A Shadowlander's Dream: Book Two - Policy of Love
By Kathryn K Williams
Part Seven - Soiled Lamb
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kim's body floated in the tub of steaming water, laying perfectly still as to allow the warmth to seep through her bones. The steam filled her nostril and cleared her mind. Abruptly the memory of Penny's kiss drifted through her head and she smiled at the thought of those soft lips against her own. The kiss felt so warms and sweet that she wanted to continue kissing her even more, then she frowned as images of the other things she did to Penny entered her mind again. The feeling of the girl's smooth skin under her fingertips and the way her heart pounded while being forced to have sex with the girl. She recalled how Penny moved under her touch and she flushed. She had never felt so excited before in her life. She wondered what it would be like to feel Penny's fingers inside of her and shook her head against the idea. She quickly dunked her head under the water in an attempt to wash the memories away. She wanted to be rid of those emotions and vigorously rubbed at her arms in an attempt to free herself from dirty feeling, wishing to never think of those feelings again.
Under the surface of the water she felt safe. The warmth wrapped around her body and hugged her gentle. She held her breath and allowed herself to float under the surface with her eyes lightly closed. She wished she could stay beneath the surface, with its welcoming embrace, forever. Never having to face her father or those men again. She considered releasing her breath to allow the clear liquid to enter her mouth and fill her lungs. To let the grim reaper take her soul and take her away from the nightmares of reality.
As she pondered her existence and the pros and cons of her actions, Eternal darkness or the blissful feeling of Penny's soft embrace, she felt something icy slip around her wrist. Her eyes fluttered open to find herself surrounded by darkness and the only light emitting from the tub, which now hovered several metres above her head. Panic overtook her mind as she realized that she really was going to drown and would never be able to see her sisters again. She tried to swim towards the light when she felt something tug on her arm. She glanced down to see a dark shadow writhing below her like a thin cloth caught up in a strong breeze. A piece of the cloth was wrapped around her wrist and refused to let her go. She grabbed at the thing to find her hand passed right through it, however it did not release her arm. Out of the centre of the black mass floated up a bone white oval object. A porcelain mask with no features other then a pair of empty slights for eyes, however Kim was sure that it was observing her with those void eye sockets as it drifted toward her.
Terror now gripped the girl's heart as the mask moved ever so much closer. She tried to scream only to find her voice drowned out by the dark waters that surrounded her. As the mask floated closer she noticed that the black cloth seemed to follow it as if they were an entity of its own, forming a pair of shoulders and a hood around the mask. Then before Kim's eyes something slunk out from behind the mask. Kim watched in horror as she realized that what she was seeing was a piece of flesh crawling across the mask. She could make out an eye brow and closed eye lid in the middle the writhing skin as it slithered over the left eye of the mask. The moment is settled into place the eye lid abruptly opened to reveal a gleaming yellow eye staring up at Kim. A few loose fragments of flesh formed where the lips should have been and started to move into what appeared to be a sinister grin.
"Eeevv..venning... P..pri...incess..sssss..." It gurgled in the water as the eye set upon Kimberly's face. From the way the skin flickered around the month Kim sensed that the creature was smiling at her, "Ddooo.. yo...ouuu.... n...noot... re...re...remme...mmeber me, Myy... sweeetttt...?" It inquired darkly.
Kim began to shake her head when her eyes fell upon a deep gash across the mask that ran from above the right eye across the bridge of the nose. A memory flashed through her mind, an image of a teenaged girl with long blonde hair and a long blade extending from the sleeve of her black leather jacket. The girl leapt through the air at a large man and slashed at his face, cutting it open revealing a porcelain mask, "Akaime!!" Kimberly snarled at the creature, forgetting her fear and the fact that she was submerged underwater.
Akaime smiled, "So glad you remember me," The remains of his face twisted in anger, "Because it was you that reduced me to this deteriorated state." He exclaimed irately, shaking the girl through the murky water like a rag doll, "Because of you and that hunter I have been reduced to feeding off these feeble children's fears."
Kim stared at the creature in shocked appal, "You are the reason they are trapped here." She suddenly realized.
