The Breaking of the Fellowship
Sleep had been restless. She must have been up off and on throughout the night so the light of day was not welcoming to her sleep withdrawn body. The sound of heavy footsteps filled her ears. “Come on.” Gimli spoke gruffly, tapping her leg with the blunt edge of his axe.
She barely moved. Tiredness had consumed her and was now winning the battle she was fighting with it. She felt so weak and sick as well; which helped nothing.
Again he tapped her leg, this time with a bit more force. “Lenia.” His voice was as gruff as before only this time it was interrupted. “Gimli,” Aragorn spoke hushed, “leave her be…she needs her rest.”
“And the rest of us don’t?” He scoffed.
“M’awake.” Lenia’s words were slurred as she moved her head. Aragorn crouched and placed his hands on her feet, giving them a gentle shake. “Morning,” He whispered to her. It was only when she opened her eyes that she comprehended the time of morning it was.
The sun was high in the sky, shining intently on the forest edges around them. It was hot; the area had, had time to warm. Most of all, by the fact that most everything was packed up, she knew the others had been awake for some time.
Lenia attempted to wipe all tiredness from her eyes, “You didn’t.” She hissed groggily at him. However, Aragorn just gently patted her feet again, “You were exhausted, Lenia. I wasn’t about to disturb your sleep.” Worry showed on his face, “You need it.”
At the sight of his worry Lenia shot up, throwing away all feelings of being tired. “I’m just as able bodied as everyone else here to get up before the sun.” She stated, their eyes locked and equal stubbornness battled – neither winning.
Deeply he sighed and stood up himself. “Just be careful, alright?” He told her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t look well and it…well after last night I…” Her mentor’s voice trailed off as he struggled for words.
In attempt to ease his worry Lenia shook her head, “Think nothing of what I said last night.” She unhooked a container from her belt, unscrewed the cap and took a swig. “See?” She told him, smiling broadly. “Better all ready.” With that she attached it back onto her belt. Of course she forgot to mention to him what happened when she ran out of that herb. That, she figured, was better left unspoken for the time being.
Aragorn looked at her, his eyes burying deep into her own. He didn’t believe her, that was obvious, and this would not be the end of their conversation. However, they needed to move on; their pace could not be let up. Moving past her he told her, “We’ll talk later.” His voice was curt and protective, the tone of an elder brother or a father – she knew that tone well.
A quiet “Whatever you say, Strider” was her response as she gathered her things in quick time. The thought of food was not appealing to her but for Aragorn’s sake she took a few things of bacon while entertaining the hobbits at the same time.
“You slept late,” Legolas commented as she helped him put their things back on the boats. “I was tired.” She spoke simply giving him barely a glance. It was a colder gesture than which she wished to give him but it was better than the true explanation. There was a silence that proceeded that comment, one where Lenia could tell he was staring down her back trying to decipher the sudden change in her normally cheerful mood. “I’m fine-” She began, turning around only to find him directly behind her.
“Are you sure?” He asked, every doubt that should have been emitting from him was. Lying and deceit were two things Lenia hated and there she was, staring them right in the face. Giving him a faint, half hearted smile she placed her hand softly on his cheek. “I’ll be alright.” She chose her words carefully. “I’m just feeling a bit off, that’s all.” Twisting your words wasn’t lying was it? Changing things so you didn’t have to lie or speak of what was truly wrong. Course not.
Lowering her hand with care she turned back to the boats. The silence that lingered was bitter, she hated keeping these things from him, from all of them, but it was necessary. Solemn eyes turned back over her shoulder to peer at him. Long golden hair was flowing in the wind, face expressionless as he pilled the objects into their boats. He turned and looked at her, eyes meeting only for a moment. “All set!” Lenia spoke abruptly, turning her head to break the gaze. ‘He mustn’t get a good look at me.’ She knew that if he did he’d know things were worse than she was letting on and then he would worry. He’d worry about something that he had no control over and there was no sense in that.
In silence the group continued on, speaking not a word to one another. Tension was high, as well as weary.
“The Argonath” Aragorn’s sudden voice made Lenia’s cloaked head turn, her gaze turning from the dangered shorelines to the statues looming overhead. “Long have I desire to look upon the kinds of old.” Her eyes traveled back to Aragorn, meeting his, noticing the nearly grim look upon his face as he spoke the words, “My kin.”
“Be not grim,” Elvin words felt sweet upon her tongue, “Your destiny lies with them but it so much different. You will not sway.” He spoke nothing but looked at her, lost for words for a few moments and then deciding not to verbal disagree although he did. “How little faith you hold within your self.” She concluded, not even Legolas understanding the strange form of Elvin tongue she was speaking. Knowing full well she wouldn’t get anywhere with her mentor she turned back to the statues, back to the large majestic sculptures that raised hundreds of feet above your head. From where their heads stopped you’d think they were touching the heavens. Beyond them was a great pool of water, ending in a waterfall, surrounded by forest.
Vibrations.
Running through her body were vibrations, feelings of hundreds of feet running across the ground. Her eyes turned, loud screeches reaching her ears, sounds that were far too familiar to her. The sound was of Orc-kind or more specifically, Urak-hai, as best she could tell from the pitch of the sound. A chill ran up her spine as she envisioned the cursed creature’s faces. ‘Don’t let them meet us.’ She prayed to the God’s, though she had a bad feeling the worst was yet to be upon them.
The sound of rushing water was calming as they landed the ships, but not calming enough. A dreaded feeling still lingered in her gut. ‘Something’s not right.’ She told herself as her narrowed eyes traced the shoreline with care. Tearing her eyes from the shore she looked down at the ring bearer. “Come here, Frodo.” Lenia said, gingerly stepping from the boat. The hobbits may have been several years her senior but to her they were still yet children. She extended her hands outward and helped him to shore. “Stay close,” She whispered to him, resting her hands upon his shoulders. “Do not stray, Heaven’s only knows what rests in this wood.” Reluctantly she dropped her hands from his shoulders, despite her wish to keep them there permanently. ‘Gods protect him’ Lenia thought, closing her eyes for a moment. Harder vibrations. Why so hard? Why so fast?
“We cross the lake at nightfall,” Aragorn’s arms thrusting something into her own arms broke Lenia’s thoughts. Her eyes glanced down at the object, some form of a sleeping bag. Trudging up the sandy embankment she placed it by the fire. “Hide the boats and continue on foot.” As she stood she looked over at Legolas, his demeanor was odd as he was staring straight into the thick of the forest. It nearly seemed that he was paying no attention to Aragorn’s words at all. “We approach Mordor from the North.”
“Oh yes?” Gimli scoffed. Lenia nearly swore as she turned around, staring at the dwarf. “Don’t you even start-” She warned him but no, he continued. “Just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Mul…an impassable labyrinth of razor-sharp rocks. And after that, it gets even better. Festering, stinking marshland as far as the eye can see...”
Lenia cocked an eyebrow before looking over at Aragorn, who returned her look before facing Gimli, no emotion on his face, “That is our road.” However, as he turned to walk past Lenia, he sent his apprentice a grin. Giving him a curt nod she looked over at Gimli, crossing her arms. “You rattle your mouth off as if it’s some soft of game. Perhaps if you learned to hold your tongue things would fall better in your favor, Master Dwarf.”
“Well she-elf I-”
“I suggest,” Aragorn spoke, butting into to the conversation suddenly, “You take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf.” His comment made Lenia grin, but not as much as Gimli’s reaction. “Recover my-” Anger filled his face and he sat down with a huff.
“Thank you.” She whispered, stepping beside her mentor and falling in step with him.
Aragorn glanced at Lenia, stopping to examine his dagger carefully. “For what?” He spoke innocently as if he had no clue. Once more his eyes looked down at her, giving her as blank of an expression as he could manage.
Accusingly she glanced at him, eyes narrowing into knowing slits. “You know exactly what I speak of, Strider.” Was all her voice purred in a soft but firm voice. The act was enough to get her message across. Aragon’s eyes sparkled at her, enjoying the look that crossed his apprentice’s face. “You’re welcome.”
Suddenly Legolas stirred from his frozen state, walking quickly towards the two rangers. His movement nearly startled Lenia as he had been so stiff and unaware of the world around him before. Upon reaching them he stared at the both, eyes widen circles. “We should leave, now.”
Aragorn shook his head at his old friend, “No. Orcs patrol the eastern shore; we must wait for the cover of darkness.” To this Legolas turned and faced the depths of the forest again. Lenia looked between the two men, resisting the urge to reach out and grab Legolas’ arm, his behavior was worrying her.
“It is not the eastern shore that worries me,” He spoke suddenly, eyes passing along the bark of each tree with intense care. “A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind. Something draws near. I can feel it.” As he finished Lenia slowly ran her eyes along the contours of his face, frozen in time despite his age. He did not look at her, though she was sure he knew she was looking at him as she was sure he knew Aragorn was as well.
There was a silence, an intense silence where Aragorn was processing his friend’s words. Lenia allowed herself to glance at Aragorn, only to find his eyes thoughtful. “I’ve felt it too,” She spoke softly, looking back at Aragorn. Whether or not it helped Aragorn’s thoughts she was unsure, but it snapped both he and Legolas from their trances’. Her mouth was about to open when a question arose that stopped her heart from beating.
“Where’s Frodo?”
The question struck a sudden panic through the young ranger. Immediately Lenia looked at Aragorn, rapping her small hand around what she could of his upper arm, “It’s not safe…he shouldn’t be alone.” Strider’s eyes were moving quickly, surveying the area around them, gears within his mind visibly moving. “Boromir’s gone.” He announced suddenly. Lenia released Aragorn’s arm, staggering back a bit - she didn’t like the sound of that, not at all.
Her mentor looked at Legolas, and then at the woods before finally resting his eyes on her. Locking his eyes on her own he leaned in close, “Can you pin point them?” He asked her.
There was a moments paused where she contemplated the question. Could she? To be truthful, she was not completely sure; she had only done tracking a few times in her life time. Still though, she looked at him, putting on an air of confidence. “Trails clean enough.” Grabbing her arm within his large, rough hand Aragorn commanded the rest of the party to stay at camp while they ran to Frodo. Lenia wasn’t even sure the rest had time to realize they were gone he moved so fast. “Aragorn,” She told him, forcing him to stop a moment. He turned to look at her, looking rushed but giving her his undivided attention. “Sometimes after us, and I don’t just mean the eye. Something’s come in full force at us….at Frodo. What ever it is…Legolas sensed it too – and it’s not pleasant. I would have told you earlier but…I don’t know…I was hoping it was all wrong.”
Aragorn looked at her, nodding softly. “It’s alright, Lenia.” He told her, tugging lightly on her arm, “Make it up to me now, and to him…find him.”
Without hesitation Lenia jerked her hand in the opposite direction, eyes glinting. Somehow she had a gut feeling she could not deny. “This way.” She instructed.
Their feet moved fast, only seeming to graze the top of the leaves beneath them as they ran. Not one crisp leaf crunched beneath their feet, or at least none that they could remember hearing. They had to find Frodo and Boromir, before it was too late. Her heart began to sink as they continued to run in the direction she had instructed, only to find them not coming upon any sign of Frodo or Boromir. “Aragorn,” She sighed, stopping in her tracks, “Strider, perhaps I-” In the middle of her sentence she stopped, eyes widening.
“Lenia?” Aragorn demanded, “Shadow?” He repeated but not even then did she respond. With a swift movement he was beside her, hand on her shoulder. “Masydi?” He shook her shoulders, “What is wrong?”
Lenia’s lips gaped, breath coming in with skipping beats. “He’s here.”
“Frodo?” Aragorn inquired but Lenia shook her head, eyes still wide. “It’s Sauron…he…” Her voice became quiet and her eyes distant. “Frodo put on the ring, Sauron can see him he-” She winced grabbing her head, knees buckling a bit. Clenching her teeth she braced her legs and stood straight, seeing through the fire and smoke that was encasing her vision. Her eyes became even more distant and she closed them, becoming as silent as stone. The way she was acting was beginning to worry Aragorn for her it was unusual behavior.
“He’s this way.” She spoke abruptly grabbing his arm, to get his attention before taking off at full speed “quickly!”
Frodo was on the ground when the found him. As best that Lenia could figure he had fallen when he was taking the ring off. She only thought this because after that point Sauron temporarily left her own brain and her vision cleared.
“Frodo?” Aragorn inquired, stepping out of the woods into the clearing.
Frodo scrambled to his feet, looking with wide eyes at one of the men who had sworn to protect him. “It has taken Boromir.” His voice, though stable, was laced with fright.
Panic seemed to rage through Aragorn from where Lenia stood. “Where is the ring?” He demanded, advancing towards Frodo while Lenia stayed back as a look out.
“Stay away!” Frodo cried, retreating from his advance almost before Aragorn began. The hobbit dashed unto the stone platform as far back as he could go.
“I swore to protect you” Lenia’s mentor told the hobbit, in an attempt to reason with him and show that he was of good nature.
“Can you protect me from yourself?” Frodo asked, opening his hand which held the ring. His eyes raised to meet those of Aragon’s, he was testing to see if he could truly trust the man before him. “Would you destroy it?”
Lenia watched from a distance as Aragorn stared at the ring. It called to him as it did her, an eerie reminder of a dangerous path – one that they all could fall in to. He knelt before the hobbit and enclosed his hand back around the ring, with his on top. “I would have gone with you to the end. Into the very fires of Mordor.”
“I know.” Frodo whispered, meeting eyes with the man who had sworn to protect him. As best as he could he looked over Aragorn’s shoulder at Lenia who had at one time been standing away from them. Now, though, she was approaching them. As Aragorn did she knelt beside Frodo, but did not dare touch the ring or hands surrounding it. “You saw him aswell, didn’t you?” He asked.
Lightly she nodded, meeting his eyes, “I did. I was there, with you.” Lenia whispered, slowly outstretching a shaking hand to place it on top of both Aragorn and his. Sauron's voice was loud in her head, as if it was her own. He spoke to her about things she wished not to here and tried his hardest to bring her to her falling. Once more she rose her eyes to meet his. “We have an understanding, you and I, Frodo. I know the burden you bare as I feel it too.” Softly she squeezed his hand. “And if I were given the chance I would stay with you and defend you every waking hour of the day. For that burden is not an easy one for any one person to bare, my friend.” He looked at her and smiled a bit himself. “You’d follow me as well.” He told her.
“Scared as hell the whole way, but I’d go with you into the fires of Mount Doom.” Standing she released his hand. “No matter how you ever feel, Frodo, you are not alone.” With that she lightly kissed his head and turned, to stand look out once more.
Frodo watched her for a few moments before looking back at Aragorn. “Look after the others. Especially Sam; he will not understand.” Aragorn nodded, silence taking over the area around them. His eyes met Frodo’s and he looked down at the hand enclosing the ring – what he saw next made his eyes widen. “Go, Frodo!” He unsheathed his sword. Sting was glowing.
As agile as a cat Lenia made her way onto the stone platform above the two men. Her blue eyes narrowed to pierce the wood, Elvin instincts taking over. From her quiver she pulled her bow and an arrow. “Aragorn!” She called, “We have company!”
“Run, Frodo, run!” Aragorn demanded, walking out to the side of platform just in time to meet the approaching Uruk-hai.
“A whole armies worth.” Lenia informed him, pulling back on the bowstring and releasing the arrow at impressive speed. The arrow hit the first Uruk-hai to exit the dense area of the forest square in-between the eyes. To that information her mentor held his sword in his hands with firm care and smirked softly, an insanity glowing from him that reminded her of her brother. “Well then, let the games begin.” With that he swung his mighty sword out at the approaching creatures.
