A Shadowlander’s Dream: Book Three - Rules of the Flesh
Written by Kathryn K Williams
Chapter Forty-eight
“Kimberly sweetie.” A lilting voice drifted to Kim’s ears. Kim’s eyes twitched slightly at the sounds, but still she slept. “Kimberly…” This time to voice was followed by something lightly brushing against her cheek, something soft and smooth.
Slowly Kim opened her eyes to see the white face of a woman hovering overhead, her long thin white hair flowing around her head as if the women were floating in water instead of overhead. Kim blinked at the image before and then cocked her head curiously, “Mom?” She muttered in confusion.
The woman held her hand out to Kim, “Yes dear. I’m here to take you home now.” She said with a sweet smile.
Kim’s forehead fouled in thought, as if something deep inside was trying to tell her something, but it was too muddled to hear clearly, “Home?” She glanced around to find herself laying atop a large rolling hill, crisply cut grass surrounded her, and she sat up to find herself clad in a long cotton white summer dress. Glancing up she realized it was the same dress her mother wore as well.
Her mother laughed pleasantly, “Well of course dear, you can’t stay out here all day now can you?”
Kim scanned the hill as if in search of something, “Wasn’t there someone else here with me?”
Her mother frowned and a moment later it was replaced with a smile again, “Of course not sweetie, it is just you and me.” She offered her hand to the girl, “Now shall we go home?”
Kim returned the smile and nodded, reaching out for the woman’s hand when the sky abruptly turned dark with clouds and a voice shattered the peaceful silence.
“Get Away From Her!” The voice cracked like thunder. As if in response to the anger in the voice’s tone the winds picked up and wiped around Kim and her mother.
“She is mine.” Kim’s mother stated, her head arced to stare up at the sky, “You can’t take her from me.”
“Yes, I can!” This time the voice came from behind Kim and she spun around to see another young girl dressed in grey slacks and a matching jacket, her short straight hair lightly sweeping in front of her face, partially covering a pair of hate-filled eyes. The girl lifted her right arm out from her side, stopping when it was level with her shoulder, fingers spread wide.
Kim’s mother carefully ushered her daughter behind her, “You can not stop us. We will have the child of dream sooner or later.”
The little girl smiled, “Not if I can help it you can’t.” Suddenly she extended her fingers and the flesh under her skin began to boil as if a thousand creatures moved from her shoulder to her fingertip, reshaping her arm, transforming into a set of large white claws. Within moments her hand was four times its original size with blade like claws that grazed the grass as she swept it forward and pointed at Kim’s mother.
“Give her back to me now.” The girl demanded.
Kim’s mother hissed, “A ghost like you should understand the significance of this girl. You should join us.” It pleaded.
The girl slowly shook her head, “I was on that side before, but not anymore.” Without waiting for another reply the girl’s arm shot forward, claws ripping through the woman’s shoulder, tearing off her arm.
“Mom!” Kim screamed out in shock at the sight.
The woman did not show any signs of pain, she only moved every so slightly during the attack. She simply glanced down at her missing arm as tendrils of mist formed around the wound, then turned back to her attacker, “You know you can not defeat us.” The woman said with a smile.
The girl smiled back, “Not alone, but do you think the others will let you have her?”
The woman continued to smile, her body slowly dissolving upon the wind, “But we already have one, it is only a matter of time before they will be both ours.” Her laughter filled the air as she completely vanished from sight.
Worry filled the girl’s eyes and she spun around, “No!” She leapt into the air and vanished like a ghost. The moment she disappeared the clouds returned to their former fluffy state and the sun shone brightly again.
Kim stood in the middle of the grassy field lost and confused, “Mother?” She glanced around to hear no reply, “Hello?” She spun around several times only to find herself surrounded by rolling fields as far as the eye could see, “Someone!!!” She cried out in desperation. She turned one final time and noticed something off in the distance. She squinted and shaded her eyes with a hand as she tried to focus on the object before her. Gradually a figure began to take the form of a small child in a tiny blue one-piece dress. The girl waved and called out to her. Kim could not hear anything aside from the slight rustling of the grass as the wind twirled around her ankles and played with the hem of her dress.
“What?” She called out, placing a hand to her ear in an attempt to hear the person, again to only to answered by the wind. The figure waved one more time and then turned and disappeared from sight.
