Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2013 12:43:06 GMT -5
(This is an excerpt from a story I have been working on for quite a while. It is taken from the idea that in an alternate 'world' if you will, dwell Dreams and Nightmares. Occasionally, they drift to the realm of the humans, connected to their own realm by the thin bridge of the subconscious, and work over them, inducing visions of happiness or dark illusions of terror. Much like the legendary fey that were derived from them, they occasionally leave behind a changeling, hoping that it will develop power enough to turn the tide of the never ending battle fought between the Dreams and Nightmares.)
Chapter One: The Dullness of Reality
It was a normal day at the girl’s home: dull, unremarkable, boring, and any other word that could be used to describe such a day. Her parents were at work and she was in the house by herself. Anyone who saw the girl would have thought that her life must be dull in the extreme. Dark shadows gave her grey eyes a sunken look, her face was always listless, her skin was too pale, and her light hair had a wilted appearance.
In fact, the passerby would be correct. The girl’s life was an endless cycle of getting out of bed after her parents were gone, going to her friendless life at school, suffering through the day, going back home, failing her homework, and going to bed before her parents returned.
She rarely saw her parents. Her father was gone most of the time on business trips and her mother worked two different jobs every day. It was because of this that she did not have a name. She supposed she did, but whatever it was, she had not been called by it in so long that it did not matter. To the adults of her school, she was as much a part of the background as the paint on the wall. No teachers called on her to answer a question, no authorities intervened when bullies threatened her, and the time that she had received sympathetic glances from them had long since past. The adults in her family, the ones she saw regularly at least, had the habit of greeting her with a small hug and a pet term, such as 'sweetie'. After that, though, the sense of her presence was pushed to the back of their minds until they said farewell at her departure.
The girl was not actually a girl, but a young woman. She was seventeen, not that anyone knew or cared. Her mother had not had the chance to tell her of the changes that come as one grows into adulthood due to her work schedule. When she had decided to ask the school nurse what on earth was happening to her, she had been met with a vague reply that suggested the nurse had better things to do than speak with nearly nonexistent individuals. So the girl had suffered through that stage in growth, asking a few female relatives what she should do. She had managed to hold their interest long enough to gain a proper explanation before she faded into the background once more. The girl remembered this period of time with her usual listless expression before her thoughts moved on to that day’s events.
That day, her classmates had developed a new nickname for her: Heartless.
They had started out with the usual freak, loser, dork, and other such common insults. They had only recently begun using more sophisticated names. This was due to the fact that the ‘smart kids’ who were officially dubbed ‘geeks’ had joined her numerous enemies.
“She doesn’t have a heart, otherwise she would show emotion,” one boy had said in his nasal voice.
“Yeah, she’s heartless,” another lisped.
The other teens had caught on quickly and called the name after her as she walked though the halls.
The girl had completely ignored them, lost in her own mind.
At first the taunts and names had bothered her. She had waited anxiously for an escape. When she realized none would come, she had learned to close herself within her own mind and block out the outside world.
In her mind, she was brave. She could fight with a sword and bow. She was a warrior of a far-away kingdom, in the service of the kindly monarch. There was a handsome knight whom she often rode into battle with. She had a best friend, whom she told all her secrets to. And, she had a name. A beautiful name that any young woman should love to have.
With a small sigh, the girl dropped on to the couch, watching as plumes of dust rose from the fabric like smoke. The house was always in a relative state of cleanliness because it was rarely used long enough to become more than slightly dirty. However dust covered every surface and piece of furniture. It spun through the air and settled into clothes. The interior of the house had always reminded the girl of the home of an old woman who had suddenly died without anyone's knowledge, leaving everything to be covered by the dusty trail of Time's passage.
After a while, the girl realized that she had been caught up in her fantasy world again. Without a sound, she stood and moved to the kitchen, where she prepared a small supper for herself. Then, she washed her dishes and did a small bit of laundry.
When the sun set, the girl got ready for bed. She brushed her teeth with an old, worn out tooth brush, combed her hair with a comb that had teeth missing, and pulled on a grey nightgown that was two sizes too big. Then she climbed into her creaking bed and lay down to go to sleep. For a long while, she stared at the wall, floating in the haze that weariness that accompanied the evening. Then she blinked, and her eyes did not open again.
Chapter Two: What Lies Beyond Reality
The girl was awakened from a light sleep by whispering voices.
“Shhh! You’ll wake her!” said a young voice.
