Chapter 31

Sorry this has taken me so long you guys! I've kinda hit a bit of a wall with this story. I know I have a big, huge, WTF moment coming, and I know what I need to do to achieve that now, thanks to a brilliant spark of genius flared by Erin. But the problem is getting there now, and I'm trying desperately to steer the story in that direction. Well, quick update on my life. I've moved out, you know that. I'm going crazy with the amount of reading that I've had to do for my Ancient Legacies class. We've finished the Epic of Gilgamesh, and started into the Iliad, and it's only like the third week of the semester! It's crazy! I got an A on my first exam in my music class. I can't say it was too hard, but it was definitely a challenge. I've also decided to run for Miss Orem again this year. I had such a great experience last year, and learned so much about myself that I feel I need to do it again. I also made tons of new friends, and I love the girls I competed with last year, and hope to see some of them again as contestants! I think it needs to be sunny again. My family suffers from extreme seasonal depression, and though I love the rain and all of it's glory, the snow and ominous dark clouds that roll across the sky, the early onset of darkness, and the overall frigidness of the air gets me really down. To the point that I've been bawling over things that I shouldn't. Like Once Upon A Time, for instance. Great show, by the way, but I shouldn't have been bawling when Snow had to tell James that she didn't love him, and to watch the pain it caused her was awful! Then, who knows why I went home and did this, but I watched The Notebook. I always cry in that movie. Without fail. I know that, which is why I never watch it with people. But when I was watching it this time, there is no reason why I should have been wracked with sobs. Like it was whole body tremors for the last half hour or more of the movie. I need the sunshine.... Anyway, have a chapter. It's short and I don't particularly like it.....


Chapter thirty-one


I rolled over, completely restless in the hospital bed they had confined me to. It seems I am unable to get over my “fear” of shadows and reflections. I’m constantly being hurt by glass, because that thing breaks the mirrors when it tries to get to me. I don’t know what it is, and that’s what scares me the most. The sun had gone down hours ago, and visiting hours were long past, and when my door creaked open slowly I was expecting a nurse to slip through the door, but the tall dark figure was not a staff member. My heart beat quickened as the shadow approached. I fumbled around under the sheets for the call button, frantically, as my head began to throb.

“Calm down, Laela.” whispered a familiar voice.

“Stitch?” I froze; Vance had been positive that Stitch wouldn’t be able to get to me here. “What are you doing here?”

He sat at the edge of my bed, his green eyes ablaze. “Getting past that security guard was no easy feat, love. I just wanted to see you... to make sure you’re okay.”

My walls went up, but something felt wrong; like not trusting him was a bad thing, but... Vance would never lie to me. Vance wants to protect me from the people who want to hurt me, and Stitch was one of them. I stared at him, waiting aprehensively for him to say something further. He just watched me for a moment, making my heart race. Only after I could feel the unspoken words between us did he speak up.

“I need you to trust me, Laela. I can fix this, but only if you let me.” he whispered, leaning closer.

I backed away, only slightly. “Fix what? I don’t need fixing.” I lied. I wanted this shadow to go away. I wanted to be free of it.

“Everything. I’ll make it how it was back then. Everything will be perfect again.”

The memory of that night in Florida flashed through my mind, making the blood raise to my cheeks. He smiled, making my blush more intense. I hadn’t seen him smile in my direction since that night, and something deep inside of me yearned to see that smile again. I leaned forward unconsciously, and just as instantaneously as the feeling had overwhelmed me, I recoiled, Vance’s smiling face penetrating the haze Stitch had cast on me. A sick feeling of disgust took hold on me; Stitch was using his magic on me. I could feel it in the air.

“I’m fine, I don’t need you to fix me, Stitch.” I grouched, folding my arms defensively across my chest. “Go away.”

The smile that lingered on his lips faltered. “Laela, can’t you see what’s happening to you? He’s distorting your views.”

“No he’s not. If I were dating you, I’m sure Vance would be where you are now, telling me the same thing.” I snorted. “Just because you hate each other for some obscure reason--for a girl!-- doesn’t mean that you’re going to ruin my relationship with him. Vance is an amazing guy, and you can’t change my mind just by talking smack on Vance.”