“Wait!” Kim called out after the person and reached out for the figure, “Don’t leave me here.” Her legs began to move in a panic and she raced across the field toward where she last saw the figure, desperate to not be left alone again.
******
Natalie opened her eyes to find herself laying upon a bed staring up at paint peeled, sun stained ceiling. The orange morning’s sun appeared in croaked strips across the ceiling making the cracks appear more like dark scars then mere paint. Bent and twisted yellowing plastic blinds did nothing to keep the harsh sun from breaking through and turning the entire room a dreadful deep red. Natalie pulled the single thin sheet off of her legs and stop. The lingering sent of urine waft up from the bed and she cautiously sniffed at the sheets to quickly pull them away in revolution, then patted her body, relieved to find it dry, as well as the mattress. She pulled the blinds apart to peered out the window and saw a fresh blanket of snow twinkling away in the light of streetlamps that had begun to blink to life.
Suddenly she remembered what Christmas day all those years ago and her mind filled with panic, “This can’t be happening.” She told herself in a hushed whisper, her hands clenching nearby pillow, its cased stained with tears, and hugging it tight in her arms as she sunk into the corner of the bed, the bed springs squeaking in protest as she moved, making her freeze in place.
“He’s dead.” She reminded herself, her eyes darting around the room. “The Sisters took him away for good. He can’t come back.” Slowly her eyes scanned the room to find herself sitting in a small room with a single metal-framed bed in the corner and a watered stained four-drawer dresser against the far wall.
“He can’t hurt me anymore.” She muttered softly to herself, it is only a dream, he is not real anymore.” She spotted a ling narrow mirror nailed to the closet door and caught a glimpse of her reflection. She was small again, as she feared, but there was something different about her. For the first time she glanced down at her pyjamas to see they were the same blue fleece with cat paw prints that she wore to bed when she curled up with Alyson and not the white cotton nightgown that she normally found herself clad in during this nightmare. Here eyes took in the room more carefully this time and she suddenly realized that she did not sit in her old bedroom, but one of some other child.
Taking a deep breath she tucked a loose strain of hair around her ear, “This isn’t my nightmare.” She said with a sigh of relief. Curiosity began to perk up inside of her mind as she studied her surroundings with more scrutiny, playing back all she knew about the other dorm girl’s stories of their past that she could, trying to place who’s dream this could possibly be. The room bared no real clues to the mystery so she cautiously crawled out of the bed, cursing being tiny again as she lowered herself from the bed.
She tiptoed across the room, noting the lack of toys on the floor. She spotted a teddy bear in the corner and a dirty rag doll on the dresser, but nothing more. Whomever memories these were they were not very well off, or their parents did not believe in luxuries like toys. Curiously she opened one of the dresser draws to find it only half full of thin flimsy looking dresses and shirts. She held up a small one-piece blue dress, the fanciest of the bunch and wondered just whom could have worn something like this. She returned the dress to the drawer and turned to the door.
She felt herself trembling as she approached the door and nervousness began to fill her and wished Alyson was at her side. Why did she always have to face her nightmares on her own? Jessica was there for Amber and her other sisters, Kris for Jenn, and Kim was there for everyone. Where was her protector? With a deep sigh she shook the thought from her mind. She was strong and maybe that was why she faced so much alone. Maybe the person having this dream needed someone and that was her purpose for being there.
A smiled crossed her mind at the thought of being able to actually protect someone. She was always too late to do anything for Kim and Alyson was always rescuing her, so maybe for once she could so something right in her life. With new found courage she took hold of the dull battered brass door knob, a knob she noticed had left a hole in the wall from being banged open one too many times. Carefully she opened the door and peered left then right down a long hall, to her left she could see a blue flicker of light she could only assume was from a television and to her right she could see a door partly ajar, only shadows within. Natalie stepped out of the room and glanced around as she tried to decide which direction to take when her foot slipped slightly on something wet on the linoleum flooring.
Quickly she grabbed the wall for balance. When she was certain she was not going to fall she lifted one foot off the floor to look at what was on the bottom. She swallowed hard and nervously licked at her lips as she saw that her foot was coated in what appeared to be blood. Anxiously she turned her gaze to the floor to see a trail of blood smeared across the middle of the floor, leading to a door next to the bedroom she had just left, as if someone were dragged down the hall and around the corner.