“I am hardly the one who needs worrying about,” a slightly older voice replied dryly.
Both voices held a strange, lilting accent that the girl could not identify. She recognized both speakers as male and guessed them to be over the age of fifteen at least.
“Well now, look who thinks he’s all high and mighty, just because he got charged with retrieving the Lady.”
“Silence! She stirs.”
The girl realized that she had moved in order to better hear the voices. Deciding to continue her act, she rolled over and sighed slightly. After a moment of silence, she heard the soft whoosh of a breath being released.
“That was close,” the younger voice said.
“Silence, fool. You were not given this assignment in order to hear yourself talk. You were told to assist me in my task.”
The ‘fool’ huffed.
“Just because you were promoted to knight doesn’t mean you get to order me around.”
“If you would simply do as you were told by his majesty, I would not feel the need to. Alas, we all know how difficult it is for someone such as yourself to obey instructions.”
There was a silence in which the cool calm of the second speaker and the indigence of the first were felt.
“So, are we doing this or not?” the young voice asked.
“I was waiting for you.”
The girl sensed rather than heard the approach of the two men. Her eyes snapped open to stare into those of a young man with flaming red hair. He hovered above her, his expression frozen in shock. The girl drew a deep breath.
“She’s going to scream!” he called.
A hand clamped down over her mouth.
“No, she is not,” the older voice said.
The girl’s wide eyes moved to the man who now stood next to her bed, his hand silencing her. He wore black clothes under a black trench coat. His long silvery hair gleamed in the moonlight that shone through her bedroom window. Emotionless black eyes stared back at her from a surprisingly young, pale face. His pale lips moved as he spoke to his companion.
“Demetrious, give me the serum," he said quietly, his voice untouched by emotion.
The red haired boy abruptly disappeared from the girl’s sight, moving through the air to the bottom of the bed. There was a rustling noise, as if he were rummaging through a sack of some sort.
“Here, Robin.”
The girl watched as the silver haired man took a bottle of glowing fluid from the hand that suddenly came into her range of vision.
“My apologies, milady, but we cannot have you making a ruckus,” he said, popping the stopper off with his thumb, “This is for your own good, trust me.”
The girl nearly gagged as the sweet-smelling tonic was waved under her nose. Then, blackness consumed her.
--------------------------------------------------
The girl woke once more to the sound of hushed voices, this time behind her. Her eyes flew open, and she wondered who on earth could be in her room. Just as she was about to bolt from her bed and out the door, a scent reached her. The sweet smell of plant life. It penetrated her senses, much stronger than anything she had smelled before. She stiffened and looked down, conscious for the first time that she was not lying in her bed, but in soft grass. She marveled at the blanket of the most vivid green that covered the ground beneath her, soft as a feathered pillow. The too beautiful color of the grass triggered a memory. She remembered two men. One with eyes the color of the sky and flaming hair. The other with silver hair and eyes like the shadows themselves. They too had been too vivid, too beautiful.
What has happened? she wondered, Who are they?
A hand rested on her shoulder, causing her to start. Wide-eyed, she rolled away from the touch. The girl sprang to her feet and faced her captors, breathing quickly. For the first time in a long time, an emotion much different from apathy pierced her. Cold fear raced through her veins, paralyzing her as she looked into the black eyes of the dark man. He stared back, only the smallest hint of surprise flashing across his face. Then, he stood and approached her.
"Get back," the girl said, her voice tinged slightly with disuse.
He paused, then took another step, holding out his hand.
"We mean you no harm," he said in the same emotionless tone she had first heard him use.
He took another step forward and the girl took three steps back. He froze, watching her for a moment. Then his face seemed to soften.
"Come now, take my hand and I shall explain everything. You need only come to me," his voice dropped into an almost lyrical quality, soothing and beautiful, "Just a few steps, surely that is not too much to ask? Come, my dear, take my hand and all will be well."
The girl found that his words made sense. Why should she not listen to him and do as he asked? Just take a few steps and grasp his hand. The fear disappeared from her eyes and the thin line of her mouth softened. She took a small step forward, her eyes on the hand that he offered. Robin's voice continued to rise and fall, sometimes without words, coaxing the girl to him. She took one more step. Then she sleepily raised her eyes to meet his. What she saw there made her freeze. A volatile whirlpool danced in his eyes, constantly shifting from dark to light and back. There was something very dark, and very dangerous, lurking under Robin's too beautiful exterior. The monster she saw caged inside him granted her the fear she needed to break his spell. She hastily scrambled back. Shock passed over her captor's face, then his lips pressed into a thin line when Demetrius laughed.
