A Shadowlander's Dream: Book Two - Policy of Love
By Kathryn K Williams
Part Four - Slingshot Dreams
Chapter Twenty
"My mother is dead." Jennifer remarked coldly, "Hell, she has been dead to me as long as I can remember."
"Oh really?" May gave Jenn a sly smile, "Is that how you really feel?" She leapt off the counter and turned to face one of the washroom mirror, "What if I told you that she was very much alive and missed you dearly?"
"I would think you are nuts." Jenn crossed her arms, she was not sure if this really was May or not, but toying with her emotions for her mother was not the way to Jenn's heart and she was starting to get annoyed with May's persistence.
"Take a look." May nodded toward the mirror in front of her.
Reluctantly Jenn moved away from the door to glance upon the mirrors surface. Before her very eyes she watched as the mirror turned to water and the image within begin to shift and change. It changed from a reflection to a window into another world. Beyond the mirror she could see the kitchen from her dream home and her mother. The woman rushed around the kitchen preparing dinner, "Jenn, dinner is almost ready." Her mother called out and a slightly happier version of herself bounced into the room, "Would you set the table?" Her mother requested.
"Yep!" The other Jenn readily hurried passed her mother and started to get some plates from the cupboard.
Jennifer stared in disbelief at the images before her, "That is from my dream, isn't it?" She inquired warily.
May wrapped an arms around Jenn's waist from behind and set her head upon the girl's shoulder, "It is only a dream if you want it to be." She explained softly, "She is waiting for you. We are waiting for you."
Within the mirror May entered the kitchen, "Can I help?" She eagerly asked.
"Sure." Jenn's mother smiled down at the girl, "You can get the silverware alright?"
"Kay!!" May moved around the kitchen to the draw of utensils and opened it.
Jenn shook her head against the image, "This can't be real." She looked away to see that the other mirrors were also putting on a illusion show. She peered within the once to her right to see an empty dorm room that she somehow knew was Tanya's room. The door opened and Jenn watched as Kris and herself entered the room, giggling and laughing. The two girls wrapped their arms around each other and leaned in close.
"I love you Jenn." Kris said lovingly as she ran her long fingers through Jenn's hair, "I never want to be apart."
"We never will." Jenn gave the girl a quick kiss upon the lips, "We will always be together forever."
"Promise?" Kris's lips hovered close enough to lightly touch Jenn's lips as she spoke.
"Promise." The two kissed deeply as they moved across the room and Kris lowered the girl to the bed, never breaking from the kiss.
Jenn reached out to touch the mirror, "This..." Tears filled her eyes as the sensation of that kiss rushed through her body and mind. She could almost taste Kris's lips upon hers at that very moment and it made her lips quiver in hunger.
May quickly grabbed Jenn's hand and forced the girl to face her, "That is not reality. It was a nightmare." She pointed to another mirror, "Look what your wonderful Kris has been up to recently."
Jenn glanced upon the mirror's surface to see the main lobby of the Western Dorms. At first Jenn was not sure what she was supposed to be seeing when Kris and Jessica entered the room. Jessica seemed to be hurt and Kris was helping her to the couches, then began to massage the girl's back. Jenn's heart raced at the sight, she told herself to turn away, to not look but she could not take her eyes off the image. She watched in disbelief as Jessica leaned into Kris and moved the girl's hand towards her pants, "No..." Jenn shook her head, "She wouldn't..." She placed a hand upon the mirror and observed in stunned bewilderment as Kris's hands slipped under Jessica's shirt and the other moved under her pants. Tears rolled down Jenn's cheek and she finally pulled her eyes away from the image.
"She never loved you." May whispered into Jenn's ear, "She was always toying with you and now she has moved on."
Jenn spun around to face May, "You're a Liar!!" She cried out.
"Am I?" May inquired innocently, "If so then why is there doubt in your mind. If you believed in Kris you would not be having such doubts." May lifted Jenn's hand up, forcing her to look at her scars, "Why do you think you did this? You knew she would leave you just like your mother."
Jenn shook her head, "No... no..." She muttered not wanting to hear more.
"You knew she didn't love you." May's voice rose, "You knew that you could never be together forever and that she was just filled with broken promises. You knew which is why you tried to end it all."
"No..." Jenn was feeling weak. She wanted this torture to end. Wanted to never see those images again.
"Do you want this nightmare again?" She inquired coldly, shaking the girl's arms.
"But..." Jenn glanced from one mirror to another. Each and every mirrors in the room showed bits and pieced of Jenn's memories. A mixture of dreams, memories and fantasies. Jenn shook her head as her eyes moved from one image to another, "I... I don't know..." She began to tremble then her eyes fell on one mirror that was darker then others. Inside Jenn could see a small library, another version of herself wandering the shelves, running her fingers along the spins of the many books. She pulled one book off the shelf and curled up with it on the ground with her back against the shelf. Slowly she flipped through the book, carefully taking in each and every page. Jenn tore her eyes away from the mirror to examine her wounds.
"Just give me the word and all this will vanish." May promised, "The nightmares will finally end and you can live your life as you please. With me."
