part two
v i n d i n c t a
(revenge)
Kaitlyn’s eyes opened slowly.“Mrrg…” she muttered.
“Kaitlyn!” Etienne shrieked, attaching himself to her and squeezing her tightly.
“Oh…Etienne…” she murmured groggily. Her friends were all gathered around her, concerned. “What happened? I was having the nicest dream…”
“You’ve been in something relevant to a coma,” Kiera said, as Etienne continued to cling to Kaitlyn, sobbing like a child.
“I was so worried!”
“What a dork,” Jada muttered. Lani hung back, feeling ill.
“Why is it that they don’t seem affected by what they did to that poor man?” she nibbled a fingernail, trembling.
“They’ve realized it wasn’t wrong,” Omnes answered, by her side instantly.
“Huh…?”
Omnes smiled. Lani recoiled, wringing her hands.
“You…you’re sick…”
He shrugged.
“If you want to complain, you can just talk to Destiny. I don’t make the rules, my dear. I simply enforce them.’
“Lies,” Lani answered, glaring at him.
“You only say that because you think we don’t exist,” Omnes said, cornering her against a wall.
“Th…that’s right…I…I don’t!” Lani tried to ignore the fact that everyone seemed to be oblivious to their confrontation and were instead fawning over Kaitlyn.
“I don’t know how else to prove it to you,” he said, taking a lock of her hair in his hand. He stroked it, and she shook visibly, but said nothing.
“No response?” Omnes kissed her hair. “You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you?”
“G…go away…” she managed. Omnes clutched her wrists, pinning her against the wall.
“I will never go away. I am Fate. I am everything and I will always be here. By the time this is over, even you will realize that.”
“By…by the time what is over?” she stammered. He released her, smirking in a self-satisfied manner.
“Now what fun would it be if I told you that?”
Then he was gone, leaving her slumped against the wall, shaking as the others continued to talk and laugh in the background.
Reve had the sudden realization that he was not dead. His skin still looked as though it had been dipped in crimson, but he found that his wounds were beginning to close and his pain was slowly dissipating. He glanced at his hands, finding that the blood on them was drying up. Reve wondered what cruel power decided that he should live on, now more cold and alone than ever before. *
“They took her away from me,” he whispered, drawing his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth. The desire to be back in her arms stung his heart like a needle. Standing, Reve paced the void of the dreamworld, gazing miserably at the spheres around him. If only there were a way to escape this entrapment… he sat back down, clasping his hands together, praying that whatever had let him live would also set him free. His nails cut into his skin as he wished fervently, squeezing shut his teary eyes.
“Please,” he whispered, emotion overflowing from every fragment of his soul.
And then, he felt warmth. Reve opened one eye slowly, finding that he was sitting on the grass of a park, beneath a tree. Shocked, he stumbled to his feet, running his hands over the tree’s rough bark. The sun bore down on his heavy clothing, and for the first time since he could remember he knew what it was like to taste true air.
“I’m free…” he spoke with quiet awe. As this sense of reality overcame him, he began to feel a part of his memory awaken. Relaxing his muscles, he focused on the memory, and several moments later he had transformed himself into a large (albeit thin), blue green cat. Reve washed his paws and swished his tail, trotting out of the park. The sensation of being a cat seemed somehow familiar to him, as if it were something he had done many times before in years past. He savored it as he thought about what he should do. First, he decided, he would find Kaitlyn. Then he would deal with the cruel people who had caused him such pain. Reve purred in his throat as he thought of it. Tonight would be the longest that they had ever lived.
*
“Shh, Etienne, it’s okay, I’m here, I’m here,” Kaitlyn stroked Etienne’s hair and he clutched her, making whimpering noises in his throat. The others, satisfied that Kaitlyn was all right, had returned home.
“I was so scared though,” he said meekly.
“You’re sweet…” Kaitlyn nuzzled his cheek. “But he was really a nice boy. I wonder what the others did to him…”
“I dunno…no one ever tells me anything,” Etienne said unhappily, curling up against her. “Everyone thinks I’m a dork…”
“Oh, honey,” Kaitlyn hugged him. “I don’t think you’re a dork..”
“But you like everybody…”
“Etienne,” she made a face. He shrank.
“You do…”
“I think you’re a very nice man, Etienne,” she said, squeezing him. “I don’t care what anyone else says.”
“Kaitlllyyynnnnn… I’m not supposed to be niicce… I’m supposed to be cool….”
