This story takes place after Death of Shields, Life of Swords. It's about a year later, give or take. Jolie and Zack have become much closer. They have basically been wandering about and have found themselves far away from where we last left them last. Jolie and Zack found a small city where they have been hiding-out for awhile, but the small city is very, very short on water and it isn't very high on security.

The Dream

(Wow, what a creative title.)

Tap, tapty, tap-tap, tapty clank, clank, tap, clank, thud, screech, clank, tip tap The sound of a girl running over the rooftops, a bag held tightly in her left hand. She ran and leaped, ran and leaped. Her old and worn boots clicking on the hard surfaces. She lunged and grabbed at air several times before her right hand hit a gutter with a thud. She pulled herself up, her boots screeching on metal. She stood quickly and continued to move forward, running and leaping the spaces between the tall roofs. It was obvious who the young girl was. It was Jolie. She skidded to a stop as she heard voices below. "That ones dry now too. We need a new well and fast." A woman tilted her head up at the clanks and screeches coming from above. Upon seeing Jolie her sweet face turned to a frown. She shook her finger at the young girl, a hand on her hip. "Jolie! Zack has been looking all over for you. You need to tell people before you run off. One of those...monsters will kill you one of these days!" Jolie grinned, releasing her grip on a chimney and sliding down the wooden planks on the roof in an amateur surfing position. Squatting down, one arm in front of her the other behind her. She leapt into the air before hitting the gutter and hung in the air before plunging to the ground below. She landed on her feet and took off running before the woman could scold her further. She laughed happily, the fabric bag being tossed around as she sprinted down the dust road. Her feet left the ground as she jumped into the air again and grabbed onto a ladder that leaned against a short, stout house and she climbed up it quickly and swiftly. Zack watched Jolie run over the roof and leap to the next, then leap down through a door in the roof of one of the buildings. He shook his head and disappeared into the shadows again running to a hidden door in the side of the same building Jolie had disappeared into. The room was pitch dark and a little damp but soon he felt his way down a short stairway to an underground tunnel, which was lit by many candles. He could hear Jolie running somewhere out of his sight. He started to jog and the hall curved as he did, he soon found himself at a large and heavy door. He rapped his knuckle on it in a certain pattern. The door creaked open and he was pulled quickly inside and the door was shut behind him. The room he now stood in was lit by many more candles than the hall had been. Beautiful shades of blue and black lined the room. Huge blue and black, feather stuffed pillows were scattered around the room. Many of them had been brought from Zack's childhood hide away. Jolie lay back on a large cushioned pillow, her hands behind her head and her feet out before her, one resting over the other. "You're getting slow Zacky," Jolie said, smirking as he walked towards the place, which she sat and took a seat across from her. "Yes, yes, I know," he replied. "I'm getting old, go easy on me!" he responded jokingly. Jolie chuckled and lowered her arms from behind her head. She picked up the bag that she had been carrying and tossed it at him. He fumbled to catch it and his eyes widened as he almost dropped it. Jolie shook her head and smiled at her friend. Zack set the drawstring bag in his lap and opened it quickly. He pulled out a medium sized flask, which was filled with dark red blood. He looked at Jolie first grinning, then frowning quickly. "You killed someone?" he questioned her. "No! No, no, no! I wouldn't do that. Don't ask where I got it, just enjoy." He nodded, setting the flask aside and leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees, his hands hanging limply in the air before him. A boy, younger than Zack and about a year older than Jolie plopped down at Jolie's right side, resting his head on her shoulder. Jolie didn't try and push him off like others did but continued to lay back against the soft pillows, trying to still look at Zack across from her. The boy leaning on the girl, Jolie, had dark and musty orange hair that was cut somewhat shorter than Zack's and you could tell he had attempted to brush it forward but it had gone back to sticking straight up. His skin was whiter than most that lived in the area and freckles sprinkled over his cheeks and nose, his eyes were a blue-green and stood out on his pale face. Jolie sighed and the boy stood. "John, you think you could take Zack to the place where I found the water earlier?" Jolie asked. The boy gave a firm nod and soon the two of them were out the door.

