The Lost Girls of the Catacombs
The Parisian catacombs were musty, reeked of dust, and made Frida practically cough her lungs out. She groaned as her sister barraged the poor tour guide with questions. "Ooh, what's this?" "What's that?" "When's this from?" "Really? How do we know?" Frida had zoned out about an hour ago, not really caring at all for the oh-so-important history of France. She slowly walked at the back of the group, behind her parents and next to the daughter of another family taking the tour.
"You're bored too, eh?" The girl asked, looking down at Frida. Frida nodded, not looking up. "Yeah. You looked it. What's your name?" As she leaned in, Frida was slapped in the face by her blonde hair, so bright it seemed almost luminescent. When no response came, she decided to keep talking. "My name's Priscilla. Wow, they're really not paying any attention to us, huh?" Priscilla made a number of crude gestures at their parents' backs, glancing at Frida after every one. Eventually, Frida cracked up with an odd snort, but she stopped herself, a red flush creeping up her plump cheeks. "Frida." "Hm?" "My name's Frida. I'm here with my elder sister Meredith and our parents." "Well, it's nice to meet you, Frida. My name's Priscilla." For a moment, Frida stopped, looking up at the girl next to her for the first time, with a gaze that just screamed 'are you dumb?'. "Yeah, you said that." "O-oh. Right."
When the tour guide stopped being able to answer her questions, Meredith decided to do some investigating of her own. Slowly, she let herself fall to the back of the group. Although she heard the conversation between her sister and some girl she hadn't seen before, she didn't really register any of it, being too busy examining every inch of the walls. And then, when the rest of the group marched forward, Meredith took a sharp right turn, into a crevasse in the wall. "Meredith? What are you-- hey!" Frida's speech was a mix of a shout and a whisper, but her sister had already disappeared, the last strand of her jet-black hair disappearing inside the crack in the wall. Frida ran after her, and Priscilla quickly followed.
Frida had lost track of time. Five minutes, ten, fifteen, however long they squeezed through the dusty narrow pathways engraved within the catacombs. She could only barely hear Meredith's shuffling as she tried to give chase. Priscilla followed closely behind. "Meredith! Wait up!" And then, there was a flash of light, and no more ground under their feet. Frida and Priscilla did not know for how long they were falling. Unnatural, vibrant trees with inverse cone-shaped leaves caught their fall, and they carefully made their way down to the ground below.
It seemed to be daytime in this place. Two suns shone in the sky, one a light blue colour while the other seemed quite similar to the normal sun. The sky was clear, but a bright purple rather than the usual blue. Underfoot was soft dirt, littered with branches and fallen leaves and fungi, but also many kinds of flora they'd never seen before. "What..." Priscilla started, but she trailed off. The air here was clean, a stark contrast to the air within the catacombs, or that of Paris itself. "Meredith!" Frida yelled again. Priscilla repeated after her.
"Wait. Look down." Frida examined the ground closely, spotting indents in the dirt. "Footsteps. She went that way!" She exclaimed, running off. Priscilla internally chuckled. At least Frida was more articulate than her sister about why she was running off. She gave chase as well, into the lush forest. Fluorescent fireflies danced around the vines hanging off the trees, tiny rodents scuttled in and out of the foliage. If she wasn't so terrified of losing track of her sister, Frida would've spent hours frolicking in these woods.
Priscilla heard an angry yelling from just up ahead, over a tiny hill. As soon as she stepped over it, she could hear it more closely and see the source. Meredith, sitting on a tree stump, surrounded by all sorts of fauna. Not any species Priscilla had seen before, but undeniably animals that belonged in this odd place. Frida, standing up next to her, speaking with wide, clearly angry gestures. "What is wrong with you?! I was worried sick! You can't just run off out of nowhere, not say a word, expect me to follow you around wherever you want! You could've gotten hurt, gotten lost, god knows what could've happened to you, Meredith!" Seeing the way Meredith was being berated, it was hard to believe Frida was the younger of the two. Only for a short moment, though - the moment Meredith stood up and put an arm around Frida, the youngest sister quieted down.
"Aw, don't cry. We're both safe now, Fri. And I'm sorry." Meredith whispered, and then let go of Frida, spinning around. "But just look at this place! I mean, god, where even are we? Have you ever seen a place this pretty? I've seen all kinds of weird stuff, but it's impossible for a place like this to be hiding under Paris, right? I mean, there's an open sky and all." Priscilla had now made her way down the hill, arriving by their side. "Made a new friend, Fri?" Frida nodded. "Cool! What's your name? How old are you? What's your favourite animal? Are you from Paris? We're from Bern." Meredith attacked Priscilla with a barrage of questions, and Frida shot her newfound friend a sympathetic, slightly guilty glance. "But this place-- don't you think it might be dangerous?" "Don't you worry about that, Fri. You know I'd never let anything hurt you, right?"