She sweatdropped.
“Have you been drinking, honey?”
“No…that’s why I’ve been so depressed…”
“Well, it’s good that you’re trying to be sober,” she said gently.
“It doesn’t feel very good,” he sighed. “’M sorry. I complain too much…”
“Nah…” Kaitlyn tousled his hair. He blushed, turning to face her. She closed her eyes.
"Wow, she's going to let me kiss her," he thought, grinning internally as he leaned in.
Skritch, skritch. Kaitlyn stopped.
“Damn it,” he thought.
“What’s that?” she pulled away, starting for her door. A clawing noise came from outside it, along with a ‘mrowl’ every few seconds.
“Can’t it wait?” he muttered quietly.
“A kitty!” Kaitlyn said. A skinny cat with long, blue-green fur and lavender eyes was sitting on her welcome mat, mewling profusely. Maroon markings decorated the fur on his face, and his whiskers twitched as Kaitlyn knelt, extending her hand. He sniffed her and purred loudly, licking her palm.
“What is it?” Etienne said crankily.
“It’s a kitty,” she giggled, scooping him up. Etienne raised an eyebrow.
“How did a cat get in here?”
“I don’t know, but isn’t it the sweetest thing you ever saw?” she cooed, kissing the cat’s chest. Kaitlyn held it out to Etienne, who petted it warily. It sniffed his fingers and began to nibble on them, purring.
“Oh my,” Etienne said. “He’s rather, er, affectionate, isn’t he? Come on, cat, let go of my fingers…they’re not Vienna sausages, I swear.”
The cat nibbled, purring obliviously.
“I think he likes you,” Kaitlyn said, kissing its fur.
“Are you going to keep him?” he said doubtfully. “I don’t know if this complex allows pets…”
“Sure it does. No one ever said anything about Umi,” Kaitlyn fluffed the cat’s fur. “I’ll call him Evan.”
Evan purred, licking Kaitlyn’s throat.
“Heehee…oh, look, Etienne, he’s so thin…let’s get him some food,” she said. “Hold him while I get the turkey.”
“Hey, Evan,” Etienne said, stroking the cat’s back. “You like Kaitlyn?”
Evan mewed.
“Yeah…I like her too,” he said, scratching beneath Evan’s chin. Kaitlyn returned with a plate of turkey slices. She set them on the floor, and Etienne released Evan. The cat sniffed the food, and then pawed at it, as if he weren’t sure what to do with it.
“Aren’t you hungry, kitty?” Etienne asked. Evan mewled in response, pawing at the meat.
Reve nibbled at the edge of the strange substance in front of him, surprised at the savory taste that filled his mouth. His stomach rumbled, encouraging him to finish the food. He began to tear at the turkey heartily, eating until the plate was clean.
“Jeez, he sure inhaled that like a starving Ethiopian,” Etienne blinked, petting him. Reve looked up at the black-haired man and mewed, opening his mouth and latching onto his hand.
“Ack,” Etienne said, as Reve gnawed happily on his skin.
“Isn’t he cute,” Kaitlyn cooed, pulling him away from Etienne and snuggling him. Reve brushed his tail against Kaitlyn’s cheek and wriggled happily. She still loved him.
“He’s so precious,” Kaitlyn said, rubbing his fur. Etienne cradled his hand, glaring in Reve’s general direction.
“Right..”
“I need to get cat things now,” she mumbled, scratching behind Reve’s ears. “Kitty litter, food, bowls…”
“I’m sure the landlord won’t notice any of that,” Etienne said skeptically.
“Aw, it’s just one little kitty…” she said, hugging Reve. “In fact, I’m going out now…”
She set Evan on the floor, and he rubbed against her legs, purring.
“Would you watch him while I’m gone? I won’t be long,” she said, petting Evan’s head.
“Er, uh, of course,” he said hastily, picking Evan up. He responded by promptly clamping his teeth back on Etienne’s hand, purring furiously as he nibbled his palm. Pain flooded Etienne’s synapses, and he winced as he waved goodbye to Kaitlyn, struggling to free himself from Evan’s jaws.
“Come on now, kitty, you’re going to hurt me,” he whimpered, gingerly opening Evan’s mouth. He removed his hand and set the cat onto a cushion of Kaitlyn’s couch. Evan kneaded the pillow, sniffing it and continuing his robust purr.