He stood up, running his hand through his hair, sighing, exhasperated. “He’s gone further than I gave him credit for...” turning, his emerald eyes ablaze, he continued. “Fine, don’t listen to me, but this isn’t the end of this. I will open your eyes to the truth.”

I clamped my jaw tight, refusing to speak. He rolled his eyes, bent forward and kissed me on the forehead before leaving in silence. My heart fluttered and I had trouble breathing for a moment, and then I called Vance.

****

A week later I was released from the hospital. Vance picked me up, sweekping up to the curb in his sleek Farrari, blond hair glistening in the dusky light. A smile broke across my lips as I practically ran to the car, jumping into the seat and kissing Vance.

“Well hello, beautiful.” he whispered, kissing me again. “How are you?”

“Happy to be out of there.” I sighed. “Let’s go do something fun.”

“It will have to wait until later, love. I’ve got family business to attend to, but Cam will take care of you until I return this evening.”

My shoulders dropped. “Va-ance,” I whined, “why did you make plans if you knew I was getting released today?”

As we pulled away from the curb he put his hand on my thigh. “I’m sorry love, but it was planned for a long time. I promise I will come to you as soon as we finish. My parents are in town.” He sounded bitter.

“And I can’t meet them because...?” I prodded.

“I don’t think its a good idea, Laela. They’re very... old school.”

I raised an eyebrow. How old school could they be? It’s not like we were living together, and we didn’t see each other in school, we weren’t getting in the way of each others studies, so what was the problem?

“I haven’t told them about you.” Vance answered my silent question.

I sat back in my seat, folding my arms across my chest, jutting out my bottom lip in a pout. “Tell them about me today then.”

We rolled up to the school, slowing to a standstill, the engine purring. Cam rolled himself off the wall, approaching the car with an apprehensive air about him. He smiled curtly at Vance, opening my door and helping me out of the car. His hand lingered on my waist as he closed the door, smiling at me.

“Wonderful to see you again, Laela.” he said. “I’ll keep her with me until you get back, Vance. Tell your father hello for me.”

I looked at Cam, surprised for a moment that he knew Vance’s father, but soon enough remembered that I was the only foreigner there. Of course Vance’s apprentice would know his family. Vance smiled at me once more, bidding me farewell, and rolling away, the engine roaring as he raced down the street.

Cam lifted my hand to his lips. “I missed you, Laela.” he said.

I pulled my hand out of his and attempted to smile. “I missed you too, Cam. Now why don’t we go inside?” I suggested.

He seemed disappointed; as we walked, I glanced behind us, and in the fading light of day, something horrible caught my eye. The Shadow had replaced mine.

Aaand I'm following Erin.

I feel like the whole world is following your lead Erin, I'm starting up my own private blog for the purpose of posting Branded and getting constructive feedback from those that are privileged enough to read it. On this blog will also be the refined chapters of Alyce. They will be posted after I have put them on the Obscurely Clear blog, and have been edited and the like. This is a blog for me where I will get the feedback I need, and hope that you will join me and put your voice in. If you would like an invite, please email me at alex@tdr-ut.com.

Moving Out and Moving Up

WOOOO I'm sure you've all heard that I've moved out, but for those of you who haven't, there you go! I love it, even if the place gets a little boring since our television is broken and the roommates are never home. I swear, I'm the only one home most of the time, and it's kinda creepy. Also, they sleep forever. I'm usually awake by nine or ten, but they're all dead to the world. I also never really see one girl, and she's never said hi either, not that I haven't tried to be friendly, it's just kinda cold..... ugh. Anyway, in aaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the spare time I've had after getting all my stuff straightened out, I wrote this next chapter. YAY!



