortunately, this was lost on the girl. Alice regrettably shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I don't know anything about that." After a short pause she asked, hoping to appease. "Do you?"

[helgadl]

“Not surprising,” admitted Helga, “I suppose at your age you have far more asinine matters to concern yourself about.” She got to her feet as she spoke, turning away from Alice to stare out of the window into the night. The one advantage that her affliction granted her was that the vision in her illuminated eye was significantly heightened, so that in spite of the glare it made on the glass she could clearly see out towards the imposing building that served as the local branch of the Glomgold bank. There seemed to be several figures moving about on the roof of the bank, however she paid them no heed as she continued:

“The Vorpal Gene was first identified almost sixty-five years ago, however it has never been observed outside of one specific bloodline, hence its current classification as a random mutation,” explained Helga, having long since memories the technical details of her cure, “it is believed to serve as an advanced defence mechanism for the body, which in the event of extreme cellular interference,” she gestured towards her crystalline cheek, “would trigger production of the necessary enzymes to reverse all damage caused.” In all honesty, she didn’t expect the child to keep up with what she was saying, but she felt it was fair to at least try to offer her an explanation. Besides, all that Alice actually needed to understand was that her blood was the cure; it didn’t matter if she knew why.

“This is where you come in,” she continued, turning away from the window to face Alice again, “it might interest you to know that the individual the gene was first isolated in was your grandfather, Henry Liddell, and has since been passed down to his children and, in turn, to his grandchildren. Unfortunately, the gene itself cannot be transferred, only the enzymes that it produces, and even then only though an appropriate blood transfer. And, as you may have guessed by this point, there’s only one member of the Liddell family whose blood type matches my own.” She sat down again, fingertips pressed together before her as she gazed across at Alice.

“You.”

[Dreamchild]

Alice didn't care if Helga's face was half missing and replaced with crystal; she absolutely hated the woman's 'asinine' comment. Alice was shocked that a woman who so desperately needed help was so at ease with her own arrogance. In any other situation, Alice would have talked back and made her feelings known, but as the woman got up and began explaining a complicated matter, she bit her tongue and listened, however displeased she felt.

The girl listened more intently as Helga explained. She dreaded where the conversation was going when her grandfather, Henry Liddell, was mentioned by name. There was no mistaking it--Helga knew more about Alice and her family than she thought. This thought scared Alice, but Helga wasn't finished talking! Alice knew better than anyone whom Helga was talking about. Why else would she research her family, track her down, and break and enter her dormitory? If Helga was any other person, Alice would have escaped, notify the police, and seek federal witness protection, or something like that. But Alice was reminded that this woman truly needed help, and she felt compelled to... after some questions were answered.

Alice's face was lost in thought and worry by now. She continued looking into Helga's eyes as the woman sat down, but Alice might as well have looked at a wall. She pressed her fingers against her chest, thinking about the blood that coursed through her veins. That's what Helga wanted? "... My blood? You and I share the same blood type?"

After a moment to digest the information, Alice's eyes were noticeably more attention once more. "Helga, i-if I help you, you must answer some questions for me." Alice could have asked any question here, such as how Helga got half crystallized in the first place, where she came from, why she knew about her family... but there was only one question that Alice needed answered right away.

"Are my family and my blood the only things you know about me? Do you know anything else?" The question would have read as vague on paper, but Alice's tone made it clear that she wanted to know if Helga knew anything else about her. "If I'm going to help you, then I... I'll have to trust you." She was nervous, to be sure, but she still held her ground. She couldn't be pushed or walked over.

[helgadl]

The girl before her was becoming visibly more nervous as the conversation progressed, and understandably so; after all, it would take a very strange type of person to not be distinctly unnerved by a strange woman breaking into their room and telling them that they needed their blood.

“That is correct,” replied Helga as Alice asked about their blood types, “O negative to be exact, a very rare blood type which means that we can only safely receive transfusions from another person of the same type.” It wasn’t the first time that her rare blood type had given her difficulty. When she was younger she’d sustained quite a serious injury during weapons training that had come alarmingly close to taking her life due to the lack of an appropriate blood donor for her. Fortunately an associate of hers had managed to procure a sample in time (although not entirely willingly), and since then Helga had set up a private bank of her own blood just in case she needed it at a moment’s notice.

