The Female Lead Is A Lesbian

Annie felt like a pumpkin on Halloween.

She was the candle put in the hollowed-out orange squash.

But she didn't want to be the flame that brought this body to life.

So she just let the wind blow out her flame in hopes another candle would take her place.

She looked awful.

Skin that clung to her bones. Eyes so swollen with an infinite exhaustion that they seemed permanently jet.

Appetite? What appetite?

Good night's rest? What's that?

Every moment of REM was followed by a gruesome nightmare.

Food was as appealing as a bright-eyed outgoing extrovert.

She only got out of bed for the bathroom or when she couldn't stand the taste of her own mouth.

She stayed in bed fiddling with the bandages on her wrist.

Truth be told, she didn't want to die. She wanted to escape the pain.

No problems for the dead, no panic attacks, or tears, or confusion.

Those could all be solved and just so happened to be with death.

She honestly didn't see what the big deal was.

It's not as if anyone would miss her, she didn't contribute anything to anyone, she didn't matter.

How could she matter?

Annie wandered around her head wondering what would happen.

A few weeks ago, that shrink told her that she would have to go back home?

Home? Her home was gone.

Burned to ashes.

She was homeless before.

Now they're just sending her to a prison.

No, a prison has inmates.

There would only be guards who did the minimum.

And visitors rooting for her death.

It was more like a modern thunder dome.

Annie would be a liar if she didn't admit she was curious.

Was Mia actually that bad before Annie took over her body?

Or was she in the same boat as Annie and was made out to be some screechy she-devil.

But she also didn't care at the same time.

Every day she would have the original body's memories try to invade her head. Every day she shut them out.

It was a roundabout cycle.

She would have a pounding headache because of it, but she kept the memories at bay.

Mostly because of her fear.

Fear that something bad would happen if she excepted what MIa used to be.

Would she forget herself?

Would she forget others?

The possibility made her stomach turn.

She just wanted peace.

And she was determined to get it.

Annie spent around two more weeks in the hospital.

After a resounding total of five weeks, she was taken out.

Of course, people shook their heads at this. It was a clear misuse of money and power.

A severely unstable girl like her obviously needed help.

But said help was somehow embarrassing to her family.

Most of the hospital staff expected her back in less than a month.

(In A Car)

Annie sat alone in the back seat.

She watched as the scenery passed by with the same cold dead dilated pupils she held for the past few months.

She was tired of being asked if she was high. Though no one outright said it, the question was obvious by their faces.

She looked to the front of the car. The driver hardly acknowledged her. He only gave her a deadpanned hello that made her blood run cold.

She put her hands in her pockets and turned her head back to the window.

Eventually, she felt her memories mix in with the present.

The forest flashed in between lush greenery to orange flames.

Back and forth the imagery went.

Flames to the gloomy fog of the forest.

She could almost smell the smoke.

But yet her face remained unchanged.

The drive lasted until the afternoon.

When the car stopped and Annie looked at the building in front of her.

Her pupils suddenly shrank.

She felt a sudden pressure press her into the seat. Every part of her went to sub-zero temperatures.

It was a log cabin.

The cold feeling subsided when the car door opened.

She took one shaky step onto the concrete.

Then another and hopped out.

She slowly craned her neck at the size of the building.

It was clearly expensive. Clearly safe. Clearly...

What was happening?

Why couldn't she breathe?

Suddenly, everything went up in blazes.

She was back in Jade's arms. Watching the flames skip over her face and eat away at her flesh exposing her teeth.

It went on repeat.

Again.

Again.

Again.

The way a fire can simply eat away at a person so seamlessly.

Was either fascinating or horrifying.

For Annie, horrifying didn't even begin to cover it.

" *Gasp*"

Annie let out a loud gasp as someone touched her shoulder.

She turned to see a wrinkled woman who reminded her of Edna from the Incredibles.

" Miss Tan, please go inside."

Annie felt bitter at being called that but she honestly couldn't stand on her legs anymore. So she didn't argue and but she did dawdle quite a bit going into the house.

When she finally found her nerve and walked in.

The outstanding shine of the lights made her wheeze.

