A Shadowlander's Dream: Book 2 - A Tale of Sorrows (part 1 of 67)

a Original Fiction fanfiction by Kathryn K Williams

Jenn lay upon a grassy hill, her eyes lightly closed against the sun as 
it beat down upon her small body. A cool breeze swept by, lightly 
ruffling her short black hair around her round pale face. She reached up 
to push a strain of hair out of her eyes and blinked up at the fluffy 
clouds as they drifted in front of the sun. A smile played across her 
face in enjoyment of the weather. 

Kimberly lay curled up beside Jenn with her head resting upon the girl's 
stomach. Jenn set her hand upon her friend's lovely soft, red hair, hair 
so vibrant that they could only be diminished by the ruby shine of her 
eyes. A fleeting memories of their first kiss still fresh in Jenn's 
mind, and a love flowing through her heart. For the first time she felt 
at peace. Her mother was not around to yell at her, the breeze was sweet 
and she was in love. Sure she may have only known Kim a couple of days 
and they were merely eleven years of age, however, it felt like this was 
how life was meant to be. Just herself and her love resting on a grassy 
hill with no one to tell them they were doing anything wrong, no one to 
try to explain that they could not be in love or try to pull them apart. 

Jenn beamed as she thought about how perfect life was when Kim began to 
stir. She sat up and stretched, then turned to glance down at Jenn, love 
in her red eyes and a grin upon her face. Kim reached out a hand and 
softly caressed Jenn's warm cheek. Jenn closed her eyes as her skin 
tingled against the girl's touch. She could feel her heart pounding as 
Kim drew in ever so much closer, her long hair brushing lightly against 
Jenn's face. Jenn felt a longing grow in her heart, and she wanted to 
taste those lips again. She reached out a hand to run it through Kim's 
hair, pushing to the side so she could look into those beautifully, 
mysterious, eyes and licked her lips in anticipation of a kiss.  She did 
not have to wait long as Kim lightly brushed her lips against Jenn's, 
then leaned forward to deepen kiss until they both embraced one another. 
Jenn wrapped her arms around the girl as her entire body was washed over 
with warmth and a hunger for those lips. When they parted, Jenn could 
feel a flush of heat throughout her entire body and she smiled up at the 
girl. 

"I... I love you, Kima." Jenn said, letting out a deep shivered sigh. 

Kim grinned down at her first love. Her eyes filled with life and 
affection. Suddenly the winds shifted, picking up in pace, dragging 
darkness as clouds moved in to block out the sun. Kim's smile abruptly 
twisted to a harsh frown, "I'm not disgusting like you." Kim 
unexpectedly glared at Jenn as the winds whipped her hair about her 
face.

"What?" Jenn frantically scrambled from beneath the girl.

Kim got to her feet and glared down at Jenn, "I said I'm not like you. 
Leave me alone!" She shouted with anger in her eyes. 

""What are you talking about, Kima?" She asked in complete confusion of 
the change of events. 

Kim clenched at her body as if suddenly disgusted by touching Jenn, 
"Don't call me that!!" She demanded, "Never call me that again. I hate 
you!!" She screamed.

Jenn grasped the sides of her head in disbelief, "This can't be 
happening." She clenched her eyes shut against the image, "How can you 
say that? You said you loved me?" 

The winds picked up pace and assaulted Jenn with leaves and dirt and a 
new voice rang through the air, "And you always told me you loved me." 
Jenn's eyes fluttered opened her eyes to find Kim no longer gone 
standing before her. The redhead had been replaced instead with a 
salutary large tree. "You said that you would never leave me. And 
yet..." The voice continued. Jenn quickly glanced up into the dense 
branches of the tree to find Kris sitting upon a thick limb, her body 
clad in white shirt, black vest and long black skirt that covered her 
long slender legs entirely. 

"Kris?!?" Jenn gazed upon her friend in confusion, "What are you talking 
about?"

Kris turned to face her friend and then leaped down from the tree. A 
pair of large white wings spread out behind her as she drifted to the 
ground, landing in front of Jenn. Jenn found it impossible to take her 
eyes off those shimmering wings, so majestic and beautiful it was as if 
they were glowing. Kris reached out and ran a hand through Jenn's hair, 
"I love you with all my heart." She reached up with her other hand and 
took hold of one of the wings and then violently tore the wing off. 
Blood spring forth from the wound in her back splattering crimson across 
her stark white shirt. 

Jenn stumbled backwards, horrified by what she was seeing, "Kris, I'm 
sorry... I just... can't remember..." She explained frantically, "I 
don't understand what is going on."

"You are sorry?" Kris returned, "I gave up everything to be with you and 
you forgot." She proceeded to tear off the other wing and held the 
bleeding wings out to Jenn, "How could you forget?" Anger filled the 
girl's eyes as she hurled the wings to the ground, "I stayed beside you 
no matter what and you ran off with someone else." She moved close to 
Jenn, her eyes peering deeply into Jenn's, making it hard for the girl 
to turn away. She set one of her blood soaked hands upon Jenn's cheek, 
leaving redden finger prints upon Jenn's paling skin, "You never 
understand the pains you've caused me." Kris swiftly turned away from 
the girl, "I'm sorry... good-bye...." Quickly she walked away; blood 
could be seen dripping down the back of her clothes soaking the once 
green grass crimson.

