It's official this time. My computer is dead. It actually gave its life up this time. The hard drive crashed, quickly followed by the love of its life, the motherboard. I guess these two couldn't bear to be apart for longer than two weeks, and pulled a Romeo and Juliet. Yep, I think the motherboard killed itself because it couldn't stand to be apart from its beloved hard drive. And look at the tragedy it's caused. Which means that until I either get a new computer or somehow fix my old one, Perfect Strangers has been shelved. I would work on it if I had the chance, but it was stuck on my old computer and the backup on google docs won't open. Good thing I didn't have my WTF moment stuck on the computer. That's been safely stowed away. Good thing too. I would have hated to lose that moment. It is such a brilliant moment. Anyway, if anyone knows a good place to buy a cheap computer please let me know. Aparently my being home and using their computer is a cause of contention between my mother and I, and therefore, I will probably stop coming over. Sorry for any inconvenience on your part. I'll keep drafting in my notebooks, but you probably won't get anything for a while. Sorry darlings. Love you.
Cheers,
Alex
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Let the Games Begin
WOOO! School is finally finished and summer can officially begin! I'm excited for all the things that summer has in store for me, and for the new people that I plan to meet. I'm going to try and reinvent myself and learn who Alex actually is. It's going to be an adventure. And to begin our adventure, please enjoy chapter thirty-two of Perfect Strangers
Chapter Thirty-two
My heartbeat quickened, and my whole body locked up as panic flooded through my veins. He hadn’t noticed my pause, and walked a few steps further before turning to address me and realizing I wan’t there. When he finally turned around to find me petrified behind him, without words his eyes followed my line of sight and rested on the monsterous shadow.
“What are you looking at?” he asked.
Could he really not see it? It was twice the size of my normal shadow, and it bubbled and rippled as if it were only being separated from the real world by a thin veil. I could feel the ether seeping from it, and it made my stomach chrun something awful. With a shaky hand and even shakier voice, I whispered,
“Sh-sha-dow.”
His fine blonde eyebrow raised skeptically. “Listen, Laela, I know they let you leave the hospital with a diagnosis for something about the fear of shadows, but honestly love, it’s just a shadow. It can’t hurt you.” he replied, walking toward me.
The shadow curled into itself, as if recoiling from Cam’s presence. He put his arm around me, and I felt a strange flood of calm wash over me. He was using his magic, I could tell, but I didn’t mind. I put my arm around his wasit and clung desperately to him until we got inside and my shadow essentially dissappeared with the lights. Cam guided me to the elevator, his arm never leaving my shoulder until we had reached his dorm. When we entered, I was suddenly stumbling backward, Kitty clinging to me as we backed into the hall.
“Welcome home!” She shouted, kissing me on the cheek. “We’re so glad you’re back. I was worried sick about you, and when Stitch told me you were diagnosed with some strange phobia of... you know, I wanted to rush right down and stay with you until you could come home. Of course, classes prevented that.”
I smiled. “Well thanks for the thought, Kitty.”
She smiled in response, pulling me back into the room, where on the table was a small cake and some ballons. Jay hovered at the end of the table, his smile as wide as it always was, happy to see me home and okay. Their other roommates were sitting on the couch, gawking at me. They weren’t doing anything to conceal it either. I gave them a little smile, raised my hand in a polite wave, and then turned back to the table. Stitch was leaning against his doorframe behind Jay, watching me quietly. He didn’t smile, nor did he acknowledge that we had made any sort of connection in that moment. He simply stood and watched.
An hour later, the cake had been eaten, and laughs were infectious as Finn and Kol began their comedic banter when Kol stole the last bite of Finn’s cake. As we were rolling with laughter the door to the apartment opened, and I noticed the atmosphere get thick with tension.
Vance had entered the room, accompanied by his siblings.
“And I thought I would never see you all in the same place again.” Stitch growled. It was the first time he had spoken since I had arrived.
“Wonderful to see you again as well, Stitch.” Clarette snapped, her voice was poisonous.
“Big happy family reunion, wouldn’t you agree, Stitch?” Vance said, his voice and smile were sickly sweet. “You just missed Father and Mother.”
