[h1]Alison[/h1]

[i]You're so pretty... please don't gol[/i]

Something white and sharp, blurring through Alison's mind. She desperately reached out, trying to hold the hand of the beautiful woman that had offered her magic powers. But her fingers trembled, and nothing felt solid underneath them.

She woke up somewhere. Not her room. Tickles wasn't there, and neither were her Rainbow Dash stuffed dolls. It was soft, and smelled like a hospital that time when Grandma was sick and she had to visit her with the tubes in her arms. There was a window in front of her, but no blinds.

Oh. Right. The woman said she must get better at magic powers to escape and go home.

Alison yawned, then smiled widely. This was sooo amazing. Just like an adventure in one of Ms Carter's bedtime stories! In the stories the little girl was always a secret princess (Alison [i]knew[/i] she would become one of those one day), and the character was always brave and strong, and fought monsters with her special powers. Maybe the pretty woman would give her special powers too.

She jumped to her feet immediately, in the excited flip that only a very young girl on her birthday could do. The glass gave way before a quick push, and she stepped out of the pod, running her fingers through frizzy brown hair as she looked in awe at the room around. There were pods [i]everywhere[/i], like desks at school, and there was a weird purple sign on all of them, even the walls.

Then she noticed the strange man near her. Instinctively, she stepped away, chewing her lip as she looked up at him. He was pale and thin, with long, messy hair, with a pointed beard like the evil clones in cartoons. And Mummy always said not to talk to strangers. His clothes were dirty and torn, just like the old men she saw lying on street corners that Mummy had said to stay away from. That was three reasons why she should stay away from him. One, he was a stranger, and stranger danger was bad. Two, he looked like the homeless people that Mummy said were just as bad as strangers. Three, he looked like a supervillain.

He looked over at hair, and Alison froze up. "A-are you here to kidnap me?" Oh no! He really was going to kidnap her! With a shriek, Alison tore away from him, not daring to look back in case he was chasing her. He must want to collect a ransom from her real father, the King of... of... whatever Kingdom she was a Princess of! 

She quickly dived behind one of the pods, shivering. Didn't the woman say that she had magic powers? Maybe she'd use them, and blast him with a fireball. That'll teach him to come near her again! 

Quickly, she crouched down and focused on her left hand. 

[i]I want... a princess fireball![/i]

For a moment, nothing happened. The promised fireball did not materialize in her hand, and Alison felt a wave of crushing disappointment. 

Then something swelled up in her wrist, and surged through. A black tentacle, twitching back and forth like a snake. It was segmented into sharp pieces, and at its head three jointed needles clacked together in a mocking parody of a clap. It protruded from her left palm, and snaked out with a frightening speed.

"AHHH! HELP ME!" Alison fell backwards, not caring if the bad man saw her now. A sob escaped her lips as she ineffectually shook her hand, hoping to dislodge it. The snake curled towards her now, and she screamed as she felt it touch her. Cold, almost metallic. She fell backwards on her floor, tears streaming down her face. Was this how she would die? To some black centipede hiding in her hand, without even getting a chance to be a princess or ride a unicorn or use her magic?