The wrinkled woman lead her upstairs not caring when Annie tripped and almost broke her neck.

She was then lead to a room and once the door was opened, Annie felt the need to cry blood.

The room was, HIDEOUS!

Firstly was the use of the color pink.

There were different shades, pastel pink for the floor. Hot pink on the ceiling. Blush pink for the walls. Pink curtains, pink bed, pink furniture. Just PINK!

Then there were the decorations. Every clock was covered in sparkles.

Every table was covered in glitter.

There were dozens of pictures featuring rainbows.

The wardrobe was bedazzled with rhinestones.

The mirror was decorated with sequins.

Annie didn't have anything against pink, or glitter, or sparkles, or anything in the room.

Individually of course.

But when it all came together to form this monstrous assault on the human eyes. She wasn't a big fan.

Maybe the original Mia was a bitch. Because only a dog with their limited color vision could withstand this.

Annie looked to the bag of flour next to her that held a smug smirk on her face.

" Just how you left it, Miss Tan."

She laughed through her snout.

" Dinner shall be ready at six. Your bath at seven. And lights shall go out by eight.

In the morning you shall attend your scheduled 'therapy' sessions."

The word therapy came out so dismissively.

" You shall then have breakfast. Then you will have free time until lunch which begins at three. Then physical therapy which lasts until four."

Then without even a goodbye, she walked out of the room leaving Annie in a tizzy.

Annie watched as she sauntered away and once she was out of sight.

The door slammed shut.

Annie began rummaging everywhere.

She pulled out drawers and emptied them.

This only made Annie curse her eyesight even more.

The clothes were varying from exposing black dresses with hideous patterns. To sparkly skirts made for an old school Rockette.

The clothes screamed 'look at me!'

Nothing would ever be insulted and be called 'plain'.

The original owner of her current body sure had the uh... *ahem* peculiar taste.

Annie continued emptying everything.

There was nothing sharp, nothing long and rope-like, nothing poisonous.

The sheets, curtains, and blankets were paper-thin.

Even if they weren't. The weird doors in this place had no doorknobs or handles.

The windows were very much shatterproof.

And the walls were covered in this weird material. Either way, when she hit her head against it was like bouncing a rubber ball against foam.

The bathroom turned out nothing either.

The toothbrushes were electric and couldn't be sharpened. They couldn't be broken either.

There was no way to plug up the drain.

Plus there was a ducking timer on the wall! She was only allowed fifteen minutes before an alarm would sound and she would be pulled out.

And it would monitor her?

The image of a camera in the shower made her cringe.

The mirror didn't break either.

How f.u.c.k.i.n.g rich were these people that they could do this in a manner of weeks?

She slammed her hand on the wall.

" F.u.c.k!"

She cussed loudly.

But of course, her hand merely bounced off.

She looked around the room and gagged again.

If she couldn't escape in a spiritual way she would at least take care of this eyesore of a room.

She began stomping around in a huff.

She pulled the curtain off its rings.

She peeled off every rhinestone and shiny object she saw.

Maybe if she ate enough rhinestones then...

Ugh! She wants to go a bit more peacefully than that. Odds are she would collapse before she even ate enough to kill herself.

She took out anything she could that was the color pink.

She dragged a hoard of pink cloth out of the room. Before absolutely pummeling it in the nearest trashcan she could find.

She brushed her hands off and prepared to go back to that room.

She pushed her hands into the pockets of her sweat pants and strolled down the heated hallways.

An unpleasant recollection flashed before her eyes again.

She shut her eyes as she walked trying to force it back.

" I can't believe she's really alive."

" I can. She's a complete nightmare and a narcissistic little brat."

" Sheesh! Who pissed in your cereal?"

" Seriously? That girl is a complete nightmare! She'll do anything for attention!

I have seen her pull out her back teeth with pliers. Just so her dad would pay attention to her rather than her sister with appendicitis!"

Annie, who stopped to listen to the gossip of two maids, felt around her mouth with her tongue.

She made a surprised 'hm' when she felt a gap in the back of her mouth where a tooth should be.

" Man that girl has issues!"

" No she just wishes she does! She's just a spoiled brat who never got told no or an ass-whooping!"