“Can’t say I’m sorry to have missed it.” Stitch’s voice had gone completely flat, and everyone could feel the chill in the air.
I glanced back and forth between them, waiting for something to happen, feeling like sooner rather than later, someone would break, and magic would be used in some way or another. My hands started to shake. Slowly I crossed the room and stood beside Vance; his hand slipped instantly around my waist, his fingers dipping into my front pocket. Stitch’s jaw tightened and his shoulders squared. I needed to get them out of the room before someone got hurt. Clarette’s glittering eyes had narrowed dangerously and Jack placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place. I needed to think quickly.
“Fa-- Vance, why don’t we go to dinner? Laela can accompany us.” Jack said, using unusually formal language in his terse state. “I find it apparent that we are not welcome here.”
“Damn right you’re not,” Stitch seethed, the ether in the room getting thicker.
The corner of Vance’s mouth twitched upward, quickly concealing the snide smile on his lips. “If you insist on me taking her out, I will not resist.” his voice however did nothing to contain his smugness.
Stitch clenched his jaw, a shudder rippling through his body; Vance clenched his gut, gritting his teeth. Stitch had done something to him, I knew it. I threw my best glare at him before pulling Vance toward the door. We needed to get out of here before anyone else got hurt. As we left the room, I felt something heavy settle on my shoulders. Turning my head to inspect the cause of the weight I was greeted by the face of the horrible shadow in the mirror. I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I felt blood pool on my tongue. The metallic taste made me gag as I tried to keep myself from screaming at the sight of the monster. I dug my fingers into Vance’s side as we walked down the hall, reminding myself constantly that as long as I was with him, nothing could hurt me.
With Clarette and Jack close behind us, we left the building, crossing the gravel path to the parking lot where we left in Jack’s black Lotus. Vance and I sat in the back seat, his arm around my waist as I sat, curled into him. His breathing was calming, and the sound of his heart beat put me at ease. It seemed to me that everything went wrong unless I was with him, unless I could feel his arms around me, the electricity of his touch kept the monsters away. But even in the heat of his touch, I couldn’t help but feel the need for something else. Something that Vance couldn’t give me.
The car came to a slow stop; I wouldn’t have noticed the change if a man hadn’t opened my door for me. I looked at Vance, my eyebrows curled in confusion. He simply smiled and nodded his chin toward the sidewalk outside the car. Sliding out of the car I stepped onto the cobblestone and gawked at the restaurant before me. The Ritz Restaurant. I suddenly felt extremely under dressed, but when I looked down at myself to be ashamed, I found myself wearing a stunning gold dress that swepts over the ground and glittered like starlight. When did I get into this? I looked at Vance, who smiled, shrugging his eyebrows. He hooked his arm through mine and lead me to the door. Whispers floated on the air around us as we walked; they thought we were famous. I giggled to myself. Me? Famous? That’s a pipe dream. WhenVance approached the host at the door, I began to panic. A place like this would surely have a waiting list that went on for days. How could we just expect to show up and get a table? This fear dissolved when the man wordlessly turned and lead us into the restaurant, and sat us at a table in a quiet corner of the dining floor.
“How did we get this table? Aren’t there people waiting to be seated?” I asked as Vance polietly helped me into my seat.
“This is my usual table,” he said, “They’ve all been informed that if I’m ever to show up to seat me immediately.”
“I forget that you’re ancient and can do things like that.” I mumbled.
He chuckled, “You look stunning by the way.”
I felt my cheeks go red. “Thank you, but this wasn’t what I was wearing in the car.”
“I know, but you were so serene curled into my side you hardly noticed the change. It’s your dress however.”
“I can keep it?” I asked, a smile breaking across my face.
Clarette laughed, “It was yours to begin with, I don’t know why you would think you couldn’t keep it.” she said.
“It was? In what life? This dress is amazing!”
“Your last life, you were part of the wealthier eschelon in New York in the fourties. You often wore this dress when we went out to the theater.” Vance said. “Ah, I miss those times.”
“We’ve heard the stories a thousand times, father...” Clarette said, gasping as she finished, her dainty hand fling to her lips.