"Never leave a Nightmare to do a man's job," the younger man said smugly, "Out of the way, Robin."
The elfish man turned on his comrade, a snarl twisting his face.
"Stand down, Demetrius!" for the first time, Robin's voice held emotion.
"Is that an order, sir?" Demetrius stood and strode past him, smirking insolently.
His smirk softened into a friendly smile as he approached the girl. She watched him warily, prepared to flee at any given moment.
"Hello there, I'm Demetrius. Robin should have known better than to use a Persuasion on a pretty girl like you. After all, you're much too powerful for anything like that to really take effect," he stopped in front of her and tentatively stretched out one hand, "If you just come back to the camp and sit down, I'll give you something to eat and we can answer all your questions."
The girl stared at his outstretched hand, unsure of what she should do.
"It's alright," Demetrius's smile widened and his sky blue eyes sparkled, "I'll admit that the food we've got isn't great, but it'll do. You've been unconscious for twelve hours, you've got to be hungry, right?"
The girl realized that she was indeed quite hungry. Not only that, but while she had sensed a sort of darkness within Robin, Demetrius exuded only waves of friendly playfulness. Slowly, she reached out and took his hand. It was warm, as if heated by an inner fire. The girl noticed that his skin was the tan of someone who spent a large amount of time in the sun, unlike Robin's, which was pale to the point of being almost unearthly. He would have been quite handsome if not for this quality, what with his dark, brooding eyes and strong, sharp features. He looked down his nose at her as Demetrius led her past, his eyes haughty and cold.
The girl quickly turned from him and focused instead on Demetrius. His red hair stuck out in all directions, framing his tanned face. He looked back at her and smiled winningly, his white teeth flashing, his eyes crinkling until they almost closed. For some odd reason, when she looked at him, images of children playing, warm summer days, cheerfully crackling fires, and the warmth of tight embraces came to mind. She glanced back at Robin. He did not meet her gaze, but rather stared in the opposite direction, as if checking the horizon. He was cold winter nights, cloud covered stars, the calm before a storm. Demetrius had called him a Nightmare, and the girl did indeed think him to be like a dark creature of the night.
He turned back and looked at her, his eyes still holding the monstrous quality that she had seen earlier. A shudder ran through her. Of the two kidnappers, she most definitely wanted to remain close to Demetrius.
Chapter One: The Dullness of Reality
It was a normal day at the girl’s home: dull, unremarkable, boring, and any other word that could be used to describe such a day. Her parents were at work and she was in the house by herself. Anyone who saw the girl would have thought that her life must be dull in the extreme. Dark shadows gave her grey eyes a sunken look, her face was always listless, her skin was too pale, and her light hair had a wilted appearance.
In fact, the passerby would be correct. The girl’s life was an endless cycle of getting out of bed after her parents were gone, going to her friendless life at school, suffering through the day, going back home, failing her homework, and going to bed before her parents returned.
She rarely saw her parents. Her father was gone most of the time on business trips and her mother worked two different jobs every day. It was because of this that she did not have a name. She supposed she did, but whatever it was, she had not been called by it in so long that it did not matter. To the adults of her school, she was as much a part of the background as the paint on the wall. No teachers called on her to answer a question, no authorities intervened when bullies threatened her, and the time that she had received sympathetic glances from them had long since past. The adults in her family, the ones she saw regularly at least, had the habit of greeting her with a small hug and a pet term, such as 'sweetie'. After that, though, the sense of her presence was pushed to the back of their minds until they said farewell at her departure.
The girl was not actually a girl, but a young woman. She was seventeen, not that anyone knew or cared. Her mother had not had the chance to tell her of the changes that come as one grows into adulthood due to her work schedule. When she had decided to ask the school nurse what on earth was happening to her, she had been met with a vague reply that suggested the nurse had better things to do than speak with nearly nonexistent individuals. So the girl had suffered through that stage in growth, asking a few female relatives what she should do. She had managed to hold their interest long enough to gain a proper explanation before she faded into the background once more. The girl remembered this period of time with her usual listless expression before her thoughts moved on to that day’s events.
That day, her classmates had developed a new nickname for her: Heartless.
They had started out with the usual freak, loser, dork, and other such common insults. They had only recently begun using more sophisticated names. This was due to the fact that the ‘smart kids’ who were officially dubbed ‘geeks’ had joined her numerous enemies.