Several hours later the entire group that stayed in the underground room had left to get water to bring back to the storage rooms in their underground city. All the men anyhow, that left the only girl, Jolie, in the room with the candles, pillows, and blankets. A faint trickle of water fell into the warm pool of water at the back of the large room. The sound soothed her and she sat in the middle of the room keeping her head up, legs crossed yet pulled up to her chest by her arms which circled them and hung onto one another in front of her knees. The vampire child's eyes were shut gently as the many candles cast long flickering shadows across her face and body. A sweet smell hung in the air; it was a perfect moment. Silence. She released her arms and straightened out her legs, falling back on the fluffy pillows and pulling a soft and warm blanket up over herself. Soon she drifted to sleep. She found herself outside a small house, it was snowing and the snow piled up to her knees, yet she wasn't a bit cold. She made her way to a window, now she was walking on the surface of the snow and left no footprints. She looked inside the window. There was a woman that looked much like herself and an older woman with white, wispy hair. Two babies lay bundled up in two small cradles. "I can't get this pot over to the fire, I fear it shall fall to the floor!" the younger woman spoke. "Daughter, you musent try to lift too much. You just had two children for heavens sake!" the white haired one spoke. The daughter sighed and shook her head; "Well what are we going to do? Wait for the men to return? No hot food for a week? I don't think that's wise mother. I can lift it." She picked up the large pot with a grunt and stumbled over to the fireplace. She tried to set the pot down but she twirled as she turned around and her skirts caught flame. She shirked and the elder woman stood and yelled at her to drop to the floor. The younger woman dropped the pot to the floor and it shattered to pieces. She screamed and turned around in panic. Her skirts brushed the wooden walls and they slowly started to catch and spread. She fell to the floor and rolled, the elder woman ran to her aid and helped stomp out the flames. Jolie saw her tears as she realized that the entire house was going to burn down. Jolie tried to run to help but her arms went through everything, it was like she wasn't even there. "Get out of the house Mother! Go! Run!" the younger, yelled. The woman did as told and fled the house, running outside into the snow. The younger woman ran outside seconds later. She remembered her children and turned to run back in. "No! Don't go in, you'll kill yourself!" the older woman yelled. The youthful one ignored her and ran into the house once again. Jolie watched her run and see her two babies wailing in their beds. She lifted the closer one into her arms and ran back outside, handing the child to her own mother and then ran back in. She was trapped and couldn't reach her child; the flames were too tall and created a barrier. Her flesh caught fire and she screamed a cold, black, scream of death. Jolie turned from the sight, tears stinging at her eyes. She couldn't watch the woman burn to death. Her eyes shut tighter than ever before. She opened her eyes moments later, she wasn't at the painful site any longer. She was now on a ship. The sky above was cloudy and nothing was in colour, only shades of blues and grays. She saw the older woman that had been at the house. She held one of the babies in her arms, and close to her body. She watched the waves roll by and let the sea mist blow on to her face. She had covered herself in clothes of black and wept silently. The baby was sleeping. A crewmember walked over to the woman and bowed his head in respect. "I'm sorry, I heard that your daughter perished in a fire a few days ago. If you would like we could take a time to respect the one you have lost while on the ship." The woman shook her head. "Thank you sweet lad," the woman responded. "When do we arrive to the foreign lands?" "In a few days we should be in sight of land," the boy responded. "This child will..." The woman was cut off by the sound of the men returning. Jolie opened her eyes and sat up. "What the hell was that all about...?" Jolie whispered to herself. Zack lay beside her now and had a blanket wrapped around him. Jolie smiled at him, he was cuter when he was asleep and not teasing her. "Goodnight Zack, maybe this dream will make sense in time."

To Be Continued...