Annie shrugged it off. It's not her problem if some snarky bitches like to gossip.

" Um, excuse me,"

Annie called out to them and they both lost the blood in their bodies.

What? She needed some new sheets and blankets. And they just so happened to be the only ones around so...

" Y-yes, Miss Tan. What can we help you with?"

While one maid immediately changed her attitude the other kept on a scowl.

" Can I get some uh... blankets and sheets and if possible, can I get some paint? I'll take anything except pink. Thank you."

Annie stalked off back to the room and within five minutes, the blankets and sheets were delivered to her.

" Thanks. No paint?"

" We don't 'dare' to bring such a harmful substance that could cause you to be harmed."

That sheer chunk of sarcasm disguised as a sentence made Annie go back to her edgy middle school days.

" Cool... thanks."

" Don't you feel ashamed?"

" Huh?"

" You act like this imm.a.t.u.r.e selfish snob who... Blah, blah, blah..."

Annie just tuned her out. In fact, she imagined that tell tale trumpet sound from Charlie Brown.

' Wow, her lips are dry'.

Annie thought.

Which is why when the maid was done with her rant. Annie handed her a tube of beeswax chapstick before she shut the door.

She flapped the sheets in the air then laid them on the bed.

Then she grabbed the blanket and wearing it as a superhero cape jumped onto the bed snuggling in the covers.

It made a satisfying *poomf* sound. And you could hear Annie purring like a coddled kitten.

" Until I get the opportunity. This is plan B."

And so plan B kept going.

She couldn't get into the kitchen. The utensils given to her were made of this soft plastic so there was no luck there.

There was nothing breakable?! How was this even possible?!

She didn't have the strength to use her teeth in her attempts and she kept hesitating.

She searched and she searched but nothing ever turned up.

So plan B became the only plan at that point.

What was she even supposed to do? Except sleep.

No one could drag her out of bed; if it wasn't for that wrinkled old bag with the strength of a bear trap.

An egg! A literal egg! Could eat more than her.

Her therapist became increasingly worried and suggested that Annie try walking about to elevate her mood.

Honestly, that was the best they had. No antidepressants would help her.

Maybe morphine but that's more like the road to addiction.

The therapist understood that there was an even smaller chance of a breakthrough. If only...

If only they could slightly press her forward. But only Annie/Mia could decide when they wanted to move forward.

But that could never happen.

Back to Annie.

She had kept on being stagnant. For two months did this cold fish-eyed girl remain belly up in her fish tank.

Only coming alive after being annoyed by the people constantly disturbing her habitat.

Though she would occasionally sit in front of a large window that was located on the other side of the cabin.

The view was gorgeous.

And it made her laugh when the birds would slam into the glass.

And the sunlight was supposed to be good for her.

One day Annie decided to walk around.

Boredom was not nice.

She was barefoot, wearing sweatpants and a shirt with something disturbing on it.

She stumbled upon an unlocked room.

She cautiously pushes the door in and was met with an abundance of...

" Instruments."

Annie mumbled.

She ran a finger across a large black piano.

" Unused instruments."

She brushed the dust off her fingers and sneezed when some invaded her nose.

The room also held trumpets, violas, violins, cellos, bongos, flutes.

" Wow."

She strolled around, slightly running her fingers over everything.

It was such a pretty sight.

Then she made her way back to the piano.

Its sleek black exterior made her feel calm. It was nice.

She ran her fingers over the keys, then she pressed one.

One little note rang out.

Then she pressed another. Slowly her hands came down onto the piano and her fingers synchronized playing the intro to the X-Files.

Finding herself amused she let out a small snort.

She kept playing the tune until it hit her.

She never learned how to play the piano.

She gasped, coughing as she inhaled some dust and pulled away from the keys.

Fear washed over her and she used her small frame to move as fast as she could.

It didn't last for long though as she fell to her knees just a few dozen feet away.

She wheezed.

Then she backed up to a nearby wall and curled up into a ball.

She wheezed, puffed, coughed. Until she finally found her breath.

' No... I hate you...'

Annie said as she tugged her hair.

' I hate everything about you.'

She buried her face into her knees and wrapped her arms around her t.h.i.g.hs.

