As Sarah got to school, some people were staring at her. Oh, not because of her bullying, they looked at her height. They all were slightly confused… Even Abby.
“Have you gone through a growth spurt?” She asked.
“A what?”
“A growth spurt. You seem… Taller than I remember. And I’m not the only one thinking that.”
“Oh. To be honest, I’m not sure either. Stuff’s been great lately so… I’m not complaining.” Sarah admitted.
Abby looked at her, feeling as if Sarah was hiding something. “If you’re happy, then it’s fine.” She said with a subtle smile.
During class, the same boring stuff happened and there was still some bullying… Though something strange caught Sarah off-guard.
“Celine?” The teacher was calling everyone’s name.
“Here.” The smart boy responded.
“Gally?”
Gally made a mall sound that pretty much said “I’m very present.”
“Emma?”
No response.
“Is Emma there?”
Nothing.
“Mm.” The teacher said as he crossed her name to the “absent” category. He muttered to himself “That one’s usually not absent…” but the class still heard him.
“Weird.” Abby said in a low voice to Sarah.
“I hope she’s alright. Yesterday, she was in a great mood. Must be something private or something like that.” Sarah said, trying to figure out the problem but not really thinking about it much.
Abby started to get a little suspicious. It’s the second time she heard about someone going missing since yesterday...
As the weeks continued, Sarah got prettier every time. Sometimes it was minor details, like her toes, other times were pretty noticeable changes, like her hips. Today, she felt great but didn’t notice her change right away. In fact, she always tried to keep the mirror hidden so that she could guess what changed. Sarah got to her closet and picked up her usual T-shirt only to find that it couldn’t fit her that much. She had lost some weight three days ago though. Sarah looked at her chest.
“Ah. I see.” She said, looking at Eleanor now who was giggling. Sarah giggled too.
“You look fabulous.” Eleanor said.
“I figured one day you’ll do that.” Sarah said, giggling even more.
Eleanor approached Sarah. “What do you think of yourself now?”
Sarah finally looked at her mirror. “Fantastic.” She smiled but then felt a little bad. Her initial wish was to be beautiful so she could stop being bullied. The bullying stopped two weeks ago, yet she kept going. Sarah accidently became addicted to the changes.
“What’s wrong?” Eleanor asked, noticing that Sarah was frowning.
“I feel like I’ve… Abused you a little.” Sarah admitted.
“Oh no, my dear. You’ve said one wish and I’m completing it.”
“Yeah but the reason just… Switched.”
“I understand. If you want we can stop there.”
Those words resonated inside Sarah’s head. “Okay… But I have two requests before we’re ending it.”
Eleanor clapped her hands. “Exciting!”
“I’ll keep the second private for now… But, for the first… I…” She thought deeply about it. Doubting hard. “I want you to make my face prettier.”
Eleanor actually got surprised. “Oh, huh, wow. That’s… That’s a wild and risky thing to wish for. You might not recognize yourself.”
Sarah nodded. “I don’t mind. I mean, my whole body changed already.”
“What about Abby? Or your sweet mother?”
That, Sarah actually got a bit concerned. After a lot of thinking, she said: “It’ll be okay. I won’t disappear like Nate anyways, right? I’ll still be there.”
Sarah was staring at the mirror. At her updated, big but cute brown eyes. Her smaller, glossy lips. Her slightly altered head shape and her new added freckles. Her tiny nose.
Some elements were still indicative that this was Sarah… But the new face was a shock. She loved it and didn’t care about whatever everyone else might say. She smiled wide. Sarah then looked at her necklace. The heart-shaped necklace that she wore for almost two months straight now. Sometimes, she even glued it on her chest so it wouldn’t fly away accidently (but then it was a pain to remove the glue). One day, she slipped and almost lost it. That could have been a disaster… But it didn’t happen so, whatever. Surprisingly, Eleanor calmly approached Sarah instead of surprising her.
“So… What are your thoughts?”
“It’s… It’s odd. But I love it.”
“What is your second desire?” Eleanor asked, remembering what Sarah had said the day before.
Sarah turned to face Eleanor. “I need time to think about it. Give me… A few months?”
Eleanor nodded. “Very well.”
School… Was stranger than usual. There weren’t many students, to be honest. Rumors were saying that there was some kind of dangerous person kidnapping the kids. So. Many. Missing. Reports. Sarah didn’t care that much though. These people kept bullied her! And now, she was the happy and beautiful one and they were the forgotten, the “useless”. Abby, on the other hand, just didn’t feel safe at all anymore. She felt extremely suspicious of so many things.
“Even you.” Abby admitted to Sarah.
Sarah faced her as they walked down the hall. “Me?”
“Yeah. There’s just some weird coincidences between you and those disappearances. Also, your face…”
“What? I just gave myself a makeover, no biggie.” Sarah said, trying to avoid talking about Eleanor.