Steady arrows flew from her bow, knocking down every target they hit. Still, though, the numbers never seemed to truly decline. Even as she loaded two or more arrows on at a time it never seemed to be enough to make their numbers shrink. The clanging sound of swords caused her to turn. Aragorn was making his way up the platform. In one quick motion she had replaced her bow and arrow with her long, deadly sword. “Find the Halfling!” She heard the leader cry several times as she spun the sword in her hand, sticking it through two Uruk-hai at the same time.
“Should one of us follow?” She whispered in a voice so low that no one but Aragorn would have been able to understand her. Crossing behind her mentor she glanced at him, beheading a few approaching Uruk-hai as well. “Not quite yet.” He told her before he jumped off the plat form. Rolling her eyes softly she swung her sword once more, the action sharp and swift even as it sliced through the murderous monsters. The sound of arrows below alerted her of Legolas and Gimli’s presence, that knowing brought some relief to her. Still, though she worried about the fact she was not aware of the hobbit’s coordinates. “They’re trying to head him off at the pass!” Lenia cried, looking over her shoulder at those below.
“Aragorn go!” Legolas told him, knocking down a few Uruk-hai himself with his arrows. Without having to be persuaded further Aragorn ran to stop the enemy from catching up to Frodo. How long could he hold them off by himself? She wondered. As she jumped from the platform she realized she had not been the only one to think of him. “Are you alright?” Legolas asked her on a passing. Softly Lenia chuckled, running ahead of him and looking over her shoulder for a split second. “You’re aims a bit off!” Reloading he shook his head, she was alright.
The sound of a horn made Lenia stop dead in her tracks, eyes widen a bit. “The horn of Gondor.” Legolas explained and Aragorn dashed forward, “Boromir.” By the time Aragorn had reached where Lenia had been standing she had cleared her way down the hill. Though she was less experienced than he was she was quicker on her feet and more agile because of her roots. She turned her head to look at him but he waved his sword at her. Keep going. A sharp pain struck her upper arm but she paid no attention to it. They arrived where Boromir was at nearly the same time, only Lenia a bit more. She froze, what she saw happening flashing before her eyes moments before it really happened. Her hands clenched to fists, eyes squeezed shut – if she could have she would have screamed. Not again.
Breathing in shaky breathes she turned to look over at her mentor. While Aragorn battled with the Uruk-hai she ran to Boromir’s side. “Boromir?” Lenia whispered falling down beside him. By some grace of the Gods he was still on two knees, gasping for breath that never seemed to come. Her hand reached out, to touch his shoulder, slowly helping him to the ground. His eyes met hers and she felt a chill run through her at the life-less look they held. “Lady Masydi?” He whispered back finally. Slowly Lenia nodded, swallowing hard. Boromir may not have been her favorite man, by any means, but never in her deepest thoughts had she wished this upon him. Softly he smiled, “I’m sorry,” He met her eyes once more and locked on them, for some strange reason Lenia could not look away.
“S-sorry?” Her voice cracked as her hand shook. She was thankful it was still on his shoulder for it had a steady support there. “Whatever are you sorry for?” She asked, be it any other moment she could have thought of loads of things for him to apologize for but now, it all seemed to be a blur.
“You flatter me.” He retorted, breathing in a painful breath. “I have a million things to apologize for…some that I have down myself and others…” Boromir paused looking up at her, “Others are wrongs my father has committed…I know that nothing can ever ease what has happened to your home, to your people or to your brother…however,” He looked at her, “I understand how you feel now, more than ever.”
Tears rimmed Lenia’s eyes and she took in a deep breath in attempt to steady herself. “You’re going to be okay.” She whispered to him, wrapping one of her hands around his and squeezing it. With the other she attempted to grow the herbs she knew she needed. Nothing. Her hands trembled, with anger or sadness she did not know. Feeling useless she ducked her head, collecting herself before looking at Boromir – who had never stopped looking at her. “You’re a good man, Boromir, both you and your brother…I would gladly fight beside you two any day in any war.” Her lip trembled, how much more she could take of sitting there, staring at a dying man she didn’t know.
“Do you think he’ll make it?” He asked her, “Frodo? Do you think he’ll end it all.”
“He has to,” She whispered, “otherwise all we love will die.” The words she spoke tasted bitter in her mouth. “You’re kingdom shall see brighter days, Steward of Gondor, I promise you that.” The next words she spoke shocked her even more, “I was not granted the name I was to sit around and just watch all that I love fall to ruin. My name is Lenia…Masydi…and not on your life will I go quietly while Sauron’s darkness tries to swallow us. They’ll have to destroy my spirit and slay me before I allow them to destroy anything else I or anyone else loves.” Softly she squeezed his hands. “I will not let Gondor fall to ruin, none of us will.”
His hand, though weak, squeezed hers as well, “Rhamdal will not fall either.” It wasn’t until then, when she really looked at him, that she noticed how pale he was. Until then she hadn’t noticed the paleness of his skin, or the blood now dripping from his lips. She reached a shaking hand up to clean it, silently cursing herself. Afterward she slid her hand beneath his neck, rubbing it softly.
Aragorn’s running footsteps caught her ear and she backed off, releasing Boromir’s hand and stepping aside. Her mentor fell beside Boromir, in the exact spot she had been. “They took the little ones.” Boromir told Aragorn the one bit of information he had not told her. More still her hands shook, her knees became like jello.
“Hold still.” Aragorn told Boromir as he tried to assess the damage. “I tried, Strider, I-” Lenia stopped, looking away as Aragorn looked at her. Her hands balled into fists. Casting her a strange look Aragorn turned back to Boromir. “Frodo, where is Frodo?” Boromir inquired voice full of panic. Lenia looked back at the two men, watching their conversation carefully. Making a decision she wasn’t even sure why she was making she made her way over to Boromir and sat by his head, placing her hands on either side.
“I let Frodo go.” Aragorn whispered softly.
“Then you did what I could not.” Boromir told him, “I tried to take the Ring from him.” He looked from Aragorn, to Lenia and back.
“The Ring is beyond our reach now.”
“Forgive me.” The dying man whispered to her mentor, “I did not see it. I have failed you all.”
“No, Boromir.” Now it was both ranger’s protesting. “You fought bravely.” Aragorn took over, you have kept your honor.” Slowly, not moving his eyes from the dying man’s face he moved his hand to the arrows. Aragorn’s intentions were to rid him of them but Boromir yanked him back.
“Leave it.” He demanded, “It is over, the world of Men will fall. And all will come to darkness…and my city to ruin.” As Lenia took an unsteady breath, watching Boromir panic over the fate of his people it made her heart burn. They, like she and Frodo, had a common like; a dying home and a dying people.
“I do not know what strength is in my blood...but I swear to you, I will not let the White City fall…nor our people fail.”
“Our people.” Boromir gasped for a rugged breath, “Our people.” His hand out stretched to for his sword; he had given in to his chosen fate. Gingerly Aragorn picked up the sword and handed it to him, placing it in his hand. Boromir clenched it and placed his arm across his chest. “I would have followed you, my brother, my captain, my King.” As Boromir took his last breath and the light of life left his eyes Lenia gasped for breath, raising only one hand to her face to muffle the sound. Aragorn bowed his head and whispered a silent prayer, “Be at peace…son of Gondor.” He leaned up and kissed Boromir’s forehead. “They will look for his coming at the White Tower, but he will not return.” He stood, wiping the stray tears from his cheek to look down at his apprentice. She was staring down at the lifeless man, sobs wrecking her body and her hands trembling.
“Lenia…” He whispered, outstretching his arm for her to take. From what he could tell she was paralyzed, perhaps reliving the deaths she witnessed up until now in her mind or maybe over coming with emotion in general. However, she did not take his hand instead she shook her head, putting her forehead to Boromir’s and allowing her tears to fall upon his cold, white skin. Her hands balled into fists. “Lenia.” Aragorn whispered once more and this time she looked up at him with red eyes, “He’s at peace.”
At peace? She wanted to yell at him she just wanted to let all the anger she had inside overflow but she didn’t, not quite yet. 'How could any of them trully be at peace, ever?' She just looked up at her mentor with lethal eyes. “You don’t understand,” She hissed, forcing herself to her feet. It was not until then that she notice the wounds she head, including an arrow stuck into her bicep muscle. Her eyes glanced to it and her hand ripped it out, the pain killed but it felt good compared to the fire within her. Pushing past Aragorn she headed towards the shore, not even paying attention to Gimli or Legolas’ presence.
“Lenia?” This time it was Legolas, she could only imagine that he had followed her.
“I don’t want to talk.” She spoke curtly, pushing her way through the dense brush with her burning arm. “Just leave me be, Legolas, alright? Just leave me alone.” On her heel she turned to look at him, a defeated look in her eyes, “I don’t want to talk, if anything I want to fight – so for the sake of our relationship, Legolas. Leave me alone.”
“Then at least talk to, Aragorn, at least you two know each other well enough.” Legolas looked at her, “and something is obviously bothering you…”
“He sent you did he?” She snapped, “To scout me out, to make sure that I was alright?”
“Shadow, I would do nothing of the sort.” To her other side appeared Aragorn. “Leave us be, Legolas.” He said, “We’ll be back shortly.” Legolas looked between the two eyes settling on Lenia for a moment or two before turning and leaving them. Aragorn settled down on a rock, rolling up his sleeves. “Care to talk?”
“God, Aragorn, you and I are both pissed .”
“I’m upset.” He corrected, “You on the contrary,” He glanced up at her with his smoky eyes, “something has you wound up tighter than I’ve ever seen you and to be truthful it worries me.”
Lenia knelt down by the water, grabbing a large rock and chucking it across to the other embankment. “I saw it again, Aragorn. That makes, what, three deaths I could have stopped?" She turned to look at him, “But I didn’t, Aragorn. I have this damned name my parents gave me…this stupid so called fate, and I can’t even stop one of my visions from happening!” Shaking once more she walked towards him, picking up a stick. “All Tripton wanted me to do was make fire, Aragorn….if I had made fire he…” Her eyes watered dangerously. “And just now…with Boromir…I could’ve saved him, Aragorn – I know the herb…I can create it….but I couldn’t. For some unknown reason I couldn’t, Aragorn!” She cried, breaking the stick. “What am I supposed to be? Happy? My homes only hope is dead and I just promised a dying man I wouldn’t let Sauron win.” Her mentor was about to speak when she fell to the ground, utter exhaustion taking over. “He was sick, Aragorn.” Clouded blue eyes rose to meet the face of her mentor, “Tripton was so sick…he wouldn’t let anyone notice but…I could see it, in his eyes and the way his hands shook.” She held out her hands to examine her own, watching the way they trembled. Aragorn watched her, a solemn look in his own eyes when he thought of his friend. “He was so fevery and clammy, though he’d never show it….and so…so exhausted. None of the others knew it – not even mom and dad.”
Aragorn frowned, standing up and walking over to her, standing over her. “But the medicine…?”
“What medicine?” Lenia retorted without enthusiasm, from her belt she unhooked the pouch it rested in. “This?” She held the bag out to him. “This is all that’s left in my entire kingdom, Aragorn. Not even the hospital’s have anymore…nor my parents…and half of that…half of that is what Tripton gave me of his. He forced me to take it…I didn’t know at the time…When we left to come after you they gave us all that was left in the kingdom.” She stared absently ahead. “without that, Aragorn…between the poison in our water and food and Sauron’s magic…without Tripton there to be the gallant warrior to brave the dangers and bring back safe water and food….they’re dead.” Once more she looked at her mentor with worn eyes, “Do you see how I feel, Aragorn? I know what has to be done….but I’m too much of a coward to do so and not even my powers will work for me." Her mind raced as she looked to the side, the thought of being cowardly did not appeal to her anymore. "I’m not going to run off and cry in a corner every time something goes wrong, Aragorn…I can’t anymore.”
Aragorn eyed the pouch she had just waved in the air, “How much is left?” He asked, “How many months?” Lenia was silent, “If I were to take it everyday? About two months worth. If I only take it when I absolutely need it…I don’t know.” She raised her eyes to meet his and stood.
“And when it’s gone?”
“I try not to think about that.” There was a pause where the two stared at each other. “Aragorn, I don’t want to be treated differently, alright? I know you worry about me, that you feel you have to be Tripton, to fill his shoes, and I know that sometimes…I just loose it…but we are all having our problems right now and I just want to be treated like the rest of them. Alright?”
“You don’t know how hard that is,” Aragorn told her, resting his hand on her shoulder. “You aren’t like the rest of them. You’re different in so many ways….so many special ways. Like earlier…with Boromir. Who else could have reconciled with him but you?”
Softly Lenia smiled, placing her good arm on his shoulder, rubbing his neck with her hand. That was one question she did know the answer to, “You, King Elessar.”
They put Boromir in one the boats and sent him over the edge of the waterfall. It was the best they could give him of a proper send off. “Hurry, Frodo and Sam have reached the eastern shore!” Legolas rushed down to the boat that was left, only to turn back to look at Aragorn when he was given no response. “You mean not to follow them?” He inquired, though it was more of a statement.
“Frodo’s fate,” Aragorn breathed, staring out at the opposite shore, “Is no longer in our hands.”
“Then it has all been in vain. The fellowship has failed.” Gimli spoke, walking over to them. The three standing, Lenia, Legolas and Gimli, crowded around Aragorn who was the only one still seated. He looked thoughtful for a moment and then stood, walking over and standing before them. “Not if we hold true to each other. We will not abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death.” He looked at the three before him, placing his hands upon their shoulders. “Not while we have strength left." Softly he smiled, meeting eyes with each of the, lingering on his apprentices' for a few moments. "Leave all that can be spared behind. We travel light.” He looked at them, slipping his dagger back into it’s case. “Let us hunt some Orc.”
A soft smile grazed Lenia’s lips, a look of mischief filled her eyes. “You heard the man.” She told the two beside her. “Let’s get moving – we have some Orc to hunt.” She grinned, the look reflecting that of her mentor and followed him up the embankment.
“You’re the only girl I’ve ever known who finds the mere thought of hunting Orc enjoyable.” Legolas informed her, quickening his pace to meet hers. Shrugging lightly Lenia looked at him, “Well, I’m also the only girl that has ever challenged you at bow and arrow shooting, and that has ever dared you to wear a necklace so then, I guess this should be of no surprise to you.” With that she grinned and continued to walk away, after her mentor.
“Hey you!” Legolas reached his hand out and took hold of her good arm. Giving a small surprised gasp Lenia pulled back towards the woodland Prince. Her eyelashes fluttered in shock. “Yes?” She asked, looking up at him.
The elder man put his fingers between her own, fitting her small hand in his like a puzzle piece. “I don’t know what’s been bothering you, or what’s wrong….or what is has to do with you…but you know that you can tell me, right? If you need to talk about anything, you can tell me, you know that right?” Softly Lenia smiled, “If I say no will you keep me here longer?” She whispered playfully. Deeply he sighed, “This wasn’t meant to be a playful moment, Lenia.” He teased, placing his forehead to hers.
“Oh, sorry,” She said, though she wasn’t really that sorry at all. “and just so you know, Legolas, I know I can trust you with anything. This…this is just something I think is best for you to not know, because if you knew it you’d worry excessively like Aragorn does, over something neither of you have any control over. This way I’m just saving you, see?” She smiled in her best attempt to sugar coat the situation.
“That doesn’t ease a lovers mind at all.” He sighed deeply and kissed her forehead, “But it is better than nothing I suppose.” Pulling back he ran his fingers down her hurt arm, watching the way she wince when he traced the area where the arrow had struck her. “Why don’t you sit down,” He suggested, “I can take care of that for you.”