“I don’t know how Kaitlyn expects to keep you,” Etienne said, eyeing him. “Not only are you huge…but you’re probably going to be always making messes for Kaitlyn to clean up..”
Evan gave him a plaintive look and mewed, as if to say that he was not that sort of cat.
“I guess you are kind of cute,” Etienne said sullenly. “For a cat, anyway..”
Evan crawled into Etienne’s lap. He kneaded the fabric of Etienne’s pants, purring as his claws cut into the black denim. Sighing resignedly, Etienne scratched behind Evan’s ears.
Reve clawed at Etienne’s jeans, pondering this man’s existence as he did so. He did not see Etienne as a threat; rather he was just a small, easily removed obstacle. Reve gnawed on the end of Etienne’s finger as he was petted, considering what to do. He decided finally that he would have to turn Kaitlyn against this man. It meant a rather stressful nightmare, but it was unavoidable—and, he thought, less painful than to have him turn against her. Reve snuggled against Etienne, his tail wiggling. Kaitlyn walked back in before he could plot further, her arms overflowing with various cat-related products.
“Jeez, Kaitlyn, buy out the whole pet store,” Etienne blinked as she set bowls, toys, food, and a myriad of other things on her table.
“Maybe I got a little carried away,” she said, laughing a little. She set the bowls on the floor, filling one with water and another with scraps of meat. “I know he just ate, but I’m sure he’ll be hungry again later…”
“He’s too good for kibble, then?” Etienne said.
“Well, I bet he hasn’t been fed in days.. I might as well give him some nice food first,” she said, ruffling the fur on Evan’s back. He mewed and curled up into a ball on his cushion. Etienne stood awkwardly, looking from Kaitlyn to Evan until he spoke.
“I s’pose I’ll go then… um.. are we still on for lunch tomorrow?”
“Oh…of course,” Kaitlyn smiled, hiding her surprise at his sudden desire to leave. He hesitated, as if he wanted to hug her, but then moved back, slipping out the door. Reve licked Kaitlyn’s cheek as she took her place beside him. Outside, the night was swallowing the sun. Reve smiled internally as he pawed Kaitlyn’s shirt. He was so close.
*
Soil clung to Azura’s fingers as she knelt in the dirt of Sikari’s grave. Almost a month had pssed since his death, but his face still plagued her thoughts. She had mended the broken cross with glue, and driven into its former place in the soft earth. The metal of the cup Jada had lent her felt cold against her skin as she held it in her hands, staring at the ashes inside it. She spread the ashes onto the grave and set down the empty cup.
“I suppose it’s time I just let you go,” she said quietly, mixing the ash with the upturned earth. “I…I don’t know why it took me so long to do this..”
She dusted herself off and rose, clutching the cup to her chest.
“I had been keeping this next to my bed… but I think that just made me agonize more…so I brought it here,” she said, tapping her fingers against the cup’s side. “Maybe now we can both sleep better.” She breathed deeply and slowly turned, beginning her walk back home.
“Goodbye, Sikari.”
Azura’s heart was weighted as she traversed the sidewalks, watching the moon slip into the sky. Houses whose eyes were lidded in the day now glowed with yellow electricity, and the moths had begun their nightly gatherings around the lamplights. Azura walked into the darkness of her house, her damp mood sinking lower when she realized her mother was not there. She flicked the light switch and lingered in front of her fridge, but found herself too dismal even for food. She climbed the steps and slunk into her shower, her head between her knees as the warm water surged over her. Cold touched her body when she stepped out, and she shivered, quickly pulling on a nightshirt. She lay down in her bed, drawing her pillow against her body. Her eyes fixed on the darkness of her room, as she cleared her mind of any particular thought process. Eventually the conscious gave way to the subconscious, and she found herself submerged in a dream.
Terror wound around her like a worm as she glanced about her surroundings. Cracked headstones and crumbling grave markers; dying flowers of tribute. Her church’s cemetery, but instead of the sad respect to deceased loved ones, its aura now exuded the sorrow of decaying bodies whose names had been obscured through the passage of time. She moved between the rows of graves slowly, finding a small mausoleum where Sikari’s cross had been. Her heart trembled as it beat in her throat, and the dark air of the tomb choked her senses. She rested a hand against the wall as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light. A figure sat atop a stone coffin in the center of the room. She could barely discern his outline, but the voice was unmistakable.