Natalie slammed her eyes shut against the violent images that tried to force themselves to the surface of her mind. Images of her parents laying dead in their bedroom on that Christmas morning, cut to pieces, blood splattered across the walls. Akaime hovering over them, hunting knife in hand and a grin upon his blood soaked face.
“You should be in bed still Princess.” His voice thick as he moved around the bed, wiping the knife upon his blood stained shirt.
Natalie clenched her hands around her head, “He’s dead.” She stated, commanding the thoughts to vanish, “He can’t hurt me anymore.”
“How do you like it Princess?”
Dead…
“Scream and I’ll do the same to your little sister as I did to your ma and pa.”
Dead, Dead, Dead
“You like it don’t you?”
WILL YOU JUST DIE!!! She screamed out in her mind, slamming her head against the wall behind her. The sharp pain rattled her thoughts for a moment. Again she crashed into the wall, this time jumping backwards and throwing her back against the wall and slipping on the blood and tumbling to the ground with a painful crash, her shoulder slamming hard into the floor and her forehead bouncing off the wall. She curled in a ball, cradling her head and digging nails into the flesh of her cheeks.
“DIIIEEEEEE!!!” She screamed out loud, “I hate you, you bastard, you deserve to burn in the hell where you are. Stay out of my head. I’m finished with you you hear me, over you!” She rolled across the floor until her back hit the opposite while, where she kicked out until she was in a seated position, her back to the wall. She sat there for a moment, hand over her tear stained face, trembling as she tried to contain the fear that wanted to overcome her.
A hand lightly touched Natalie upon the shoulder and she quickly spun around and scrambled away from the intruder on her nightmares. Standing before her was a young girl with short scruffy dirty blonde hair clad in a pink nightshirt. Natalie clenched at her chest as she tried to keep her heart from jack hammering out of her chest. Glad to find another child she slowly gathered herself and struggled to get to her feet, slipping and sliding upon the slick floor.
The girl hurried to Natalie’s side and helped her to her feet.
“Thanks.” Natalie muttered as she wiped the tears from her eyes, glancing down at her now drenched pyjamas, “I must look like something out of a horror movie.” She chuckled lightly; the girl did not even crack a smile at Natalie’s attempt at humour.
Natalie studied the girl, “So is this your nightmare?” She inquired as the girl leaned against the wall, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, still trying to keep the tremors from overtaking her.
Slowly the girl shook her head.
Natalie watched the girl carefully, her eyes kept darting to the door down the hall, where the trail of blood lead, “Do you know what is in there?”
She opened her mouth and wet her lips then nodded again.
Natalie stepped closer to the girl, “Are you alright?” She asked, suddenly concerned as to why this girl refused to talk, “Can you speak?”
Again the girl nodded and scratched her neck nervously.
Natalie glanced around in search for some kind of answer, and then returned her gaze to the girl, “Do you have a name? My name is Natalie by the way.” She held out her hand to the girl and then noticed the palm was coated in blood. She searched for a clean spot on her pyjamas and proceeded to wipe her hand on her sleeve then extended it to the girl again.
The girl gave Natalie a crocked smile, “C… Caitlin…” She said in a voice no more then a whisper.
Natalie gave the girl a warm smile, “Well Caitlin. You have any idea where we are or how to get out of here because I don’t know about you, but I’d love to get out of here and grab a burger.”
Caitlin shrugged.
“Does that mean you don’t know how to get out or you are not hungry?” Natalie probed.
Caitlin tried to cover a smile that was twitching at the corner of her mouth, “I… I don’t know how to get out.” She stated softly.
“So then you are up for burgers?” Natalie inquired, signalling with a thumb over her shoulder, “I know of this great place back home. How about we get the hell out of here and see if we can find our way home?” She extended a hand out to the girl.
Caitlin nodded quickly and took Natalie’s hand gratefully, squeezing it tightly.
Natalie smiled brightly, “Well then, let’s blow this pop stand.”
*****
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 to view art from this series please visit my deviant arts site at: http://shinigami-shimai.deviantart.com/
For more of my stories visit my deviant hearts site at: http://www.devianthearts.com/viewuser.php?uid=159
Also if you spot any typos or other errors please contact me at katwilliams @ rogers.com
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