“Oh?” She said in an impressed tone, “My, my, my, well now, Prince Greenleaf, you’re going to tend to my wounds? This doesn’t bring back memories at all.” Her tone was once more playful and light, though laced with sarcasm. “What are you going to do now? Are you going to monitor me every second and force me to lie down and-” Her sentence was interrupted but his lips capturing hers. “Just sit down already” He whispered. "Or I'll find a way to get, Aragorn on your case."
Sighing deeply Lenia sat on a rock. "You know, if he doesn't realize something's going on between us very soon, with you keeping doing that, he's the blindest man I've ever seen." Even though she made her best attempt to sound angry at him a small smile was on her face. She really didn't want him to stop.
Kneeling beside her Legolas took a piece of cloth from his bag and a bit of water from his belt. Wetting the cloth he cleaned the wound and then wrapped it to help stop the bleeding and prevent infection. Softly he smiled looking up at her and putting his things away. A mischevious look sparkled in his eyes, not one that you would expect to see, as he stood. "What thing?"
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe it's here already. I hope you have a great Christmas Eve and day, and a happy new year!
*sings silent night very loudly*
Kelia
*sings silent night very loudly*
Kelia
Monday, December 15, 2008
'Tis the Season to Sing of Finals...
SO.
Finals have been going on, and lately, I've been working on my latest one - a ten page short story for my Creative Writing class. It's really rough, I'm not loving it at all, but...
It's a complete story.
THEREFORE,
you are required to suffer as it takes its rightful -ahem- place on the WR page. Bahahaha.
--------
There was a time before the sickness in which people called her Daylen. That was her birth name, the one given to her by her parents as the doctors demanded a name that could be put on a birth certificate, and the name that had driven her parents apart; they had agreed on naming her Beth Marie, after her father’s mother, but at the moment, pressured as her child struggled to hold life, her mother blurted out Daylen – a mixture of the city they were in with her own name, Helen.
Now, however, she was Day to most people. It hadn’t happened on purpose, but after recovering and being stuck in a hospital room for almost a year and a half, the nineteen-year-old was one of the brightest, most fascinating people anyone could ever hope to meet. Daylen wasn’t original enough for her being; therefore, people started calling her Day.
She was pretty enough, with blonde-almost-brunette hair, bright multi-colored streaks dyed into the curled mess, and curious hazel eyes that never stared, always moving about. Tall, though happily shorter than most of the people she dated, she lacked the awkward quality of someone just growing into their height, and had a blessedly proportional body. She wore what she felt, and at this point in time, it was her most holey sweats and the baggiest shirt she could find.
Day leaned over and threw up into the toilet again, spitting to get the remainder of the taste out of her mouth.
The phone, pushed away momentarily, was brought back up to her ear as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Yes… No, Mom… No… No, stop it, I’ll be fine…”
Helen babbled frantically on the other end of the line. Ever since The Sickness, she had been consistently concerned and over-cautious about Day’s health. It seemed stupid, in Day’s contrasting opinion, to go to the ER for a simple stomach flu.
“I know, I know. I promise… Yeah, Mom. I love you, too. See you on break.”
Helen murmured her concerned goodbyes and hung up. Day collapsed on the bathroom floor and sighed, leaning her head against the wall.
A low chuckle echoed through the bathroom. “Good morning, Daylight.”
“Shut up and go away,” she moaned. “I don’t even want to talk to you this morning.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Day saw Luke appear, as if out of nowhere, at the doorway. “Well, that’s too bad, love. You’re stuck with me, remember?”
She sighed and closed her eyes.
Luke was so-called living proof that Day was not just the bright and eccentric girl she seemed on the outside. He was one of the many reminders to her, and when she slipped up, others, of the insanity that had taken her over during her hospital time.
Luke was polite enough; he let her sleep and eat alone, knew when she needed her space, and was determined not to mention anything in his or her past. However, he was also consistently there – he couldn’t not be there. He was omnipresent in her life, and both of them knew that despite the secrets they may have tried, at one time, to keep private, there was nothing secret anymore.
“Luke…?”
“Yes?”
Day paused. This was going to be slightly awkward.
“I was wondering if maybe… Do you remember when Helen was diagnosed with cancer?”
“I do. Very, very well.”
“Do you remember the way you kept showing up when I told you I wanted to be alone?”
“Yes,” he said in his usually wary way, though his expression was almost light, “even if you weren’t grateful for my company at the time.”
She sighed. “I’m always grateful for your company. It’s just… I can’t get over…”
“It doesn’t matter; it’s okay,” he interrupted quickly, the slight smile he’d been trying to push evaporating just as quickly as it had appeared. “No worries.”
They sat there in silence for a minute, before Luke sat down beside her and patted her leg. “Anyway, what about it?”
Day positioned herself, facing him straight-on.
“Lucas, am I sick again?”
He frowned. “Daylen…”
“I know you can tell,” she sighed. “Every time something happens to me or to someone around me, you instantly show up everywhere, and are constantly in this oh-my-God-I-have-to-care-for-her kind of mode. You’re in one now. What’s going on?”
He looked at her blatantly. “I can’t care for you just because I love you?”
“Quit it, Luke. Tell the truth.”
He didn’t move for a minute, as if he were thinking the whole thing over – to tell her, or not to tell her; to let her in on his secret, or to keep her innocent and protected from his complex and complicated world?
The cold floor, or just the lost and distracted stare that Luke was directing at it, sent chills spiraling up Day’s arms.
Luke glanced up at her and cringed at the look on her face. In that moment, he knew that she was only asking in some form of politeness; that in reality, she knew exactly what he would say. She was looking for conformation in the most exact and precise format.
“It’s not… like that…” he ran his hand over his face and sighed, looking up at the ceiling, as if he had a chance of seeing God come down with some kind of answer for him to give the girl.
“Day, I can’t say exactly…”
“It’s back, then.”
“Yes… But I don’t know if it’s as bad, or as timid, or any kind of factor related to it. It could be a single cell or an entire artery...”
His pained expression made her ache, and she reached out for him, mid-sentence. Her arms met each other, and along with his dissipating voice, his eyes were instantly cautious and alert; concerned for her sanity, partially, but also curious as to why she would reach to him…
“Sorry,” Day breathed.
“I… I ought to go,” he said quickly, his voice quiet. The build-up, the impossibility, the millions upon millions of rogue feelings that were piling up in his chest at every move she made lately; all of it resulted in things that strained who he was trying to be and who he was meant to become.
Day watched the tile swirl slightly in front of her as he left, her eyes blurred in retained sadness.
It had almost been three years since Daylen lost Lucas, and a month less than that since she’d gotten him back again. Before he left, he’d been normal Lucas, which, at the time, was a nineteen-year-old neighbor kid that snuck out at night and partied until he couldn’t see straight, sneaking back into his house only when he could stay awake no longer. A drop-out, a rebel, and a failure, people labeled him, but the day he turned nineteen, as he was sitting on the porch of Ms. Kevenski’s condemned, paint-chipped house, a little girl discovered differently.
It was May the seventeenth; the time of year in Alabaster, Alabama where the grass grew tall and sharp, the weeds even taller, and flowers grew wild and unrestrained in random design across the yards of the old houses on the far side of town. Those were the days in which the hazy sunshine called to the children to live outside – the days in which it was impossible to call them back in.
Tabitha, who was twelve at the time, was one of those children.
Tabby was Day’s sister – her only and youngest. Three years separated them, and in the somewhat sweltering heat, remarkably early that year, Day sat out on the porch in her most grungy pair of shorts and a tattered tank top, with a pair of what was supposed to be chic sunglasses covering half of her face, making sure Tabby didn’t take her shoes off or run out in the street.
At fourteen-almost-fifteen-years-old, Day discovered Lucas Kevenski.
He didn’t notice her at first, staring at him from next door through the chain-link fence that divided their yards but she noticed him, and to be honest, was a little intrigued. All of the rumors and stories exchanged between women in the neighborhood, the way her father had warned her mother of letting Tabby or Day associate with him; everything piled up into one small fourteen-almost-fifteen-year-old full of innocent curiosity.
So from her porch, a safe enough distance to avoid all contact with him, Day stared without shame. She watched him take a cigarette from his pocket and play with it aimlessly before lighting it and, never touching it to his lips, flicked it to the ground, letting it smolder there on the concrete.
He reached for another one, but found it difficult to fish out of the pocket of his jeans, so he turned towards the pocket…
Tabby screamed in excitement as one of her friends found her behind the mulberry bush. Almost instantly, Lucas raised his head in that direction, and made eye contact with a fat pair of sunglasses and a mouth open in awe.
He couldn’t help the smile that rose to the corner of his mouth before he waved partially, and looked back to the next cigarette in line for suicide burning.
Day was paralyzed with shock and horror, mingling with feelings on the edge of excitement. He had smiled, he had waved, and he wasn’t even smoking; this was the kind of guy she overheard her mother praying to help her with her children every night before bed, just much, much younger. Quiet, seemingly nice… Why would anyone want to avoid that?
The brave fourteen-almost-fifteen-year-old Daylen worked up the courage, touched her toes together once for luck, and then proceeded to sneak over to Lucas’ yard.
The fence was somewhat of a challenge, but the three scrapes that were deep enough to scar proved to be worthwhile souvenirs when she crept up the back way, onto the porch, and tapped him on the shoulder.
He turned around with a surprised look glittering on his face, before he managed to smile again.
“Hi,” he said easily, in a curious English accent, patting the wood stair next to him. “My name’s Lucas.”
“I’m Daylen. But you can call me Day if you want to be my friend.”
His bubbling laughter was contagious.
She could still recall, years later, the way that he told her thank you for the birthday present, and how, twenty-eight days later, he had showed up at her door with flowers and a gift (a pair of even bigger sunglasses, with rhinestones glued to the edges), and invited her on a fifteenth-birthday picnic.
From that point on, the nineteen-year-old and the fifteen-year-old were best friends.
Day stretched and stood up, aching from the time spent against her bathroom wall already. On her way out, she flipped the switch and, subconsciously, placed her hand over her heart, as if checking to see if it was still actually there.
It was. The Sickness hadn’t taken all of it yet.
She hummed weakly to herself before collapsing onto her own bed and dissolving in tears.
If there were some way to have a breakdown in Heaven, Luke was sure that he would be the one to find the way to make it happen. The crying, the screaming, the blackouts and hallucinations, the breathlessness, the sweating and swearing; it seemed almost needed and crucial, especially in this last week – in this last day, even.
However, he could only sit there and exist. Breathe in, breathe out, apprehension etched across his essence, and the only thing he could do about it was think.
It disgusted him, but he knew it was somewhat of a reward. He couldn’t think negatively about himself if he couldn’t have a breakdown. In any case, he was just happy he wasn’t a true Angel, or else he might find himself without any kind of poignant or detestable emotion at all.
Then again, if he were an actual God-in-Heaven Angel, maybe he could help Day.
Day; he winced at the thought. The same little girl who’d brought him out of a living hell was being reduced to her own and he had done nothing but encourage it, then disappear while she suffocated on her own pain. He couldn’t help it, though; she was going to be the very thing that brought him down if he stayed.
He wanted to hit something hard.
Mostly, he was tempted to blame it on her. Day was stupidly unaware of how much it killed him every time she was upset or frustrated or angry or… or happy even. Happy dragged him down even more sometimes. Her smile and laugh made him ache almost as much as when she was crying and needed someone to lean on, just because, more often than not, he couldn’t be the reason for the expression.
As much as he denied it, he missed her more than life.
The woozy feeling of not being able to cope with his own feelings began to ebb and he became acutely aware of a soul close to him, watching him.
“Breaken,” he sighed.
She directed a happy feeling towards him. “Hello, Luke.”
He fought it off as much as he could, but he knew the effect was overpowering.
“What’s wrong?” Breaken’s voice chimed, sweet and melodious.
Luke felt himself try and scowl. Angel voices were always like honey and silk, even if it had formerly been a person who had actually cut their own throat out. It was just natural, that in Heaven, none of the supreme talked with any kind of lisp or deformity, just in the most beautiful tones possible. Even Luke’s voice had been affected, although he couldn’t hear the difference. Heaven had a strange way of working.
“You know what’s wrong,” Luke finally said softly, the only form of malice he could work up. “Daylen’s sick again, and I have to watch her die.”
Breaken was Luke’s best friend, as far as the ether world was concerned, and she knew all about Day. When Breaken had first been introduced to him, he was an awful wreck, wondering about this girl, and then, given the option to go be a Guardian for her or stick it out as a true Angel, she was there to moderate his emotions and stand by his side as he dove for the obvious choice. Now, she was his mentor and guide when he needed help. Lately, however, she had become more of a spectator.
She nodded at his frank admission. “You knew, though.”
“Yeah, I did, but that doesn’t make it any easier on anyone.”
Breaken emitted the most comforting feelings she could call up. “You have to encourage her, Luke. You have to let her know you’re there for her up until the end, and when she finds out that you can’t do anything about it…”
“She knows, though. She knows that I can’t do anything, and I’m pretty sure she knows that she wasn’t a candidate to have a Guardian just for nothing.”
Breaken radiated understanding. “I see.”
She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful almost, and the comfort began to recede from Luke, bringing back the resentful feelings slightly.
“Maybe…” she started distractedly, “maybe I could arrange something to be done. I mean, no guarantees, of course, and I’d have to get everything approved, but…” she moaned. “Maybe I could go down there and see what’s going on, anyway. Explain things, at least.”
Luke frowned, confused.
Breaken sent out regretful feeling. “If she’s going to have to learn her fate anyway, someone needs to be able to explain why it has to be this way.”
Luke missed the pain of the headache his human self would’ve developed by now, even with the calm and soothing feelings rushing over his sense.
“Anyway, I’ll have to throw the idea up with you-know-who and see how it goes. I feel almost illegal doing this without permission… at least, helping Daylen. It would take a lot to convince Him to let an Angel interfere in view of the fact that we haven’t done so since...”
“…Bible times. I know, I know. But really, Breaken,” Luke’s voice grew ecstatic, “if you could just meet her, that would be all it would take for you to know what you had to do. She’s so caring and sweet and she’s one of those people that…”
He carried on, adorning the human girl with words that could sometimes not even be used to describe the Heavens, unaware how intensely Breaken was aware of his true feelings; how she had stopped all sensation to him, and yet he was still elated beyond recognition.
“I only said maybe, Luke,” she reminded him.
“Well, of course, but…”
Breaken laughed her tinkling laugh, and was gone, leaving Luke with a last sensation that left him tired and contented.
The white abyss that enveloped him was comforting and silencing all at once.
Two weeks and three days later, after working three of the longest Receptionist hours she’d ever punched in her entire life, Day was back in a hospital room, the doctor telling her what she’d already known: yes, it was back, and yes, it was going to be a problem.
Three simple words: Coronary Artery Disease.
He told her that it wouldn’t be sane to estimate the effect or severity of it until more tests were run, and that until then, she should assume that she would be fine, and that it was just a false alarm.
“Sometimes, that’s just what these things are,” he said solemnly. “Only slight scares, nothing more.”
Luke made her promise that no matter what the doctor said, she would take a Taxi home that day, and for good reason. She didn’t cry, not in the hospital or in the Taxi, but the way she felt, like someone had just punched her hard in the stomach, wasn’t likely to help her coordinate her way home.
When she got home, she unlocked the door, swallowing once, and then stood in the doorframe, expressionless.
Luke was waiting for her on the couch.
He motioned for her to join him; to come sit down next to him. Seeing his face, though, in an almost torn state, caused her throat to ache and her heart to throb painfully.
“Daylight,” he whispered, his voice ridden with exhaustion. “Come here.”
She made it halfway across the room before she started to cry. Heaving sobs wracked through her entire body, causing her to trip in her heels, and only barely catch herself in the staggering wobble she was relying on to drive her across the floor.