"It is not I that keeps them here." Akaime protested honestly, "It is their own fears entraps them. I simply stumbled upon them after you so rudely tricked me and I was eaten by that Dream Ghoul. I can not believe I have been reduced to feeding off children's fears again. Then again there was nothing as delectable as your fears, my dear princess. You are a meal that I will drink slowly and will enjoy ever morsel."
Suddenly Kim recalled what it was she was staring at. It was this creature that used to sit at the corner of her bed watching her father molest her. She could feel it drinking from her fears as it hovered behind her father like a grim shadow and now it has returned for her, however this time it would finish her off. The idea of this creature gaining delight from her suffering angered her, then she thought of it lurking in the safety of the darkness behind the flash of camera lights, feeding on her sister's terror. This infuriated her to no end and she found herself glaring at the creature as the mask glided up close to her face.
"When I am finished with you I will feed on your little friends." Akaime smacked his lips hungrily, "Then, as soon as I'm at my full strength I will return to finish off Natalie and all of your other friend." He let out an inane laugh that caused the liquid around the to shake.
Kim watched as the creature swam boldly closer to her and she grinned maliciously, "I will not let you ever hurt my friend again." With the creature mere inches from her face Kim plunged her fist into the centre of what she suspected was its chest. Akaime's face contorted to an expression that could only be described as a mix of confusion and alarm.
His inky body wrapped around Kim in an attempt to strangle the girl, "Let go of me you disgusting little girl." He snarled, struggling to free her arm from his chest, "Or... or I will kill you quickly, then make your friend truly suffer."
However she felt little fear for the monster anymore. If he had the strength to kill her he would have done it already instead of writhing around like a fish on a hook. Her heart was filled with a need to protect Penny and all of her friend from this monster in the night. She wanted to keep him from ever feeding off her friends ever again. Redoubling her efforts she lunged her other fist deeper into the darkness until her fingers touched something silky and smooth with a piece of metal attached to it. The moment her fingers wrapped around the object Akaime began to violently trash about, violently trying to pull away from the girl.
"N... NOOOO!!!" Akaime screamed out, "Let go of that!!!" He demanded, frantically flailing about.
Regardless of the creatures screams of protest Kim held a firm grip on the object within his black body. She kicked out at the creature, swimming through the darkness, as she yanked at the item in an attempt to free it from its inky prison. Akaime swam directly at Kim's face, the mask splitting open down the middle to reveal a set of gleaming ragged teeth.
"I don't care what Dreigo thinks of you." Akaime hissed angrily, "I will kill you here and now!!" He hollered.
Kim gave the object another quick tuck and watched as the mask distort, shifting before her into a face filled with agony and terror. She almost felt sorry for the creature and considered letting the item go when she saw the glimmer of a gold star about the size of her palm emerge from the depths of the monster's chest.
"Penny's belt!!" She cheered out in amazement. This monster had it all the time. He was the reason for Penny being trapped in this nightmare after all. She intensified her efforts to recover the item, her promise to reclaim the belt to Penny filling her heart, giving her even more strength. With one finally tug the belt came free and the creature quickly swam away from the girl, disappearing into the darkness. Kim looked down at the object in her hand. It was a long blue silken belt with a large golden star connected to one end. She really did it. She found Penny's belt just as she promised. She smiled at the item happily when darkness began to seep into her mind. She had forgotten that she was underwater and could feel herself slowly being pulled into obscurity below. She may have won against the creature, however she lost her battle with death.
Suddenly an arm burst through the surface of the water and grabbed Kim by the arm. Hastily Kim's body was dragged upwards and within moments she burst through the surface of the water, gasping for air.
"Kim! Are you alright?!?" Amber anxiously inquired as she pulled the girl out of the tub and onto the floor.
Kim gave a wearied glance around the room to see Penny and Sarah standing in the door to the room. She held out the belt out to Penny, "Y... you... are free..." She weakly smiled then collapsed in Amber's arms.
*****
To be Continued . . .
*****
Note: The world of the shadowlands, Its stories, Characters and ideas are a copyright of Kathryn K Williams.
This story is based upon my manga of the same name. If you wish visit my site and see some of the art based on this series at http://www.KatAndNekoManga.ca
Also if you spot any typos or other errors please contact me at Kathryn@KatAndNekoManga.ca
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