Chapter thirty

As I stared at the thing that consumed my reflection the glass began to pulse, slowly at first, then more rapidly until the glass was vibrating, distorting my reflection further. I backed away until my back was pressed against the shower wall, unable to take my eyes off the horrid image before me. The black mass was moving, twisting in the distortion until it had moved past the vibrating glass as if it were preparing to cross through the reflection into the real world. A massive black hand pressed itself against the glass, black sludge dripping down the glass as it’s teeth appeared in a crooked smile. I screamed, throwing my hands out in front of me, and heard the glass shatter. I opened one eye only enough to see the mountain of glass shards covering the counter; the shadow was gone. I crossed the floor, careful to avoid the stray shards that littered the tile until I had reached the counter. I turned my face away, reaching blindly for a piece of glass. I picked up a piece of glass, feeling the sharp edges bite into my skin; warm blood flowed down my hand and I loosened my grip, slowly opening my eyes to look into the piece of glass. The shadow was still there. I screamed again, stumbling backward into the wall, sending myself sprawling onto the floor, glass entering my flesh on my legs, arms, and palms. Despite the glass cutting into my flesh, I scrambled away from the glass on the floor and pressed myself into the wall, closing my eyes as tight as I could, my heart racing, pounding out of my chest, thumping in my head, and making me feel dizzy.

**********
“Laela!” Someone was shouting my name, I could feel their hands on my body, feeling me for any signs of life. “Laela, please talk to me!”

My eyes fluttered open, drawing the chaos of color into focus. There was a uniform sigh in the room, and suddenly I was being gathered into someone’s chest. My head was pounding, my chest felt heavy like my lungs had been filled with cement, and I couldn’t feel my arms. Someone’s lips pecked my forehead.

“Laela, darling, can you hear me?” It was Vance’s voice that cut through the fog in my mind.

I nodded, slowly, it hurt to move. What happened...? I asked myself, hoping to recall the events before I passed out; I couldn’t remember anything until... the shadow. My body tensed up, the muscles in my legs and arms contracting painfully as I clawed for Vance’s shirt, my heart raced and my vision spun. Vance picked me up, carrying me out of the room.

“Get someone to clean up that glass. I’m taking her to the hospital.” Vance told whoever was in the room with him. “Make sure the others know where she is, but do not let Stitch in there alone. Do you understand?” his voice had become icy.

“Yes, Vance.” Replied Cam.

I vaguely recalled leaving the room, but hardly remembered leaving the building. The next thing I remembered was waking up in a hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling. I sat up slowly, my head throbbing.

“Ye took a righ’ nasty fall,” Mused someone in the far corner of the room; their accent was thick. Definitely not English. I glanced toward them, finding a boy sitting on the edge of a bed. His eyes were dark, but sparkling mysteriously. He had a long gash across the bridge of his nose, black eyes, and bloody knuckles. “Wha’ happened?”

I sighed, flinching at the sharp pain in my chest. “Some broken glass... I fell on it.”

He raised an eyebrow, a smirk on his lips. “You’re tellin’ me you jus’ fell on some broken glass? Likely story. Looks like ye jumped out ah window, darlin’.”

“I did not jump out a window!” I shouted indignantly, crossing my thickly bandaged arms over my chest, wincing again. “A mirror broke, and I... fell.”

“Tha’ pause there speaks volumes, lassy.” He winked, “Afraid of your own reflection?”

You would be too if your reflection looked like mine. I thought to myself. “And what about you?” I glanced over his dirty figure. Street fight? Attempted suicide? “You’re not looking too good yourself.”

He glanced down at himself. “I was pretty sure life wasn’t worth livin’, so I was gonna end it, but didn’t wan’ te do it myself. So I picked a right nasty fight with some ugly bloke at the bar. We’ll jus’ say my plan ain’t workin’ so well.” He winked. “However, now I know there’s some sunshine left in the world.”

I rolled my eyes as a nurse came in, followed by a tall blonde that made my heart flutter. Vance stepped around the nurse, taking a few long strides to my bedside, scooping my hand up and pressing the bandages to his lips. His eyes were tired, the usual vibrant blue was dark, almost purple, his smile was weak, as if he had been straining himself for far too long. He waved the nurse away; She left reluctantly, and closed the door behind her. I noticed her shadowy figure hovering outside the door. She wasn’t going anywhere. And neither was the boy at the end of the room. He sat on his bed, staring at us silently.