He stood up as she lay down on the couch, her makeup smearing, hiccupping and wiping at her face. Luke got in between her and the couch on the opposite side, as if he could let her lean against him, although it wasn’t possible that he would ever feel her, or she feel him – one of the many Guardian rules that he had tried in every measure to prove untrue in every way possible.
She lay there and cried until her tears ran down raw and reddened paths on her cheeks. Aching moment upon aching moment they lay there, he in silence and she in resignation, the sadness in the room seeming to overpower both of them to the point of immobility.
Coronary Artery Disease… Coronary Artery Disease…
She had been through it all before, and though the effects would never be as bad as they once were, she had known that she would live with slight symptoms for the rest of her life. The aches and pains in her chest, the stiffness in her right arm, and the fact that a small part of her heart wasn’t even there anymore were all things she had grown to deal with.
It was only because of one artery, that happened to be somewhat vital to her heart and it’s functioning, had become almost completely blocked, eventually invoking a stroke. Her heart had been in such bad condition that the hospital stay was required, surgery upon countless surgery to help her heart function necessary, along with therapy to help her regain most of the movement in her arm.
And now, after almost two years, the blockage was back somewhat, increasing her chances of heart failure, heart attacks, stroke, and potentially, death.
The last one – the dying; that was the one on Luke’s mind.
Luke had died three years ago, on the way to pick Daylen up for one of their dates. It was nothing formal, as usual, but that night… That night it was really a date. She was sixteen, he was twenty, and despite what people may have thought about the age difference, he loved her more than anyone in the world, and knew that she loved him back just as much. It was cheesy, but it was true, and that night, he had intended to truly show it to her. A perfect summer night, spent out at the local amusement park that they had been to at least twenty times in that season alone, yet kept coming back to. You could really lose yourself in an amusement park.
However, none of that happened, because two blocks from the house that he’d first been tapped on the back by a little girl in front of, he was hit and killed by a drunk driver; one of his former friends.
The friend had also been killed.
And then, of course, he had come back. Just in time, too. When he’d been given all the required training and rule-enforcement needed to go see Day, they told him that she was in a much more… different… state then she had been.
He wasn’t expecting to go back to Earth and end up in a hospital room, where at least ten people were rushing around, hooking monitors up to his Daylen, poking her with needles and stitches, and giving blood transfusions. He wasn’t expecting to see Helen outside of the room, sobbing hysterically. He wasn’t ready to hear the officers explain how they had found the girl, in what condition. He wasn’t prepared for the diagnosis that sealed her fate.
He had screamed until his own ears were pounding.
His Daylen, the girl he had been forced to separate from a month earlier under unforeseen circumstances, had almost died before they preformed an angioplasty on her, a surgery that opened up the cursed artery and cleared all of what they called ‘plaque’ out of it – the stuff that had caused her heart attack, which had in turn, landed her in the hospital.
She almost had not survived.
“Day, there’s someone I want you to meet, love.” Luke breathed.
She inhaled sharply and wiped at her face with the hand not tucked under her own head, nodding slightly. Her crying had stopped for the most part, and her heels now lay on the floor, discarded, as if she had only worn them to keep her brave in public.
This girl, though, the one next to him, blubbering and hopeless, crying and messy, was the real Day.
Luke moved away, so she wouldn’t be tempted to reach to him as she sat up. She adjusted herself, looking weak and unkempt, her eyes puffy and her hair messy.
“Hello, Daylen,” a high-pitched voice said. “My name’s Breaken.”
Breaken stepped out from behind the door leading to the kitchen, looking faintly disoriented and partially curious.
Luke stared at her. She really wasn’t how he’d pictured, although that was obviously going to be the case with Angels. Her real form was a young woman, around twenty-five or so, with long, sleek brunette hair and a slight figure. Her eyes were dark green, tinted gold, and sent a shy smile in Luke’s direction. He found himself smiling back slightly, yet raising his arm, to almost shield Day from her.
His subconscious had remembered what his brain hadn’t quite processed; she was still either the impervious bringer of good or bad news – news he hadn’t yet heard.
Breaken’s eyes focused in on Daylen, perfect emotion flowing into them. “I am an Angel, and it’s been requested that I come here and talk to you today.”
Day’s eyes were panicked as she glanced at Luke, but he nodded and motioned for her to go with Breaken, even if he, himself, was more nervous than he had ever been.
He could wait, though. She was the one who mattered.
Breaken held out her hand, and Day accepted it apprehensively, straightening her skirt and casting uneasy looks around the apartment.
Luke didn’t take his eyes off of her until they had gone completely down the hall and disappeared into Day’s bedroom, the door closing behind them.
In the room, the atmosphere was tense.
“Daylen, I have the power and the authority to help you.” Breaken began quietly.
Day sat on the corner of her bed as Breaken paced around the room, staring down at her comforter. At those words, her eyes locked on the Angel.
“You can cure this…?”
“I can.”
Breaken faced the girl, a hard look on her face. “This is going to have to be your decision.”
“I want to be better,” Day blurted, almost frenetic.
Of course,” she said, nodding. “But for me to do that will result in expulsion of every memory, conversation, and feeling an Angel has ever given you.”
The look on Daylen’s face was similar to, but was far more extreme than, horror.
“You will also, then, no longer require Lucas’ service.”
----
When the moment came, three months later, Lucas Kevenski was there, his hand on Daylen’s, his face in the utmost pain, but twisted into a weak smile for her sake.
“It’s time, love.”
“I know… I’m scared,” she whispered, her eyes twitching as her tears burned them. She wouldn’t close her eyes because she was afraid of slipping away in a single blink, although Luke had chokingly managed to laugh and tell her that everything was going to be okay at least twenty times in the last thirty minutes, trying to convince both of them.
In the last three months, Day had been deteriorating. They couldn’t perform an angioplasty because of the closeness of the blockage to her heart, and either way, with or without the surgery, it would only result in one end.
Even though Luke had known what was going to happen, and that he would be the one to sit through her die, every step of the process had brought him to his knees. His Daylen was dying.
Luke had begged with her to let Breaken help; to let her fix everything in only a moment, but Day had been persistent. If this was where her story was meant to end, this is where she wanted it to end, not only because fate existed for a reason, but because of ulterior motives, most of them closely resembling the being lying next to her.
“You don’t have a single reason to be scared,” he said, his voice melodic. “I’ll be right here as long as you need me.”
His voice cracked and she reached up to touch his face, frowning sleepily when her hand went through him.
“What’s it like in Heaven?” she asked.
“It’s the most beautiful thing you can imagine, except even better,” he exhaled, wanting so badly to be able to move her hair out of her face, to kiss her forehead – to do something productive in his mind, even if his even being there was enough of a blessing to Day.
She smiled. “And you’re there.”
The antiseptic smell, almost thick enough to taste, mingled with the sound of machines beeping rapidly, then slowly, speeding and slowing down the time she had left. He hated the idea, he hated the atmosphere, and he hated that he knew why she’d chosen the path she had, but the same time, his entire soul was overjoyed that she didn’t want to be without him.
It was confusing in many ways, but that didn’t matter now. Not much did.
Now if only to spare her from this…
“I told you I’d be right here for always, and I mean it,” he whispered.
“No more pain,” she cooed.
“No more,” he agreed.
She began to close her eyes, but, remembering one final thing, she opened them again, wide and bright in the light.
“To die…” she began, but her voice failed. The heartbeat on the monitors was fading fast, and the first nurses started to show up, messing with plugs and pulling at needles, oblivious to the person in the bed with their patient.
Luke couldn’t help the noise that escaped his throat; that this was her last question almost defined her.
“I promise, love, I’ll be right here. No pain, no sadness, no loneliness, I promise.” She nodded, and he smiled down at her. “I’ll be waiting for you. I love you.”
With one final breath, Daylen closed her eyes.
The hand over hers was warm. Suddenly, everything was okay.
Finals have been going on, and lately, I've been working on my latest one - a ten page short story for my Creative Writing class. It's really rough, I'm not loving it at all, but...
It's a complete story.
THEREFORE,
you are required to suffer as it takes its rightful -ahem- place on the WR page. Bahahaha.
--------
There was a time before the sickness in which people called her Daylen. That was her birth name, the one given to her by her parents as the doctors demanded a name that could be put on a birth certificate, and the name that had driven her parents apart; they had agreed on naming her Beth Marie, after her father’s mother, but at the moment, pressured as her child struggled to hold life, her mother blurted out Daylen – a mixture of the city they were in with her own name, Helen.
Now, however, she was Day to most people. It hadn’t happened on purpose, but after recovering and being stuck in a hospital room for almost a year and a half, the nineteen-year-old was one of the brightest, most fascinating people anyone could ever hope to meet. Daylen wasn’t original enough for her being; therefore, people started calling her Day.
She was pretty enough, with blonde-almost-brunette hair, bright multi-colored streaks dyed into the curled mess, and curious hazel eyes that never stared, always moving about. Tall, though happily shorter than most of the people she dated, she lacked the awkward quality of someone just growing into their height, and had a blessedly proportional body. She wore what she felt, and at this point in time, it was her most holey sweats and the baggiest shirt she could find.
Day leaned over and threw up into the toilet again, spitting to get the remainder of the taste out of her mouth.
The phone, pushed away momentarily, was brought back up to her ear as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Yes… No, Mom… No… No, stop it, I’ll be fine…”
Helen babbled frantically on the other end of the line. Ever since The Sickness, she had been consistently concerned and over-cautious about Day’s health. It seemed stupid, in Day’s contrasting opinion, to go to the ER for a simple stomach flu.
“I know, I know. I promise… Yeah, Mom. I love you, too. See you on break.”
Helen murmured her concerned goodbyes and hung up. Day collapsed on the bathroom floor and sighed, leaning her head against the wall.
A low chuckle echoed through the bathroom. “Good morning, Daylight.”
“Shut up and go away,” she moaned. “I don’t even want to talk to you this morning.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Day saw Luke appear, as if out of nowhere, at the doorway. “Well, that’s too bad, love. You’re stuck with me, remember?”
She sighed and closed her eyes.
Luke was so-called living proof that Day was not just the bright and eccentric girl she seemed on the outside. He was one of the many reminders to her, and when she slipped up, others, of the insanity that had taken her over during her hospital time.
Luke was polite enough; he let her sleep and eat alone, knew when she needed her space, and was determined not to mention anything in his or her past. However, he was also consistently there – he couldn’t not be there. He was omnipresent in her life, and both of them knew that despite the secrets they may have tried, at one time, to keep private, there was nothing secret anymore.
“Luke…?”
“Yes?”
Day paused. This was going to be slightly awkward.
“I was wondering if maybe… Do you remember when Helen was diagnosed with cancer?”
“I do. Very, very well.”
“Do you remember the way you kept showing up when I told you I wanted to be alone?”
“Yes,” he said in his usually wary way, though his expression was almost light, “even if you weren’t grateful for my company at the time.”
She sighed. “I’m always grateful for your company. It’s just… I can’t get over…”
“It doesn’t matter; it’s okay,” he interrupted quickly, the slight smile he’d been trying to push evaporating just as quickly as it had appeared. “No worries.”
They sat there in silence for a minute, before Luke sat down beside her and patted her leg. “Anyway, what about it?”
Day positioned herself, facing him straight-on.
“Lucas, am I sick again?”
He frowned. “Daylen…”
“I know you can tell,” she sighed. “Every time something happens to me or to someone around me, you instantly show up everywhere, and are constantly in this oh-my-God-I-have-to-care-for-her kind of mode. You’re in one now. What’s going on?”
He looked at her blatantly. “I can’t care for you just because I love you?”
“Quit it, Luke. Tell the truth.”
He didn’t move for a minute, as if he were thinking the whole thing over – to tell her, or not to tell her; to let her in on his secret, or to keep her innocent and protected from his complex and complicated world?
The cold floor, or just the lost and distracted stare that Luke was directing at it, sent chills spiraling up Day’s arms.
Luke glanced up at her and cringed at the look on her face. In that moment, he knew that she was only asking in some form of politeness; that in reality, she knew exactly what he would say. She was looking for conformation in the most exact and precise format.
“It’s not… like that…” he ran his hand over his face and sighed, looking up at the ceiling, as if he had a chance of seeing God come down with some kind of answer for him to give the girl.
“Day, I can’t say exactly…”
“It’s back, then.”
“Yes… But I don’t know if it’s as bad, or as timid, or any kind of factor related to it. It could be a single cell or an entire artery...”
His pained expression made her ache, and she reached out for him, mid-sentence. Her arms met each other, and along with his dissipating voice, his eyes were instantly cautious and alert; concerned for her sanity, partially, but also curious as to why she would reach to him…
“Sorry,” Day breathed.
“I… I ought to go,” he said quickly, his voice quiet. The build-up, the impossibility, the millions upon millions of rogue feelings that were piling up in his chest at every move she made lately; all of it resulted in things that strained who he was trying to be and who he was meant to become.
Day watched the tile swirl slightly in front of her as he left, her eyes blurred in retained sadness.
It had almost been three years since Daylen lost Lucas, and a month less than that since she’d gotten him back again. Before he left, he’d been normal Lucas, which, at the time, was a nineteen-year-old neighbor kid that snuck out at night and partied until he couldn’t see straight, sneaking back into his house only when he could stay awake no longer. A drop-out, a rebel, and a failure, people labeled him, but the day he turned nineteen, as he was sitting on the porch of Ms. Kevenski’s condemned, paint-chipped house, a little girl discovered differently.
It was May the seventeenth; the time of year in Alabaster, Alabama where the grass grew tall and sharp, the weeds even taller, and flowers grew wild and unrestrained in random design across the yards of the old houses on the far side of town. Those were the days in which the hazy sunshine called to the children to live outside – the days in which it was impossible to call them back in.
Tabitha, who was twelve at the time, was one of those children.
Tabby was Day’s sister – her only and youngest. Three years separated them, and in the somewhat sweltering heat, remarkably early that year, Day sat out on the porch in her most grungy pair of shorts and a tattered tank top, with a pair of what was supposed to be chic sunglasses covering half of her face, making sure Tabby didn’t take her shoes off or run out in the street.
At fourteen-almost-fifteen-years-old, Day discovered Lucas Kevenski.
He didn’t notice her at first, staring at him from next door through the chain-link fence that divided their yards but she noticed him, and to be honest, was a little intrigued. All of the rumors and stories exchanged between women in the neighborhood, the way her father had warned her mother of letting Tabby or Day associate with him; everything piled up into one small fourteen-almost-fifteen-year-old full of innocent curiosity.
So from her porch, a safe enough distance to avoid all contact with him, Day stared without shame. She watched him take a cigarette from his pocket and play with it aimlessly before lighting it and, never touching it to his lips, flicked it to the ground, letting it smolder there on the concrete.
He reached for another one, but found it difficult to fish out of the pocket of his jeans, so he turned towards the pocket…
Tabby screamed in excitement as one of her friends found her behind the mulberry bush. Almost instantly, Lucas raised his head in that direction, and made eye contact with a fat pair of sunglasses and a mouth open in awe.
He couldn’t help the smile that rose to the corner of his mouth before he waved partially, and looked back to the next cigarette in line for suicide burning.
Day was paralyzed with shock and horror, mingling with feelings on the edge of excitement. He had smiled, he had waved, and he wasn’t even smoking; this was the kind of guy she overheard her mother praying to help her with her children every night before bed, just much, much younger. Quiet, seemingly nice… Why would anyone want to avoid that?
The brave fourteen-almost-fifteen-year-old Daylen worked up the courage, touched her toes together once for luck, and then proceeded to sneak over to Lucas’ yard.
The fence was somewhat of a challenge, but the three scrapes that were deep enough to scar proved to be worthwhile souvenirs when she crept up the back way, onto the porch, and tapped him on the shoulder.