Had she just called Vance father? I waited for someone to say something, but they had all frozen in their seats. “Clarette, did you just call Vance, Father?” I asked, hoping to break them out of their paralysis.
Her hand dropped slowly as he eyes found Vance’s, holding them, waiting for an answer.
“Laela, darling, there’s something you must know.” Vance said slowly, looking me right in the eye, sending a shiver down my spine. “It’s not going to be easy to take in, but it’s time you knew.”
Silence filled the table. Clarette and Jack looked back and forth from each other and Vance.
“Clarette and Jack are not my siblings,” Vance said carefully, watching me. “They’re my children. Our children.”
My heart stopped. Our... children...! The air seemed to stop in my throat and my vision started to blur as I gripped the edges of the table for support. This couldn’t be possible. Vance had told me that my last life had spanned through the fourties, but how long had it lasted? Jack couldn’t be older than his late twenties, and Clarette didn’t seem to be much older than me.
“Darling?” Vance’s hand floated to my knee, but I couldn’t feel it. “Are you alright?”
Clarette blinked rapidly. “Father, I don’t think she’s breathing.”
Air flooded my lungs and tears burned my eyes. “Our... children?” I whispered. “How... when?”
“I know it’s hard to understand, but it’s real. Your last life was a long and happy one. Jack is thirty-four born to you in 1978, and Clarette is twenty-seven born to you in 1985.” Vance said, Clarette and Jack smiling. “We lived in New York, nothing fancy, you wanted to be in the city so we lived in a simple flat until... until he took you from us.”
“Forced you to marry him, and then you gave birth to twins by him.” Jack growled.
“Twins?” I asked, taken aback. How many children did I have in the last life? “Wow, I was busy. Four kids...”
Clarette giggled. “We’re not the only ones. You’ve got plenty more, Laela.” Her voice was light and airy. As I looked at her, I could see the resemblance between the two of us. It was almost startling. “We’re just the youngest.”
“Where are my other children? Are they your siblings, or Stitch’s children?” I had so many questions. I wanted to meet them. After losing my baby a few years ago I felt a desperate need to have someone to care for; a need to be a mother.
There was an uncomfortable silence between us. “Most of them have passed away. We have two other siblings, Carter Woolfe, and Regina Martin. They’re over fifty, they know you, spent most of their lives with you, until Stitch took you away before father got you back. That’s when you had us.” she said quietly. “With him, you have five children that are still alive. Two daughters and three sons.”
I gasped. A tear slipped from my eye as I smiled at them. Our waiter arrived then, and I watched as everyone grew stiff.
“My name is Murroa and I’ll be your waiter this evening.” said the man. I looked up and felt my skin go cold. This man, Murroa looked shockingly familiar. The boy from the hospital. “Nice to see you again, mother.”
Chapter Thirty-two
My heartbeat quickened, and my whole body locked up as panic flooded through my veins. He hadn’t noticed my pause, and walked a few steps further before turning to address me and realizing I wan’t there. When he finally turned around to find me petrified behind him, without words his eyes followed my line of sight and rested on the monsterous shadow.
“What are you looking at?” he asked.
Could he really not see it? It was twice the size of my normal shadow, and it bubbled and rippled as if it were only being separated from the real world by a thin veil. I could feel the ether seeping from it, and it made my stomach chrun something awful. With a shaky hand and even shakier voice, I whispered,
“Sh-sha-dow.”
His fine blonde eyebrow raised skeptically. “Listen, Laela, I know they let you leave the hospital with a diagnosis for something about the fear of shadows, but honestly love, it’s just a shadow. It can’t hurt you.” he replied, walking toward me.
The shadow curled into itself, as if recoiling from Cam’s presence. He put his arm around me, and I felt a strange flood of calm wash over me. He was using his magic, I could tell, but I didn’t mind. I put my arm around his wasit and clung desperately to him until we got inside and my shadow essentially dissappeared with the lights. Cam guided me to the elevator, his arm never leaving my shoulder until we had reached his dorm. When we entered, I was suddenly stumbling backward, Kitty clinging to me as we backed into the hall.