“That seems fair,” she conceded as Alice demanded that she first answer some questions, lowering her hands again as she did so and placing them in her lap, “after all, I am asking you to trust me on some important matters. Very well then, satisfy your curiosity, little cat.” It didn’t seem likely that this child would ask her any particularly difficult questions, thus Helga had no qualms about agreeing to this particular condition. Besides, even if a more sensitive question did arise, it wasn’t like she’d have any way of knowing that Helga wasn’t being entirely truthful.

“What else is there to know?” asked Helga, raising her eyebrow as her own curiosity got the better of her, “Alice Pleasance Liddell, born on May 4th twelve years ago to Henry and Lorina Liddell, with a sister several years your elder. Lived for just under twelve years in Oxford, before being accepted into St. Blair academy in America approximately ten months ago.” It was strange. The way Alice had asked her question had almost made it sound like there was something specific that she was worried that the intruder in her room knew, however Helga was at a complete loss as to what this might be. She supposed there was that distinct impression she’d gotten earlier that she’d seen the girl on the news at one time or another; had she perhaps committed a crime of some sort in the past?

“Have I missed out anything important?”

[Dreamchild]

Helga sounded and looked sincere with her answer. Alice convinced herself that if the woman intended to use her secret identity to her advantage, she would have done so by now. It was still unsettling for a stranger to know about Alice's family--and Alice herself--so well. But just as long as Helga didn't know that Alice was Dreamchild, England's Dream Come True...

She was just thankful that she left absolutely no clues or convicting evidence about her secret identity. No costume (the only costume she had was in her bag, on the bed), no newspaper articles, nothing of the sort. The only soul back home who knew Alice's alternate identity was Dinah, but she was trustworthy: she couldn't talk. The only person in Epcot City who knew was Detective Maui Mallard, and she could trust him, because she knew him better as Cold Shadow.

Of course, the question cast suspicion on the girl. She had to think of an excuse, and quickly. "Well, I was... I once witnessed a crime, you see. And I don't ever want to think about it again." In a way, she wasn't lying, which was better than an outright false statement. She pretended to recall grisly memories and look upset as best as convincing as she was able, and then she made her final decision.

She looked to Helga in the eyes and said it with earnest. "If it will cure you, then..." She nodded. "I will help you. When is the transfusion?"

[helgadl]

Helga was far from satisfied with Alice’s answer. For a start she barely sounded as if she believed it herself, not to mention the fact that she only seemed to assume an upset expression as an afterthought. Still, given the circumstances, she quickly realised that labouring the point would only serve to turn the child against her, and so she let the matter drop (although not without making a mental note to double-check Alice’s story when she got chance).

“You’re a kinder girl than many your age,” commended Helga as Alice finally agreed to help her, “certainly more of a philanthropist than I was back then.” In all honesty that sentence could have easily ended with ‘than I am’, however this was another of those details that she felt would alienate her from her potential saviour. Breathing a sigh of relief, Helga got to her feet, quickly glancing out of the window as she did so to ensure that her car was still where she had left it.

“If you’re ready,” she continued, checking her watch as she crossed the room to stand beside the girl, “I have a car ready to take us to a secure clinic. If we leave now I can have you back here with at least ten minutes to spare before light’s out, without anyone ever knowing you left your room.” The ‘clinic’ was actually one of the laboratories that she’d funded to find a cure for her ailment, and since returning to Epcot City she’d made it her temporary base of operations (obviously she wasn’t going to conduct business out of her expensive, luxury apartment, even if she hadn’t technically paid for it with her own money).

[Dreamchild]

Helga did something unexpected: she complimented Alice without the use of a backhand. This pleased her, and she even smiled. "Thank you, Helga." She still didn't fully trust Helga, and she wished that her blood type wasn't so rare. But she did take a moment to think about the woman's situation, and concluded that she would probably be drastic, too, if she was in Helga's position. For all she knew, Helga was probably handling her disfigurement better than Alice could ever hope.

Helga suggested that Alice accompany her to a 'secure clinic.' What a wonderful predicament you found yourself into this time, Alice. What could possibly be wrong with getting inside a stranger's car? Perhaps Helga should have offered candy, too! By agreeing with this, Alice knew she was acting in defiance of those public service announcements she used to watch on the telly back in England, the ones with the dubious strangers in large overcoats beckoning children into their cars. Well, Helga did have an overcoat, to be sure...

Before Alice replied, she thought quickly. Should she bring her bag, or not? Actually, it wasn't about the bag: it was about her Dreamchild costume. No, there was no need. It's best to leave the costume here in the room. This situation was different than her encounter with Quackerjack, at least.