' So stop trying to get me to do what you do.'

....

Annie found her composure after an hour and her back hurt from sitting on the floor. So she went back to that room.

But only to find a strange woman standing there.

Annie tried to brush past her and go into the room.

" Mia, don't try to ignore me."

The woman grabbed Annie by the arm.

" Get your goddamn hands off me."

She somehow managed to snatch the woman's hand off.

The woman looked aghast and growled.

" Have you lost your mind?"

Annie looked befuddled and the woman looked partially confident.

But when she opened her mouth she was interrupted by Annie scoffing.

" You deaf or dumb?

Oh, but of course! I! Who spent months in a mental hospital and is only here to prevent further embarrassment! Is completely and totally sane!

You're a real bright one you know?"

The fake toothy smile grown by Annie quickly melted into a look that said,' Oh come on how dumb can you be?'

Annie let out another scoff and quickly closed the door.

She locked it and body slammed onto her bed.

She was ready to fall asleep but it was being disturbed by the harpy screeching at her door.

Annie rolled her eyes and grabbed a clock that was on the wall.

She hurled it at the door before shouting, " Mia's dead you f.u.c.k.i.n.g ox!"

Then she grabbed a pillow and folded it over both her ears.

'Ugh! F.u.c.k everything!'

But on the bright side, she was finally able to get to sleep.

.

.

.

.

' Annie 'woke up' in a pool of water. It was like someone has melted solid sapphires into a liquid.

It was so blue but so crystalline that she could clearly see her hands through it.

Annie stood up and looked up at the eternal purple milky way for the sky.

In a tight black shirt and pants.

She gasped, " It's like a cliche... everything."

She remembered this type of dream sequence in books, webcomics, movies.

As if this space represented the inside of a person's mind.

The water was to make it all more mystical.

Now all that was missing was a person in a white dress.

Or a crying child.

" *Sob sob sob*"

' Ah-ha!'

Annie exclaimed to herself, having the most satisfying, 'CALLED IT!' moment.

Annie made it over to the direction of the bevy of sniffles.

And she nearly clapped her hands in self-satisfaction as she saw that the child was wearing a white dress.

" Deuce, deuce, two times."

Annie resisted saying 'hot damn' in front of a child.

Annie approached the child.

" Hey, are you okay?"

Annie spoke quietly and sounded like a sweet little hummingbird.

She touched down with her knees to her c.h.e.s.t.

The girl kept sniffling into her knees. Her little blonde head stayed unmoving.

" Are you okay? What's wrong?"

The girl stopped her little sniffling.

" *Sniff* Nobody loves me. *Hic*"

" Oh, hey now. I'm sure plenty of people love you."

" No. They don't. They all hate me. No one even likes me."

" Hey now. What makes you say that?"

" They all look at me like I'm trash.

They told me I'm nothing.

They didn't want me anymore. They didn't want me anywhere.

They have all they need. They don't want me.

I'm a burden."

Annie felt her eyes glaze over.

It was as if a distinct movie displayed itself on her pupils.

When she finally blinked she said.

" Well, f.u.c.k them."

The little girl stopped shaking completely and stayed completely still.

" If they don't want you then they don't want you.

Hell, plenty of random strangers, mostly pedophiles, but really good people. Will like you after talking with you only once. Sometimes they'll like you after just five seconds.

And soon they'll come to love you.

Trust me you'll find someone to restore your faith in humanity."

" No one likes me either.

They all say the same thing.

No one bothers with me.

You're a stupid head.

And a potty mouth.

No one will like me. Because they all think the same thing.

I don't know what a pedophile is. But no one will ever like me. Especially a stranger. "

Seconds ticked by like hours.

Then that's when Annie laid her hand on the girl's head.

" I like you."

Five seconds. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds. Thirty seconds.

What changes could happen in such a short amount of time?

The still pools of fluorescent water became roaring waves and towering turrets.

It was infested with a black ink that consumed its entirety.

The sky transformed from a cool swirl of blue and purple. To the angry red of a toddler with a tantrum.

You could almost hear the violent violin cord heard in horror movies spray through the air.

As the little girl suddenly raised her hand and clasp it onto Annie's wrist.