After a heated discussion, Meredith and Frida had decided on a plan. The notion of discovering new species of animals was enough to convince the youngest sister for now. "Okay, we can explore this place for a little bit, but I wanna go back after that, alright?" "Gotcha! In the name of science, I'll uncover all this place's secrets in record time!" Meredith perked up, walking deeper into the forest. Frida let herself relax as well, taking in the scenery. Their path was downhill, and to the side of it was a river, flow of the water causing it to climb impossibly uphill. The chirping of the bird-like creatures sounded surprisingly close to the birds she already knew.
Suddenly, her elder sister's head jerked to the side. "Come!" Meredith said to the two, running off in that direction. A bipedal creature with a long tail and tiny arms at the front, covered in scales, about up to Meredith's waist in height. Its tail was broken, causing it to be unable to balance itself. Most likely, it'd fallen into the shallow ditch a metre or so behind it. Jagged crystals sprouted up from the ditch, and Meredith saw a shard of a similar violet sheen sticking out of the creature's front paw. Meredith had already taken a seat next to it, carefully examining its wounds. "Fri, can you-" Frida presented her a few sturdy sticks. A few seconds later, she returned with some twine. In between fixing up the creature's tail, Meredith looked up for a split second to see Priscilla's absolutely puzzled expression. "We've done this a few times before. Frida really loves animals, so we learned how to care for them."
Priscilla knelt down, putting her hand by the creature's head - it snapped at her, causing her to quickly pull her hand back. "I guess I don't share your caring instincts, Meredith.." With a faint half-chuckle, she took a few steps back, watching the sisters work. "Ah, it's a learned thing. Oldest sister instincts, mom calls it. You're the youngest, I'm guessing?" "...Only child. I've always wanted siblings, but it never happened." "Oh. Well, you're here now! And with the power vested in me by being born first, I ordain you middle sister Priscilla Langenstein!" At that, the three laughed. Priscilla was a little confused - the gesture made her feel somewhat at homr, but she didn't expect it from someone she'd only just met.
Ten minutes later, the two sisters had fashioned a makeshift splint for the creature - it licked their faces with an extraordinarily long tongue before scuttling off into the woods. Meredith stood up, brushing the dirt off her legs and stretching. "Mission success! What should we do next? C'mon, Pris, pick a direction!" She'd turned to Priscilla, putting her hands on the girl's shoulder and excitedly but gently shaking her. Meredith was about two inches taller, just enough to make her a tad intimidating to Priscilla. "Ah, I don't, uh," Pris? Priscilla had already forgotten Meredith's name twice now, while she had already jumped to giving her nicknames. Priscilla found it quite difficult to keep up with. Meredith relented as Priscilla took a step back to look at their surroundings.
Straight ahead, she saw the forest's ground slowly descend into a valley, and could make out a ravine beyond the trees in the distance. The rock there seemed to be crystalline, reflecting something shining deep down in the ravine. She didn't like the risk of falling in, so she pointed towards the right. In that direction was a mountain, an angular cone of white rock jutting out of the ground, clouds coalescing around its peak. With a hop, a skip, and a jump, Meredith gleefully took off in its direction, motioning for the other two to come along. While not-so-carefully jumping over the ditch, she began to talk Priscilla's ear off, beginning with a fifteen-minute lecture on the French Revolution and its modern-day relevance.
Meredith's lecture was only cut short by a bright flash, followed by a deafening bang a second later. Within the blink of an eye, the clear sky had become a matte black. Their visibility had been reduced to only a few metres, thanks to the sudden darkness and the pouring rain that commenced a second later. "Crud. Didn't know it could rain in here..." Meredith slowed down and pulled her hood over her head, already shivering. Frida, however, pulled ahead, twirling her body around and turning her head to the sky with her mouth open. "Relax a little, you'll get a cold!" Priscilla sounded worried, but Frida didn't seem to share her concerns. "So what if I do? What's the use in avoiding joy over a few risks?" Frida's response didn't do much to calm her worries, while Meredith just chuckled. "She learned that one from Mom. Both of them get a cold every time, but at least they never regret it."
As the rain intensified and turned to hail, even Frida slowed her pace and pulled her hood up. "Let's- let's try looking for an exit, alright? I don't think this hail is letting up anytime soon, and I'm sure our parents are worri- ack!" Priscilla yelped as she almost fell, having tripped over a carcass. As Meredith turned to see what happened, her hand quickly jolted to Frida, covering her eyes. "Yeah. You're right. Maybe back where we came from?" Yellowish ichor still dripped from the gash along the creature's - which looked like an odd, chihuahua-sized mix of a swine and a deer - back, albeit at a snail's pace now. Frida caught a glance of it, and gasped. The three heard a twig crack.
