The Girl Who Was Buried in Her Ball Gown

I came through the huge studio mirror, into the training room. I found myself absolutely blown away by the fantastic choreography, of the Fantasy cheerleading dance troupe. The girls were amazing, a sight to behold, all dressed up in their bright pink and sequence uniforms.

They flipped, jumped and tossed team members right up into the air, nearly hitting the high ceiling above. I couldn’t believe the strength of these young girls who were on ‘base’ and I was unable to fathom how they caught each other as the ‘fliers’ fell from great heights, back into the arms of the ‘tumblers’. And there she was, little Sophia, right in the thick of it all. She was a new entrant, which I found out as I was sitting next to her Mum. I learned a lot while eavesdropping on her and some of the other mother’s conversations.

Since her operation, Sophia’s personality had altered dramatically. Before her heart transplant, she had been very much a bookworm, preferring to stay indoors and read, watch television or just talk. An introvert and not particularly interested in high–flying cheerleading, in fact a little freaked out about such a dangerous sport.

She liked to dance but preferred tap, rock-and-roll, or even waltz; having both feet firmly planted on the ground at all times. But here, she had blossomed into an adventurous, risk-taking girl.

Her Mum was amazed, when Sophia saw her friends doing cheerleading, she got a taste for the daring within. And now Sophia’s Mum, couldn’t hold her daughter back. Sophia was moving through the ranks, at a very fast pace for a beginner, picking up the moves, savouring the high-flying risks and loving it.

She had already begun training as a ‘flier’, who are the girls that had special advanced classes, whereby they learned the skills needed to ‘fly’, to be thrown upwards to incredible heights from the ‘bases’ (throwers). As they ‘flew’, they’d perform splits and spins and come back down, posing on top of their fellow cheerleaders. Special techniques needed to be learned, so as to land safely, she was absolutely spectacular.

She wasn’t bothered by the major operation she’d undergone months earlier, nor concerned about any possible dangers that could be disastrous to her recovery. She was recovering well though. She didn’t look like the half-starved girl in the hospital that I remembered. No, she was fit, healthy and loving life.

I had a blast watching these amazing spinning, splitting, flying and catching girls. It took my breath away sometimes (if I had breath)! Sophia was lovely and agile, with a big, beautiful smile upon her sweet, young face.

I went home with her and her mother (although they would not have known), to see what else she got up to as a surviving heart transplant patient. It was Toni’s heart that beat inside of her. Sophia may never know just who Toni was, when she was alive. What had happened to Toni, or how her massive loss had become Sophia’s new life force. I hoped she would never have to live the terror of Toni’s experience. However, I was wrong. Very wrong. Sophia did know and no one could work out just how she did.

I started to become suspicious, when Sophia was getting ready for bed that evening. She did not want to go! Sure, some kids got grumpy at bed time, I knew my little sister Nikki often dragged the chain and whinged and grumped about it, like it was a major crisis. I remember that I too, tried to make all kinds of excuses to not go to bed at 8:30pm! Come on! I was nearly fourteen! I should’ve been able to stay up as late as I wanted to and slept in for as long as I desired.

Sophia dug her heels in at every chance; she dawdled and wasted as much time as she could. I could easily see how exhausted she really was from the busy day; her eyes were blinking constantly. She even nodded off to sleep once, while eating dinner.

When the time had come to get into bed, she was adamant she was not going to go. Her face scrunched up into a hideous scowl and her hands clenched into fists. I could tell that this had become a regular occurrence, as her mother soothed her at every turn, expecting the response. I was amazed at her patience actually and she seemed to understand a thing or two as to why Sophia didn’t like her bed time.

“Come on Sophia, I know you don’t like bed time, but you really do need to sleep. Here is your dose of tart-cherry and magnesium, to settle you for the night.”

“I don’t want to go! I have nightmares, Mum!”

“I know honey, you can call us whenever you need to and we’ll come. We always do, isn’t that true? Shall I lie down with you for a while hon?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. Come on then, off you go. I’ll be there as soon as I’ve washed up.”