“How are you feeling?” Vance asked quietly.

“It hurts...” I said, burrowing my head into his chest. “Make it go away.”

“I wish I could,” he sighed.

“Why can’t you?” My head shot up, I was staring intensely into his eyes, willing him to give me an answer.

“Too many people have seen your injuries. It takes a lot of power and energy to alter memories, and there are just too many people to waste that much power for. I’m sorry.”

I frowned. “Then can you at least speed the process up?” Something dark moved out of the corner of my eye. Instinctively, I lunged forward, wrapping my arms around Vance’s body, and latching onto him. My body quaked and my heart rate rose. I hardly noticed the fact I was wimpering until Vance said something about it.

“Are you alright, love?” His eyes brightened for an instant, darkening again almost as quickly. “Has something frightened you?”

“Sh-shadow...” I whispered. “It’s watching me...”

He glanced around the room. “Love, he may be staring, but he’s no shadow.”

“Like ye’d know, Vance.” the boy replied. He was leaning against the wall now, standing, arms crossed over his chest in defiance. “It’s been a long time since ye’ve seen me. How are ye te know if I haven’ become a shadow. I always was when’ere ye were round.”

Vance clicked his tongue. “Obviously your obsessive need to be in the spotligght has lead to fighting. Shame.”

The boy straighened up, squaring his shoulders. I untucked myself from Vance’s arms to look at him, and screamed. Behind him was a mirror, and in it, the shadow. I hurled myself backwards, rolling off the bed, the hospital gown spreading to reveal my hardly covered body. The IV in my arm was ripped out painfully as I backed away from the bed; my whole body was shaking. The orderly outside the door came rushing in at the sound of my scream and the clamor that followed. She rushed to me, bending down to look into my eyes. My heart was racing and I was sure my pupils were dialated. I could hear the rush of blood in my ears, the sound drowning out the rest of the world around me. All I could see was the shadow. It was coming closer in the glass as it had done before. It was coming through; it was coming to get me. I swallowed the growing lump in my throat, feeling as multiple sets of hands braced me, pulling me off the cold tile floor. They were saying something to me, but I didn’t understand it.

“Calm down, love. You have nothing to fear.” whispered a familiar voice in my head. I couldn’t place who it belonged to, but it was soothing. “We’ll fix this. Together, you just have to trust me.”

As the orderlies moved me across the room back to my bed, a black movemet out of  the corner of my eye caused me to scream and flail wildly again. In the reflection of the nurse’s nametag I could see the shadow. I threw myself back, surprising them enough that they lost their hold on me. I dashed across the room, cowering behind Vance. I gripped his shirt so tightly in my hands that my knuckles were turning white. His hand floated gracefully to mine, holding it gently; the instant his skin was on mine, my panic subsided and I could think clearly. I straightened up, brushing the mess of curls away from my face. The orderlies were staring at me from the other side of the room, bewildered at the amount of strength I had shown.

“Laela, are you alright?” Vance asked, staring straight forward, keeping eye contact with the nurses.

I couldn’t find my voice for a moment, so I nodded in response.

“What frightened you last night?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I had already tried to tell him once that it was the shadow, and he had thought I was reffering to the strange boy on the other side of the room. But I needed him to understand. Without releasing my hold on his shirt I moved around him to look him in the eye.

“A shadow... where my reflection should have been.” My voice was flat, as serious as I could be without shivering. I felt as if my eyes were on fire, the intenseness of my statement was welling up inside me.

Something flashed across his face, consealed scorn, but instantly disappeared. “Are you positive?” his voice matched mine, his face blank.

I nodded. “It was huge. Eyes, glowing red. It was as if it were trying to escape from the mirror. It happened again, just now. I saw it in the mirror over there, and again in the nurse’s name tag.” My voice shook a bit.

“Sciophobia,” whispered one of the nurses behind me.

The scorn flashed across Vance’s face again, only for a moment. “She’s not afriad of shadows. This kind of thing doesn’t just set in over night.”

But what if it did? Whispered a voice in my head. What if He cursed you with it?