“Welcome home!” She shouted, kissing me on the cheek. “We’re so glad you’re back. I was worried sick about you, and when Stitch told me you were diagnosed with some strange phobia of... you know, I wanted to rush right down and stay with you until you could come home. Of course, classes prevented that.”
I smiled. “Well thanks for the thought, Kitty.”
She smiled in response, pulling me back into the room, where on the table was a small cake and some ballons. Jay hovered at the end of the table, his smile as wide as it always was, happy to see me home and okay. Their other roommates were sitting on the couch, gawking at me. They weren’t doing anything to conceal it either. I gave them a little smile, raised my hand in a polite wave, and then turned back to the table. Stitch was leaning against his doorframe behind Jay, watching me quietly. He didn’t smile, nor did he acknowledge that we had made any sort of connection in that moment. He simply stood and watched.
An hour later, the cake had been eaten, and laughs were infectious as Finn and Kol began their comedic banter when Kol stole the last bite of Finn’s cake. As we were rolling with laughter the door to the apartment opened, and I noticed the atmosphere get thick with tension.
Vance had entered the room, accompanied by his siblings.
“And I thought I would never see you all in the same place again.” Stitch growled. It was the first time he had spoken since I had arrived.
“Wonderful to see you again as well, Stitch.” Clarette snapped, her voice was poisonous.
“Big happy family reunion, wouldn’t you agree, Stitch?” Vance said, his voice and smile were sickly sweet. “You just missed Father and Mother.”
“Can’t say I’m sorry to have missed it.” Stitch’s voice had gone completely flat, and everyone could feel the chill in the air.
I glanced back and forth between them, waiting for something to happen, feeling like sooner rather than later, someone would break, and magic would be used in some way or another. My hands started to shake. Slowly I crossed the room and stood beside Vance; his hand slipped instantly around my waist, his fingers dipping into my front pocket. Stitch’s jaw tightened and his shoulders squared. I needed to get them out of the room before someone got hurt. Clarette’s glittering eyes had narrowed dangerously and Jack placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place. I needed to think quickly.
“Fa-- Vance, why don’t we go to dinner? Laela can accompany us.” Jack said, using unusually formal language in his terse state. “I find it apparent that we are not welcome here.”
“Damn right you’re not,” Stitch seethed, the ether in the room getting thicker.
The corner of Vance’s mouth twitched upward, quickly concealing the snide smile on his lips. “If you insist on me taking her out, I will not resist.” his voice however did nothing to contain his smugness.
Stitch clenched his jaw, a shudder rippling through his body; Vance clenched his gut, gritting his teeth. Stitch had done something to him, I knew it. I threw my best glare at him before pulling Vance toward the door. We needed to get out of here before anyone else got hurt. As we left the room, I felt something heavy settle on my shoulders. Turning my head to inspect the cause of the weight I was greeted by the face of the horrible shadow in the mirror. I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I felt blood pool on my tongue. The metallic taste made me gag as I tried to keep myself from screaming at the sight of the monster. I dug my fingers into Vance’s side as we walked down the hall, reminding myself constantly that as long as I was with him, nothing could hurt me.
With Clarette and Jack close behind us, we left the building, crossing the gravel path to the parking lot where we left in Jack’s black Lotus. Vance and I sat in the back seat, his arm around my waist as I sat, curled into him. His breathing was calming, and the sound of his heart beat put me at ease. It seemed to me that everything went wrong unless I was with him, unless I could feel his arms around me, the electricity of his touch kept the monsters away. But even in the heat of his touch, I couldn’t help but feel the need for something else. Something that Vance couldn’t give me.
The car came to a slow stop; I wouldn’t have noticed the change if a man hadn’t opened my door for me. I looked at Vance, my eyebrows curled in confusion. He simply smiled and nodded his chin toward the sidewalk outside the car. Sliding out of the car I stepped onto the cobblestone and gawked at the restaurant before me. The Ritz Restaurant. I suddenly felt extremely under dressed, but when I looked down at myself to be ashamed, I found myself wearing a stunning gold dress that swepts over the ground and glittered like starlight. When did I get into this? I looked at Vance, who smiled, shrugging his eyebrows. He hooked his arm through mine and lead me to the door. Whispers floated on the air around us as we walked; they thought we were famous. I giggled to myself. Me? Famous? That’s a pipe dream. WhenVance approached the host at the door, I began to panic. A place like this would surely have a waiting list that went on for days. How could we just expect to show up and get a table? This fear dissolved when the man wordlessly turned and lead us into the restaurant, and sat us at a table in a quiet corner of the dining floor.