He turned around with a surprised look glittering on his face, before he managed to smile again.
“Hi,” he said easily, in a curious English accent, patting the wood stair next to him. “My name’s Lucas.”
“I’m Daylen. But you can call me Day if you want to be my friend.”
His bubbling laughter was contagious.
She could still recall, years later, the way that he told her thank you for the birthday present, and how, twenty-eight days later, he had showed up at her door with flowers and a gift (a pair of even bigger sunglasses, with rhinestones glued to the edges), and invited her on a fifteenth-birthday picnic.
From that point on, the nineteen-year-old and the fifteen-year-old were best friends.
Day stretched and stood up, aching from the time spent against her bathroom wall already. On her way out, she flipped the switch and, subconsciously, placed her hand over her heart, as if checking to see if it was still actually there.
It was. The Sickness hadn’t taken all of it yet.
She hummed weakly to herself before collapsing onto her own bed and dissolving in tears.
If there were some way to have a breakdown in Heaven, Luke was sure that he would be the one to find the way to make it happen. The crying, the screaming, the blackouts and hallucinations, the breathlessness, the sweating and swearing; it seemed almost needed and crucial, especially in this last week – in this last day, even.
However, he could only sit there and exist. Breathe in, breathe out, apprehension etched across his essence, and the only thing he could do about it was think.
It disgusted him, but he knew it was somewhat of a reward. He couldn’t think negatively about himself if he couldn’t have a breakdown. In any case, he was just happy he wasn’t a true Angel, or else he might find himself without any kind of poignant or detestable emotion at all.
Then again, if he were an actual God-in-Heaven Angel, maybe he could help Day.
Day; he winced at the thought. The same little girl who’d brought him out of a living hell was being reduced to her own and he had done nothing but encourage it, then disappear while she suffocated on her own pain. He couldn’t help it, though; she was going to be the very thing that brought him down if he stayed.
He wanted to hit something hard.
Mostly, he was tempted to blame it on her. Day was stupidly unaware of how much it killed him every time she was upset or frustrated or angry or… or happy even. Happy dragged him down even more sometimes. Her smile and laugh made him ache almost as much as when she was crying and needed someone to lean on, just because, more often than not, he couldn’t be the reason for the expression.
As much as he denied it, he missed her more than life.
The woozy feeling of not being able to cope with his own feelings began to ebb and he became acutely aware of a soul close to him, watching him.
“Breaken,” he sighed.
She directed a happy feeling towards him. “Hello, Luke.”
He fought it off as much as he could, but he knew the effect was overpowering.
“What’s wrong?” Breaken’s voice chimed, sweet and melodious.
Luke felt himself try and scowl. Angel voices were always like honey and silk, even if it had formerly been a person who had actually cut their own throat out. It was just natural, that in Heaven, none of the supreme talked with any kind of lisp or deformity, just in the most beautiful tones possible. Even Luke’s voice had been affected, although he couldn’t hear the difference. Heaven had a strange way of working.
“You know what’s wrong,” Luke finally said softly, the only form of malice he could work up. “Daylen’s sick again, and I have to watch her die.”
Breaken was Luke’s best friend, as far as the ether world was concerned, and she knew all about Day. When Breaken had first been introduced to him, he was an awful wreck, wondering about this girl, and then, given the option to go be a Guardian for her or stick it out as a true Angel, she was there to moderate his emotions and stand by his side as he dove for the obvious choice. Now, she was his mentor and guide when he needed help. Lately, however, she had become more of a spectator.
She nodded at his frank admission. “You knew, though.”
“Yeah, I did, but that doesn’t make it any easier on anyone.”
Breaken emitted the most comforting feelings she could call up. “You have to encourage her, Luke. You have to let her know you’re there for her up until the end, and when she finds out that you can’t do anything about it…”
“She knows, though. She knows that I can’t do anything, and I’m pretty sure she knows that she wasn’t a candidate to have a Guardian just for nothing.”
Breaken radiated understanding. “I see.”
She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful almost, and the comfort began to recede from Luke, bringing back the resentful feelings slightly.
“Maybe…” she started distractedly, “maybe I could arrange something to be done. I mean, no guarantees, of course, and I’d have to get everything approved, but…” she moaned. “Maybe I could go down there and see what’s going on, anyway. Explain things, at least.”
Luke frowned, confused.
Breaken sent out regretful feeling. “If she’s going to have to learn her fate anyway, someone needs to be able to explain why it has to be this way.”
Luke missed the pain of the headache his human self would’ve developed by now, even with the calm and soothing feelings rushing over his sense.
“Anyway, I’ll have to throw the idea up with you-know-who and see how it goes. I feel almost illegal doing this without permission… at least, helping Daylen. It would take a lot to convince Him to let an Angel interfere in view of the fact that we haven’t done so since...”
“…Bible times. I know, I know. But really, Breaken,” Luke’s voice grew ecstatic, “if you could just meet her, that would be all it would take for you to know what you had to do. She’s so caring and sweet and she’s one of those people that…”
He carried on, adorning the human girl with words that could sometimes not even be used to describe the Heavens, unaware how intensely Breaken was aware of his true feelings; how she had stopped all sensation to him, and yet he was still elated beyond recognition.
“I only said maybe, Luke,” she reminded him.
“Well, of course, but…”
Breaken laughed her tinkling laugh, and was gone, leaving Luke with a last sensation that left him tired and contented.
The white abyss that enveloped him was comforting and silencing all at once.
Two weeks and three days later, after working three of the longest Receptionist hours she’d ever punched in her entire life, Day was back in a hospital room, the doctor telling her what she’d already known: yes, it was back, and yes, it was going to be a problem.
Three simple words: Coronary Artery Disease.
He told her that it wouldn’t be sane to estimate the effect or severity of it until more tests were run, and that until then, she should assume that she would be fine, and that it was just a false alarm.
“Sometimes, that’s just what these things are,” he said solemnly. “Only slight scares, nothing more.”
Luke made her promise that no matter what the doctor said, she would take a Taxi home that day, and for good reason. She didn’t cry, not in the hospital or in the Taxi, but the way she felt, like someone had just punched her hard in the stomach, wasn’t likely to help her coordinate her way home.
When she got home, she unlocked the door, swallowing once, and then stood in the doorframe, expressionless.
Luke was waiting for her on the couch.
He motioned for her to join him; to come sit down next to him. Seeing his face, though, in an almost torn state, caused her throat to ache and her heart to throb painfully.
“Daylight,” he whispered, his voice ridden with exhaustion. “Come here.”
She made it halfway across the room before she started to cry. Heaving sobs wracked through her entire body, causing her to trip in her heels, and only barely catch herself in the staggering wobble she was relying on to drive her across the floor.
He stood up as she lay down on the couch, her makeup smearing, hiccupping and wiping at her face. Luke got in between her and the couch on the opposite side, as if he could let her lean against him, although it wasn’t possible that he would ever feel her, or she feel him – one of the many Guardian rules that he had tried in every measure to prove untrue in every way possible.
She lay there and cried until her tears ran down raw and reddened paths on her cheeks. Aching moment upon aching moment they lay there, he in silence and she in resignation, the sadness in the room seeming to overpower both of them to the point of immobility.
Coronary Artery Disease… Coronary Artery Disease…
She had been through it all before, and though the effects would never be as bad as they once were, she had known that she would live with slight symptoms for the rest of her life. The aches and pains in her chest, the stiffness in her right arm, and the fact that a small part of her heart wasn’t even there anymore were all things she had grown to deal with.
It was only because of one artery, that happened to be somewhat vital to her heart and it’s functioning, had become almost completely blocked, eventually invoking a stroke. Her heart had been in such bad condition that the hospital stay was required, surgery upon countless surgery to help her heart function necessary, along with therapy to help her regain most of the movement in her arm.
And now, after almost two years, the blockage was back somewhat, increasing her chances of heart failure, heart attacks, stroke, and potentially, death.
The last one – the dying; that was the one on Luke’s mind.
Luke had died three years ago, on the way to pick Daylen up for one of their dates. It was nothing formal, as usual, but that night… That night it was really a date. She was sixteen, he was twenty, and despite what people may have thought about the age difference, he loved her more than anyone in the world, and knew that she loved him back just as much. It was cheesy, but it was true, and that night, he had intended to truly show it to her. A perfect summer night, spent out at the local amusement park that they had been to at least twenty times in that season alone, yet kept coming back to. You could really lose yourself in an amusement park.
However, none of that happened, because two blocks from the house that he’d first been tapped on the back by a little girl in front of, he was hit and killed by a drunk driver; one of his former friends.
The friend had also been killed.
And then, of course, he had come back. Just in time, too. When he’d been given all the required training and rule-enforcement needed to go see Day, they told him that she was in a much more… different… state then she had been.
He wasn’t expecting to go back to Earth and end up in a hospital room, where at least ten people were rushing around, hooking monitors up to his Daylen, poking her with needles and stitches, and giving blood transfusions. He wasn’t expecting to see Helen outside of the room, sobbing hysterically. He wasn’t ready to hear the officers explain how they had found the girl, in what condition. He wasn’t prepared for the diagnosis that sealed her fate.
He had screamed until his own ears were pounding.
His Daylen, the girl he had been forced to separate from a month earlier under unforeseen circumstances, had almost died before they preformed an angioplasty on her, a surgery that opened up the cursed artery and cleared all of what they called ‘plaque’ out of it – the stuff that had caused her heart attack, which had in turn, landed her in the hospital.
She almost had not survived.
“Day, there’s someone I want you to meet, love.” Luke breathed.
She inhaled sharply and wiped at her face with the hand not tucked under her own head, nodding slightly. Her crying had stopped for the most part, and her heels now lay on the floor, discarded, as if she had only worn them to keep her brave in public.
This girl, though, the one next to him, blubbering and hopeless, crying and messy, was the real Day.
Luke moved away, so she wouldn’t be tempted to reach to him as she sat up. She adjusted herself, looking weak and unkempt, her eyes puffy and her hair messy.
“Hello, Daylen,” a high-pitched voice said. “My name’s Breaken.”
Breaken stepped out from behind the door leading to the kitchen, looking faintly disoriented and partially curious.
Luke stared at her. She really wasn’t how he’d pictured, although that was obviously going to be the case with Angels. Her real form was a young woman, around twenty-five or so, with long, sleek brunette hair and a slight figure. Her eyes were dark green, tinted gold, and sent a shy smile in Luke’s direction. He found himself smiling back slightly, yet raising his arm, to almost shield Day from her.
His subconscious had remembered what his brain hadn’t quite processed; she was still either the impervious bringer of good or bad news – news he hadn’t yet heard.
Breaken’s eyes focused in on Daylen, perfect emotion flowing into them. “I am an Angel, and it’s been requested that I come here and talk to you today.”
Day’s eyes were panicked as she glanced at Luke, but he nodded and motioned for her to go with Breaken, even if he, himself, was more nervous than he had ever been.
He could wait, though. She was the one who mattered.
Breaken held out her hand, and Day accepted it apprehensively, straightening her skirt and casting uneasy looks around the apartment.
Luke didn’t take his eyes off of her until they had gone completely down the hall and disappeared into Day’s bedroom, the door closing behind them.
In the room, the atmosphere was tense.
“Daylen, I have the power and the authority to help you.” Breaken began quietly.
Day sat on the corner of her bed as Breaken paced around the room, staring down at her comforter. At those words, her eyes locked on the Angel.
“You can cure this…?”
“I can.”
Breaken faced the girl, a hard look on her face. “This is going to have to be your decision.”
“I want to be better,” Day blurted, almost frenetic.
Of course,” she said, nodding. “But for me to do that will result in expulsion of every memory, conversation, and feeling an Angel has ever given you.”
The look on Daylen’s face was similar to, but was far more extreme than, horror.
“You will also, then, no longer require Lucas’ service.”
----
When the moment came, three months later, Lucas Kevenski was there, his hand on Daylen’s, his face in the utmost pain, but twisted into a weak smile for her sake.
“It’s time, love.”
“I know… I’m scared,” she whispered, her eyes twitching as her tears burned them. She wouldn’t close her eyes because she was afraid of slipping away in a single blink, although Luke had chokingly managed to laugh and tell her that everything was going to be okay at least twenty times in the last thirty minutes, trying to convince both of them.
In the last three months, Day had been deteriorating. They couldn’t perform an angioplasty because of the closeness of the blockage to her heart, and either way, with or without the surgery, it would only result in one end.
Even though Luke had known what was going to happen, and that he would be the one to sit through her die, every step of the process had brought him to his knees. His Daylen was dying.
Luke had begged with her to let Breaken help; to let her fix everything in only a moment, but Day had been persistent. If this was where her story was meant to end, this is where she wanted it to end, not only because fate existed for a reason, but because of ulterior motives, most of them closely resembling the being lying next to her.
“You don’t have a single reason to be scared,” he said, his voice melodic. “I’ll be right here as long as you need me.”
His voice cracked and she reached up to touch his face, frowning sleepily when her hand went through him.
“What’s it like in Heaven?” she asked.
“It’s the most beautiful thing you can imagine, except even better,” he exhaled, wanting so badly to be able to move her hair out of her face, to kiss her forehead – to do something productive in his mind, even if his even being there was enough of a blessing to Day.
She smiled. “And you’re there.”
The antiseptic smell, almost thick enough to taste, mingled with the sound of machines beeping rapidly, then slowly, speeding and slowing down the time she had left. He hated the idea, he hated the atmosphere, and he hated that he knew why she’d chosen the path she had, but the same time, his entire soul was overjoyed that she didn’t want to be without him.
It was confusing in many ways, but that didn’t matter now. Not much did.
Now if only to spare her from this…
“I told you I’d be right here for always, and I mean it,” he whispered.
“No more pain,” she cooed.
“No more,” he agreed.
She began to close her eyes, but, remembering one final thing, she opened them again, wide and bright in the light.
“To die…” she began, but her voice failed. The heartbeat on the monitors was fading fast, and the first nurses started to show up, messing with plugs and pulling at needles, oblivious to the person in the bed with their patient.
Luke couldn’t help the noise that escaped his throat; that this was her last question almost defined her.
“I promise, love, I’ll be right here. No pain, no sadness, no loneliness, I promise.” She nodded, and he smiled down at her. “I’ll be waiting for you. I love you.”
With one final breath, Daylen closed her eyes.
The hand over hers was warm. Suddenly, everything was okay.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Nano goodies!
This is a lot later than I was meaning to post it, but I finally am. Here are a couple of clips from my nano, I'll give you the information you need inbetween them.
WARNING: My novel is extremely dark and depressing and a lot of people die.
First is a poem I wrote about one of my characters.
Lilith's Song
Breathe in
don't die
the world will end
before your eyes
breathe in
don't cry
the world will end
the world will rise
the moon will burn
the sun will fall
a sea of black,
black flame
you watched him die
you watched him burn
don't be surprised
you're not the same
you try to save them all
you can't
you can't do everything
you can't
stay here and right this wrong
you can't
stand silent as they fall
you can't
give up, you've fought so long...
Breathe in
don't die
the world will end
before your eyes
breathe in
don't cry
the world will end
the world will rise...
Before this first part I'm giving you, strange things have been happening. The new King outlawed magic, and then killed everyone who could do magic. So the people revolted, and my MC's father went off to fight with them.
The next day I woke up, trying to ignore the stillness in the air. I got ready for classes singing the whole time, so it wasn't just quiet. But when I stopped singing the silence would creep in again, wrapping around me, suffocating. The streets were empty as I walked to classes, I couldn't see any sign of the fighting. It would still be going on I knew. What was happening on the battle field? I stopped and looked at the castle, perched on it's rock. It looked the same as usual. I shrugged and went into classes.