"All right," Alice said with a nod. "I will go with you, but please let me prepare first." She turned to her bed, picked up the bag, and approached a drawer. She inconspicuously slipped the bag in the drawer, then fully unfastened her necktie, and placed that inside as well. She closed the drawer, straightened her uniform jacket, and turned to look up to the half-crystallized face. She took a step closer, getting closer to that flaring eye than ever before. She was unsettled by being in such close proximity to the eye, but, hopefully, her blood would cure Helga's terrible condition.

"After you, Helga."

[helgadl]

Shard Labs didn’t exactly have the most savoury reputation. Several years ago it had been the centre of a controversy regarding illegal human experimentations, following which it had officially ceased all operations. Unofficially however it had instead opened its doors to the underworld, quickly gaining a reputation as the go-to place for any villain with a scientific project in mind and the cold, hard cash to back it up. Still, in spite of these less than legitimate activities (or possibly because of them), they had a policy of strict confidentiality, hence why Helga had chosen this particular installation for her procedure.

Much to Helga’s surprise however, the pass code that she’d been using all week was rejected three times by the keypad at the side door. Glaring venomously at the offending console as if she could somehow burn if off the wall through the power of her stare, she pressed the bell button instead, crossing her arms impatiently as she waited for someone to attend them. After a minute or so the door opened with a pneumatic hiss, revealing a rather forlorn looking feline guard who had the downtrodden air of one whose career had taken a significant downturn in recent days.

“Sorry about that Ms. Sinclair,” said the guard quickly, not wanting to be criticized any more than he had been recently, “ever since yesterday’s escape the higher ups have been ramping up the security like crazy. All pass codes have been reset.”

“I don’t care about the reason,” muttered Helga impatiently as she swept past the guard, “just ensure that it doesn’t happen again.” The guard shot a curious look at Alice as she passed, however shook his head and returned to the security booth without further ado. Helga led the girl through the corridors as quickly as possible (which wasn’t made easy by the irritating amount of security checkpoints that had been added), eventually reaching the door of the laboratory that was waiting for them.

“After you, Alice,” she instructed, purposefully mirroring the girl’s words from earlier.

[Dreamchild]

Alice exuded politeness, even when Helga grew incrementally angrier at the console. It was obvious that the password she knew was no longer correct, and she had to call for assistance. The door opened, and an anthropomorphic cat in a uniform was revealed. Alice stared at this guard, intrigued by why he was so familiar to her. She could have sworn she saw him yesterday.

As a matter of strict fact, she did see him yesterday, as Dreamchild! It was the same man who was looking for Sally--the same man she sent on a fool's errand so she could get away with the escapee. Alice kept calm, but it was difficult; if this was where the feline worked, then what could she expect to see? She avoided eye contact with the guard as she walked with Helga, inside. With every checkpoint they passed, Alice grew more and more nervous. Finally, they reached the entrance of the laboratory, and Helga told her to go first.

Alice smiled nervously and rubbed her hands together. She nodded. "I've never actually been to a blood transfusion before. But, I suppose there's a first time for everything..." Hesitating for a few seconds, she entered the room, and immediately looked around to take in the details.

[helgadl]

Helga was glad that she wasn’t facing Alice as the girl admitted to having never been to a blood transfusion, for she was unable to keep a smirk from flickering across her face. The girl’s naiveté would make the process a lot simpler than Helga had anticipated, for she would have no sense of the standard operating procedure for such things to compare it to.

“It’s a very standard procedure,” she replied, shutting the door to the laboratory behind her (which locked behind them with a faint computerized beep), “taking place thousands of time around the world every day.” Fortunately the room that they had entered was fairly conventional in appearance, having in fact been chosen for this very reason. It looked as if someone had spliced together a surgery with a GP’s office, for whilst one side of the room was taken up by a surgical table and several complicated pieces of diagnostic equipment, the opposite wall was lined with shelves burdened beneath the weight of various scientific paraphernalia, along with a desk at which was sat a duck scientist who sprang to his feet upon their entrance.

“Alice Liddell, meet Dr. Nate Mayor,” said Helga, nodding curtly at the Duck as he crossed the room to join them, “he’ll be in charge of the procedure.”

“A pleasure, Miss. Liddell,” added Dr. Mayor, honestly sounding like he meant it, “I’m glad to see you came along willingly... that is... you chose to... what I mean is...”

“Just get ready,” snapped Helga. The Duck leapt in fright, and scurried away to gather up some supplies without another word.