“Azura…”
“S…Sikari?” she whispered. “There’s no way… your body is ashes…it’s not possible…”
He jumped off the coffin, withdrawing a long, thin knife from the sheath in his hand. His long, spiky red hair was disheveled and hung down in thick locks in front of his face. His eyes were wide, bursting with a kind of maniacal glee as they absorbed her image. Pale, yellowish skin hung off his bones, as if he were slowly rotting.
“Where we are, anything is possible.”
He pushed her up against the wall, driving the knife through her hair. His voice was more guttural than she thought possible, as if his throat had been lined with shards of jagged glass. She gasped as its blade struck the cement, a mere half inch from her skin.
“I’m so lonely here, Azura…I’m so very lonely…” he said softly, muttering in her ear. The heat and decayed scent of his breath caused her body to shudder. “It’s cold…”
“I..I’m sorry,” she said thickly. “I wish I could be with you…”
“But you can, Azura… you can be with me forever,” his red eyes glowed brightly as a smile twisted onto his lips. He turned the tip of the knife against her heart, kissing her lightly.
“No..” she said, pressing against the wall as if she wished it would absorb her.
“I don’t want to be lonely anymore…” he whispered. “I won’t let you leave me… I won’t let you ever leave…”
He plunged the knife into her chest, kissing her neck with his dry, cold lips as she screamed.
“No!” Azura awoke, clawing at her heart and breathing heavily. A draft blew against her, and she saw that her window was open. Her nightmare swam in her head as she shut the window, her fingers shaking as she stifled another scream when she saw what was scratched into the glass.
“In somnis veritas?” she read, fumbling to remember her Latin. “In…dreams…truth?!”
“Azura?” her mother stood in the doorway of her room. “I heard you screaming…”
“Mama,” Azura cried. “Someone vandalized my window.”
Her mother hit the light, seeing the writing.
“Must have been an awfully intelligent vandal if he wrote in Latin…”
Azura’s face faulted. “Mother.”
“Well, it’s true,” she said, petting her daughter’s hair. “It’s probably just someone playing a prank.”
Her mother ran her fingers over the cut glass. “Though I must admit that it would take some effort to carve this…”Her mother drew the curtains over the window.
“Go back to sleep, honey. I’m off tomorrow, so we can go out together, okay? And I'll get the window replaced.”
Azura crawled beneath her covers, returning her pillow to her arms. The warmth of her bed calmed her as she pulled her comforter around her body. Her mother smiled.
“Goodnight.”
The graveyard setting disappeared, and Reve’s features metled from Sikari’s to his own. Azura’s subconscious was shaken, despite how she was snuggled in her bed. She would not sleep again tonight. He smiled as the blood on the knife he held spattered onto the void of the dreamworld. He turned his mind to his next target. *
* “Ma’am… it’s almost midnight…perhaps you should stop for the night?” Reiko said.“Sleep is for the WEAK!” Roan thundered in response, pouring a beaker of liquid down a tube. Her face lit up as the two chemicals reacted, sparking as they mixed with one another.
“What is the purpose of this experiment, exactly?” Reiko said doubtfully.
“Oh, there’s none, really,” Roan waved her hand. “I just wanted to see some pretty sparks.”
Reiko massaged her temples.
“Master, If you don’t mind, I think I will go to my room now… it’s quite late and I still have some studying to do..”
“Study? You’re too brilliant for studying, Reiko,” Roan said, pouring out the liquids into the sink. Reiko fetched a few rags from one of the cabinets that lined the lab’s walls. She began to scrub Roan’s work area, keeping her head down.
“I’m afraid not, Master. My neuroscience course is actually a bit taxing.”
“You think so? Well, alright darling. Go on to bed,” Roan said, taking the rags from Reiko’s hands. She blushed, her palms closing into small fists. Roan continued her cleaning, whistling obliviously as Reiko’s cheeks burned. She did not take note of her servant until she was finished, and then it was only to look at her quizzically and ask,
“I thought you were going to bed?”“W..well, I am…I just wanted to say goodnight first,” Reiko stumbled over her words lamely. “So…goodnight.”
Roan blinked. “Sure…see you in the morning.”
Reiko’s heart fell, and she nodded dismally. Quietly, she left the lab, trying to suppress the disappointment swelling inside her. She undressed and lay down in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her college texts formed a tower on the desk next to her, forgotten in the wake of her depression. The melancholy in her mind stemmed from what seemed to her to be her complete lack of ability to analyze Roan’s feelings. At one moment she was tender and the next careless or apathetic. What was she supposed to derive from this tempest of moods? Reiko curled into the fetal position. Perhaps sleep would settle her troubles.