That whole day there was a strange feeling in the air, like something was happening. My teachers must have thought me very distracted, for I stared out the window the whole time watching the gray sky get blacker and blacker. Clouds swirled around, grouping and forming into one huge mass. It may have been my imagination, but it looked like they were centered over the castle.
That night was eerily lonely. I wandered around the house, not even singing any more I was so used to the silence. Any sound disturbed me. I couldn't concentrate on anything, I was thinking about the battle every second. Was it still going on? Was my Father still alive? I looked out the window at one point, the sky was still strange. Lightning flashed, illuminating the black clouds and then-- the lightening turned red, it struck the castle's tower, the sky was churning with green and blue--
I was going crazy, I knew it. Unable to still my pounding heart I grabbed a coat and flew out the door, pounding on Perlia's door as it started to rain.
"Sophina!" She opened the door and took in my disheveled state. "Oh dear. Why don't you stay with us tonight?"
"That would be great," I said, hurrying in and drying off in front of the fire. It was better with two people around, but there was still that feeling in the air. We tried to ignore it and talk like normal but it couldn't be got over. Perlia knew about the battle, how could she not? I didn't know if she knew that Father was fighting but it was probably obvious by how agitated I was. Eventually we all got tired and I knew I would have to go to bed. I wasn't looking forward to that.
"Your room's up here," Perlia took me up the stairs, her candle throwing shadows on the wall as we walked.
"Thank you," I said, standing in the doorway.
"I'll see you in the morning," she said, smiling at me sympathetically. She handed me the candle and made her way back downstairs, and then I was alone. One candle wasn't very much to ward off a whole room of darkness. I set it on a table with a mirror on it and sat on the bed, trying not to think about anything. The shadows seemed to mock me, dancing in as close to the candle as they could. Finally, for something to do I got up and looked at my face in the mirror. I looked nervous, my eyes wide. There was no sound in the room, nothing stirred, I could almost imagine something moving in the mirror, like a man behind me--
I whirled around, my heart pounding. There was no one there. With a deep sigh of relief I turned back to the mirror, and there was that shadowy form again-- 'Don't turn around,' I told myself, sitting ram-rod straight. 'There's no one behind you.' and then the shadowy man moved forward-- with a half strangled gasp of fear this time I whirled around-- to see shadows, nothing more. I sighed and put my head on the table. I was going insane. That was the only answer. And then slowly I looked up into the mirror… the man was right behind me. I could see his white face, his lifeless eyes staring ahead, his rumpled clothes that were blurred around the edges…
"Father?" I whispered. He didn't reply, just stood there staring. Trying to breathe I touched his hand in the mirror…
And suddenly I was on a field, the sky above a dark mass of clouds. Around me men screamed, their eyes were widened in horror. They were seeing something past me, I turned to look but all I saw was darkness moving, creeping and crawling forward. The darkness moved across the field, it was getting closer, it ate everything in it's way leaving nothing behind. I couldn't do anything, my Father screamed in terror as it approached and destroyed all his friends and then it was there. He screamed in agony then, the sound piercing into my brain like weapons. The black flames ate into his flesh, burning him up. I watched as he slowly turned black and disappeared, the ashes destroyed in the fire too. In mere moments nothing was left. The field was empty, everyone gone, everyone dead…
"Sophina? Sophina are you all right?" I woke with an aching head, due more from my already whirling thoughts than to the large bump on it. Perlia was bent over me, shaking my shoulder with a worried expression. "There, you're awake," she said, relieved. I looked around, what was I doing on the floor?
"I fainted?" I murmured, trying to remember what had happened after I had seen… what had I seen?
"Yes you did," Perlia said. "You must have been out cold all night."
"Oh…" I tried to piece together my jumbled thoughts. Last night I had been looking in the mirror, then seen my Father? In the mirror?
"How are you feeling this morning?" Perlia asked.
"Strange," I said, getting up off the floor and sinking onto the bed. "Very strange." Something was different, I could tell that much. Had that been a vision I had seen of my Father's death? Did I fall asleep before I looked in the mirror and dreamt it all?
"Oh," Perlia looked down, biting her lip. "Well I suppose I should tell you," she said hesitantly.
"Is there news of who won?" I asked, looking up quickly.
"Yes and no," Perlia said. "Well I mean, I assume that the King won."
"The King won?" I asked, my heart sinking.
"I assume so," Perlia said carefully. "No one knows for sure because… the whole army seems to have disappeared."
"The whole army? Disappeared?" I repeated stupidly. My thoughts seem to have frozen in place. All I could see was that image from my dream or vision, of a field full of men, then completely empty…
"They could be captured," Perlia said quickly, taking in my shocked face. "Or have all escaped." That wasn't true, I knew. That dark thing, the black flame or whatever it was had killed them all. My Father was dead. I had seen his death, for I had seen his ghost…
And then I fainted again.
Then she meets a mysterious man, who takes her to the castle to meet and important ghost. When she touches the ghosts hand in the mirror she goes into the ghosts brain and sees her memories, from inside the ghosts head. The King has been taken over by a Demon. This next part is when Lilith, the person she's inside, goes into Hell to find out how to kill the Demon. (By the way, the mysterious man is named Eiyan and Lilith is together with him, and Lilith is the brother of the King, and he's already been killed by the Demon)
Lilith stood at the bottom of the cliff staring up-- there, half way up the wall was a hole. She usually knew to avoid holes, but this one was different. Black cloth covered most of it except for one part, an opening in the shape of a door. There was a light behind it, a light that moved and made smoke. A door and a fire-- that looked like civilization. Is this it? she thought, all ready unwinding the rope from her bag. There was a path up the side of the cliff, she'd have to climb it and tie the rope to some thing, then climb back down and climb up.
Lilith set to work immediately, climbing the path in no time and tying the rope to a stumpy tree. She didn't bother being quiet, if this really was Lucifer the fallen angel he might as well know she was coming. And if it wasn't? Well, she had her sword.
She looked over the edge before going back down and I wished she hadn't, the ground looked awfully far away. But the rope was strong and it was tied to her waist, and the cliff was rugged enough to promise good foot holds. Lilith wouldn't die here. She walked back to the foot of the cliff and started climbing up, slowly. There were good foot and hand holds but she didn't like the feeling of just air behind her.
When Lilith got near the opening she stopped. "Excuse me!" She called up. "Who lives here?" Instantly the cloth was thrown aside and a man stood looking down on her. She tensed, he could kick out and she'd fall off the cliff.
"My name is Lucifer," he said instead, not smiling. His eyes were flames, they danced and spun. "What do you seek from me?"
"An answer," Lilith said.
"Ah," Lucifer said, his lips curling up into some thing like a smile. "And what will you give me for this answer?" Lilith didn't reply but pulled herself up some more, until she grabbed the edge of Lucifer's cave and swung herself over.
"First," Lilith said "How do you feel about Demons?"
"Demons," Lucifer's face transformed into a snarl and Lilith almost took a step back. "Those nasty things. One tried to kill me once. It never forgot the experience." He smiled in memory-- that smile was almost more frightening than his anger.
"Then you won't resent me killing one," Lilith said.
"Not at all," Lucifer's strange eyes went back to Lilith. "But you don't know how. Only I do."
"You and one other person," Lilith couldn't help but say. "A wizard who came through here-- oh, I don't know how long ago. He killed one, but not permanently because now it's come back."
"I remember him," Lucifer said, his face closing off. He looked at Lilith again, critically. "You're one of those heroes then?" he asked "Come to save your world from the Demon?"
"You could say that," Lilith said carefully.
"People aren't worth it," Lucifer said, his flame eyes suddenly turning red. "I figured that out a long time ago."
'And looked where you are now,' I wanted to say.
"I think they are," Lilith just said quietly.
"I won't tell you how to kill it," Lucifer said, suddenly turning around and going in his cave.
"Please--"
"Or face my wrath," he said whirling towards her. His face was distorted, all signs of humanity gone from its features. Primal, pure anger was all that burned behind it. Lilith did take a step back then, she wasn't able to hide her shock. Lucifer's face slowly went back to the way it was before, but his eyes still leaped around madly. "That was all it took to frighten you?" He said, playfully, his voice full of contempt.
"I won't go," Lilith folded her arms and stood there, glaring at him. "You can do what ever you like. I won't fail."
"What will you give me?" Lucifer asked again.
"I have nothing of value," Lilith said, trying to think. She hadn't thought that far into it yet.
"No money, or jewelry?" his eyes went to her neck, on instinct Lilith's hand went up to the necklace. "I'll take that," he smiled again, watching her eyes widen. "It means some thing to you, doesn't it?" Lilith's hand closed around it, her jaw clenched as she tried to decide. She needed the answer-- but Eiyan had given it to her--
"Here," Lilith undid the clasp and handed it to Lucifer, trying not to think about what she was doing. Lucifer smiled and took it, he closed his fist around it and squeezed. Lilith gasped and watched in horror as her necklace, now crushed into tiny pieces of metal fell from his hand.
"You're all fools," Lucifer said, his voice deadly. Her heart was in her throat and Lilith tried to swallow-- she was still staring at the ground where the pieces had fallen. "Get out." he said.
"No," Lilith said, looking up. Her eyes were flashing and I could feel the anger rising in her. "You insult my race, you destroy my necklace-- why should I leave?"
"Only because I'll kill you if you don't," Lucifer retorted.
"So what?" Lilith asked. And-- I couldn't believe it, but she meant it. "I can't not succeed. I have to save my country, and all the worthless people in it. That is more important to me than my life."
"Do you know why you're so worthless?" Lucifer shot back, stepping forward. "I could give you a million examples, things I've seen while still in heaven, things that made me twist and turn evil--"
"We aren't worthless!" Lilith exploded, the sound echoed back angrily in the cave. "We do some good, we--"
"The wizard who passed through here," Lucifer interrupted, his voice a whisper. "He could have killed the Demon for good-- he could have saved you all this trouble. And do you know why he didn't? He didn't because he wanted to save his own life. He drank the water of eternal youth before doing it, so even though he should have died he didn't-- it just made the Demon fall into a long sleep. He could have killed it! And he was too-- selfish to even consider it."
Lilith swayed, her thoughts were reeling as she realized some thing. I was almost realizing it too, I was putting the clues together… "You have to put the Demon inside you, and then kill your self don't you?" she said, her voice faint. "That is what will kill the Demon, but the Demon must have convinced Jalen not to do it once it was inside of him…" Her thoughts were far away, she paid no attention to Lucifer who sighed and shook his head in front of her.
"And now you know," he said, his voice bitter. Lilith came back to him then.
"I do," she said, her voice getting stronger. There were tears in her eyes as she realized what she had to do, what the wizard could have done but hadn't. "And I will do it. Nothing you can say can convince me that people are completely horrible."
"You'll do it?" Lucifer didn't quite believe her. "But…. Why? You won't do it," he decided, his face settling back into disgust. "You're just saying that. You'll find some one else, some one old and ready to die to do it for you."
Lilith shook her head and turned around to leave the cave. There were no words to describe what she was feeling, nothing came close. Only the saddest and most beautiful and longing song in the world could maybe express her emotions right now. At the cave entrance she stopped, then turned with a smile on her face.
"You've never been in love, have you?" she asked, and began her descent to the ground and her journey back up to the world.
Chapter Eleven
I don't know how Lilith kept her self together for the next hour. She was calm but my mind was whirling-- she had just found out that she had to kill her self to kill the Demon, and that she could never see Eiyan again if she wanted to save every one! He would never let her do it, she'd have to kill the Demon as soon as she got out of Hell. How was she able to walk? I would be curled up in a corner right now, crying my eyes out.
Once my brain slowed down and there was a little room in her head I could hear the thoughts pulsing every where-- I am going to die. I am going to save every one. I will never see Eiyan again. Those three thoughts repeated over and over, I had to think loudly to hear my self.
Tears trickled down Lilith's face as she walked quickly along. She paid no attention to them, didn't wipe them away or try to stop them. She was calm in her sadness, sure of what she had to do.
She was running through Hell now, trying to get to the exit as fast as she could. But she tried to make no noise at the same time, she couldn't deal with monster attacking her right now.
She ran through all the obstacles and monsters dens she'd gone through before, slinking along when ever she saw one. Miraculously none attacked her. In about two hours of steady jogging she was back at the entrance, the long hole she'd fallen down.
Lilith stared up into the hole, her breathing slowing. I still couldn't think of a way she was going to get out of there. The ground slanted at the bottom and with a sigh Lilith started crawling up. She got about ten feet up and then stopped, she could feel her self starting to slide backwards. "Dirt," Lilith muttered, grabbing onto the soil. "Why couldn't it be rock?" Taking out her rope she threw it upwards, experimenting to see how high it would go. It was long enough to reach all the way down the hole but she couldn't throw it hard enough to get it over the edge, it fell back to her when it wasn't even half way up. The small piece of sky she could see was stormy, a few drops of rain slid down the hole.
There was a noise behind Lilith and she whirled around, Lucifer was standing there. "If you don't have wings you can't leave Hell," he said, Lilith sighed.
"You followed me the whole way?"
"Nothing easier in the world," Lucifer walked forward and stood looking at her, his flame eyes dancing. "I'll help you leave."
"Why would you do that?" Lilith asked. "You didn't even mean to tell me how to kill the Demon."
"Maybe you showed me some thing," Lucifer said, his face unreadable.
"How can I trust you?" Lilith asked.
"You can't," Lucifer said simply. "But you'll die here if you don't leave. And you won't save any one by dying." Lilith looked at him, her insides churning. She didn't trust him, not for a minute. But she would die here.
"All right then," Lilith said. "I'll accept your offer of help. And thank you." Lucifer nodded and stepped back, there was a rumble in the earth. Lilith looked down in alarm and swayed, was the ground… moving? She fell over as the ground moved upwards, a section of earth quickly shot up the hole. With a cry that was lost in the wind Lilith and the dirt was thrown out of the hole, Lilith fell to the hard ground.
There were screams of surprise around her and Lilith looked around, she had fallen into a group of men. With widening eyes Lilith surveyed the field, it was filled with people. Trynntel was at the head of them, shouting something. Every one who Lilith hadn't knocked in to was shouting the same thing. "The Demon must die!!!" Lilith groaned and I cringed inside, this was the army. The battle. What would be the massacre. The army moved forward and Lilith moved with them, trying to see the castle as some thing happened. Black smoke was pouring out of its windows, collecting in front of it into…
"The Demon," Lilith whispered, staring as the Demon took shape. It was made of black flame, constantly moving. It took the shape of a huge four legged beast but Lilith knew it could be any thing. Men around her gasped and stumbled as they stared at it. Lilith began running then, pushing people aside as she tried to get to the front of the army. But the Demon was so far away, and it was all ready moving…
The Demon roared, like the sound of a hundred trees being shaken by the wind, and swept over the army. People felt their hair singe, Lilith turned around in panic. The Demon had spread out and completely surrounded the field. How could she kill it now? She was supposed to make a diagram to trap it in-- she had no time to make one--
And then the Demon all around the field began to inch forwards. Men were running around madly and screaming, they knew there was no way out. They all collected in the very middle of the field but there was too many of them, the Demon caught some-- Lilith cringed as their screams reached her ears. Wasn't there any way to stop it? Lilith rushed over to where the hole was, it was filled in with dirt. Curse that Lucifer! He had known the Demon was about to attack.
I'm going to die, Lilith realized again. But this wasn't the death she wanted. She needed to die to save every one, not a pointless death-- the Demon was moving in again, catching more people… wasn't there some thing she could do? She couldn't escape, she couldn't kill it… fear rose up in her, more strong than I'd ever felt it before. 'Your death isn't pointless,' I wanted to tell her, I wanted to comfort her. 'You found out how to kill it. I will take that knowledge and use it-- you succeeded.'