“She doesn’t have a heart, otherwise she would show emotion,” one boy had said in his nasal voice.
“Yeah, she’s heartless,” another lisped.
The other teens had caught on quickly and called the name after her as she walked though the halls.
The girl had completely ignored them, lost in her own mind.
At first the taunts and names had bothered her. She had waited anxiously for an escape. When she realized none would come, she had learned to close herself within her own mind and block out the outside world.
In her mind, she was brave. She could fight with a sword and bow. She was a warrior of a far-away kingdom, in the service of the kindly monarch. There was a handsome knight whom she often rode into battle with. She had a best friend, whom she told all her secrets to. And, she had a name. A beautiful name that any young woman should love to have.
With a small sigh, the girl dropped on to the couch, watching as plumes of dust rose from the fabric like smoke. The house was always in a relative state of cleanliness because it was rarely used long enough to become more than slightly dirty. However dust covered every surface and piece of furniture. It spun through the air and settled into clothes. The interior of the house had always reminded the girl of the home of an old woman who had suddenly died without anyone's knowledge, leaving everything to be covered by the dusty trail of Time's passage.
After a while, the girl realized that she had been caught up in her fantasy world again. Without a sound, she stood and moved to the kitchen, where she prepared a small supper for herself. Then, she washed her dishes and did a small bit of laundry.
When the sun set, the girl got ready for bed. She brushed her teeth with an old, worn out tooth brush, combed her hair with a comb that had teeth missing, and pulled on a grey nightgown that was two sizes too big. Then she climbed into her creaking bed and lay down to go to sleep. For a long while, she stared at the wall, floating in the haze that weariness that accompanied the evening. Then she blinked, and her eyes did not open again.
Chapter Two: What Lies Beyond Reality
The girl was awakened from a light sleep by whispering voices.
“Shhh! You’ll wake her!” said a young voice.
“I am hardly the one who needs worrying about,” a slightly older voice replied dryly.
Both voices held a strange, lilting accent that the girl could not identify. She recognized both speakers as male and guessed them to be over the age of fifteen at least.
“Well now, look who thinks he’s all high and mighty, just because he got charged with retrieving the Lady.”
“Silence! She stirs.”
The girl realized that she had moved in order to better hear the voices. Deciding to continue her act, she rolled over and sighed slightly. After a moment of silence, she heard the soft whoosh of a breath being released.
“That was close,” the younger voice said.
“Silence, fool. You were not given this assignment in order to hear yourself talk. You were told to assist me in my task.”
The ‘fool’ huffed.
“Just because you were promoted to knight doesn’t mean you get to order me around.”
“If you would simply do as you were told by his majesty, I would not feel the need to. Alas, we all know how difficult it is for someone such as yourself to obey instructions.”
There was a silence in which the cool calm of the second speaker and the indigence of the first were felt.
“So, are we doing this or not?” the young voice asked.
“I was waiting for you.”
The girl sensed rather than heard the approach of the two men. Her eyes snapped open to stare into those of a young man with flaming red hair. He hovered above her, his expression frozen in shock. The girl drew a deep breath.
“She’s going to scream!” he called.
A hand clamped down over her mouth.
“No, she is not,” the older voice said.
The girl’s wide eyes moved to the man who now stood next to her bed, his hand silencing her. He wore black clothes under a black trench coat. His long silvery hair gleamed in the moonlight that shone through her bedroom window. Emotionless black eyes stared back at her from a surprisingly young, pale face. His pale lips moved as he spoke to his companion.
“Demetrious, give me the serum," he said quietly, his voice untouched by emotion.
The red haired boy abruptly disappeared from the girl’s sight, moving through the air to the bottom of the bed. There was a rustling noise, as if he were rummaging through a sack of some sort.
“Here, Robin.”
The girl watched as the silver haired man took a bottle of glowing fluid from the hand that suddenly came into her range of vision.
“My apologies, milady, but we cannot have you making a ruckus,” he said, popping the stopper off with his thumb, “This is for your own good, trust me.”
The girl nearly gagged as the sweet-smelling tonic was waved under her nose. Then, blackness consumed her.