They ran through the dense forest as quickly as their legs would allow them to. "Just keep running and mind your surroundings!" Meredith yelled out to the other two, carefully avoiding a fallen tree trunk. The other two grumbled in response, too focused to reply with anything more. As they dashed ahead, moving between trees and avoiding low-hanging branches, they heard a creature loudly growling in the distance. It seemed to be slower than them, but just barely. Frida tried to calm her hitched breaths - 'keep running at all costs' constantly echoed throughout her mind. A tiny pellet of hail struck her eye, and she moved her right hand upwards to guard her face. Her next step didn't land, and suddenly her feet were off the ground, and she was plummeting forwards.
Meredith let out a half-roar of pure exertion as she lifted her sister up with one arm, throwing her over the small ditch she'd almost fallen into. In doing so, she herself misstepped - the sharp crystals within the ditch sliced at her calf, and she could feel warm blood mixing with the cold rain on her leg. Priscilla skidded to a halt, helping both Meredith and Frida up in an instant. Before turning around and breaking back into a sprint, she saw the creature's feral eyes only a dozen metres behind them, saw the drool dripping off of its protruding jaw, and the two sharp bloodied mandibles jutted straight forward. A cold gale swaddled Meredith's entire body. It felt like her heartbeat slowed to a crawl. She glanced at Priscilla, then to the side, where her gaze hung on Frida. She forced herself to move forward.
The terrain became a little steeper, the trees more sparse. Less danger of tripping, but it took a toll on their stamina. Tiny luminescent bugs flitted around the place, anchors of light within a sea of darknesss. Meredith glanced down at her leg, wincing with every step, but she had to keep going - Frida was so smart and kind, but she'd always needed a bit of pushing. Someone needed to be there to protect her, and Meredith was made for that task. Without a big sister to guide her along, Meredith didn't know where Frida might end up. Despite all that, as they sprinted through that mysterious world, Meredith came to accept what she'd already known since the moment she fell.
They kept running and running, adrenaline turning all extraneous stimuli into nothing more than a blur, mind devoid of anything not vital to their survival. "Priscilla. Frida. We won't make it - not with my injured leg." "Just- just shut up and keep running!" Frida yelled, barely registering what Meredith even said. They'd gotten slower, for sure, and every step damaged Meredith's leg further. "I'm serious! If I keep slowing you two down, all three of us will-" Her voice cracked.
To Priscilla, it all happened in an instant. Meredith sank down onto one knee, weakly pulling herself up by the branch of a tree next to her. Priscilla tugged at her hand, but there was no longer any strength in her arms. Her face was right in front of Meredith's, and tears ran down both of their faces. "No! We can get out, all three of us- just- just run!" "Just do one thing for me, Pris. Fri- she'll need a big sister. Take my place. She needs someone to protect her, to always be there for her-" "No! Come with us, Meredith!" A sharp mandible made a tiny nick in the very tip of Priscilla's nose. A singular, powerful spray of blood coated her face. The creature turned around, taking Meredith with it.
Frida screamed her lungs out, a high-pitched, ear-splitting type of screaming, but none of her limbs would move. Every fibre of her body wanted to run after her, pull her out of the thing's jaws and take her home, where the two of them would live a long and safe life, but none would cooperate. She didn't know how long it'd been when her vocal chords gave out too, and nothing but warm air escaped her throat. Two hours later, she was being ferried through a silent forest in Priscilla's arms, the girl's jet-black hair slapping her face with every step upwards or downwards. Something about Priscilla's appearance seemed off, but Frida hadn't the energy to think about it. Priscilla only thought. Frida needed a big sister - her sole wish was to become just that.
A searing pain coursed through both of Priscilla's legs, reminding her of the early and agonising growth spurt she'd gone through last year, but much more intense. She marched onwards. The place they'd arrived at had no sign of a way back, and she desperately made her way towards the only other potential exit that she could think of. The rain had let up, sunlight seeping through the cracks in the clouds now, rays of light clashing with the bright light pouring out of the ravine. Looking over its edge, Priscilla saw white and yellow and pink in an infinite nebula, ever swirling. She kicked a rock down, and in a flash of light, it disappeared. She breathed in deep, and she fell forward, Frida in her hands.
Around 4:30 PM on the summer solstice of 2011, Meredith Langenstein, Frida Langenstein, and Priscilla Montbelliard went missing in the Parisian catacombs. At 9:17 PM exactly, Meredith and Frida Langenstein were found in perfect health within a forbidden section of the crypt, Meredith covered in blood, neither of them able to speak. With the blood matching neither Frida's nor Meredith's DNA, experts had concluded that the blood belonged to Priscilla Montbelliard, and the sisters' claims that Meredith had been the one to die and the girl looking identical to her was in fact Priscilla were written off as the result of trauma-induced psychosis. To protect the sisters' identities, they were not mentioned by name in the eventual report of Priscilla Montbelliard's sudden death within the catacombs of Paris, and the Lost Girls of the Catacombs would remain ever anonymous.