Her little hand gripped so hard that Annie's wrist turned purple with a resounding crack.

Annie was in excruciating pain and was now sweating bullets.

" Liar."

Small black lines appeared under the little girl's skin and her voice was nails on a chalkboard.

The sounds of cracking came from the girl.

Her neck creaked like an old door as it turned.

Annie gasped in horror.

The girl's eyes were just black with rivers of tar running down her cheeks.

The veins in her face were a sickening jet black.

The teeth were comparable to rotten corn.

Annabelle had nothing on her!

" You didn't even know me!"

The little girl stood up and put her face close to Annie's.

" You said you hated me!

You refused to get to know me! You're just like them!"

" W-wait who even-"

" You have my body! And you don't even treat it right!"

Then it all clicked.

" Mi-"

The large roar of a wave perked up Annie's ears and when she craned her neck to look behind her.

A large tower of black was behind her.

Before she could even grasp the situation, the wave crashed on top of them.

Everything went black.

Annie was drowning in this sea of complete darkness.

She clawed upward through the sea of shadows.

As soon as her head resurfaced she gasped and took in large amounts of oxygen.

She coughed and sputtered.

Flailing with her head hardly above water, the sudden pull on her foot made her quite verbally express her shock.

Her head dipped down and she immediately threw up a large amount of blackness.

" You're a bad person Annie."

A voice with the texture of an old apartment whispered from an unknown location.

" You're a hypocrite."

Annie was tugged down.

" You're a liar."

She was pushed back.

" You destroyed my body."

She was pushed around in the water at least three more times.

" And you judged me.

You don't even know me."

Annie was panting and overtaken with guilt.

" So f.u.c.k you."

Annie's words were thrown back at her and she was dragged down at supersonic speed.

How was it her fault?

She never asked for this!

She was always in pain!

She didn't know anything!

She was pathetic, weak, not even knowing what she could do.

She wished everything would stop.

Suddenly she no longer had the feeling of being dragged underwater.

But the feeling of plummeting through the sky at full speed.

" Wake up."

The sharp crash of breaking glass surrounded her brain.'

Annie sat up with a gasp.

Her face was soggy and sticky as was the rest of her body.

She squeezed the liquid out of her hair and shirt and fumbled her way through the moonlight.

Out of the blankets, she felt goosebumps arise because of the chilling air.

She shuddered as she stumbled over to the mirror.

She starred at her soaking wet face with such large dark eyes. She thought of herself as a doll.

She swallowed the muck in her mouth and gasped as her fingers flexed.

She felt faint.

Her heart thought it was time to exercise. But her body never exercised and definitely not so much as to beat this fast.

She went to the restroom and splashed her face.

Taking a sip of the tap water which tasted better than any bottled water she had.

After she had finished. She hobbled back to her room and plopped down on the bed.

She fell back with her knees still hanging off the bed and arms starfishing across the bedding.

Her eyes looked past the ceiling into the endless night sky.

Just staring into nothingness. Her mouth just leaving itself agape.

Everything went a bit blank after that.

All that happened was... she blinked and all of the sudden the sun shined directly into her eyes.

She sat up.

Checked the time.

It was 5:20.

She hopped in the shower. Getting out before the timer went off.

She brushed her teeth. She washed her face.

She even brushed her hair.

As she looked in the mirror she ran every finger over every detail. Her fingertips clung to her skin, her lips, her chin.

She stared at the red-faced reflection.

That big misshapen mark on her face telling stories on its own.

She liked the birthmark.

Annie blinked away a few emerging tears.

Memories of her life before flooded her brain to its capacity.

" I'm sorry Mia."

*Knock knock knock*

Annie hardly even jumped at the knock on their door.

She just sniffled, wiped her eyes, and answered the door.

She was escorted to the dining. She was able to put down at least a quarter of her plate.

Whoosh. In a flash, she was plopped onto a couch.

" So, how have you been? Anything interesting happen?"

The therapist asked with a beam.

Annie sat up like a nerd in their first-time detention with her hands folded politely.

She looked the therapist in the eye.

She took in a deep breath.

" Well..."

TO BE CONTINUED~