A Shadowlander's Dream: Book Two - Policy of Love
By Kathryn K Williams
Chapter Two
Jenn exited the washroom, relieved to find she had not started to bleed, yet. The tampon turned out to be easier to use then she thought, however, Jessica was probably right about this being one hell of a week. She stared down at the pills and decided to go down to the cafeteria for some water to help wash them down. She crept silently through the halls, down the back stairs, which lead directly into the cafeteria dinning hall and wove her way through the tables till she found a water cooler against one of the walls. She proceeded to pull a little paper cup off the side and filled it. Taking two pills from the bottle she popped them into her mouth and downed the entire cup. She made a face at the awful chalky taste of the pills while crumbling up the cup and dropped it in a nearby garbage pail then began to move towards the lobby when she noticed sounds coming from that room. She cautiously pushed through the double doors to find Natalie lying stretched out on one of the many couches, with the television on.
“Natalie, you’re up too?” Jenn remarked while approaching the couch to see that Much Music was playing Cory Heart’s Sunglasses at Night video.
Natalie stretched and sat up straight, “Yeah, I can’t sleep. How about you? Your time?” She asked nodding at the box in the girl’s hands.
“Yeah,” Jenn moved around the couch and sat at the opposite end, “I forgot how much of a pain it is.” She grumbled, placing the pills in the box and setting both on the coffee table, “What about you? Why are you up so late?”
“Too much on my mind.” Natalie admitted with a sigh, “Say, how are your friends doing? The ones from Eastern?” She inquired genuinely concerned.
“Oh Tanya and Cherilyn?” Jenn said with a shrug, “They are doing alright, I guess. The headmistress scolded Tanya a bit for entering the woods, but that was about all.”
“She got off lucky then” Natalie remarked bluntly, “I’m not sure if I should consider her lucky or stupid, sorry to say.”
“Yeah.” Jenn agreed, remembering that day in the woods and a shudder ran across her spine.
“Things sure have been busy this week.” Natalie stated as she glanced out of the window, reminiscing about the passed events, “Hard to believe that Halloween is almost here. After those woods I don’t think there will be much that will scare me any more.”
“No kidding.” Jenn remarked with a nervous laugh, “By the way, you and Kima were amazing.” She exclaimed excitedly, “I don’t think I told you that. I can’t believe you two took on that man all on your own.”
Natalie’s face grew long with despair, “She is something else alright.” There was a strain in her voice.
“Is there something wrong?” Jenn asked moving a little closer to the girl, “You want to talk about it?”
“It... I... I don’t know...” Natalie stammered, she had been milling over her thoughts for hours before Jenn arrived and still could not sort things out for herself.
“Girl problems?” Jenn probed already knowing the answer.
“You could say that.” Natalie replied with a sigh.
“Seems to be going around.” Jenn remarked dismally, turning to glance up at the ceiling, “I always thought I’d just have a problem finding one girl. This is beyond belief.” She shook her head ever so slowly, “Do straight people have this kind of trouble?”
“Kim still giving you troubles?” Natalie raised, a worried look upon her face.
“Not really.” Jenn lightly closed her eyes and leaned her head on the back of the couch, “My memories keep confusing me. I don’t know what I feel anymore. I didn’t even know I’d kissed a girl until a couple of days ago.” She rubbed her forehead in frustration, “It is maddening. Why can’t I remember anything clearly?”
“At least your first kiss was worth remembering.” Natalie muttered and curled her legs up under herself.
Jenn rolled her head on the back of the couch to look at Natalie, “What about that Alyson girl?” She inquired curiously.
Natalie set her elbows on the arm of the couch and buried her face in them, “I... I don’t know... The one girl I want to kiss and I haven’t got the courage to yet.” The memory of Alyson discovering herself and Kima together entered her mind and she let out a depressed sigh. “Now I think she hates me even more.” She mumbled into the crook of her arm.
“You lived with her for a while, didn’t you?” Jenn pried interested to learn more about her new housemates.
“Only for a few months.” Natalie admitted, “We curled up in the same bed, but nothing more. She never showed me much affection. The most she did was give me a necklace and it was only to protect me from evil.”
“Oh...” Jenn stared back up at the ceiling, her eyes lightly closed, “I’m sorry.”
Natalie glazed over at Jenn, “Tell me something?”
“Hmmm?” Jenn sleepily replied.
“Why did you call Kim’s reflection Kima?” Natalie questioned, wanting learn more about what Kim’s past and friends.
Jenn’s eye fluttered open and she stared up at the ceiling. Thoughts rushing through her head, “Why did I call her that?” She muttered more to herself then anything else.
“I’m starting to discover that I know very little about Kim or Kima.” Natalie explained gloomily, “I’ve spend a year searching for the girl and I never knew the nightmares she lived with.” She sat up, not letting her eyes off of Jenn, “Never mind the fact that she had a girlfriend.”
Startled, Jenn sat up straight to face Natalie, “We weren’t... that is...” She blushed deeply.
Natalie eyed Jenn, watching the girl nervously play with the hem of her pyjama shirt, “You don’t have to tell me you if you don’t want too, but don’t tell me that you two did not have some kind of relationship going.”
Jenn let out a deep sigh, she knew when she had been caught, “We were young, maybe eleven or twelve.” She finally admitted, “I didn’t remember it until we entered that forest. I guess that was when I gave her the nickname. I just remembered it when I say her reflection. I don’t know why.”
Natalie patted the girl on the shoulder, “It will all come to you when you are ready.” She explained softly.
All of a sudden the front doors to the dorm opened and a cool breeze rushed through the room. Natalie and Jenn turned around on the couch to see who could be visiting at such a late hour. There in the foyer stood a darkly clad person in a long cloak, the hood pulled far over its head so Jenn and Natalie were not able to see the person’s face.
Natalie was the first to spring to her feet, throwing daggers ready in hand behind her back, “Who are you?” She demanded of the shadowy figure, “How did you get in here? The doors are locked after eleven.”
The figure turned its head to face Natalie, “There is no need to be hostile.” A bare arm emerged from under the folds of the cloak, an arm covered in dark flame tattoo that started from somewhere under the cloak and wrapped it’s way up to the person’s fingers. Carefully, as to not cause any more distress, the person pulled the hood off to reveal a young girl in her early teens, with ragged brown hair cut just below her ears, which encircled a small round face. The same flame tattoo circled the girl’s right eye in blackness, making her one yellow eyes all the more vibrant, while a bright blue eye stared from her left eye. “I’m only looking for my sister.” She stated with a light smile, “Would one of you happen to know where I could find Aigneis?”
*****
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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