Disclaimers:
The Night World and all the characters of the Night World books are not mine
nor will they ever be. But the characters that are not familiar are mine and if
you wish to use them for some oddball reason please ask me before you do.
Rating:
It starts off at PG but it might get as bad as R.
Rain Drops and
Wind Chimes
She dreamed
the twinkle in his eye,
His silhouette
against the night,
She felt his
breath, soft as a sigh,
His gaze a
burning, amber light.
She saw his smile
in her sleep,
His presence
had entwined her soul,
She thought
his love was hers to keep,
Without him
she could not be whole.
She searched
for years, heart in the stocks,
Lost in the
dark, she could not see,
Yearning to
turn back the clock,
She wished her
tears could set him free.
Prologue:
1980
The guy was looking at her
again. It unnerved her. He had been casting quick glances at her all evening
with those dark eyes, those dark and sad eyes. Those eyes seemed to cut
straight to her heart, waking a memory and she felt as if she had seen him
somewhere. But where? And was he finding her familiar, too? Or was it just her?
Was there something wrong with her appearance? Was it because she was looking
at the world in awe? She had been asleep for quite some time and the world was
new to her. So new. So many differences now as compared to how she had used to
live.
"Come here often?" the
guy suddenly asked her.
She looked at him in surprise,
stomach icy with nervousness. "Excuse me? Are you speaking to me?"
she asked in confusion.
The guy glanced at the bartender
swiftly before looking at her again. "Yeah," he nodded, a frown
wrinkling his smooth forehead. "No one else here but you and me. And
Jack." The guy looked at the bartender again. "Right, Jack?"
The bartender arched an eyebrow
at him.
She also cast a quick glance at
the bartender. But the bartender obviously had nothing to say and the quiet
young man continued to hold her attention. She turned to him once more, now
more curious than afraid. "And your question was...what, again?" she
asked slowly.
The guy rested his arms on the
counter with an exhalation of breath. "I said," he began again in his
soft tone, dark eyes meeting her royal blue ones, "do you come here
often?"
She shook her head. "No. No,
I don't." she answered, blinking. "I haven't been here…for a while,
actually." It was a piece of the truth, now that she thought of it. She had
wandered along this land before. She mentally shook herself, concentrating on
the young man. She could smell him, now that she was focused on him. She could
smell everything about him and he was familiar. There were many scents
surrounding him but deep, deep down she could smell him as he was. He was
vampire, she was sure of that. Perhaps as old as she was. And now that she
could look at him in unabashed interest she found his familiarity disturbing.
"I...I know you." She
whispered, shock suddenly beginning to course through her as another similar
memory was awakened in her mind.
The boy laughed and it came out
as a chuckle, soft and humorless. He lifted a glance of amber liquid to his
lips, the ice clinking inside and he drank.
Amber.
She stared at the liquid, at the
deep color, so strong, so powerful. Amber had always been a powerful color. She
realized her breath was shallow and she turned away from the boy to swallow and
clear her breathing a bit. Her frame rested along the counter and she allowed
it to hold her weight. She was suddenly too weak to do it herself.
"Selena Chimes." The
boy murmured, the name rolling off his tongue.
A cold shiver ran down her
spine. She quickly raised her eyes to the bartender but he was going away,
leaving the two of them to their privacy. She felt an inexplicable surge of
panic. She was alone, alone with someone who knew her, after all the time, all
the years she had been asleep, how did he know her? It was a set up, all a set
up, it had to be.
"How did you..." she
whispered incoherently, stiffening frantically. "How did
you...what...?" she looked toward him, blue eyes pleading.
And he was looking back at her,
dark eyes shining like liquid jet. A smile quirked at the corners of his mouth
as he took another sip of his drink.
And it hit her.
"Theorn?" she asked
faintly, stunned.
He arched an eyebrow and turned
away, lifting the glass against his forehead and closing his eyes. His body
relaxed, unlike hers which seemed to grow stiffer with each second that passed.
"That's who you are."
She said, staring at him. "Theorn!"
He shook his head, exhaling softly.
"That's not my name anymore." He said to her, although it seemed he
spoke to his drink. "I gave it up a long time ago."
"A long time ago?" she
asked him, staring at him keenly. He was wavering slightly and she could easily
see him pitching forward unconscious across the counter. "How long have
you been sitting here, Theorn? You seem quite intoxicated."
He did smile then but the
expression was laced with weariness and sadness. "I'm celebrating."
He said faintly, and he shook his head slowly. At himself perhaps.
Jack returned then, a glass of
the same amber liquid in his hand. He placed it before her and then glanced
quickly at Theorn. Theorn nodded and Jack left once more without a single word.
She looked at the glass, careful
not to get drawn into the color. "All right." She agreed to him
quietly. She lifted the glass into her hand. "What are we
celebrating?"
Theorn held out his nearly
drained cup and they clinked glasses. "The rebirth of my soulmate."
He answered. And he tipped his head
back and gulped down the drink.
She stared at him again. His jaw
was clenched, tension suddenly radiating outward in palpable waves. He gazed at
the cup, gripping it forcefully. She expected it to crack under the pressure
any second. She looked down at her own glass and then tipped her own head back
to taste it.
It burned a bit. But it felt
good.
The left side of Theorn's lips
lifted. And as he looked at her, he laughed. A real laugh. It did wonders to
his sad eyes and face. He deserved to laugh like that, she knew.
"Congratulations." She
nodded to him.