Jenn stared at the girl, "With you?" She was confused by this statement. She took one last look at the mirrors and noticed something. One of the mirrors showed her walking down the school halls with Kris and in the background Jenn could distinctly make out May's angry face. She turned to another mirror to see that May was in the background of every image, glaring at her. Jenn suddenly realized something that she never considered before. All her life she remembered being concerned with hurting May and looking into those mirrors she noticed that May never cared about hurting Jenn. She was more interested in having Jenn to herself than Jenn's feelings. Jenn tried to recall why she was ever friends with the girl. She could not even remember why anymore. Jenn suddenly turned back to May and pulled her hand away, "You are not part of my world." She stated angrily, rubbing at her stitches, "You lied to me to get me to come with you."
May's face twisted, "I am part of your world." She insisted irately, "We were meant to be together. Why do you think I came here?" Her featured quickly softened and she reached out for Jenn, "Please come back with me."
Jenn glanced to the mirrors once more. Now they showing moments between herself and May. Moments of anger and upset altercations. Jenn's eyes fell upon one mirror that showed the reflection of the same room they now stood in. At first she thought that it was an ordinary mirror again when she noticed the refection of herself was wearing different clothes then herself and May was very much alive. In the reflection May moved closer to Jenn and wrapped her arms around Jenn's neck. Jenn suddenly spun around to face May, "You kissed me." Jenn announced coldly, "Right here in this room."
May staggered against the accusation. She rubbed the back of her neck, "Well... I see... you are remembering then."
"Yes!" Jenn stood up tall as her memories flooded her mind, "You hated my relationship with Kris and all my friends. It was your jealousy that had been filling my heart with doubt over Kris and Jessica, hasn't it?" She demanded, "You have been in my head all this time trying to trick me. Trying to get me to kill myself again."
"You do not belong with that slut." May spat.
"She isn't a slut." Jenn snarled, "She loved me and I loved her, but you would never understand that. You were too busy thinking about yourself to care about how I felt."
May's eyes darted around the room, "I cared about you." Cuts began to form upon May's wrists and a trickle of blood ran down the girl's hand, dropping upon the floor, "I loved you so much that it hurt to see you with that bitch." The blood was flowing freely now, coating her dress and legs, "She would never treat you right. She would only hurt you more."
"What about you?" Jenn snapped, "I reject you, so you kill yourself. How do you think that made me feel? If you really loved me then you wouldn't have forced me to bury my friend. You are so selfish." She screamed, "I hate you and wish we never met."
"But... I have always loved you." May replied bleakly, "You just never saw it. You were always starry eyed over that bitch. Why? What does she have that I don't?"
"A heart." Jenn stated bluntly, "I have had enough out of you. I always tried to be nice to you but I see now that was the wrong thing to do. Leave me alone and never come back." She commanded.
"NEVER!!!" May screamed, "You belong with me and I will not let you go." Abruptly the mirrors shattered, sending shards of glass through the air. Behind the glass were tunnels of blackness. A howling wind rushed out of the tunnels, whipping the girls hair about, "If you will not come back with me then I will make you." May howled in outrage. The wind quickened to a hurricane's pace picking up shards of glass as if they were simple leaves and sending them spinning through the air.
"May stop it!" Jenn demanded, covering her face in an attempt to protect herself from the flying glass. A few fragments flew passed her, cutting at her arms and hands. Jenn dropped to the ground and scrambled for the corner of the room in search of safety from May's wrath.
The shards began to gather around May and circle around the girl like a small cyclone of glass, "You will come with me, Father demands it." She snarled, "You will come with me if you want to or not."
*****
Kris, Natalie, Kai, Tanya and Cherilyn burst into the Eastern Dorms and quickly moved across the lobby when a girl ran towards them, "What are you doing here?" The girl demanded, "Westerns are not supposed to be in he-"
"Shut up" Natalie snapped at the girl causing her to jump.
"This is not good." Kris remarked as she scanned the many girls that had gathered for lunch, "We need to find them before someone gets hurt." She turned to Tanya, "Tanya, where is she?"
"Up stairs." Tanya pointed to the stairs, "Third floor washroom in the far corner."
"You can not be serious?" Kris stared at Tanya in disbelief, "The washroom May killed herself in?"
"I didn't think about it until afterwards." Tanya explained uneasily, "I figured she just wanted to use the washroom. I didn't think something bad would happen."
"Did something happen to Jenn?" One of the Eastern girls inquired nervously.
"We hope not." Natalie stated as she pushed passed the girl, "We need to get to her before one of her memories do." She exclaimed as she headed for the stairs.
"I hope she is alright." Cherilyn remarked as she followed the others towards the stairs.
"I hope so too." Tanya worried, "I hope so too..."
They climbed the dorm stairs in a flash, Kris was the first to reach the washroom to find it locked. She took no time hesitating as she slammed her shoulder into the door, breaking the lock and forcing herself into the room. The group stumbled into the washroom to find it empty. The mirrors were in one piece and there was no sign of the struggle that had just ensued.
"Jenn?!?" Kris called out as she opened each stall door in search of her friend.
"Where could she have gone?" Natalie inquired, "The door locks from the inside so she has to be here somewhere."
Kai hurried passed Natalie to examine the mirrors. She gingerly touched one of them and quickly pulled away as if the mirror was on fire. She spun around to face her sister, "Carey was here..." She stated with uneasy.
"Carey!!" Kris explained, her worry suddenly turned to fear, "No... Not her..."
*****
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 visit my site and see some of the art based on this series at http://www.KatAndNekoManga.ca
Also if you spot any typos or other errors please contact me at Kathryn@KatAndNekoManga.ca
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