But that wouldn't have comforted her I knew, nothing could. And then Lilith remembered her sword. With a cry she rushed forward and swung out at the black flame, immediately the flame hissed and retreated. "Use your weapons!" Lilith shouted at the petrified army, some thing awakening in her again. She wouldn't die doing nothing.
Hardly any one heard her, they were all to frightened. Lilith continued hacking at the flames, smiling as she watched it pull back as her sword approached. It was only stopping this section, this tiny part-- but could she make a way out?
Lilith cut and parried, swept and thrust. The flames retreated. She stepped forward, if she just continued this… "Come on people!" Lilith yelled, turning around to tell the army to follow her. All she saw was black flame. Lilith's breath caught in her throat and she whirled around-- she was surrounded. She had pushed the flame back, so it had just formed a circle. She was trapped.
Lilith swallowed, it was getting hotter. The flames were coming towards her. Her hand went up to her neck, where her necklace wasn't… she stared at the black, mad flames. She didn't see them, she was seeing Eiyan, she was seeing Jalen, her city, every thing she loved in life. She was about to lose it all. The flames inched forward. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, how could she stand there so calmly? It's over, her thoughts whispered in my mind as the flames leapt and crawled over her.
The rain fell in earnest now but the pounding drops did nothing to the black flames. The rain drops mixed with her tears as Lilith's vision was slowly taken over by blackness… and her thoughts stopped…
And that's all I'm going to give you! It's all unedited, so please forgive the mistakes. I expect some of yours soon Katie and Lauren, and how did Nano go for you??
Kelia
WARNING: My novel is extremely dark and depressing and a lot of people die.
First is a poem I wrote about one of my characters.
Lilith's Song
Breathe in
don't die
the world will end
before your eyes
breathe in
don't cry
the world will end
the world will rise
the moon will burn
the sun will fall
a sea of black,
black flame
you watched him die
you watched him burn
don't be surprised
you're not the same
you try to save them all
you can't
you can't do everything
you can't
stay here and right this wrong
you can't
stand silent as they fall
you can't
give up, you've fought so long...
Breathe in
don't die
the world will end
before your eyes
breathe in
don't cry
the world will end
the world will rise...
Before this first part I'm giving you, strange things have been happening. The new King outlawed magic, and then killed everyone who could do magic. So the people revolted, and my MC's father went off to fight with them.
The next day I woke up, trying to ignore the stillness in the air. I got ready for classes singing the whole time, so it wasn't just quiet. But when I stopped singing the silence would creep in again, wrapping around me, suffocating. The streets were empty as I walked to classes, I couldn't see any sign of the fighting. It would still be going on I knew. What was happening on the battle field? I stopped and looked at the castle, perched on it's rock. It looked the same as usual. I shrugged and went into classes.
That whole day there was a strange feeling in the air, like something was happening. My teachers must have thought me very distracted, for I stared out the window the whole time watching the gray sky get blacker and blacker. Clouds swirled around, grouping and forming into one huge mass. It may have been my imagination, but it looked like they were centered over the castle.
That night was eerily lonely. I wandered around the house, not even singing any more I was so used to the silence. Any sound disturbed me. I couldn't concentrate on anything, I was thinking about the battle every second. Was it still going on? Was my Father still alive? I looked out the window at one point, the sky was still strange. Lightning flashed, illuminating the black clouds and then-- the lightening turned red, it struck the castle's tower, the sky was churning with green and blue--
I was going crazy, I knew it. Unable to still my pounding heart I grabbed a coat and flew out the door, pounding on Perlia's door as it started to rain.
"Sophina!" She opened the door and took in my disheveled state. "Oh dear. Why don't you stay with us tonight?"
"That would be great," I said, hurrying in and drying off in front of the fire. It was better with two people around, but there was still that feeling in the air. We tried to ignore it and talk like normal but it couldn't be got over. Perlia knew about the battle, how could she not? I didn't know if she knew that Father was fighting but it was probably obvious by how agitated I was. Eventually we all got tired and I knew I would have to go to bed. I wasn't looking forward to that.
"Your room's up here," Perlia took me up the stairs, her candle throwing shadows on the wall as we walked.
"Thank you," I said, standing in the doorway.
"I'll see you in the morning," she said, smiling at me sympathetically. She handed me the candle and made her way back downstairs, and then I was alone. One candle wasn't very much to ward off a whole room of darkness. I set it on a table with a mirror on it and sat on the bed, trying not to think about anything. The shadows seemed to mock me, dancing in as close to the candle as they could. Finally, for something to do I got up and looked at my face in the mirror. I looked nervous, my eyes wide. There was no sound in the room, nothing stirred, I could almost imagine something moving in the mirror, like a man behind me--
I whirled around, my heart pounding. There was no one there. With a deep sigh of relief I turned back to the mirror, and there was that shadowy form again-- 'Don't turn around,' I told myself, sitting ram-rod straight. 'There's no one behind you.' and then the shadowy man moved forward-- with a half strangled gasp of fear this time I whirled around-- to see shadows, nothing more. I sighed and put my head on the table. I was going insane. That was the only answer. And then slowly I looked up into the mirror… the man was right behind me. I could see his white face, his lifeless eyes staring ahead, his rumpled clothes that were blurred around the edges…
"Father?" I whispered. He didn't reply, just stood there staring. Trying to breathe I touched his hand in the mirror…
And suddenly I was on a field, the sky above a dark mass of clouds. Around me men screamed, their eyes were widened in horror. They were seeing something past me, I turned to look but all I saw was darkness moving, creeping and crawling forward. The darkness moved across the field, it was getting closer, it ate everything in it's way leaving nothing behind. I couldn't do anything, my Father screamed in terror as it approached and destroyed all his friends and then it was there. He screamed in agony then, the sound piercing into my brain like weapons. The black flames ate into his flesh, burning him up. I watched as he slowly turned black and disappeared, the ashes destroyed in the fire too. In mere moments nothing was left. The field was empty, everyone gone, everyone dead…
"Sophina? Sophina are you all right?" I woke with an aching head, due more from my already whirling thoughts than to the large bump on it. Perlia was bent over me, shaking my shoulder with a worried expression. "There, you're awake," she said, relieved. I looked around, what was I doing on the floor?
"I fainted?" I murmured, trying to remember what had happened after I had seen… what had I seen?
"Yes you did," Perlia said. "You must have been out cold all night."
"Oh…" I tried to piece together my jumbled thoughts. Last night I had been looking in the mirror, then seen my Father? In the mirror?
"How are you feeling this morning?" Perlia asked.
"Strange," I said, getting up off the floor and sinking onto the bed. "Very strange." Something was different, I could tell that much. Had that been a vision I had seen of my Father's death? Did I fall asleep before I looked in the mirror and dreamt it all?
"Oh," Perlia looked down, biting her lip. "Well I suppose I should tell you," she said hesitantly.
"Is there news of who won?" I asked, looking up quickly.
"Yes and no," Perlia said. "Well I mean, I assume that the King won."
"The King won?" I asked, my heart sinking.
"I assume so," Perlia said carefully. "No one knows for sure because… the whole army seems to have disappeared."
"The whole army? Disappeared?" I repeated stupidly. My thoughts seem to have frozen in place. All I could see was that image from my dream or vision, of a field full of men, then completely empty…
"They could be captured," Perlia said quickly, taking in my shocked face. "Or have all escaped." That wasn't true, I knew. That dark thing, the black flame or whatever it was had killed them all. My Father was dead. I had seen his death, for I had seen his ghost…
And then I fainted again.
Then she meets a mysterious man, who takes her to the castle to meet and important ghost. When she touches the ghosts hand in the mirror she goes into the ghosts brain and sees her memories, from inside the ghosts head. The King has been taken over by a Demon. This next part is when Lilith, the person she's inside, goes into Hell to find out how to kill the Demon. (By the way, the mysterious man is named Eiyan and Lilith is together with him, and Lilith is the brother of the King, and he's already been killed by the Demon)
Lilith stood at the bottom of the cliff staring up-- there, half way up the wall was a hole. She usually knew to avoid holes, but this one was different. Black cloth covered most of it except for one part, an opening in the shape of a door. There was a light behind it, a light that moved and made smoke. A door and a fire-- that looked like civilization. Is this it? she thought, all ready unwinding the rope from her bag. There was a path up the side of the cliff, she'd have to climb it and tie the rope to some thing, then climb back down and climb up.
Lilith set to work immediately, climbing the path in no time and tying the rope to a stumpy tree. She didn't bother being quiet, if this really was Lucifer the fallen angel he might as well know she was coming. And if it wasn't? Well, she had her sword.
She looked over the edge before going back down and I wished she hadn't, the ground looked awfully far away. But the rope was strong and it was tied to her waist, and the cliff was rugged enough to promise good foot holds. Lilith wouldn't die here. She walked back to the foot of the cliff and started climbing up, slowly. There were good foot and hand holds but she didn't like the feeling of just air behind her.
When Lilith got near the opening she stopped. "Excuse me!" She called up. "Who lives here?" Instantly the cloth was thrown aside and a man stood looking down on her. She tensed, he could kick out and she'd fall off the cliff.
"My name is Lucifer," he said instead, not smiling. His eyes were flames, they danced and spun. "What do you seek from me?"
"An answer," Lilith said.
"Ah," Lucifer said, his lips curling up into some thing like a smile. "And what will you give me for this answer?" Lilith didn't reply but pulled herself up some more, until she grabbed the edge of Lucifer's cave and swung herself over.
"First," Lilith said "How do you feel about Demons?"
"Demons," Lucifer's face transformed into a snarl and Lilith almost took a step back. "Those nasty things. One tried to kill me once. It never forgot the experience." He smiled in memory-- that smile was almost more frightening than his anger.
"Then you won't resent me killing one," Lilith said.
"Not at all," Lucifer's strange eyes went back to Lilith. "But you don't know how. Only I do."
"You and one other person," Lilith couldn't help but say. "A wizard who came through here-- oh, I don't know how long ago. He killed one, but not permanently because now it's come back."
"I remember him," Lucifer said, his face closing off. He looked at Lilith again, critically. "You're one of those heroes then?" he asked "Come to save your world from the Demon?"
"You could say that," Lilith said carefully.
"People aren't worth it," Lucifer said, his flame eyes suddenly turning red. "I figured that out a long time ago."
'And looked where you are now,' I wanted to say.
"I think they are," Lilith just said quietly.
"I won't tell you how to kill it," Lucifer said, suddenly turning around and going in his cave.
"Please--"
"Or face my wrath," he said whirling towards her. His face was distorted, all signs of humanity gone from its features. Primal, pure anger was all that burned behind it. Lilith did take a step back then, she wasn't able to hide her shock. Lucifer's face slowly went back to the way it was before, but his eyes still leaped around madly. "That was all it took to frighten you?" He said, playfully, his voice full of contempt.
"I won't go," Lilith folded her arms and stood there, glaring at him. "You can do what ever you like. I won't fail."
"What will you give me?" Lucifer asked again.
"I have nothing of value," Lilith said, trying to think. She hadn't thought that far into it yet.
"No money, or jewelry?" his eyes went to her neck, on instinct Lilith's hand went up to the necklace. "I'll take that," he smiled again, watching her eyes widen. "It means some thing to you, doesn't it?" Lilith's hand closed around it, her jaw clenched as she tried to decide. She needed the answer-- but Eiyan had given it to her--
"Here," Lilith undid the clasp and handed it to Lucifer, trying not to think about what she was doing. Lucifer smiled and took it, he closed his fist around it and squeezed. Lilith gasped and watched in horror as her necklace, now crushed into tiny pieces of metal fell from his hand.
"You're all fools," Lucifer said, his voice deadly. Her heart was in her throat and Lilith tried to swallow-- she was still staring at the ground where the pieces had fallen. "Get out." he said.
"No," Lilith said, looking up. Her eyes were flashing and I could feel the anger rising in her. "You insult my race, you destroy my necklace-- why should I leave?"
"Only because I'll kill you if you don't," Lucifer retorted.
"So what?" Lilith asked. And-- I couldn't believe it, but she meant it. "I can't not succeed. I have to save my country, and all the worthless people in it. That is more important to me than my life."
"Do you know why you're so worthless?" Lucifer shot back, stepping forward. "I could give you a million examples, things I've seen while still in heaven, things that made me twist and turn evil--"
"We aren't worthless!" Lilith exploded, the sound echoed back angrily in the cave. "We do some good, we--"
"The wizard who passed through here," Lucifer interrupted, his voice a whisper. "He could have killed the Demon for good-- he could have saved you all this trouble. And do you know why he didn't? He didn't because he wanted to save his own life. He drank the water of eternal youth before doing it, so even though he should have died he didn't-- it just made the Demon fall into a long sleep. He could have killed it! And he was too-- selfish to even consider it."
Lilith swayed, her thoughts were reeling as she realized some thing. I was almost realizing it too, I was putting the clues together… "You have to put the Demon inside you, and then kill your self don't you?" she said, her voice faint. "That is what will kill the Demon, but the Demon must have convinced Jalen not to do it once it was inside of him…" Her thoughts were far away, she paid no attention to Lucifer who sighed and shook his head in front of her.
"And now you know," he said, his voice bitter. Lilith came back to him then.
"I do," she said, her voice getting stronger. There were tears in her eyes as she realized what she had to do, what the wizard could have done but hadn't. "And I will do it. Nothing you can say can convince me that people are completely horrible."
"You'll do it?" Lucifer didn't quite believe her. "But…. Why? You won't do it," he decided, his face settling back into disgust. "You're just saying that. You'll find some one else, some one old and ready to die to do it for you."
Lilith shook her head and turned around to leave the cave. There were no words to describe what she was feeling, nothing came close. Only the saddest and most beautiful and longing song in the world could maybe express her emotions right now. At the cave entrance she stopped, then turned with a smile on her face.
"You've never been in love, have you?" she asked, and began her descent to the ground and her journey back up to the world.
Chapter Eleven
I don't know how Lilith kept her self together for the next hour. She was calm but my mind was whirling-- she had just found out that she had to kill her self to kill the Demon, and that she could never see Eiyan again if she wanted to save every one! He would never let her do it, she'd have to kill the Demon as soon as she got out of Hell. How was she able to walk? I would be curled up in a corner right now, crying my eyes out.
Once my brain slowed down and there was a little room in her head I could hear the thoughts pulsing every where-- I am going to die. I am going to save every one. I will never see Eiyan again. Those three thoughts repeated over and over, I had to think loudly to hear my self.
Tears trickled down Lilith's face as she walked quickly along. She paid no attention to them, didn't wipe them away or try to stop them. She was calm in her sadness, sure of what she had to do.
She was running through Hell now, trying to get to the exit as fast as she could. But she tried to make no noise at the same time, she couldn't deal with monster attacking her right now.
She ran through all the obstacles and monsters dens she'd gone through before, slinking along when ever she saw one. Miraculously none attacked her. In about two hours of steady jogging she was back at the entrance, the long hole she'd fallen down.
Lilith stared up into the hole, her breathing slowing. I still couldn't think of a way she was going to get out of there. The ground slanted at the bottom and with a sigh Lilith started crawling up. She got about ten feet up and then stopped, she could feel her self starting to slide backwards. "Dirt," Lilith muttered, grabbing onto the soil. "Why couldn't it be rock?" Taking out her rope she threw it upwards, experimenting to see how high it would go. It was long enough to reach all the way down the hole but she couldn't throw it hard enough to get it over the edge, it fell back to her when it wasn't even half way up. The small piece of sky she could see was stormy, a few drops of rain slid down the hole.
There was a noise behind Lilith and she whirled around, Lucifer was standing there. "If you don't have wings you can't leave Hell," he said, Lilith sighed.
