Note: I own nothing but a trench coat, Leta Baaning, and a Wonder Woman lunchbox, the rest is someone else's
Chapter 1: Dreaming Reality
She was having the dream again. Same dream every time. The images were hazy. Just impressions really. All she knew of the dream was screams and flames. She didn't know what scared her more. The dream or the fact that she was so use to the dream that she was no longer phased by it.
Her therapists would have said that it was her mind trying to protect itself from the memories of her parents' deaths. Her uncles would have said that she was reading too many novels. The nuns would had said that it was another sign that she needed an exorcism. Gotta love options.
She would go with option number four, which was to keep it to herself. There were somethings that she didn't feel she should share. Not even with her uncles. So, she would keep silent and endure.
The dream was thankfully interrupted by a loud thumping sound. Opening her eyes, she tried to focus. There was one of the nuns looking down at her which made Leta wonder if she had been sucking on a lemon.
The nun frowned, "Leta Baaning! What are you still doing in bed? It's almost ten a.m. You were up late again reading that trash. God does not take kindly to such slothfulness. Get up now. Mother Superior wishes to speak to you. Do not keep her waiting."
Leta groaned and hid her head under the pillow. The nuns were always fond of tell her of what God wouldn't take kindly to. Made her wonder what God would approve. She never asked. Didn't want a dead nun from a heart attack on her conscience.
As she got up from her bed, a book fell to the hardwood floor with a solid thump. On the cover was a blonde man in a white shirt and a rumpled tie smoking a cigarette. The title was Original Sins from the Hellblazer series. Yeah...the nuns had a field day with that one.
Picking up the book, she started to get ready for her meeting with Mother Superior. Leta didn't know what the meeting was about. Maybe they were going to finally kick her out. Highly unlikely. Her uncles did a lot of stuff for the Church. Short of her burning the place down while dancing naked, she didn't see them kicking her out.
Before she left, she looked into the mirror and wondered what kind quirk in her genetics made her look like she did. Oh! She knew that she was lovely. It's just she looked so...odd.
The girl staring back at her had pale skin. The kind of pale that reminded people of Snow White or a very pretty corpse. She never tanned or burned. It was kind of freaky. Her hair was a dark red. So dark that in some lighting it could either look black or even purple. She had gotten some looks with that. Most people thought she dyed it, until they found out she lived in a convent. No hair dye to be found here. Her strangest feature though were her eyes. They were a pale violet color with gold flecks in it. They tend to unnerve people, when she made eye contact. Probably why she made it a habit to look down most of the time. It wasn't humility. She was just tired of freaking people out, when she looked them in the eye.
It didn't take long for her to get to Mother Superior's office. She had been there so many times for various reasons that she could walk it blindfolded. Going over the thinking that she had done the last time she came here, she was certain that she wasn't in anymore new trouble. There could a rehashing of old though. Nuns had good memories like that. It was kind of unnerving at what they could remember.
After knocking on the door, she peeked into the room. The office was dark wood with a lot of books. Old leather ledgers were strewn about in a careless manner.
The convent didn't have electricity. So, there were no computers to be found. The nuns probably would be upset if she used candles to read at night. Luckily, her uncles gave her a flashlight long ago, and supplied her with batteries. If it wasn't for their gift, she probably would have tried to break out more.
Mother Superior was sitting at her desk working on one of the many ledgers. Wire rimmed glasses perched on her nose. Leta was always amazed at how the woman's glasses never fell off. They probably were afraid to do so. Not that Leta had anything against the nun. Of all of them, she tolerated the strange young woman the most. Of course, that wasn't saying much in Leta's opinion.
Picking her way through the piles of books and papers that laid on the wooden floor, she settled into an old worn leather chair. From past experiences she knew to just wait, until the woman was ready to talk. Rushing a nun was a good way to incur their wrath. So she just plucked at the material of her black dress. She was no longer a student at the school, but she wasn't invited to take vows either. It put Leta in a strange kind of limbo.
After a few minutes the older woman looked up from her writing, "I heard you have a new reading interests. Sister Mary Rose gave me quite the ear full. Hellblazer? Really, Child. That is almost as bad as the time you brought Stephen King's Needful Things to Mass. You were just lucky that Father Donovan is a fan of that stuff."
She paused with a smile on her face before continuing, "I myself don't care what you read. If you like that stuff, it's fine. Just keep it in your room. That's all I ask. Now, this concludes me reprimanding you. I have other news for you."
Leta couldn't help but smiling. Mother Superior could be pretty cool sometimes. After the Needful Things scandal not only did she stand up for Leta, but even gave her some Ray Bradbury books to add to her collection. Still didn't make them best friends. Mother Superior had her place and Leta had hers. The nuns would never let them forget that.
The older woman's voice broke through her thoughts, "Your uncles are coming for a visit. I think Sister Mary Agnes finally wore them down. Your future is to be decided, and I say about time. Keeping you here isn't fair to you, Child. I know they are protective of you, but there is protective and smothering. I think they passed smothering three years ago, when you turned eighteen. You need to live your own life, and they need to respect that."
Leta couldn't help but smile at that. She knew that Uncle Mike would be laidback and cool about her future. Uncle Gabe though...that was a different story altogether. Leta didn't even want to think of his reaction to all of this.
A deep gravelly voice told her that she would be seeing it soon enough, "We respect our niece completely. It's everyone else we don't trust. Bunch of talking monkeys the lot of them."
Uncle Gabe had wide blue eyes that could terrify a person with a look. Paired with his slicked back dark hair and addiction to wearing black, he would make anyone take a step back. It was only with Uncle Mike and her that the warm smiles and laughs came out of hiding.
A more playful tone came from behind Uncle Gabe, "Stop being such a snob. Most people are fine. Just got to have a little faith."
Uncle Mike was different than Uncle Gabe. He wore his hair long and loose. Usually wore a tan trench coat. Even in the summer. He would say that it was to keep all his cool vibes. She didn't know about that. She just knew that she adored both of her uncles.
While the uncles were giving each other looks, Mother Superior stood up, "Leta is a grown woman. You need to have faith in her. She needs to make her own decisions. You can't keep her hidden here forever."
Uncle Gabe gave Mother Superior a withering look. The kind of look that would make babies cry and dogs run away yelping. The older woman was unphased by it. This just raised Leta's opinion of the nun higher. Even Uncle Mike was known to fold under that look.
Finally realizing that he wasn't getting anywhere, he said, "We'll talk about it later. Right now we need to get settled. It was a rough case."
He gave Leta a small wave and a smile before leaving. Uncle Mike just rolled his eyes as his brother left the room.
Lighting a cigarette, he said, "Don't worry, Kiddo. We'll figure this out. You know how he gets when he has to be nice. Makes him crankier. If you want, I'll meet up with you at the maze. Just give me a minute to get settled and calm down Sir Grumps-A-Lot."
Before she could say anything, he left. Her uncles were whirlwinds in their own right. Sometimes it was exhausting to keep up with the. Turning around, she saw Mother Superior smiling.
The older woman said, "Go and get a breath of fresh air. The Good Lord knows that you're going to need to keep your wits around you for this. Just remember, Child. It's your life. Only you can live it. No one else. So, find out what kind of a life you want and get it."
As Leta left, she thought on what Mother Superior said. She was right. No one could live her life, but her. There was only one problem. She didn't know what kind of life she wanted. All she knew really was in the books she read. She was pretty sure that angels and demons weren't fighting on the streets, while a blonde man, who was a chain smoker, was sending evil spirits back to the abyss. Life wasn't like that. It was much more boring.