--------------------------------------------------
The girl woke once more to the sound of hushed voices, this time behind her. Her eyes flew open, and she wondered who on earth could be in her room. Just as she was about to bolt from her bed and out the door, a scent reached her. The sweet smell of plant life. It penetrated her senses, much stronger than anything she had smelled before. She stiffened and looked down, conscious for the first time that she was not lying in her bed, but in soft grass. She marveled at the blanket of the most vivid green that covered the ground beneath her, soft as a feathered pillow. The too beautiful color of the grass triggered a memory. She remembered two men. One with eyes the color of the sky and flaming hair. The other with silver hair and eyes like the shadows themselves. They too had been too vivid, too beautiful.
What has happened? she wondered, Who are they?
A hand rested on her shoulder, causing her to start. Wide-eyed, she rolled away from the touch. The girl sprang to her feet and faced her captors, breathing quickly. For the first time in a long time, an emotion much different from apathy pierced her. Cold fear raced through her veins, paralyzing her as she looked into the black eyes of the dark man. He stared back, only the smallest hint of surprise flashing across his face. Then, he stood and approached her.
"Get back," the girl said, her voice tinged slightly with disuse.
He paused, then took another step, holding out his hand.
"We mean you no harm," he said in the same emotionless tone she had first heard him use.
He took another step forward and the girl took three steps back. He froze, watching her for a moment. Then his face seemed to soften.
"Come now, take my hand and I shall explain everything. You need only come to me," his voice dropped into an almost lyrical quality, soothing and beautiful, "Just a few steps, surely that is not too much to ask? Come, my dear, take my hand and all will be well."
The girl found that his words made sense. Why should she not listen to him and do as he asked? Just take a few steps and grasp his hand. The fear disappeared from her eyes and the thin line of her mouth softened. She took a small step forward, her eyes on the hand that he offered. Robin's voice continued to rise and fall, sometimes without words, coaxing the girl to him. She took one more step. Then she sleepily raised her eyes to meet his. What she saw there made her freeze. A volatile whirlpool danced in his eyes, constantly shifting from dark to light and back. There was something very dark, and very dangerous, lurking under Robin's too beautiful exterior. The monster she saw caged inside him granted her the fear she needed to break his spell. She hastily scrambled back. Shock passed over her captor's face, then his lips pressed into a thin line when Demetrius laughed.
"Never leave a Nightmare to do a man's job," the younger man said smugly, "Out of the way, Robin."
The elfish man turned on his comrade, a snarl twisting his face.
"Stand down, Demetrius!" for the first time, Robin's voice held emotion.
"Is that an order, sir?" Demetrius stood and strode past him, smirking insolently.
His smirk softened into a friendly smile as he approached the girl. She watched him warily, prepared to flee at any given moment.
"Hello there, I'm Demetrius. Robin should have known better than to use a Persuasion on a pretty girl like you. After all, you're much too powerful for anything like that to really take effect," he stopped in front of her and tentatively stretched out one hand, "If you just come back to the camp and sit down, I'll give you something to eat and we can answer all your questions."
The girl stared at his outstretched hand, unsure of what she should do.
"It's alright," Demetrius's smile widened and his sky blue eyes sparkled, "I'll admit that the food we've got isn't great, but it'll do. You've been unconscious for twelve hours, you've got to be hungry, right?"
The girl realized that she was indeed quite hungry. Not only that, but while she had sensed a sort of darkness within Robin, Demetrius exuded only waves of friendly playfulness. Slowly, she reached out and took his hand. It was warm, as if heated by an inner fire. The girl noticed that his skin was the tan of someone who spent a large amount of time in the sun, unlike Robin's, which was pale to the point of being almost unearthly. He would have been quite handsome if not for this quality, what with his dark, brooding eyes and strong, sharp features. He looked down his nose at her as Demetrius led her past, his eyes haughty and cold.
The girl quickly turned from him and focused instead on Demetrius. His red hair stuck out in all directions, framing his tanned face. He looked back at her and smiled winningly, his white teeth flashing, his eyes crinkling until they almost closed. For some odd reason, when she looked at him, images of children playing, warm summer days, cheerfully crackling fires, and the warmth of tight embraces came to mind. She glanced back at Robin. He did not meet her gaze, but rather stared in the opposite direction, as if checking the horizon. He was cold winter nights, cloud covered stars, the calm before a storm. Demetrius had called him a Nightmare, and the girl did indeed think him to be like a dark creature of the night.
He turned back and looked at her, his eyes still holding the monstrous quality that she had seen earlier. A shudder ran through her. Of the two kidnappers, she most definitely wanted to remain close to Demetrius.