[Dreamchild]

Thankfully, the room wasn't as intimidating as Alice pictured. She expected a bizarre, freakish, Frankensteinesque laboratory with imminent danger in every apparatus. There were apparatuses and equipment, but none of them evoked fear, which comforted Alice.

The English girl finished examining the room and looked to the duck when Helga said her name as an introduction. It seemed that Helga had everything prepared--everything except for Alice, who was the missing piece of the puzzle. Alice politely greeted the doctor, who was awkward enough to annoy Helga. "A pleasure."

Alice fell silent as the doctor prepared the transfusion. She simply waited idly, occasionally twiddling her fingers, waiting for the next phase.

[helgadl]

“If you could please take a seat here,” instructed Helga, gesturing towards a curious, steel chair that was sat on the surgical side of the room between the two operating tables, “we’ll be able to begin.” As she spoke, Dr. Mayor had prepared a small syringe containing some kind of deep red liquid. Concealing the colour of the liquid beneath his hand feathers, he returned to Helga’s side, a comforting expression on his face.

“Just relax,” he said, rolling up Alice’s sleeve and swabbing a small area on her arm with a simple antiseptic, “I am an expert who knows exactly what he’s doing.” Helga began to subconsciously tap one foot as she waited, impatient for the procedure to get underway. She’d already been forced to wait this long for a cure; there was a limit to how much longer she could be patient for.

[Dreamchild]

Alice stared at the hair after Helga gestured to it, and told her to sit. The chair wasn't as unnaturally creepy as she feared it would be, which was a good sign. "Very well," the girl said. Her vocabulary and manner of speech were remarkably prim (borderline archaic) for an average twelve-year-old. Once seated on the chair, which sat between two operating tables, she had her first good look of the syringe in Dr. Mayor's grasp.

Alice got the feeling in her stomach that would normally send her running for the bathroom. She hated needles. This was obvious, because Alice bit her lip and squirmed in her chair. But unlike some children with the common fear of syringes, she didn't scream, cry, or object. She was obviously nervous, but she remained calm enough to allow Dr. Mayor to continue with the procedure.

"I should hope so," she said as a joke to Dr. Mayor, though with her nervous and shaky voice, much of the humor was lost. She took a breath, held it, and closed her eyes when she felt the needle penetrate her soft, light skin. She exhaled slowly when she felt the syringe inside her. She refused to open her eyes, but she remained still, waiting for the procedure to end.

[helgadl]

Helga smirked as she watched the contents of the syringe slowly enter the girl’s bloodstream. Unbeknownst to the girl the liquid inside was actually a small sample of her blood, one which had been specially extracted to contain a sample of the strange crystalline infection that she was suffering from. If their theory was correct then this injection should infect Alice with the same mutation on a much smaller scale, thus prompting her cells to produce the enzyme that would cure it.

“You might notice a slight... crystalline sensation,” said Helga smugly, watching as Dr. Mayor withdrew the needle from the girl’s arm. From the point where it had entered sprang a tiny crystal of the same kind that coated Helga’s face. The sight of it reminded Helga of when she’d first spotted the strange mutation on her own skin. She’d just made it back to the surface by the skin of her teeth and had assumed that it was simply a piece that had gotten stuck to her, however nothing that she’d done had been able to shift it.

“Don’t worry,” added Helga, “your natural defences should kick in and reverse it, at which point we can withdraw a sample of blood that contains the enzyme that I need.” She smiled darkly. “And if not, I’m sure your parents money will provide adequate funding for finding an alternate cure.”

[Dreamchild]

Alice was under the impression that some of her blood would be drawn into the syringe. Instead it felt more like Dr. Mayor was injecting liquid into her. She opened her eyes and looked to see why it felt this way, and realized that Dr. Mayor was in fact injecting a liquid into her. She wondered what this was about. Just as Dr. Mayor had finished injecting the strange liquid, he removed the syringe from her. That's when Helga spoke, and her words grabbed Alice by the throat. Alice didn't know what scared her more, Helga's choice of words, or the disgusting smugness as she said it.

"Wh-what?!" was all Alice could muster out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide in fear. Why didn't Alice pay close attention to the syringe? Why didn't she see this coming? She should have known--Helga used her! She looked at her arm, at the spot on the skin where the syringe had penetrated. Alice's worst fears were realized: from that spot sprouted a tiny crystal. Alice could already feel the terrifying, unnatural tingling in her arm, and the crystal began to increase in size and, more direly, width. She glared at Dr. Mayor, then sprang from the chair and shoved him as hard as she could. "What did you do to me?!" she shouted angrily, tears forming in her eyes. Her heart raced, but it wasn't her heart she was concerned about.