Roan’s mind succumbed to the world of dreams not long after Reiko retired. In his earthly form, Reve was sleeping as a cat on Kaitlyn’s bed. But he was wide awake in the world of dreams and he preyed upon her quickly, digging into her heart and withdrawing the fear beneath the madness. He exposed it and let it wrap over her mind, forming it into a nightmare. He remembered how she had called for his blood, and he watched her pain play out, his lips trembling as he cherished his revenge. *
Roan walked down the corridor of her home, dreaming with a striking lucidity.
“Reiko!” she called, her voice reverberating back around her as she strode down the hall. “Where are you? I want breakfast!”
Frustration accented her calls as she continued her trek, until at last she noticed that the passage had not yet ended.
“Mrr?” she said, turning from side to side. “This is peculiar…”
A servant was suddenly at her side, crying as he grabbed at her sleeves.
“Master! Master Roan!” he sobbed hysterically. “Please!”
“What is the reason for such insolence!” she shook him off, glaring as she adjusted her clothing.
“Quickly!” he said, grasping her wrist. He dragged down the corridor, and Roan noticed that the black walls were fading. They were replaced by white space, in which there was nothing but a long table covered with empty, metal plates. The top of Reiko’s head was barely visible over a chair at the end of the table. Roan opened her mouth the speak to the servant, but he was gone.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” she mumbled. Reiko’s chair was facing away from Roan. Her fingers were resting on either of the chair’s arms, tapping slowly against the polished wood. Slowly, Roan walked across the white space, its utter silence burning in her ears. Her breath amplified as she drew closer to Reiko, until it seemed to fill the air, echoing and vibrating in her eardrums. Her hand brushed Reiko’s hair, and in response the chair swiveled. Gasping, Roan withdrew her hand as if it had just grasped a hot coal, her eyes wide with horror. Reiko’s flesh and muscles were absent from her bones, leaving only a white skull with lolling, bloodshot eyes. Her head turned on the base of her spine as it slipped, rolling onto the plate before her. A note with the words ‘bonam cenam’ scrawled onto it was pinned to the base of her skull. The madness in Roan’s mind cleared, replaced by a shock of pain and fear.
The white blinded her as she cried out, and when she had exhausted her lungs she found herself in what appeared to be a normal room. The walls were paneled with wood, and the floor was covered with gray carpet. Rose petals blanketed the linoleum, their numbers thickening as Roan made her way through. Despite the fact that it was blatantly obvious that this was not real, Roan’s subconscious refused to accept it as anything but. The carpet beneath her feet was too warm, and the scent of the petals was too sweet. She found Reiko again, lying prostrate in the bed of petals, her skin lacerated with cuts and slashes from the thorns of the roses around her. Blood shone on her skin as it flowed onto the crimson flowers beneath her. Roan covered Reiko’s face with her hands, shaking in terror as the image registered with her senses. Her hands raked against the thorny roses, and she realized that they did not open a wound. Confused, she pressed a thumb against the thorn, but it did not penetrate her skin.
“A dream!” she cried as she jolted awake. The still air of her room greeted her, and she sat silently as the revelation of this fact settled in her mind. In her chest, her heart thumped anxiously, dissatisfied with the logic of the brain. She crawled from the safety of her bed and into the bathroom, where she poured herself a cup of water. The cup slipped from her hands and shattered in the sink as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Printed in childish handwriting on her cheek were the words ‘in somnis veritas.’ Clawing at her face, she recoiled when she saw the ink smear. Roan snatched a washcloth off the rack behind her, scrubbing at her face viciously. The meaning of the words rang out as she hastened to Reiko’s room.
“In dreams, truth,” she though, her throat drying at the implication of that phrase. She barreled into Reiko’s room, almost crushing her sleeping figure as she jumped onto the bed. Startled, Reiko awakened.
“Master?” she said, blushing.
“Oh..Reiko!” Roan cried dramatically, embracing her fiercely. “Reiko.. you’re okay.. it’s okay…everything’s okay…”
“Y…yes, Master,” Reiko said, baffled. Roan kissed Reiko’s hair and face, and she blushed, hugging. “Yes.. it’s okay..”