Sophia finally wandered off and sat up in bed waiting. I plonked myself beside her and wondered why she hated bed time. I decided to mind-meld with her, once she was asleep.

Her mother came in and read to her, prayed for her and tucked her in. Then sat with her for a time, just quietly chatting. Finally, she went to sleep and her Mum slipped out. And Sophia started dreaming. Her dreams were not nice dreams that little girls should be having.

It started with her twitching, while she lay there and mumbled; sleep-talking. “No, no stop! Go away! Go AWAY! HELP!” I mind-melded and listened, seeing what she saw. It shocked me to my core!

I saw panthers, pink panthers chasing her. At first, she was excited about the panthers. They were her friends. They gave her a note, an invitation to America and she was going to be the star–dancing panther. The star cheerleader in fact, and she was hurrying home to tell her mother about it.

As money came pouring from the sky onto her, the notes and coins suddenly changed into daggers, shaped like fat fingers falling upon her. Oh–my–God! Pohane! Pohane was in the dream. I heard her calling and beckoning Sophia over to herself, only it wasn’t Sophia. I couldn’t see who it actually was, because I was looking through Sophia’s eyes and the name being called wasn’t Sophia. She was calling “Toni!” Toni? How could Sophia know about Toni?

Toni moved closer to Pohane, and some of the pink panthers jumped out from a bush. They surrounded her and crouched down, stalking toward her with their teeth bared through grotesque jaws. Through their vicious teeth, they growled menacingly in low rumbles, canines looking like the daggers, that were falling from the sky.

Pohane laughed and shouted, “Finish it! Finish her off! She’ll tell on you if you don’t. She’ll tell EVERYONE!” The panthers leapt at her; ripping her clothes off, sinking their daggers into her arms, pulling her to the ground and then one lay on top of her helpless form, thumping and forcing its claws into her.

That’s when I saw him! The panther on top of her became a man! He had grey scraggly hair, messy and hidden under a dirty green beanie. His breath stank of filth, making me and Sophia feel sick. The morphing panther’s teeth turned brown and some of them rattled out of his mouth as he moved lustfully on Toni. It was the same man who had tried to attack Nikki. Was this the whore-man, who had raped and murdered Toni?

The visuals and sensations within disgusted me. Sophia shot bolt upright, opened her eyes and she screamed, “NO! No stop! Help me! HELP!” I heard footsteps and her mother came quickly into the room. She gathered her up into her arms and hugged her until she calmed, “Did you have that dream again Sophia? You poor thing. Mummy’s here, it’s okay. It’s okay now.”

Sophia sobbed bitterly; no wonder, I thought. How could she know all of this? How does she know the details of Toni’s gruesome murder so vividly? I had to help her, I must work through this with her. But what could I do? How could we get to the bottom of this whole disgusting thing? She recognised the man vividly, that was plain. And the pink panthers; they ring a bell too, but why? Come on Emma, think!

I cast my mind back, back to when Toni and I went to school together; both still alive and in this world. What was the connection? Then it came to me. Pink panthers! They were a cheerleader dance group from our home town. I remembered seeing Toni wear their uniform from time–to–time and it was pink!

Toni was a brilliant cheerleader and I remembered a newspaper article, from just before her murder. The article was about some of the team going over to America, to compete in a world cheerleading event. Toni must have been one of the competitors selected.

It all made sense now, the pink, the panthers, the note she had from America; the money falling from the sky! She had been fund raising for the trip! Sophia’s life-force, Toni’s heart had Toni’s memories, locked up inside it. Toni’s experiences, Toni’s witness! And then it came to me loud and clear... the man’s downfall!

Oh, the daggers and her! Why was Pohane so interested in messing up, not only my life, but Toni’s and also Sophia’s? She’s evil! A wicked, perverted demon! She had to be stopped, but how? If anything, I decided, at least we should try to wreak havoc on her plans, do something! But what? My mind went into overdrive and then I had a plan.