She snapped her focus on Helga, seething in anger and fright. Helga had the audacity to say such cold, despicable words to Alice in this state. And that smug, condescending smirk and tone--the girl couldn't bear this malicious demon. "Why didn't you tell me, Helga?! Y-you're a horrible...!"

She didn't have time to finish her insults. She felt her arm become rigid as the transformation increased in speed and intensity. "NO!!" Alice screamed. Tears trickled down her face, her eyes like overflowing wells. The crystallized coating spread across herself, from the opening where the syringe had been just moments prior, all the way to her fingertips. She cried, and she tried to somehow stop the spreading by grabbing her rigid, crystallized arm with her free hand, and trying to brush it off or however she could stop the condition. Alas, there was nothing she could have done. That entire portion of Alice's arm and hand were crystallized. The crystallization was mostly dark blue, but there were red, glowing veins (were they veins?) that interlaced in pattern. The sobbing child had tried to use her psychic powers to somehow reverse the process, but that wasn't needed.

The transformation ceased in an instant. Alice quivered even when she saw that, much to her relief, the crystallization started to slowly reverse. Her fingertips were the first to regain flesh, and the natural cure worked its way. It was obvious that it was going to end at the same area that the syringe penetrated.

If Alice could thank her cells and enzymes, she would. Contrariwise, if she could be allowed to inflect considerable damage onto Helga with a well-executed psychic attack, she would seize that opportunity right away. With teary eyes, a runny nose, and raw hatred, Alice glared at Helga from where she stood, never taking her eyes off of her for the moment. Her free hand clutched her crystallized arm (which was reverting back to normal, albeit slowly).

"I suppose you're proud of yourself. You know... I think you should legally change your name to Crystal when this is through." Alice very rarely dished out contempt, but Helga was a special exception.

[helgadl]

The moment a small patch of crystal began to form on Alice’s arm Helga became transfixed, so focused upon the mutation that the rest of the room could have been full of naked clowns killing each other with crossbows and she wouldn’t have noticed. This was it, the moment of truth. If the mutation did not reverse itself now then she would be right back to square one. Seconds seemed to crawl past like hours as the crystals slowly spread, however just as Helga was beginning to despair the process ground to a halt and slowly began to reverse. Relief flooding through her, Helga suddenly became aware that the child before her was sobbing in fear, a most irritating sound now that she was aware of it. Still, she couldn’t help but feel rather uneasy about it, for behind Alice’s fear she could almost sense something else. Could it be determination? It almost seemed like she was trying to plan something.

“Is that really the best taunt you can come up with?” asked Helga scornfully, rolling her eyes at the girl’s feeble attempt at banter, “I spent most of my childhood living on army bases. I’ve heard insults that would make your ears bleed.” She nodded to Dr. Mayor as she spoke. The scientist had been poised behind Alice with a second syringe, this one slightly larger than the first, and upon receiving Helga’s signal rapidly jabbed it into Alice’s arm in the same spot he’d injected her with the crystalline infection.

“I would advise you not to move,” he stated matter-of-factly, “if the needle’s tip were to break, or an air bubble were to form, it would be very unpleasant for you.”

“That’s an understatement,” said Helga, her smirk still firmly fixed in place as she watched the chamber on the syringe slowly but surely begin to fill up with the girl’s precious blood. Although on the surface she appeared to be maintaining her composure, on the inside she was practically burning with anticipation. It took a great deal of her self-control to resist the urge to seize the syringe from the duck and jab it into her arm without delay, however she managed to curb the instinct by reminding herself that the angry girl might well sabotage the process if Helga were to attempt it in front of her.

“There we go,” said Dr. Mayor at long last as he withdrew the needle from Alice’s now almost entirely crystal-free arm, “that wasn’t so bad now, was it?” He chuckled, unclipping the central canister from the syringe and placing it into the secure container waiting for it. The box had been specially commissioned by Helga to keep her cure perfectly safe until it was safe to transfer it into her, and was so reinforced that the manufacturer had claimed that even a bomb going off above it would not damage the contents (although admittedly Helga was fairly sure that this had just been an empty to claim to try and get her to pay more).