Anny got in front of Sarah, stopping her from walking. “Sarah, listen. What’s going on with you isn’t normal and I’m sure that you know it.”
“I don’t care. I’m happy now.”
“You are way too happy. Hell, sometimes you’re actually frighting me out.” Abby accidently admitted.
Sarah stared at her. “Y’know what? I don’t care.” She said before walking past Abby, ignoring her. Abby was just annoying now. Sarah could tell that they were distancing themselves as time passed. Maybe they wouldn’t be friends by the end of the year…
“What do you wish for most for your summer vacation?” The teacher had asked to the few students in their classes.
“Spending time with my grandpa!” One student said.
“Going to Paris!” Another said.
“Moving out.” Sarah said, which caught Abby off guard.
“H-Huh, meet one of my idols.” Abby said, uncertain.
The other students said their wishes and the teacher continued his class.
“You’re moving out?!” Abby whispered to Sarah.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t tell you that.”
“But, you’re seventeen! And why?”
“I just want a fresh start. From everything.” Sarah smiled.
“Even me?”
Sarah’s smile faded. She didn’t say anything, but she already knew her answer. Even you.
“I’m feeling ready.” Sarah told Eleanor, who she became really close friends with. Sarah even taught Eleanor some stuff about human lives, so she could “fit in”.
“For what?”
“My final request.”
Eleanor’s jaw dropped. “I forgot about that.”
Sarah approached Eleanor, mimicking her movements. “I want… I want you to permanently fix the necklace on me.”
Now Eleanor’s eyes opened wide. “What?”
“I want to make sure that I never, ever loose the necklace. One way or another.”
Eleanor put her hands on Sarah’s shoulder. ‘Alright then. I’ll make sure it works… But I’ll have to leave you after that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Since this is your ultimate desire, I must go find someone else after. My mission to you will be complete, it’ll be time for me to find someone else. A lucky person, like you, to help accomplish their wishes.”
Sarah smiled. “It’s okay. I understand.”
Eleanor pointed Sarah’s heart. “I’ll make sure the necklace is there.”
Giggling at that expression, Sarah looked at Eleanor. “Thank you.”
“You’ll have to go to sleep early though, it’ll take a longer time than anything else.
As Eleanor told her that, Sarah got ready and got to her bed. “I’m ready.” Eleanor sat next to Sarah, then Sarah said “Oh and… Sincerely, thank you for everything. You’ve changed my life.”
Eleanor nodded.
Go to sleep, go to sleep,
Go to sleep, my sweet Sarah,
When you wake, when you wake,
Your desire will be completed.
Abby entered Sarah’s home as stealthy as possible. She had too many suspicions towards Sarah. She needed to know what was happening. Sneaking on the hallway, Abby heard some strange sounds… Some really bizarre ones. She also noticed a bunch of boxes near her doorway, probably due to the moving out. Abby was finally in front of her once best friend’s room.
She grabbed the doorknob… And slowly opened it without creaking. Her face turned to horror.
Right there, next to Sarah’s bed, was a human sized girl android. Wearing some of Sarah’s clothes and with red pigtails, the android was holding a huge butcher knife. Next to it, a small table with multiple utensils. There was a hand. A decapitated hand that was way too familiar. Nate… The android lady was cutting open Sarah’s chest. Literally! Her lungs were on the floor, blood was scattered everywhere. And the android grabbed something from her body… Her heart. Her dead heart.
The android grabbed something from the table. It was the size and shape of the heart, but clearly artificial. She inserted it inside Sarah, then removed Sarah’s necklace. The necklace could fit inside the artificial heart… Before Abby could see more, the door accidently creaked. The android quickly looked towards the door, only to see nothing. Abby managed to flee the disaster…
When Sarah woke up, she felt great She felt healthy too! Her wish was now completed… But that meant that Eleanor was gone. Nowhere to be seen, it seems like Eleanor fulfilled what she had told her.
Sarah’s mother helped her putting the boxes in her car. She was moving out at night, she had to get ready. Sarah was going to her final day at school, after one heck of a roller coaster of a year. At school, she seemed so happy. Her happiness was to a level she never thought was possible. Especially with the start of the year. It felt great. She reached out her locker and started grabbing everything before Abby approached her. Sarah turned back and saw Abby… Shaking. Her face was… Strange.
“Hey Abby. I’m just packing up my things.”
When Sarah tried to approach Abby, she took a step back.
“Abby, are you okay?”
Some students started looking at the scene. Abby couldn’t look at Sarah… She couldn’t, she forced herself. What Sarah.. Is, was impossible to accept. Uncontrollably, traumatized at her “friend”, Abby cried. She was crying so hard yet couldn’t dare to explain why to everyone that looked at her. They didn’t know… Only Abby knew what happened to Sarah.
“Abby… What’s wrong?”
Abby took another step back. Students were getting concerned, Sarah was confused… And Abby was still crying.
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