“How did we get this table? Aren’t there people waiting to be seated?” I asked as Vance polietly helped me into my seat.
“This is my usual table,” he said, “They’ve all been informed that if I’m ever to show up to seat me immediately.”
“I forget that you’re ancient and can do things like that.” I mumbled.
He chuckled, “You look stunning by the way.”
I felt my cheeks go red. “Thank you, but this wasn’t what I was wearing in the car.”
“I know, but you were so serene curled into my side you hardly noticed the change. It’s your dress however.”
“I can keep it?” I asked, a smile breaking across my face.
Clarette laughed, “It was yours to begin with, I don’t know why you would think you couldn’t keep it.” she said.
“It was? In what life? This dress is amazing!”
“Your last life, you were part of the wealthier eschelon in New York in the fourties. You often wore this dress when we went out to the theater.” Vance said. “Ah, I miss those times.”
“We’ve heard the stories a thousand times, father...” Clarette said, gasping as she finished, her dainty hand fling to her lips.
Had she just called Vance father? I waited for someone to say something, but they had all frozen in their seats. “Clarette, did you just call Vance, Father?” I asked, hoping to break them out of their paralysis.
Her hand dropped slowly as he eyes found Vance’s, holding them, waiting for an answer.
“Laela, darling, there’s something you must know.” Vance said slowly, looking me right in the eye, sending a shiver down my spine. “It’s not going to be easy to take in, but it’s time you knew.”
Silence filled the table. Clarette and Jack looked back and forth from each other and Vance.
“Clarette and Jack are not my siblings,” Vance said carefully, watching me. “They’re my children. Our children.”
My heart stopped. Our... children...! The air seemed to stop in my throat and my vision started to blur as I gripped the edges of the table for support. This couldn’t be possible. Vance had told me that my last life had spanned through the fourties, but how long had it lasted? Jack couldn’t be older than his late twenties, and Clarette didn’t seem to be much older than me.
“Darling?” Vance’s hand floated to my knee, but I couldn’t feel it. “Are you alright?”
Clarette blinked rapidly. “Father, I don’t think she’s breathing.”
Air flooded my lungs and tears burned my eyes. “Our... children?” I whispered. “How... when?”
“I know it’s hard to understand, but it’s real. Your last life was a long and happy one. Jack is thirty-four born to you in 1978, and Clarette is twenty-seven born to you in 1985.” Vance said, Clarette and Jack smiling. “We lived in New York, nothing fancy, you wanted to be in the city so we lived in a simple flat until... until he took you from us.”
“Forced you to marry him, and then you gave birth to twins by him.” Jack growled.
“Twins?” I asked, taken aback. How many children did I have in the last life? “Wow, I was busy. Four kids...”
Clarette giggled. “We’re not the only ones. You’ve got plenty more, Laela.” Her voice was light and airy. As I looked at her, I could see the resemblance between the two of us. It was almost startling. “We’re just the youngest.”
“Where are my other children? Are they your siblings, or Stitch’s children?” I had so many questions. I wanted to meet them. After losing my baby a few years ago I felt a desperate need to have someone to care for; a need to be a mother.
There was an uncomfortable silence between us. “Most of them have passed away. We have two other siblings, Carter Woolfe, and Regina Martin. They’re over fifty, they know you, spent most of their lives with you, until Stitch took you away before father got you back. That’s when you had us.” she said quietly. “With him, you have five children that are still alive. Two daughters and three sons.”
I gasped. A tear slipped from my eye as I smiled at them. Our waiter arrived then, and I watched as everyone grew stiff.
“My name is Murroa and I’ll be your waiter this evening.” said the man. I looked up and felt my skin go cold. This man, Murroa looked shockingly familiar. The boy from the hospital. “Nice to see you again, mother.”
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