“Don’t leave me, Reiko…you can’t..you just can’t…” Roan said desperately, clinging. Reiko smiled, stroking Roan’s hair.
“I won’t… not ever…”
Reve sat in the dreamworld, playing with a pair of butterfly wings. The subconscious of the purple-haired girl was full of fear, but he remembered her as the only voice that tried to protect him. So he moved on. *
Jada listened to the tree’s branch scratch against the window as she admired the pool of moonlight on her bed. Fuu was curled into a plump ball of fluff on his pillow, his tail falling off the ege of the bed lazily. Jada remembered the night Charon had entered her room through that window and the tree next to it, and she wondered when she would see his face again. The sound of his voice was fading from the recesses of her memory; the last she had seen him was at the site of Riordan’s death. Was she now just a passing thought on his mind? It did not seem likely that he had forgotten her so quickly, but the suspicion was still snaking through her. Each time the branch hit her window she glanced up, her hopes rising in expectation of seeing Charon’s scarred, pale countenance. The more rational side of her worried about his intentions and was actually relieved by his sudden absence, but this rationality was drastically overshadowed by an unfathomable curiosity to know more about him. His advances towards her were at once affectionate and disturbing, but she found that they only lapsed into the disturbing when she was unusually close to him. She thought about this until eventually her tired body wore down the alertness of her mind, thrusting her into sleep. *
Reve slipped inside her subconscious, pulling forth a nightmare. It formed from the fear in the depths of her thoughts, a once supposed idea now given life. He watched it flow into her dream, and he smiled.
The wind blew like ice and cut glass, stinging Jada’s cheeks as she waded through a thick fog. The plane beneath her feet was soft, as if she were walking on a waterbed. She had a desire to call out, but the pain from the harsh wind suppressed it.
“Remember me…” Charon’s low, soft voice broke through the wind’s howl. “Remember me, Lumina…”
The stinging in Jada’s cheeks faded with the wind, but the dense fog remained.
“Who are you?” she yelled. Something metal clanked to the ground in front of her, and she jumped back, recognizing it as Charon’s scythe. Blood gilded the scythe’s blade, and it formed a pool as the scarlet drops hit the floor. Jada gaped, stumbling to her knees. Charon’s silhouette faded into the gray fog, and she gazed towards him, her body quivering. Charon knelt beside her, placing one hand on the scythe’s blade. He made patterns in the blood with his fingers as he leaned over, his eyes inches from her own.
“Do you remember me yet?” he whispered, lifting his blood-stained fingers.
“N..no…” she said, her fear holding her to her place. A moment later the scythe’s blade was against her throat. Her eyes fixed upon it, and she noticed suddenly that a wide gash had been made across her stomach. She screamed and Charon pulled her close roughly. The tips of his nails pressed into the bloody wound as he murmured into her ear.
“I killed you.”
Jada’s breath stopped as her eyes opened wide. She snatched Fuu off his pillow and squeezed him, exhaling. She cried into his fur, and he awoke, pawing at her nightshirt.
“What’s wrong?” he said sleepily, snuggling close.
“I…I h-had.. the most terrible dream…” she coughed through tears. She reached over, turning on her lamp. “I..It was horrible..”
“Um… Jada?” Fuu began, his eyes focused on the wall behind her. “Did… any painters come by recently?”
“P…painters? No…” she turned her head slowly, pressing her hands against Fuu’s side as she saw her wall. A Latin phrase was painted across the white wallpaper in crimson, dripping red letters.
“In somnis veritas… in dreams, truth,” Fuu mumbled. “How odd…”
“Oh…” Jada clung to Fuu, crying. “Oh God…”
Fuu licked her cheeks, trying to calm her down.
“Look, it’s probably just a jerk trying to scare you… like that Charon guy,” he said, which only caused her tears to multiply. “Oh..oh, okay, scratch that..”
Reve draped himself over the branch outside Jada’s window, purring as he watched Jada tremble. His body disappeared into the night, and when it coalesced, he was standing in the room of the girl with jet-black hair and bloody red eyes. Her walls were painted as darkly as her hair, and its perimeter was decorated with silver wallpaper done in intricate patterns. The bed was a canopy, with crimson sheets and cherry wood posts. Long, billowing black curtains were draped over each side of the bed, effectively closing her into her own world. Reve examined the depths of her subconscious, searching for some fear she kept hidden from everyone but herself. He found it buried deep, and he withdrew it, extending it into something much more gruesome than the original.