Jenn pushed passed her fear and reached out for her friend, "Wait, 
Kris!" She called out, "Don't leave me!!!" Just as her hand was about to 
touch Kris's back something abruptly shoved her in the chest, hitting 
hit her with enough force send her hauling backwards, off her feet, and 
she landed hard on her right shoulder blades. She let out a small yelp 
of pain as she skid along the dirt ground, her legs swinging over her 
head causing her entire body to flip end over end until she came 
crashing down squarely on her chest, nearly knocking the wind out of 
her. Barely phased by the attack, Jenn immediately pushed herself to her 
knees and frantically searched for her friend only to see that Kris to 
had disappeared into the darkness. Jenn began to tremble and wrap her 
arms around her waist as nothing but blackness surrounded, "Don't leave 
me..." She whispered in the gloom. 

Suddenly a hand burst through of the dirt ground in front of Jenn 
causing her to stumble backwards, landing on her butt. The hand, caked 
in mud and clots of blood, reached out towards Jenn, deep angry slash 
mark cutting across the wrist of the arm. Another hand quickly followed 
the first as they clawed at the soil trying to escape their earthen 
prison. A tangle of blonde hair could be seen breaking through the soil 
and soon an eye was peeked out at Jennifer through the hair and dirt, 
"Jenn...ifer..." A girl reached out and grabbed Jenn by the ankle.

"N... no...M... May..." Jenn frightfully stammered, struggling to free 
her foot from May's grasp.

"You betrayed me..." A deformed May snarled as she pulled her body out 
from her burial ground, "I'm the only one who cares for you." She raised 
one of her hands into the air to reveal a long sharp kitchen knife 
clenched between her muddy fingers, "I'm the only one who understood 
you. The only one who loves you." Before Jenn could react, the knife 
plunged through the air, slicing its way through Jenn's stomach and tore 
at her flesh.

Jenn abruptly awoke to the rude realization that she had been having yet 
another nightmare. Slowly Jenn scanned her surroundings as her mind 
began to clear. No longer was she in her room at home, nor was she 
standing on a hill, like in her dreams. Now she found herself sitting 
upon a small bed in a small dorm room, a digital clock on the dresser at 
the foot of her bed telling her that it was a little past two a.m. She 
rubbed her head as the past week began to invade her mind once again, 
along the multitude of emotions that came with them, fear, pain, 
sadness, happiness and so much more. She glanced around the dark room 
with only the moonlight to guide her. Across the room she could see 
Kimberly soundly sleeping, curled up in a tight ball against the wall, 
cowering from the creatures that lingered in the shadows. Jenn recalled 
that first night they curled up together and the feelings that stirred 
within her heart.

'I'm not disgusting like you.'

A frown crossed Jenn's face as Kim's words echoed through her mind. She 
tried to shake the complicated feelings from her mind that tried to 
resurface when a wave of pain impolitely reminded Jenn as to what woke 
her in the first place. She clenched her stomach with one arm as she 
threw the blankets off with the other. Quickly, she dropped her feet 
into a pair of fuzzy tiger striped slippers that she had found in the 
mysterious box that had appeared in their room upon her arrival to the 
even more unexplainable Whispering Hills Academy. Carefully she got to 
her feet and took a moment to glance down at the redhead. She began to 
reach out to pat Kim upon the head, just to make sure she was not still 
lost within another nightmare, only to stop herself. If this wasn't a 
dream then she did not want to wake the girl when she finally was 
getting some well-deserved rest. It was painful enough trying to talk to 
the girl that she would rather save herself the grief if she could. 

Jenn grabbed one of the white terrycloth house coats off the hook on the 
back of the door and silently stepped out of their room and carefully 
closed the door carefully behind her. She glanced up and down the hall 
as she pulled the housecoat over her blue striped pyjamas, unsure where 
she was heading, but knowing she needed to hurry before it was too late. 
Finally she decided to ask the only person she could think of for help 
and began to venture down the long dark halls of the Western Dorm till 
she found herself standing at the door to Jessica and Kris's room. A 
small light shone from under the door, taking some of the worry from 
Jenn's mind. She didn't want to disturb the girls at such a late hour of 
night and the sight of the light told her at least one of them were 
still awake. She was about to knock when she wondered if it was Kris who 
was awake. What would she say to the girl? Kris had been avoiding Jenn 
since they had escaped the horrors of the Western Woods, which only 
added to the awkwardness of talking to the girl. Ever since Jenn 
discovered that she was in fact the girl Kris loved all those years ago, 
but somehow had lost her memories of those day, she has found it 
increasingly hard to talk to the girl she once considered her closest 
friend. The fact that it was Jenn that was causing that sad pained look 
in Kris's eyes, that she was the very girl that broke Kris's heart and 
that Kris has been waiting all that time for Jenn to return to her, made 
things even harder. Jenn backed away from the door as she tried to think 
of another alternative when it suddenly opened and Jessica stood before 
her clad in only boxers and a black sports bra, running a hand through 
her military cut as she gazed at Jenn. 

