Shattered Glass, Broken Hearts Ghostly Intrusion Jessica listened to the answering machine, jotted the messages down on a pair of post-its and proceeded to the bulletin board when she saw a fleeting glimpse of someone entering the Cafeteria. She stuck the postings next to their respective names and ventured into the cafeteria herself. The room was dark and void of any life. Lines of long tables with a number of chairs covered most of the main dinning hall. The only light was provided by a long string of windows that stretched from floor to ceiling and on good days could be opened to bring in the fresh air. Outside, a small patio could be seen; it was filled with umbrella-covered tables that would soon have to be taken back inside before the first snowfall. Many trees provided enough shade so the patio and hall didn't get too hot in the summers, however at this moment, with the sun still high in the east, it meant that the room was much darker then it could have been. Jessica checked her watch to see that it was only a quarter past ten and the caterers from town would not arrive with lunch until eleven-thirty at the very earliest, girls would not be arriving to eat until twelve thirty or so. It had been a very long morning for Jessica and she was almost certain that she had to have missed lunch by then, however the emptiness of the hall proved to her that her watch wasn't lying. Yet her tummy was telling her that food was needed, if not anything but a light snack. She entered the large kitchen off to the side of the hall and found the fridge at the far end of the room. The door slowly swung on its hinges causing the light inside to blink off and on. Jessica flicked on the overhead lights and blinked in the brightness of the fluorescent lighting. "Hello?" She called out only to have her echo return her greeting. She felt a shiver of fright run up her spin; all the talk of ghosts was starting to get to her. She laughed at herself and crossed to room to close the fridge door. The moment she did so the sound of the kitchen door slamming shut filled the room, causing her spun around startled by the sudden sound. Quickly she rushed across the room and flung open the steal shutters to the buffet area. With the shutters open she could get a full view of cafeteria hall. Her heart pounded as she scanned the room in search of any sign of the intruder. She was only greeted by silence. An unsettling feeling began to creep over the girl. She pushed through the door of the kitchen back into the dinning hall. Still not a soul in sight, not even a single chair was out of place. She scratched her head and started to walk down the aisles of tables. Occasionally she glanced under a table to be certain that no one was hiding, puzzling as to how someone could have just disappeared from the hall without her being aware of it. She looked out onto the patio and noticed someone sitting at one of the tables with her feet up on the table. She was sitting with her back to Jessica and her hands crossed behind her head so it made it hard to identify who it was. Jessica cautiously crept across the hall to one of the patio windows that had been left partly opened in an attempt to get some air circulating in the large room. She stepped out onto the patio and circled around to get a better look at who it could be and let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was only Kris and approached the girl to see that her eyes were shut as if she were sleeping. It was impossible for Kris to run through the hall and be so relaxed like this. Jessica circled around the girl, watching Kris’s chest rise an fall in a slow rhythmic fashion, not panting as if she were out of breath, just resting. "Kris?" Jessica whispered softly, not wanting to startle her roommate. Kris opened one eye a crack to look up, "Oh, hi Jessie." Kris said with a yawn and a stretch, "I didn't see you there." "How long have you been here?" Jessica asked nervously scanning the patio. "For a bit," Kris sat up straight in her chair, "Why? You look pale, did something happen?" Jessica pulled out a chair and sat down heavily, "I think my mind is playing tricks on me is all." She pushed her glasses up onto her forehead and rubbed her eyes, "This is turning out to be quite a day." She said with a sigh. "You can say that again." Kris leaned back and gazed up at the sky. Kris opened her mouth and let out a sigh, then without moving she spoke, "I... I think it is time for me to leave..." Jessica glanced up at the girl in shock, for the first time Jessica notice that Kris had been crying for quite some time, "Go, where?" She asked confused by Kris's sudden remark. "I mean leave the dorms." Kris replied with another sigh. "You want to talk about it?" Jessica asked softly. Kris slowly shook her head then set her eyes on her hand, which rested upon her lap, "It... it is to hard to explain." "Try me." Jessica replied sternly, "You never know I might understand more than you think." Kris clenched her fist to her chest and took a deep breath, "I... I'm sorry... I can't..." "Why?" Jessica was starting to get annoyed, "Ever since the day you appeared here years ago, you have been acting like mystery girl. Why don't you just drop the act? We all have our set of problems around here what makes your problems so special?" Kris stood up quickly, letting her chair bang into another chair behind her, "What business is it of yours anyway? You keep poking your nose into everyone's business like you run the place." Her hands fell to her side as she set her eyes on Jessica. "Listen, I've spent a long time here." Jessica stood to return Kris's glare and bared her teeth, "I've watched as girls were pulled deep into their own despair and no one was willing to even bat an eye at it. Well, I'm not that type of person. I told you I'd be here for you and yet you still keep that wall around you. Can't you understand I'm trying to help here? I want to help." Her voice became more sincere and her eyes pleaded with the girl to stay. "FINE!!" Kris slammed her hands on the table and leaned closer to Jessica's face, "You are so curious what is going on then have a good look." She turned her back to the girl, unbuttoned her vest, took off her tie, and then proceeded to strip her dress shirt off. “Uhhh… Kris…?” Jessica blinked in confusion as she watched Kris toss the vest on the chair next to her and then pull her shirt up off her shoulders showing her bare back. Jessica stared up at a tattoo of a pair of black wings that covered each shoulder blade then intertwined along the girl's spine, "You... you're a... Sis… sister of