Tainted Impressions
Written by Kathryn K Williams.
All ideas, characters and the like are copyright of Kathryn K Williams 2008. Please do not copy this story or any others under her name or anyone else.
Chapter Two
I wake up at that moment with a start, cracking my shin smartly on the dashboard in front of me, cursing as I rub the spot and struggle to straighten up in the cramped passenger seat of the old Mustang GL that I had fallen asleep in. Battling with the shoulder strap of my seatbelt and knocking the strap of a overhanging duffle bag off my shoulder irately.
“You alright, Shannon?” A voice drifts in to my consciousness to my left.
I try to shake the last of the dream’s hold on me, but its grip is too strong, causing me to see visions of a bloody handprint upon the dashboard and cast off over the roof of the car. My voice feels trapped deep within, struggling to escape only to make the sound of a pained squeak, so I simply nod.
“Are you sure?” This time I recognize the voice; it is my best friend and lover Rebecca.
Hearing the sound of her voice causes my heart to slow and the panic to lift from my head. I latch onto her words, grounding myself back in reality. Within a moment the blood soaked windshield clear to show a black night and the squawking of the wipers became more apparent. I bit my lip in an attempt to free myself from the last of the fog, watching the handprint begin to fad, and then slowly, when I feel I’m back, turn to look at her.
“I… I’ll be alright…” I pant, finally able to find my own voice. It sounds distant and reminds me of that of a scared child and at that moment. I could understand why for at that second I would do anything to be free of this car, to be curled up in my warm bed with a cup of warm milk in hand, anything then be sitting here in this tiny ass car.
I am glad to see she looked the way I last saw her. When I’m in a state of distress I find the visions become incredibly vivid and long ago, when I first met Rebecca, I saw more then I truly wanted. When I’m like this, marks can be see upon her face and body, deep bruises that covered the left side of her face and rope burns upon her wrists, never mind to things I see when she is naked which you will have to forgive me for not disclosing. So when I’m suffering from a bout of these visions I try to not look at her until is over, not because I find the sight ugly, but because I don’t like to think of her like that, tied up on a bed, beaten and raped, left for dead.
“You really sure?” She inquired yet again, “We can pull over if you like.” Concern was as thick in her tone as it was across her face. I love this about her, no matter how hard she tries to cover up her feelings it was so easy for me to read them and her worries made me smile, it felt good knowing someone out there that truly cares about me.
I sank back into my seat, fixing the shoulder strap so it didn’t dig into my neck so much, and shakily nodding, taking in a deep breath as I did and rubbing my hands together against the cold night air.
“It was just a bad dream.”
“Uh-huh…” Rebecca remarks in her usually knowing tone, in other words she is calling me a liar and can tell when I try to hide things. Rebecca and I met back when I was first sent to the orphanage. I was scared and alone, surrounded by the images of blood that dripped down the walls next to my new bed. She came to me, holding and comforting me through the night, not leaving my side until the blood stained wall began to diminish, which wasn’t for a week. She was the only person who believed what I saw was real and not just my imagination. She would sometimes see me staring at something and asked me to try to describe it as best I could, later making a game out of it as we tried to come up with a tale behind the images. At first it was frightening, but soon I found the grip of fear loosening when the visions appeared. As such whenever I have a nightmare of this magnitude I can expect her to know when I’m lying about it and I sighed in defeat without her even saying another word.
“Alright, it was more then a bad dream.” I said as I put my feet up on the dashboard and hug my knees close to my check, “Much worse…” I state miserably, placing my forehead upon the cool glass of the passenger window. The night was black other then the constantly falling rain and the occasional reflective post along the side of the road. It was as if the posts just appeared out of nowhere in the beam of the headlights and disappear as quickly in the rear view mirror, the night swallowing them up.
As I try to put the dream into words a hazy blue glow emerges in front of us and I sit bolt right in my seat, the image of that creature firmly entrenched in my mind. Water droplets upon the windshield reflect the light, creating the image of a thousand stars in the blackness. The single orb soon becomes two as it nears and suddenly a car speeds by, sloshing through puddles and sending a sheet of water over my window, blurring my sight. I don’t know how long I sat there, but it was long enough for Rebecca to notice something was up definitely up and begin to pull over.
The blinkers suddenly start clicking rhythmically, its yellow light blinking upon the rain slick highway and the car beginning to glide into the right lane and over to the side of the road. Finally rolling to a stop and the hazard lights begin to blink. I watch all of this in a daze and am not fully aware that Shannon is unbuckling her seatbelt until I feel her hand upon my shoulder and I slowly turn to face her.
“Shannon, sweetie?” She asks worriedly, “Shannon?”
I suck in a breath that I was unaware I was holding and clench my arms tightly around my body, trying hard to control the shaking that wants to overtake me.
“Shannon? Tell me what is wrong?” Now fear could be seen across her beautiful face and I could see it in her wide brown eyes. Those eyes call to me and I reach out for her, like a child searching for their mother. The moment her arms embrace me a dam broke inside of me and I began to sob uncontrollably.
*****
To be Continued . . .
*****
Note: Characters and ideas in this story are a copyright of Kathryn K Williams.
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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