Chapter 1: Bad Dreams and Good Friends

If you keep your mind sufficiently open, people will throw a lot of rubbish into it – William A. Orton

I was in a misty area. It was cliché, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. The air had a cold, damp feel to it and I felt it bite through my Nightmare Before Christmas PJs and grab at my skin. I plodded on, knowing that whatever waited through the fog couldn’t be good, but I didn’t have anything better to do so I went anyways. I was scared, but I hadn’t come across anything that justified my fear yet. Maybe it was the wait for something scary that was freaking me out.

After a moment, I felt my foot squelch into something…well… squelchy. I paused and looked down, hoping to god I hadn’t stepped in dog crap and lifting my foot to inspect the damage. To my surprise, instead of brown sludge, I found a viscous red substance slathered along the length of my foot.

Blood.

This should have set me running home screaming like a little girl, but I stopped short when I heard a deep, familiar voice whisper my name.

“Kaie…”

Oh, god. Keir!

I couldn’t see the blood puddle through the fog, but I took another step and found that the fog was starting to thin a bit. In a moment, I could see down to the ground and I found myself following a bloody trail. This lead to a dark figure lying on its back on the ground, blood running thick from a wound in its stomach and coating its pale skin before running into the earth. I knew him by his black hair, fierce eyes and large bat wings, sans the thumbs.

I felt a stab of pain tear through me as I dropped to my knees at his side, grasping his frozen hand and looking into his sad gray eyes. His lips parted, letting a thin trail of blood run down his face and revealing sharp, vampiric teeth.

“Keir,” I whispered. Oh, god, I should never of left. This would never have happened if I’d stayed with him.

“You came back.” Keir whispered, his words coming out in exhausted gusts of pain. He gave me a sad smile and murmured, “I never thought you’d come back…”

“I’m sorry.” I breathed, tears running down my cheeks, “I should have come sooner…”

“It doesn’t matter.” His breathing was irregular and he fought for every gasp. He struggled to fill his lungs with air before gasping, “At least… you’re here now.” The air escaped his lungs in a slow, continuous trail as he closed his eyes. He didn’t try to breath again.

That was when I woke up, my face wet with tears and my hand still curled as though I was clutching someone’s hand.

Keir, I thought, my heart clenching painfully, I miss you so much. A vision of his face passed before my mind’s eye. I concentrated on his dark eyes, remembering their pained sorrow. Why did I have to go?

It was the beginning of December now, and I’d been to Deverell in august. It had been four months since I’d been there, and I couldn’t stop thinking of Keir and Vincent, the demon and baby dragon I’d met there. I turned to face the wall and pulled the blanket up to my chin, closing my eyes, but I didn’t sleep.

I was in school, daydreaming. My thoughts drifted to Keir and I forced myself to concentrate, recalling every single detail about him until he stood out firmly in my mind.

It’s been three months. I reminded myself. He’d be totally better by now…

I’d been toying with the idea of going back to Deverell, Cerdwin or no Cerdwin. After all, I was totally healthy again and I missed him like drought-starved soil missed the rain. But there was so much that could go wrong… what if I didn’t end up near Keir? What if something terrible had happened and Keir was gone? What if…

It doesn’t matter. I reminded myself. If I concentrate, I’ll end up near him. There’s no reason not to take the risk. I owe him that much… and he loves me. Doesn’t he deserve to see m again?

Of course he does. I’ll go tonight. My heart skipped a beat in excitement.

“What do you think, Kaie?” asked the teacher, interrupting my thoughts. “You just seem so interested in what I have to say.”

My history teacher was my favorite teacher in the world, though I hated history and always would. He was in his early sixties and in dire need of a knee replacement and a style upgrade. He always wore black, navy blue or brown turtlenecks tucked into faded blue jeans and you could tell what day of the week it was when you saw his shirt. During June he switched to golf shirts (blue, brown or gray) and ALL the students noticed, even if they weren’t in his class. Most of his students loved him despite the boring garble he taught them. The ones who didn’t where the students that hated all teachers and failed every class to prove their point.

I gave him a helpless smile. “Sorry. I’m a little off today.”

“Yes, I know. Try to remember that this is a required course, alright?”