A little girl with long, black hair and young, wide eyes was sitting on a brown chair with torn upholstery. She wore a white dress made of thin fabric, and it clung to her small body in the heat that surrounded her. Her hair was loose around her neck and shoulders, hiding and shadowing parts of her pale face. Her hands were clasped in her lap, and she was slowly rocking her body back and forth. The phone next to her rang, nd she stared at it for a few minutes before taking it from the cradle.
“No…” she spoke quietly into the receiver. “No, Mama and Papa can’t come to the phone right now… they’re in the bedroom…I’ll go check…”
She set the phone next to its cradle and began to ascend a staircase. Once she reached its apex she trod down a carpeted hallway, peering into the first door she came across. The bodies of her parents were sprawled out on a bed, their limbs torn apart. Splashes of blood slicked the walls and floor. Her father’s face stared at her with eyes missing, and her mother’s bloody lips seemed to melt down her face. The little girl took in this scene, breathing heavily as her pupils hid the red of her irises. She returned downstairs and picked up the phone, whispering,
“No…they’re not available…”
She hung up, and took her place on the chair. The doorbell rang and two people entered the room. One was a tall, stocky man with a Russian face and a hard accent, and the other was a woman, with eyes that shone like the surface of a sapphire.
“Come with us now, Kiera,” the man said, setting a hand on her shoulder.
“No. You’re not Mama and Papa,” the little girl said quietly. “I won’t.”
The woman stood behind her, slipping her hand onto Kiera’s other shoulder.
“But you have to…”
“Kiera!”
A deep, male voice jarred her awake, and the dream cut off abruptly.
“Wh..what?” she said, startled, gazing around her. Strands of Jigoku’s silvery hair fell in front of her, and she turned her face up to see him kneeling over her.
“Jigoku,” she said, quickly regaining composure. She pulled her comforter tightly around her body. “What is it?”
“I.. I heard you shaking and crying,” he explained, his concerned expression fading into embarrassment. Xavier stood behind him, holding Kiera’s curtains open.
“I was just having a bad dream…” she said, noticing something odd about the condition of her curtains. Frowning, she scooted to the edge of her bed. “Xavier, let go.”
“Yes, madam,” he said, duly complying. The curtains had been shredded, and in them she could make out a Latin phrase.
“In… in dreams there is truth…?” she spoke slowly, ripping the pillow in her hands. “I…I feel faint..”
Jigoku blinked, examining the torn cloth. He wondered how it was possible for someone to cause that sort of vandalism without being noticed.
“Something is rotten in Vinton,” he muttered, stroking her hair.
“Ye..yes…” she said shakily. Jigoku found her sudden display of emotion to be both endearing and somewhat unnerving. He held her close, stroking her clammy cheeks.
“I’ll ask Omnes about it, alright? It’s not possbile for this to happen without anyone taking notice,” he said.
“Perhaps madame would enjoy a bit of warm tea?” Xavier peered in, acting as though Jigoku was not present.
“Yes…yes please,” she said, pressing against Jigoku.
“I’ll return in due time,” Xavier bowed. Kiera clung to Jigoku, and he held her, staring at the curtains with an expression that was as cold as stone.
“Evan! “ Kaitlyn awoke Reve’s physical body, pulling him from the dreamworld. She gathered his feline self into her arms and kissed his fur. He mewed sleepily and put a paw to her lips. *
“You are so cute,” she cooed, carrying him into her room. He noticed that she was wearing nothing save for a shirt and underwear, and he found his tail twitching involuntarily.
“Mrow,” he said, rubbing his head against her throat. The sheets of her bed were soft beneath his paws as she lay down with him in her arms.
“Awww,” she kissed his forehead, and he licked her hand, cuddling. He wished he was in his real body. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and drown himself in her long, soft hair. He wanted to curl up against her and listen to her voice and feel her warm breath on his skin. The desire throbbed in his heart, but he fought against it, attempting to focus on the matter at hand. After a time, Kaitlyn’s eyes closed and she surrendered to sleep, her breathing slowing as her grip on his body relaxed. Reve entered her subconscious.
“I’m sorry, Kaitlyn,” he murmured as he began to conjure a nightmare. “But I have to make you understand that I can’t let anyone interfere with us…”
He set the nightmare free.
“It won’t be long before we’re together again, Kaitlyn.. then I’ll never be lonely..and every day will be our perfect dream...”