"Hey Jenn." Jessica said softly, not wanting to disturb any of the 
others who might be sleeping, "I thought I felt someone standing out 
here." The Dorm head explained, "What brings you to visit so late at 
night?" 

"I..." Jenn nervously stammered as she found herself lost for words. She 
suddenly felt embarrassed for interrupting Jessica so late at night and 
seeing the tall slender girl standing before her in only her underwear 
made Jenn's words fall from her lips. Abruptly another attack of pains 
began and she clamped her arms around her stomach in an attempt to stop 
the agony, however it was so intense this time that her eyes blackened 
and she staggered backwards against the far wall of the hall to keep 
herself from falling to the ground. 

Jessica quickly moved to the girl's side, "Hey! Are you alright?" She 
inquired worried for her friend. 

"It... hurts..." Jenn panted against the pains. 

Jessica nodded knowingly, "You have been in the dreams to long. You 
probably forgot all about having your period." She stated simply. 

Jenn glanced up at the girl in shock, "How...?"

Jessica gave the girl a knowing smile, "It happens to all of us. I'm 
guessing it is because we don't have a period in our dreams and when we 
return to reality it hits us kind of hard. You probably don't have any 
tampons or anything, am I right?" She inquired. 

Jenn simply nodded. 

"One sec." Jessica disappeared back into her room and returned with a 
small box in one hand and a bottle in the other, "Here, I just got some 
more so you can have the rest. Also, here are some painkillers. Your 
first after returning is going to be a doozey so you are going to need 
these." She handed the items to Jenn.

Jenn took them gratefully, "Thank you." She scanned at the box of 
tampons, "Ummm..." She flushed ever so lightly.

"You never used one?" Jessica wondered.

Jenn's blush deepened, "I just used pads for the most part." She scanned 
at the side of the box and read the top headline, "What is Toxic Stress 
Syndrome? Is it dangerous?" She queried feeling a little nervous.

"Don't worry about it." Jessica assured with a grin, "There is a note 
about it in the box if you are interested in learning more. Don't worry 
too much. It is rare and if there is a problem we always have Nurse Amy 
to depend on." She half joked.

Jenn glanced inside the box and her eyes came across something pink 
among the few remaining tampons. She shook the box until the object 
moved to the side and her flush brightened to the point of covering her 
entire face and she could feel heat rising up around her neck, 
"Ummmm...." She stammered and preceded to pull out a small cylindrical 
object with a Hello Kitty hugging a teddy bear on top, "Is this...?" She 
hinted with a swallow. 

"Oh that..." Jessica swiftly snatched the object from the girl's hand, 
"Sorry about that." She apologized with slight crimson to her cheeks, 
"It's just a toy... you know..." She nervously rolled the object between 
her hands. 

"Does that actually work?" Jenn inquired curiously.

"Ummm..." Jessica looked at the thing in her hands, "Sort of... here..." 
She gripped the cylinder with both hands, twisted the top half and the 
object came to life in the girl's hand with a low humming sound, "It is 
kind of creepy seeing as the Kitty at the top is what vibrates, but it 
works when needed." She admitted, partly embarrassed.

Jenn still blushing, "Ohhhkkaaayyy..." She was not able to take her eyes 
off the strange toy, and then, with a shake of her head, she glanced 
down the hall in search of an escape and got one as another cramp ripped 
through her, "I... I need to go. Th... thank you." She gave Jessica a weak 
smile. 

"No problem." Jessica assured, "Oh, come to the office later. We have 
your first allowance for you. You can buy more tampons or whatever you 
need." 

"Thanks." Jenn hurried backwards down the hall, giving the girl a quick 
wave then disappeared around a corner. 

Jessica stood in the door, watching Jenn rush down the hall, and then 
she remembered that she still had a vibrator humming away in her hands 
and quickly shut it off before returning to her room. 

"How is she doing?" Kris asked from her place on her bed. She had the 
blankets pulled up to her chest, a magazine lying upon her stomach and 
her arms placed behind her head. 

"You going to just avoid her from now on?" Jessica returned as she 
crossed the room to her desk and dropped the toy in the top drawer then 
turned to face her roommate, "You can't just hide from her forever you 
know?" 

Kris rolled over on her side, placing her back to Jessica, "Why does it 
matter? She has Kim now. She doesn't need me." Kris stated in a sad 
tone, "I'm responsible for destroying her entire live. I can understand 
if she hates me."

"So you plan to just suffer from now on, is that it?" Jessica sat 
backwards on her chair and crossed her arms over the back, "What am I to 
do with you, girl?" She asked her roommate's back. When Kris did not 
respond she let out a frustrated sigh and flicked off the light before 
dropping into her own bed. 

*****

To be Continued . . . 

Onwards to Part 2


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