Chapter One: Monsters
Mindoir 2160
It was very dark, and bitterly cold. Too cold and dark for Jayne's liking - the monsters dwelled in the dark and the damp and the cold. She shivered and drew her blankets up to her chin, paralyzed in fear that the monsters would come and get her. She wanted so desperately to run to the safety of her parents but she knew she couldn't - she was a six years old - she was a big girl now; she had to be brave.
Besides...mummy and daddy have David to worry about now… She wrinkled her delicate nose, momentarily forgetting her fear. What kind of name is "David" anyways?
Suddenly, there was a loud creak and, with a startled squeak, she was out of her bed and across the room to where her older sister occupied the other bed.
"Lizzie! Lizzie! Wake up, wake up! The monsters are here!" Jayne whispered, her green eyes sparkling fearfully in the moonlight as she jostled the lump on the bed.
Her older sister ignored her to the best of her ability, pretending to be asleep, but finally Elizabeth could take no more. With a groan she sat up and glared at her little sister, her voice thick with sleep as she grumbled, "Jayne, how many times do I have to tell you: 'there is no such thing as monsters.'"
She shook her head in disbelief. "Daddy tells stories of them all time...'We must not look at goblin men, we must not buy their fruits. Who knows upon what soil they fed, their hungry thirsty fruits?'"
Elizabeth shuddered; she had always hated that bedtime story, but for some reason, Jayne loved it. "But that's all they are...stories. They aren't real." she sighed and pulled back her covers, making room for her sister to crawl into the bed next to her. "Now come to bed with me, ok? I'll protect you from those evil dust bunnies plotting revenge under your bed...that's probably what you're hearing."
She giggled and snuggled under the covers with her, feeling that maybe - just maybe - her older sister was right and the dark wasn't so scary after all.
Hannah Shepard woke early the next morning - her to-do list never ending - and as she set breakfast on the table her omni-tool chimed, causing the moody three-year-old David on her hip to give a disgruntled wail. She chuckled at him and burbled back, making him smile, as she checked the omni-tool to see the reason for the alert and gave a little scowl, "Elizabeth!"
Elizabeth poked her head into the kitchen from outside where she was working in the garden, her expression perplexed. "What did I do wrong now?"
Hannah's frown deepened at that. "Nothing yet. Go get your sister. She's wandered off past the set perimeter again."
"Again!? Can't we just save ourselves the trouble and put a leash on her?" Elizabeth grumbled, rolling her eyes.
"I'm afraid not. People would stare." Hannah chuckled. Watching her eldest daughter, who was a spitting image of herself, she called out, "Oh, and breakfast is ready! So be quick about it!"
Elizabeth didn't bother answering; she just raised a hand in acknowledgment as she trudged across the front yard and down the road to the little colony's village common where the children could often be found playing. There she found Jayne's two friends, Eric and Shaheen, but Jayne was nowhere to be found.
"Hey, you two," Elizabeth said abruptly, approaching Jayne's playmates., "Have you seen my sister?"
"Nope. Haven't seen her all day," Eric said easily, his obnoxious drone whirring behind him.
Unfortunately, Shaheen wasn't as good a liar. Guilt was plastered on his face as he stuttered and stammered. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at the two boys and folded her arms over her chest. Shaheen seemed to wither under her gaze. "She went to the woods!"
Eric glared at Shaheen, ignoring his friend's pleading looks before running off to return to the other children playing in the square. Elizabeth watched Shaheen take off after him, calling out to him angrily. For a moment she considered going after the two of them to settle the matter, but stopped herself. She had to find Jayne.
Already deep within the woods, Jayne all but forced herself to continue onwards - her two best friends had been too scared to come out with her and now here she was, all alone. The thick canopy of the trees blocked out the majority of the morning light, reducing it to a dim haze and making the woods feel cold and unwelcoming.
Cold and dark...where monsters dwell…
Suddenly, Jayne really wished Eric or Shaheen had come with her. She clenched her jaw a little, remembering the reason why she was there and feeling that horrible angry knot that was like an itch at the base of her skull. She had to make it go away. It wasn't normal. She thought she could trust Eric and Shaheen with it, but they were too scared. Stupid boys. Who needed them anyways?
Rolling her shoulders and then tilting her head to one side and then the other so that her neck made a satisfying 'crack', she took a deep breath and a faint blue glow appeared on her fingertips, causing her to smile triumphantly.
Jayne had little time to relish it though, for she heard the snapping of twigs and the loud, clumsy crashing of footsteps; someone - or something - was nearby. In the back of her mind, she wondered if her sister was wrong and, without her input, the faint blue glow coalesced into a tiny orb as she crouched down low to hide in the undergrowth and waited. If what approached was a monster, she would pounce on it and attack and run away before it could eat her bones
As the figured neared, she leapt with a loud cry and flung it as hard as she could. The blue wisp was only the size of a marble, but Jayne's aim was good and smacked right into Elizabeth's face.
"What the blazes was that!?" she asked, her tone a mix of anger and awe once she had recovered.
The forest wasn't called the Black Forest nothing: all she seen was a phosphorescent blue pellet rushing towards her before she had found herself knocked onto the ground.
"Elizabeth?" Jayne quavered, part of her hoping it was because she didn't want it to be a monster and part of her hoping it wasn't because then that meant she had just attacked her sister.
At the sound of Jayne's voice, Elizabeth stood and called back, "Jayne, it's me! Did you see that blue thing!?"
Jayne giggled, Elizabeth had no idea! But then her heart sank... should she tell her? Jayne's shoulders slumped as she thought back to her father's bedtime poem. She must have been bad and bought the fruit from the goblin men. She had magic...so did that make a monster? Could she risk telling Elizabeth?
"Oh, finally. There you are!" Elizabeth said coming up to Jayne, her dark brown hair disheveled and an angry red blotch in the middle of her face from where she had been hit by the tiny blue orb. "What do you think that thing was?"
"Ummm...Will'o'the'wisp?" Jayne suggested with a shrug.
Elizabeth put her hands on her hips and shook her head disbelievingly. "Well, c'mon, lets go home… Breakfast is ready. I'm hungry, sore, behind in morning chores, thanks to you, and we're going to be late to school, no doubt."
Jayne blushed sheepishly, mumbling her thanks and promising to help out as they raced home to wash up and get ready for the day ahead.
End of Chapter One
A/N: If you're reading this, thanks for sticking with me! This is my first attempt at both a Mass Effect fanfic and the wonderful but frightening genre of sci-fi! Yes that was Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti I quoted and I want to thank my beta-reader Supreme Distraction who saved me from run-sentences and the lack of pronouns! XD Thanks for reading and stay tuned for chapter two! It'll be up soon! ^-^