“Would you like a lollipop?” asked Helga dryly, breathing a sigh of relief as she heard the lock on the container click shut. Whatever happened now the sample of blood would be safe, for the lock could only be opened by someone who knew the correct ten digit access code. Just in case the girl thought that this offer had been in jest Dr. Mayor quickly reached into a pocket of his lab coat and drew out a large, pink lollipop, which he held out for her to take. Not that Helga was giving her candy out of the kindness of her heart; it was drugged. Alice would wake up an hour or so later in her own bed, and thus have no chance to prevent the transfusion from taking place.

[Dreamchild]

Alice couldn't care less about Helga's past. No amount of years spent living in army bases could justify her actions. But Helga did have a point; Alice's insult lacked any true impact. But, even when blinded by rage, the girl took comfort in retaining some modesty, by not using profane words she heard in school and in the city. Even if Helga didn't deserve to be treated kindly.

Alice winced when Dr. Mayor hastily jabbed another needle into her, in the same spot as before. Of course, she was far too angry to be fearful of another syringe, even if this one was thicker and more painful. Mayor's actions were unbecoming a doctor with a such a distinguished surname, and so Alice viewed him with an equal amount of contempt. But she didn't look at him, because of Helga's warning. And that smug tone of voice, and her smirk! If Alice wasn't the least bit concerned about her secret identity being discovered, she would have used telekinesis to lift the two adversaries in the air and give them what for, maybe bashing them together repeatedly until both fell unconscious. This temptation was staggering, but Alice had to remain strong. Only in a matter of life and death would she dare use her powers in her civilian guise.

But she didn't need to be Dreamchild to glare at Helga. Alice was so angry she couldn't see straight, and she couldn't remember the last time she made such an intense, passionate glare to someone. If they handed out grades for angry, dirty looks, Alice would have received an A. Her nostrils flared as she breathed harshly and loudly. She looked like she was just one mocking joke away from fighting back.

"There we go. That wasn't so bad, now, was it?" chuckled the doctor as he removed the syringe. Alice finally had her chance to flash a dirty look at him. He had the audacity to make such an insufferably condescending joke?! The disgusting lowlife!

"Would you like a lollipop?" asked Helga, right on cue. Of course.

Alice, her teeth clenched behind her lips, looked back to Helga with a fat load of contempt. She heard the sound of a container being clicked shut, but she didn't look. She only stared at Helga, until she sensed Dr. Mayor retrieving something from his coat's pocket. She turned to face him, and saw a large, pink lollipop, which was held out for her to take. Were these clowns serious?

She was happy to accept the lollipop, but not for eating. With a quick flick of her wrist, she hurled the lollipop straight into Dr. Mayor's face. She wish she could have punished this Quack of a doctor further, but she would have to settle with throwing a large candy at his eyes. And she was truly satisfied to see the lollipop make impact.

"No. You may keep the stupid lollipop," she said, her expression not changing. There was no sense in staying here in this godforsaken place any longer. She looked back to Helga and tried her best to control herself. She didn't cry any more, though she still had tear stains on her face. Now she was just plain livid.

"I would like to go home now, and never see you again." She smiled widely, but it wasn't sincere. Her tone of voice was similar. "I do hope you'll enjoy your gift, because even if you turn back normal, you'll never be a woman. You'll always be a hollow shell."

Without anything further to say, she closed her eyes and tilted up her head in a dignified act of disownment. She turned and opened her eyes when she started walking for the door, intending to leave out the way she came. She wanted out, and she wanted out five minutes ago.

[helgadl]

As Alice made to leave Dr. Mayor instinctively stepped forward to stop her, one of his eyes still scrunched up in lollipop-related pain. Before he could take two steps however Helga reached out and latched onto his shoulder with the vice-like grip of her crystallized hand, holding him firmly in place.

“Let her go,” ordered Helga, smirk still firmly fixed in place in spite of the girl’s attempt to cut her with her words, “as she said, I’ve already got my gift.” She chuckled, crossing over to the box and carefully picking it up by the handle. At Helga’s own insistence she was going to administer the cure to herself back at her apartment. Whilst she was perfectly willing to hire Shard Labs to do the bulk of the work for her, when it actually came to her own safety she only trusted the laboratory’s shadowy directors about as far as she thought Alice would be able to throw them. She wouldn’t put it past them to switch her cure for some substance of their own creation and thus turn her into one of their test subjects, and therefore had concluded that the blood sample could not leave her possession at any time.

“I did promise return you to your room when our business was concluded,” continued Helga, this time addressing the girl directly, “however in light of your request to never see me again I believe we can consider this agreement to be void.” Carrying the box in one hand, she moved across to the door and pulled it open, slipping past Alice into the corridor beyond before holding it open for a moment for the girl to pass through as well. At this point it didn’t particularly matter how she treated Alice, for after her outburst in the laboratory the odds of her ever agreeing to willingly help her again were next to none; driving her back to the school would do nothing to change that, and thus was simply a waste of time.