“I’ll do my best.” I promised, but the moment his eyes were off me my mind drifted off again.

I’ve been eating lunch with my two best friends, Erin and Leah, for as long as I could remember. Erin is short, curvy and beautiful with dark brown eyes. Being from Spanish decent, her skin has a warm cast that made my already pale skin seem sickly I comparison. Her hair, slightly curly, was a long shiny black that I’d always dreamed of having. Her cheekbones and nose fit perfectly in her delicate face, and her dark eyes seemed to drill into you with an otherworldly intensity. She was brave around friends, but with new people she was shy and most people didn’t get to see just how wonderful she was. She wanted to be a voice actor, and her voice was so beautiful and dramatic that I knew her dream would come true. She had her silly moments, but that’s why I loved her. She made me laugh.

Leah was about an inch taller than Erin and skinny with short curly hair and a nose that basically announced that she had character. She had warm blue eyes and loved to act and listen to music. She listened to my problems and gave me good advice most of the time. She and Erin got along pretty well, though Leah got along with everyone and had to be in the middle of hardcore PMS to be anything short of awesome. She wanted to be an actress and I knew she would be by sheer will alone.

“Kaie, something is wrong with you.” Erin said, poking me with an inquisitive finger. “You haven’t been yourself for a few weeks. You’ve been blowing us off, and you’re quiet all the time. Not to mention you ignored me when I tried to give you this.” She waved a burnt CD in my face. “My Chemical Romance. You know you want it.”

I sighed, pushing her hand aside. Though My Chemical Romance was one of my many favorite bands, I simply had no interest in music lately. Besides, now that I knew that I was going back to Deverell soon, I could barely keep my mind tuned into Erin’s words.

“Yeah.” Leah broke in. As she spoke she revealed a small space in her two front teeth, which also added a whimsical childlike quality to her face. “I wish you’d tell us what was the matter. We could help you. You know that. But no.” she sighed. “You think that you can bottle up your emotions until you explode, and then Erin and I have to clean up the mess.”

“Cleaning… me no likey.” Erin agreed.

“Thanks for that.” I muttered.

“Alright, all kidding aside, what’s the matter?” Leah asked.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” I said.

“Prove it. Have us over for a sleepover tonight. Then we’ll stop bugging you.” Erin muttered, tucking the CD back in her binder.

“… How exactly is a sleep over going to prove my normalcy or lack there of?” I asked.

“… Actually, I’m at a loss here…” Leah coughed.

“… I dunno…” Erin shrugged. “If you’re normal, you’ll act like you always do at sleepovers. If not, such is life.”

“Hm… a forced sleepover with my friends…” I sighed. “Let me ponder this for a while… NO.”

“Then we won’t stop bothering you.” she insisted.

“Erin, I don’t-“

“Will we have a sleepover?” she pried.

“I don’t know.” I muttered.

“It’s yes or no!” Erin cried, “There is no in-between.”

I glared at her. “Fine. I’ll have you both over for a sleepover tonight, all right? But you don’t have to worry. I’m fine.”

“… I love how I get no say in this.” Leah muttered sarcastically.

“Don’t be a bugger.” Erin retorted. “You’re only jealous because you don’t have a CD.”

“… and what makes you think I want to listen to some emo band talk about cutting themselves whilist mutilating a guitar?” Leah asked.

“Blasphemer!” Erin cried.

I glared at them. “What are you guys, two?”

“Alright, so, time for planning…” Erin cleared her throat. “Want to rent a movie?”

I shrugged.

“My god, you are, like, completely… nyeh.” Erin shrugged. “You are a pitiful shell of yourself.”

“Bite me.”

“What movie shall we rent?” Leah asked.

“Van Helsing.” I muttered.

“Van Helsing? That’s depressing.” Erin shrugged the suggestion off. “We aren’t watching that.”

“See, you always shrug my suggestions off.” I muttered. “That’s why I never volunteer.”

“… Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.” Leah sighed.

“I’ve seen that too many times.” I muttered. “Why not the second or third one?”

