Summary: Claire was sent to Forget Me Not Valley by her Doctor in the hopes that a change of scenery would cure her Insomnia. What the Doctor didn't factor in was that Claire would meet someone who made her want to stay awake. Eventual SkyexClaire.
Apologies for the slightly boring first chapter, it was a necessary inclusion. This chapter talks about Claire's insomnia and shows some of the effects.
**
Sleep truly was an absolute and utter tease. Shamelessly she would encircle me, but never would she embrace me. She lingered, merely to entice me with her beauty and taunt me that she was so far out of reach. With feather soft delicacy she would cradle me in her arms but with such vindictiveness she would wrench herself away, imprisoning me for eternity in consciousness. She had condemned me to pillows made out of pure lead and blankets made solely out of sandpaper.
She was the reason I was incarcerated here, she had sentenced me to this solitary confinement. To this deserted, crumbling town where you could walk for kilometres before stumbling across someone else. Apparently though, simply residing in the town was not enough, due to Trent's misguided logic running a farm would be extremely 'beneficial' to my condition. Yeah right.
Every night was the same, as if I was watching the same pathetic rerun on TV. The hours would drag themselves by, minute by torturous minute as I would make utterly futile attempts to drift into a slumber. I would clench my eyes closed, in the vain hope that sleep would show mercy, would encompass me. Just for one night. So naturally, tonight was no different. My prayers had been left unheard for yet another night of misfortunate meanderings. And thanks to those wanderings I knew this Valley inside out; I had prowled the desolate streets and flitted through the bushes in my sleepless haze one to many times than I like to admit.
On a surge of impulse I broke my evening tradition of going to the beach to will the shadows away; instead I swerved, with a tad of reluctance, towards the Goddess Pond. I loathed the Goddess Pond, simply because it served as a constant reminder that yet again my prayer had been sentenced to a deaf ear. The Harvest Goddess, if she truly existed, had done nothing to earn my respect. In fact, quite the contrary, she had earned my absolute loathing. She dwelled, without a care in the world, in that cursed pond, receiving an abundance of offerings without offering a single ounce of compassion to my withering mind and oh-so-fragile health.
The moon wove a wreath of silver into the surroundings, basking the area in its ethereal splendour. A took a deep breath, and allowed myself to be hypnotized by the tentative ruffling of the trees and the sound of leaves catching the unsuspecting breeze but it was short lived, like anything remotely related to slumber. Out of nowhere a smattering of footsteps began to taint my daze and I was snapped, like a rubber band, cruelly and harshly back into reality. Alarmed I glanced back, my eyes drawn to a stranger skulking in the nearby bushes. If I had been anywhere else, I would have been severely freaked out, but well… I had, admittedly, seen stranger in this mermaid, witch infested land and secondly I was completely transfixed by him. He had translucent, porcelain skin that seemed iridescent under the moons glows and startling silver hair that cascaded just above his shoulders. He seemed to blend so perfectly with his surroundings, as if he was just a part of the night as the moon and stars. Sensing my unmoving gaze, the stranger's eyes snapped my way and he began to slither his way towards me.
"Pray, tell me what a beautiful maiden such as yourself doing out at this unseemly hour?" I could just catch the hint of flirtatious that was nestled amongst the 'innocence' in his tone.
"Does it matter?" I shot back, irritated. He had stepped out of the shadows, and the light was extremely generous to his devastating looks; highlighting his taunt cheekbones, mesmerizing eyes and perfectly sculpted lips. He shrugged nonchalantly at my words but appeared unfazed by my moodiness.
"So, if you aren't going to tell me why you are here, will you at least tell me your name?" He asked, smooth as silk. His voice completed the melody of the night and I was compelled by it. With a casual and slightly cocky flick of his hair, he sat down next to me.
"Claire" I muttered, my concentration slipping. Oh the effort it took just to say one coherent word.
"You're not one for conversation are you?" I strained to hear him, my ears barely registering his words.
"Are you going to tell me your name?" I forced the words out between gritted teeth, my eyes clenched shut. Concentrate Claire, concentrate.
"And ruin the mystique? Most certainly not" What mystique? I sat there, my face set in a hard line, as I tried to untangle the confusion from my mind and make some sense from what he had said.
"But you want to tell me; otherwise you wouldn't have asked me for my name" Deep breaths, you can do this. I chanted support to myself but the fractured words my mouth was adamant on emitting contradicted me and told a wholly different story.
"Are you implying that I only ask questions so I can answer them myself? I would loathe thinking that someone as stunning as you would dream to think so little of me." Hurt penetrated his usual seductive tone and I assumed if my eyes were open that his face would portray an equally wounded expression.
"No, I wasn't implying that at all, I was saying it directly, I thought the meaning was clear" I fought with every ounce of strength I had to keep myself painstakingly alert. Silence enveloped us as apparently he had nothing left to retort.
I chose to tune out his presence and resume keeping my slipping mind occupied by the unpredictable ripples of the lake. Goddess knows how long we sat there, the only indication that any time had passed was the gradual, albeit steady, light wavering on the horizon. Relief washed over me, and the tight ball inside my stomach unclenched, I had survived another sleepless night. Knowing I had crops to tend too and animals to care for I used every ounce of my energy to force myself upwards, unsure how on earth I would survive the strenuous farm work. that was in store for me. IWithout a backward glance I turned on my heel, leaving the silver haired man, whom I assumed was fast asleep, by the lake.
"It's Skye" His voice carried in the breeze, as if it was a ghost whispering in my ear.
"Huh?"
"My name is Skye, Phantom Skye, and I'm the prince of the stars, who prowls the darkness plucking woman's hearts from their chests" Rolling my puffy eyes, I ignored him and his underlying 'warning' of my heart being 'plucked out of my chest'. Such infuriatingly arrogance didn't deserve the slightest bit of acknowledgment. However as I was wandering down the path, my mind decided to, without my permission, acknowledge him quite a bit.
With his striking beauty, enchanting mystique and seductive tendencies he was night personified, and therefore everything I despised.
**
Some parts may seem hazy, and that's all to do with Claire's Insomnia. She slips in and out and the toll it has taken on her body has left her physically and mentally fragile so her body registers things slowly or not at all.
Anyways, reviews are appreciated.