“The guards should let you leave without too many problems,” she said as she turned away from Alice, “although with this heightened security it may take some time. Good night.” She headed off down the corridor in the opposite direction without another word, quickly reaching a security door and swiping in the temporary ID card she’d been given in order to open it and many identical ones throughout the facility. The car that she’d used to bring them here was actually one of several belonging to the laboratory, each of which was specially registered under a false name to make them next-to impossible to trace back to either the laboratory or its clients. Now that she was alone however,Helga quickly navigated her way through the building (or as quickly as she could go with the amount of security checkpoints that she had to pass through) and down into the underground parking facility where her bike waited.

She only made one stop off before heading for her bike, to the main security office on the ground flood, where she requested that one of the lab’s agents follow the young Miss Liddell back to St. Blair’s to ensure that she made it safely. Helga may not have had any interest in driving the girl back herself, however if it turned out that she had not taken enough of the girl’s blood for the cure to work properly it would be incredibly inconvenient to find out that she’d been killed during the night. Once this was taken care of however she was free to leave, and after double and triple checking that the box was securely fastened onto the back of her bike she climbed onto the seat and set off into the night, her impatience to get home causing her to speed through the city at a far faster rate than was legal.

[Dreamchild]

Unfortunately for Alice, she would have to endure just another minute or so of Helga's presence. If the girl was provided the options of either staying with Helga for another minute, or reading a whole textbook about disgustingly boring history, she would have read the book from cover to cover in one sitting. The abused girl wished she could refuse walking out of the room while the door was held open by the hag. But, what could Alice have done to act out of spite? Stay inside the room longer? No, of course not. She swallowed her pride and left the room. But once out of the room, she refused to so much as glance at Helga. refusing to look her in the eye... either the normal eye or the flaring eye that proved Helga was a more demon than a decent human being. She wouldn't have accepted a car ride if Helga dangled a cash reward. Goodness, did Alice hate that woman!

The girl's fists were clenched, and she walked as briskly as she could down the corridor, trying to escape Helga. She heard every word the devilish woman had to say, but she refused to stop and speak to her. Alice knew that if she engaged in a battle of insults now, she would only be hurt further. She could never win this situation as Alice. She wished she had Dreamchild's costume, or at least didn't care about her powers being discovered, because this woman DESERVED to be punished. Thankfully, she could always talk to the Dream League about this... maybe even confide in Detective Maui Mallard. Yes. That's precisely what she'll do, the first thing tomorrow.

If I never see you again, Alice thought to herself, thinking of Helga, it would be too soon. She was careful not to let this angry thought slip into telepathy. She thought this just before she reached her first checkpoint. She had run out of patience, and she glared at the checkpoint guard: the same feline guard she had met a day earlier, with Ragdoll. Poor Ragdoll! That poor, frightened woman! This laboratory was the worst place imaginable, even by Epcot County standards.

"Where's He--" the guard started, but Alice cut him off.

The girl waved her hand before him, and her eyes stared into his intensely. She knew this guard; she had duped him before by mental persuasion, and she could jolly well do it again. "Let me through. I'm finished here, and I wish to leave. Now."

The feline guard blinked rapidly, nodded, and granted her access. Alice would repeat this whenever necessary, until she was out of the laboratory for good.

***

The long walk back to St. Blair Academy was just like how she felt: cold and alone. Fortunately, she managed to enter her room again without any serious trouble. She wasn't even caught, and therefore out of trouble's way. Of course, she did use her powers subtly to avoid detection, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get back to her room, and try her best to forget about Helga.

But she couldn't.

She was reminded instantly as soon as she unlocked her door and stepped inside. But why did she bother locking the door behind her? A woman broke into her room a few hours earlier. This room was useless in protecting her! It should have been comforting to see the lack of an occupant at that chair beside the window, but Alice couldn't be comforted.

The light in her bathroom still worked, thank goodness. She turned it on, started the water faucet and splashed her face, washing herself as though she can clean out her traumatic memories. She dried her face and examined her hand, and that's when she noticed something: two very small shards of crystal were still attached to her index fingernail. She took out a small plastic Ziploc bag she had, removed the shards, and placed them into the bag. This was evidence, and she would have to present it two people tomorrow: Maui Mallard and Paradox.