“Because you’ll get all emo over Davy Jones and I’ll never hear the end of it.” Leah muttered. “Tortured soul my ass…”

“Just because the tentacles bother you.” I managed a chuckle. “Come on, you know he’s sexy.”

“… Um… eww…”

“There’s the Kaie we know and love!” Erin grabbed my hand. “How about Lord of the Rings?”

“Too long.” I muttered.

“BEOWULF!” Leah cried happily.

“Yes!” Erin agreed.

When Leah, Erin and I had gone to see Beowulf in theatres, we all got bored with the ending and Leah and I had improvised some new dialogue while the movie was still going. We pissed off everyone sitting in front of and behind us, but it was still entertaining. Especially when we made up a whole new side story about Beowulf only truly ever being in love with his horse.

“Sure.” I sighed with a shrug.

“It’ll be great, you’ll see.” She punched me shoulder as the bell rang. “Oh, come on. Drama time.”

“Huzzah for the class where we screw around endlessly and therefore receive a credit!” Leah cried.

We gathered out things and started towards the drama room. “You’ve been planning this for a while, haven’t you?” I asked Erin.

“What?”

“This sleepover… thing…”

She nodded. “About a month now, actually. Just think of it…” she sighed, “We’ll come up with a whole new ending.”

“… I thought the ending Beowulf took over the world by shape shifting into the Angelina Jolie demon thing was cool…” I muttered. “You can’t improve on perfection.”

“And Beowulf is hot…”

“… He’s a bit… ‘Notice me! I’m the great and mighty Beowulf! I sleep with everyone’ for me.” I replied. “Also, the whole ‘random things cover my dangly bits’ scene was a little far-fetched.”

“Oh, this from the girl in love with Davy Jones… and Barbossa… and Gibbs… and all the other gross guys in Pirates of the Caribbean.” Leah muttered.

I made a face. “You forgot Ragetti and Pintel. And they aren’t gross. They have character.”

“… Gross character.”

About fourteen hours later I lay in a sleeping bag on the floor in my room, staring into the darkness… but I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t get Deverell (or Keir) out of my mind. I missed them both terribly, and I hadn’t considered that I wouldn’t be able to go to Deverell while my friends where sleeping over.

Then I had another thought. Who the hell cares? They invited themselves over. Mom can explain. Keir is the one who needs me. And besides, they’re asleep. They won’t even notice that I’m gone.

I’ll do it! I’m going to Deverell!

Unbeknownst to Kaie, Erin had been awake the whole time, worried about her friend. When Kaie got up and found something in her jewelry bag, she snapped to full attention and watched her friend fasten it around her neck. After that she went into the top drawer of her dresser and pulled out something that looked green, but Erin couldn’t be sure in the darkness. When Kaie went into the bathroom, Erin woke Leah up.

“Get off me!” Leah muttered. “I’m trying to sleep…”

“Kaie’s acting weird.” Erin murmured.

“What do you mean? She’s right…” Leah reached out and put her hand where Kaie had been lying, only to find an empty spot on the floor. “Oh…”

“She’s getting changed in the middle of the night, and it’s a costume or something. You’ll see when she comes back.”

They both sat silently for a moment, and sure enough Kaie came back into the room wearing a green tunic, brown pants, and black boots. Silently she went up to the mirror, her face a ghostly, eyeless reflection upon the glass. Leah noticed something shiny around her neck.

Kaie put her hand up to the mirror and it went through. Light spilled out around her. Wind suddenly blew in and around the room, blowing Kaie’s hair around her face.

Both girls sat up and grabbed Kaie’s legs just as she stepped into the mirror, screaming like a couple of crazed idiots when the mirror touched their faces.

It felt like going through liquid silver. They couldn’t breath. They felt like their lungs would burst. They were sure that they were about to die until Kaie took another step. Then another. She kept walking until they came to the end of the silver portal, and fell down, down, down…

Keir stood at the window of his castle, far above the ground. At his neck was a silver chain with a ring on it, it’s shine obliterated from constant handling.

He often spent his nights like this, standing at the window and simply remembering his time with Kaie. It helped him get through the sorrow, and so long as he knew that she was safe…

I miss her so much. He thought to himself, reaching for the ring at his neck, I just wish I could see her… one last time…