"You followed me the whole way?"
"Nothing easier in the world," Lucifer walked forward and stood looking at her, his flame eyes dancing. "I'll help you leave."
"Why would you do that?" Lilith asked. "You didn't even mean to tell me how to kill the Demon."
"Maybe you showed me some thing," Lucifer said, his face unreadable.
"How can I trust you?" Lilith asked.
"You can't," Lucifer said simply. "But you'll die here if you don't leave. And you won't save any one by dying." Lilith looked at him, her insides churning. She didn't trust him, not for a minute. But she would die here.
"All right then," Lilith said. "I'll accept your offer of help. And thank you." Lucifer nodded and stepped back, there was a rumble in the earth. Lilith looked down in alarm and swayed, was the ground… moving? She fell over as the ground moved upwards, a section of earth quickly shot up the hole. With a cry that was lost in the wind Lilith and the dirt was thrown out of the hole, Lilith fell to the hard ground.
There were screams of surprise around her and Lilith looked around, she had fallen into a group of men. With widening eyes Lilith surveyed the field, it was filled with people. Trynntel was at the head of them, shouting something. Every one who Lilith hadn't knocked in to was shouting the same thing. "The Demon must die!!!" Lilith groaned and I cringed inside, this was the army. The battle. What would be the massacre. The army moved forward and Lilith moved with them, trying to see the castle as some thing happened. Black smoke was pouring out of its windows, collecting in front of it into…
"The Demon," Lilith whispered, staring as the Demon took shape. It was made of black flame, constantly moving. It took the shape of a huge four legged beast but Lilith knew it could be any thing. Men around her gasped and stumbled as they stared at it. Lilith began running then, pushing people aside as she tried to get to the front of the army. But the Demon was so far away, and it was all ready moving…
The Demon roared, like the sound of a hundred trees being shaken by the wind, and swept over the army. People felt their hair singe, Lilith turned around in panic. The Demon had spread out and completely surrounded the field. How could she kill it now? She was supposed to make a diagram to trap it in-- she had no time to make one--
And then the Demon all around the field began to inch forwards. Men were running around madly and screaming, they knew there was no way out. They all collected in the very middle of the field but there was too many of them, the Demon caught some-- Lilith cringed as their screams reached her ears. Wasn't there any way to stop it? Lilith rushed over to where the hole was, it was filled in with dirt. Curse that Lucifer! He had known the Demon was about to attack.
I'm going to die, Lilith realized again. But this wasn't the death she wanted. She needed to die to save every one, not a pointless death-- the Demon was moving in again, catching more people… wasn't there some thing she could do? She couldn't escape, she couldn't kill it… fear rose up in her, more strong than I'd ever felt it before. 'Your death isn't pointless,' I wanted to tell her, I wanted to comfort her. 'You found out how to kill it. I will take that knowledge and use it-- you succeeded.'
But that wouldn't have comforted her I knew, nothing could. And then Lilith remembered her sword. With a cry she rushed forward and swung out at the black flame, immediately the flame hissed and retreated. "Use your weapons!" Lilith shouted at the petrified army, some thing awakening in her again. She wouldn't die doing nothing.
Hardly any one heard her, they were all to frightened. Lilith continued hacking at the flames, smiling as she watched it pull back as her sword approached. It was only stopping this section, this tiny part-- but could she make a way out?
Lilith cut and parried, swept and thrust. The flames retreated. She stepped forward, if she just continued this… "Come on people!" Lilith yelled, turning around to tell the army to follow her. All she saw was black flame. Lilith's breath caught in her throat and she whirled around-- she was surrounded. She had pushed the flame back, so it had just formed a circle. She was trapped.
Lilith swallowed, it was getting hotter. The flames were coming towards her. Her hand went up to her neck, where her necklace wasn't… she stared at the black, mad flames. She didn't see them, she was seeing Eiyan, she was seeing Jalen, her city, every thing she loved in life. She was about to lose it all. The flames inched forward. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, how could she stand there so calmly? It's over, her thoughts whispered in my mind as the flames leapt and crawled over her.
The rain fell in earnest now but the pounding drops did nothing to the black flames. The rain drops mixed with her tears as Lilith's vision was slowly taken over by blackness… and her thoughts stopped…
And that's all I'm going to give you! It's all unedited, so please forgive the mistakes. I expect some of yours soon Katie and Lauren, and how did Nano go for you??
Kelia
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
"You think it's working?"
I peered over my tea cup, the warm steam gracing my face and causing me to close my eyes temporarily as his question ran through my mind. Was it working? Opening my eyes I glanced over my shoulder, only to find the two in question acting as if they didn't know we existed there. I looked back at Dean, his dark brown eyes nearly matching his ebony skin as he looked at me, holding my hand like it meant something. Softly I grinned, hearing their chairs slide. "We'll find out soon enough." He nodded, laying down the payment for our drinks and stood, helping me to my feet. I gathered my books in my hands and we headed towards the door, cutting gently infront of the other couple.
Dean opened the door, the bell ringing softly as the cold air rushed in. My bare fingers turned red nearly immediately but that didn't matter. He smiled at me and I smiled back, he made some comment and I laughed, tossing my head back, long red waves falling over my shoulders with my eyes aglow. As I did so I allowed one of my books fall to the ground behind me, landing on the steps. "Oh, oops." I spoke a loud, with complete innocence as I bent to scoop it up. When I stood, there they were, right infront of me.
"What'd you drop, hun?" Dean asked, slipping up beside me like he'd been miles away. Skillfully he placed his arm about my waist, pulling me into him a bit. "Oh, nothing just my potions book." I gave a small shrug and smiled, looking back at the other couple. Another smile, broader this time, came across my face as I leaned into Dean, linking one hand with his and he kissed my head, close to my ear. As if just truly seeing the other couple there I gave Dean a small nudge in the chest with my hand, laughing and whispering 'stop it' on que. My eyes travelled back to the two, settling on Harry who's arm as around Cho's shoulders. "Well, hello there Harry, I haven't seen you in awhile." His eyes were narrowed a bit but behind them I could see the truth, he was as white as if he'd seen the ghost of Christmas past. Cho was the same, her face blank but a strange fire alight in her eyes. Seeing this made my smile widen and it only grew more when Dean gave my hand a familiar squeeze - our code. He'd seen it too; our plan was working.
Dean opened the door, the bell ringing softly as the cold air rushed in. My bare fingers turned red nearly immediately but that didn't matter. He smiled at me and I smiled back, he made some comment and I laughed, tossing my head back, long red waves falling over my shoulders with my eyes aglow. As I did so I allowed one of my books fall to the ground behind me, landing on the steps. "Oh, oops." I spoke a loud, with complete innocence as I bent to scoop it up. When I stood, there they were, right infront of me.
"What'd you drop, hun?" Dean asked, slipping up beside me like he'd been miles away. Skillfully he placed his arm about my waist, pulling me into him a bit. "Oh, nothing just my potions book." I gave a small shrug and smiled, looking back at the other couple. Another smile, broader this time, came across my face as I leaned into Dean, linking one hand with his and he kissed my head, close to my ear. As if just truly seeing the other couple there I gave Dean a small nudge in the chest with my hand, laughing and whispering 'stop it' on que. My eyes travelled back to the two, settling on Harry who's arm as around Cho's shoulders. "Well, hello there Harry, I haven't seen you in awhile." His eyes were narrowed a bit but behind them I could see the truth, he was as white as if he'd seen the ghost of Christmas past. Cho was the same, her face blank but a strange fire alight in her eyes. Seeing this made my smile widen and it only grew more when Dean gave my hand a familiar squeeze - our code. He'd seen it too; our plan was working.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Excerpt and teaser:
Just picture Arwen as Lenia in both. I found these videos on youtube and chose to put them in this as teasers and forshadowers of the future for Lenia and for Legolas. (No they aren't in this post) You may or may not get what I see in this video but someday soon it'll make sense. :)
As soon as NaNo is over, her next chapter will be out as well, as promised.
Speaking of NaNo. Mine isn't going so great I'm way behind on word count but that's alright! I'm still trudging on and not giving up! :D I do, however, have an excerpt for you :) I chose this one because it's part of Ryan's first chapter, it's not majorly exciting but - here you go :
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Night, Greg, catch you tomorrow"
"See you later, Ryan."
As I walked from the station I tucked my hands into my trench coats pockets. The sound of my feet scuffing along the pavement was the only sound that overtook my ears, normally the sound of cars and people would be more prominate but that night it wasn't, that night my mind was on other things.
Without a care in the world she walked up to danger, as if it couldn't harm her, like she didn't know. Blonde as ever, just like always, she'd gotten it from her mother and the blue eyes from her father. How, though, could she be so calm when there was so much to worry about? She knew the dangers she was up against.
Shaking my head I sucked in an unecessary breath, if the air was cold I couldn't tell. My mind was wandering too much to care anyway.
As always I could feel her eyes burning through my head so I rose my head to look in her direction. Despite my black sunglasses I met her eyes, against the bright light she narrowed her eyes but I, however, had mine fully open in the shadows that I stuck to. The look she gave me was that of utter confusion which surprised me a bit but I stayed taciturn for the time being - pushing it towards the back of my mine. When she turned to talk to one of her friends, the werewolf, I move myself with great spead to the next victim. Now, though, I did not lift my head up, I kept it toward the body, focussed on my work. For some reason she didn't seem to recognize me.The thought of that made my insides wither. Even if she didn't recognixe me anymore it was probably best. After all I was only the evanescent shadow in her life, the distant watcher; the invisible man.
"Blood."
My head snaped in the leftward direction, towards the source of the voice. It wan't extremely familiar to my ears, it was a newer vampire. "So fresh." Something inside of my felt weird; something wasn't right. More voices join in, there had to be what, twenty? That sounded right. Twenty, give or take a few.
My first thoughts were on the case, the fact that I could have easily tracked them, killed them - or attempted to - and ended this 'reign of terror' they had besieged upon the city - not to mention the country as well. It was when a familiar scent caught my sensitive nose that I began to panic; a sweet scent of succulant, pure, fruit scented blood. There were few people in the world, at least that I'd met, that smelled like that, and only one of them lived in the vacinity of Manhatten: Annora.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
HAPPY ELECTION DAY!
No matter who you would rather see president,
(or if you don't prefer either...),
HAPPY ELECTION DAY!
(or if you don't prefer either...),
HAPPY ELECTION DAY!
Saturday, November 01, 2008
And so it starts...
Ready.
On your mark.
Get set.
Write!!!
Happy November 1st everyone! As you know those words can only mean one thing: National Novel Writing Month. (NaNoWriMo as we know it) Lock yourselves in your rooms; brainstorm, write, push yourself into the edge of your existance.
Together we can finnish!!!
Hope to catch you all on NaNo.org - with excerpts of your stories!! ^_^
On your mark.
Get set.
Write!!!
Happy November 1st everyone! As you know those words can only mean one thing: National Novel Writing Month. (NaNoWriMo as we know it) Lock yourselves in your rooms; brainstorm, write, push yourself into the edge of your existance.
Together we can finnish!!!
Hope to catch you all on NaNo.org - with excerpts of your stories!! ^_^
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
[creeps in, takes a breath, EXPLODES]
OHHHHKay.
We so fail at updating this thing lately.
Anyway.
As you all know, I'm in Creative Writing. Well, recently, we did a project with Character building, and I figured I might as well share one of them on here.
...It's rough. But it's the best one.
---
We so fail at updating this thing lately.
Anyway.
As you all know, I'm in Creative Writing. Well, recently, we did a project with Character building, and I figured I might as well share one of them on here.
...It's rough. But it's the best one.
---
Name: Lacy Hoker
Female, Age 20
Background: Lacey grew up in a world of fairytales told by her mother, a self-proclaimed fortune teller-slash-gypsy, and by the age of six, actually believed herself to possess some kind of magical force that she tries to test when she thinks no one else is watching. She’s incredibly smart, although painfully awkward, and skipped ahead a year in elementary school. She was born and raised in the backwoods of Missouri, and though she was accepted into Yale, chose to go to the local university because she thought it would keep her closer to her ‘spiritual power source.’ As a Junior, she’s chosen to major in Theology, Psycology, and Philosophy, none of which she intends on pursuing. She loves to ask questions and identifies people by what she sees as interesting features about them. She believes she can tell if people are magical or not, often scaring away the people she intends to friend.
Description: Lacey is a stout 5’4” girl with bleach blonde hair, faintly tinted an eerie blue from a previous dye. She has a bracelet obsession and wears exactly thirty-two of them, though distributed unevenly and randomly between both of her wrists. She’s pudgy, not exactly fat, and wears high-foundation shoes to make up for her stature. She has three piercings in each ear and a single stud on the right side of her bottom lip. Her clothing choices come in multiple colors and are usually layered, but she consistently wears a faded green wool scarf over the bottom half of her face when she’s not speaking or indoors.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Poetry rocks! And WR will not die!
So here is my brand new poem, penned this very morning.
Today I noticed--
it smells like winter outside.
You know that smell
that freezes your nose
and makes you scurry inside
to make hot chocolate?
(You know what I mean.)
The grass is coated in red,
gold leaves,
the trees are bare
defensless against that new,
unwelcome smell.
We huddle inside and dream
of chestuns roasting over a fire,
of sleigh rides through the
yet unfallen snow
of chirstmas cookies and caroling--
it smells like winter outside
and already we are dreaming
of spring.
Aaaand who's doing Nano this year? I am! And I'm well on the way to convincing Anna to, even though she's incredibly busy. But it's okay if you can't Katie and Lauren, lives are complicated things...
Here's my nano plot so far.
There is a bloody and mysterious war going on. The country is revolting against their evil king, but strange things keep happening, such as whole armies disappearing...
Sophina can see ghosts. Her curiosity arises as to what's really going on and she goes around finding ghosts and trying to figure things out. (Note: this is not a summary, I'm just telling you what's happening.) One ghost she finds warns her not to look at her memories, for "Men have gone insane from lesser things than you will see." Sophina decides to look at the memories anyways, but instead of seeing them in a mirror like she usually does, she is transported into the ghosts very mind and relives everything that the ghost went through concerning the war...
*scary music is played* anyways tell me yours if you have any! I can't wait for all those promised posts Katie, but I don't think I'll ever forgive you for what you're going to do to Annora. Just so you know. :P
<3 Kelia
Today I noticed--
it smells like winter outside.
You know that smell
that freezes your nose
and makes you scurry inside
to make hot chocolate?
(You know what I mean.)
The grass is coated in red,
gold leaves,
the trees are bare
defensless against that new,
unwelcome smell.
We huddle inside and dream
of chestuns roasting over a fire,
of sleigh rides through the
yet unfallen snow
of chirstmas cookies and caroling--
it smells like winter outside
and already we are dreaming
of spring.
Aaaand who's doing Nano this year? I am! And I'm well on the way to convincing Anna to, even though she's incredibly busy. But it's okay if you can't Katie and Lauren, lives are complicated things...
Here's my nano plot so far.
There is a bloody and mysterious war going on. The country is revolting against their evil king, but strange things keep happening, such as whole armies disappearing...
Sophina can see ghosts. Her curiosity arises as to what's really going on and she goes around finding ghosts and trying to figure things out. (Note: this is not a summary, I'm just telling you what's happening.) One ghost she finds warns her not to look at her memories, for "Men have gone insane from lesser things than you will see." Sophina decides to look at the memories anyways, but instead of seeing them in a mirror like she usually does, she is transported into the ghosts very mind and relives everything that the ghost went through concerning the war...
*scary music is played* anyways tell me yours if you have any! I can't wait for all those promised posts Katie, but I don't think I'll ever forgive you for what you're going to do to Annora. Just so you know. :P
<3 Kelia
Sunday, September 28, 2008
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