She was too emotionally exhausted to shower, let alone change into sleepwear. She removed her shoes, her socks, and climbed into bed. She tried desperately to remain strong, but she couldn't. She was a weak, helpless little thing that night. She lost in every sense of the word. She was used, abused, and treated so wretchedly. Her face contorted as she began to cry profusely. She covered her face and purged her emotions as long as necessary. She hated crying herself to sleep, but in this night, there was no alternative.

[helgadl]

In spite of how fast she was moving through the streets, the anticipation that was racing through her seemed to make Helga’s journey home last far longer than it ever had before, to the point that by the time she finally did reach her apartment she was so eager to get inside that she forgot to lock up her bike and had to double back to do so. As she approached her front door her fingers were shaking so much that she had to enter the key code three times before she finally managed to hit the right buttons and slip inside. Heart racing, she performed her usual security checks at lightning speed, and once she was sure that no-one had entered her apartment whilst she was out quickly disconnected the phone and pulled all the curtains shut to ensure that no-one could disturb her once the process had begun.

Taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, Helga moved into the guest bedroom, which had been temporarily set up as a safe place for her to perform the transfusion on herself. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she carefully placed the box containing Alice’s blood sample beside her and began to enter the access code, heart pounding furiously as irrational nerves began to well up within her. What if something had gone wrong with the container and the vial had been smashed on her way back here? Much to her relief however it was still there nestled in amongst the foam packing, with no visible sign that it had moved even a millimetre since being secured in there back at the laboratory. Realising that she’d been holding her breath in anticipation, Helga forced herself to breath normally again as she very cautiously removed the vial from its packaging and placed it into a syringe.

“This had better work,” muttered Helga darkly to herself as she pulled up one sleeve and swabbed a small patch on her arm with antiseptic, “that girl is going to regret it if it doesn’t.” She made several checks that no potentially fatal air bubble was trapped in the syringe, and then without further ado plunged the needle into her arm and emptied its contents into her bloodstream. For a moment or so it seemed as if nothing had happened, and she was about to hurl the empty case against the wall in frustration when she felt something begin to happen. Looking down with wild eyes, she saw the seams where the crystalline mutation met her own skin begin to glow and the borders began to shift, however much to her horror it wasn’t doing what she wanted to. The crystals weren’t retreating as they had with Alice, they were advancing rapidly.

“No!” gasped Helga, clawing desperately at her coated arm as the crystal rapidly spread across her flesh, “No! This is wrong! THIS IS WRONG!” Like something out of a horror movie, the horrendous sapphire coating was creeping across her entire body at such a speed that it looked as if her entire being would be coated within a minute. She screamed in honest terror, however as she did so the crystalline onslaught took advantage of her open mouth to force its way inside and down her throat, twisting the noise of her scream around into an almost inhuman sound as she felt her insides begin to mutate and solidify. Not even her hair was spared from the change, each strand rapidly morphing into a cruel, crystalline mockery of its former self. This was it; this had to be the end. She would completely turn to crystal and then cease to be, reduced to a horrific statue of herself to be discovered by whoever came to investigate when her rent went unpaid.

Screaming again, Helga slammed one crystalline fist into the now empty case, hitting it with such force that it not only shattered the plaster on the wall where it struck but actually left a deep dent in the brickwork behind it. She barely registered this detail however, for at that moment she felt the very last inch of her flesh be utterly consumed by the crystal and fell still, the mass having solidified now that the metamorphosis was complete. For a few seconds Helga screamed internally, believing that she was to be trapped in this living nightmare for an eternity, however in a flash of light all of the sapphire coating her vanished at once, leaving her thoroughly exhausted, but once more flesh and blood.

“It... it worked?” breathed Helga, scarcely believing that she wasn’t just hallucinating this, “IT WORKDED!” She cheered, relief and happiness stronger than any she had ever felt before rushing through her. Unfortunately, this elation only lasted for a moment, for a dull buzzing sound soon began at the back of her mind. Thinking that it was a noise from outside, she clamped her hands over her ears in an attempt to block it however this had no effect. The buzz simply continued to grow louder and louder, and it soon became apparent that it was a cacophony of countless mismatched voices shouting over one another and filling her mind almost to bursting point.

“What’s happening!?” gasped Helga, dropping to her knees on the floor as she desperately clutched at her own ears, “What’s wrong with me!?” The din in her head only intensified with each passing second until finally, with yet another scream, she blacked out completely, happy oblivion washing over her for the time being.

TO BE CONTINUED...