Death?!?" She stammered as she fell back into her chair. "I used to be..." Kris pulled her shirt back over down around her waist and sat back down, not bothering to button the top up again, leaving her black bra to be seen, "I'm not anymore. My wings were clipped. Or at least they have been for the past few years." "But... but..." Jessica was still trying to get over what she just saw, "How is it possible?" She asked in stunned bewilderment. Sighing Kris again looked up at the sky, "Have you ever been in love?" She asked softly. "Wha?" Jessica shook her head, not sure if she heard the question correctly, "In Love?" "Yes," Kris gazed down at her hands again, "Really in love. I'm not talking a crush or anything like that. I'm meaning the real thing." "I'm not sure." Jessica leaned back in her chair again, "I guess you could say I have... I'm not sure if it was real." Jessica was known throughout the school for her fleeting romances and breaking hearts, however she never really loved any of those girls. She kept her heart protected from all and only bared it for those very few she trusted. She blinked a few time, "Am I really talking about love with an angel of death?" She mused more to herself. "Well, I know it is the real thing." Kris's voice was just a whisper and Jessica had to strain to hear her, "The Sisters are not allowed to fall in love. It is part of the rules..." "And you did." Jessica glanced up at the windows above the cafeteria and she was beginning to understand, "Is that why you lived with your Aunts?" “Yes," Tears began to fill Kris's eyes, "I know it was wrong, but I couldn't help it. Just the thought of her was enough to send my heart pounding out of control. No matter how much I tried to tell myself I could not fall in love it was already to late." "So what happened exactly?" Jessica crossed her arms on the table, interested to hear more. "I... She..." Kris could feel the pressure on her eyes become unbearable. She wanted nothing more than to run and hide, but for some reason she felt a need to tell someone. Her mouth quivered as she glanced up at Jessica, a large lump welling up in her throat, "We... I was told that because I feel for her that I would have to take her soul..." Her hands began to shake uncontrollably, tears escaped her eye and rolled down her face, "They wanted me to kill her. It was my punishment for falling in love, for revealing who I was. My punishment for being... happy." "Hell..." Jessica let out a deep breath, "I knew some parents were strict, but... just because you fell in love?" She thought about how her foster parents reacted to catching her with another girl. How infuriated they got and how quickly there love for their daughter turned to hate and Jessica found herself in this place. Kris nodded, "But... but I couldn't do it. How could one do something like that? I loved her and she loved me. I didn't care what they thought so I ran off with her to be with her, but they are powerful and we were given a new punishment." She stared down at her trembling hands, "They banished me, telling me I can stay here with my love... however..." Kris gazed up at Jessica, "She would never remember the love we had for each other. Only I would remember those days." Kris let out a deep sob and dropped her head into her arms, "And..." She sobbed, "If she were to ever fall in love with me again she would forget the very next day..." Jessica stared at the sobbing girl and looked up at the windows then back to Kris, "So... that is why you want to leave?" She asked ever so softly. "I'm sorry." Kris said between sobs, raising her head a little she looked at her hands, "Jenn, I'm so sorry." Jessica got up and walked behind Kris, "Why don't you tell her how you feel?" She asked setting a hand gently upon the girl's shoulder, "Everyday." "I want to." Kris glanced up at Jessica, "I really want to but..." "It is Kimberly?" Jessica asked gently. Kris nodded slowly, "You can see it in their eyes too, right?" Jessica silently rubbed the girl's back, but didn't answer. She was beginning to wish she had not put those two together, however it was too late now. Sitting up Kris cleared her throat, "Can I ask you a question?" Kris asked taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Mmmm?" Jessica continued to give the girl a back rub, slipping Kris's dress shirt off her shoulders ever so slightly. Kris leaned back enjoying the feeling of Jessica's touch, "If... if someone you love forgot who you were..." She stammered as a shiver came over her, "then you were given a chance... a chance for her to remember your love again, would you? Jessica stopped her hands and thought hard, "Well, I have never been in love. I don't know what I'd do if I lost someone I loved that deeply. However, if I did love someone that much I guess I'd..." She thought for the right words and looked down into Kris's red eyes. "Mmmm..?" Kris encouraged the girl to continue. "If I was in love..." Jessica gently brushed her fingers across Kris' neck, "And found that she had fallen in love with another person. I would have to think how much remembering the previous love would hurt her and if it did, then I would rather be the one in pain instead of her." She finished the sentence in a soft whisper, setting her hands on Kris' shoulders. Kris reached up and set her hand on Jessica's, "Thank you." Jessica stood back, "For what? Being a nosy pain?" She asked with a grin. Kris looked up at the girl, "For listening." "Oh, no problem," Jessica said, still smiling and leaned over, giving Kris a gentle hug, "Anytime." She stepped back again, "So tell me, are you really going to leave?" Kris let her eyes drift down to her hands, then to the cafeteria hall where she remembered spending so many meals with Jenn, "No, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to stay a little longer." Jessica hugged Kris again; "I know it will make at least one girl happy." She abruptly turned and started to walk towards the patio door, "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. You want something?" "Sure." Kris started to fix her shirt when she saw Jessica again smile at her before disappearing into the cafeteria, then jog through the aisle towards the kitchen. Kris watched the girl for a moment and felt a heat build up around her neck. She glanced at her own reflection in the glass and noticed that she was blushing. Embarrassed she rubbed her face with her hands, and then shook her head a few times before grabbing her tie and vest and entering the cafeteria herself. ***** To be Continued...
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