They settled into silence, the
only sound being the ice clinking in the glass as she shook the liquid. Jack
returned momentarily to refill Theorn's glass before going away once more. And
then it was them again, lost souls drowning their sorrows in brandy. She
stopped to stare at the liquid and felt herself get drawn in again. She wanted
to get drawn in. She wanted to drown in the liquid. The color, amber. So much like...like...
"So, when did you wake
up?" Theorn asked her, crunching on ice.
She continued to stare at the
drink. Amber. Golden-orange. Amber. "Yesterday." She whispered
absentmindedly.
Theorn spared her a glance.
"Wow. Been a while then. Longer than me, that's for sure." He nodded.
He crunched again, hesitating. And he hesitated for a while, the silence
threatening to overwhelm them once more. But after what seemed like a small
eternity had passed he finally spoke again. "They're still asleep, you
know..." he said faintly. "The dragons. Still hidden away."
She exhaled, feeling like a
flower falling in on itself. "I know. I figured as much." She said
sadly. She lifted the glass to her lips, to drink again. But she realized that
she didn't want to drink it, her eyes catching on the surface of the liquid.
She didn't want it, didn't want to disturb the smoothness. If she drank it, it
would go away, all go away. All she wanted to do was stare at it, stare as she
had once, so long ago...
She lowered the glass, shaking
the thoughts from her muddled mind. "I just don't know why I'm awake. I
was supposed to sleep forever." She said with a frown.
Theorn was still looking at her
but he suddenly stopped crunching on the ice. He eyed her warily, lips parting.
"Cassandra's dead, Selena." When she looked at him, eyes wide with
shock, he nodded. "She was staked two days ago by one of those vampire
hunters."
She blinked at him dumbly.
Things were moving too fast. All the years asleep had numbed her brain, her
thought processes. They were fried. "How…did you know..?" she whispered,
feeling a strange sense of vertigo wash over her. "How did you know it was
Cassandra who…" and she stopped.
Theorn eyed her again, an
eyebrow arched.
"You were the first." She
uttered. "All those years ago, you were the first. To sleep." She looked away,
eyes wide, as it all began to make sense, as all the pieces clicked into place.
"You were the one Cassandra put to sleep, the very first one."
Theorn turned back to his drink.
"What does it matter?" he asked bitterly, his earlier happiness forgotten. "I
might as well not have woken up at all." He shrugged, shaking his head at the
far wall, seeing things she couldn't. Demons he dealt with everyday, perhaps.
"My soulmate…she isn't with me. I doubt she ever will be."
She swallowed, gaze caught on
the liquid in her glass. Amber. "You made the rules of your pact." She murmured
slowly. "You asked to awaken when she was reborn, your soulmate. I didn't ask
to be awakened when Cassandra died." She shook her head firmly, feeling the
need to jiggle her brain awake. "Are you sure she's…dead?"
Theorn clenched his jaw. "Staked
by a vampire hunter." He stated coldly, emotionlessly. And his demons were
rising up again, she saw. He shut his eyes tightly and threw his head back to
take another swallow. A deep swallow of the liquid.
She slumped in her stool.
"That's it, then. That's why." She said dumbly. And then she closed
her eyes, shaking her head. "Damn it."
Theorn had lowered his glass and
was watching her sympathetically. "Now what are you going to do?" he
asked her quietly.
She swallowed thickly and
wondered that herself. She was alone, the only one of her kind to be awake, it
seemed. Stranded in a strange world that had grown old without her. She was
awake and that meant she had to live. She had to...
"I'm going to live."
She said. And then she nodded firmly. "I'm going to live my life."
Theorn smiled slowly, eyes still
on her. "Good idea." He said softly. "Everyone should do it if
they can. That's what life is all about."
He paused. She opened her eyes
and looked down at her glass.
"They'll be looking for
you." He added after a moment.
She nodded in silent agreement.
She had figured as much. Once they found out it would be time to run. And that
hurt. After so long, the dragons were still the animals that were feared. If
they found her, realized what she was…it would be over before it had even
begun.
Theorn hesitated once more,
wanting to say something, she knew. She felt the awkwardness and looked at him,
questioning him with her eyes. He stared back and finally said, "You could
stay with me for a while..." he offered reluctantly. His fingers were
tight once more around the glass, his knuckles white.
She studied him, wondering
vaguely if he feared her. "No." she said simply. She shook her head.
"If they know I'm with you they'll drag you down, too."
Not that he looked like he could
be dragged down any further. His was kissing pavement as it was. Alone.
Intoxicated. He wouldn't last much longer. How he had lasted the past few
millennia she didn't know.
"All right." He
nodded. He pushed aside his glass although he seemed reluctant to part with it.
"So. Tell me your story." He said easily.
She looked away and caught sight
of Jack hanging far off, eyes focused on something in the distance. Everyone
was distracted today, her above all. "My story or a story?" she questioned, looking back at him.
He shrugged wordlessly. "I don't
have a preference."
She sighed and wracked her
brain. "Well," she said, brightening a bit, "when I woke up in the
mausoleum I saw several books lying beside me. Recent books." She dragged
her eyes back to the drink. "Looks like Cassandra still watched over me
even after all these years."
"She did." He nodded
at her.
She smiled. "Right. Well.
They were books on mythology. And several passages were marked in each. But
there was one story that just seemed to stick out. And this story was in all of
the books. Cassandra knew when she had read it perhaps, knew it had to do with
me." She paused, lifting a finger. She dipped the tip into the amber
liquid and then lifted it to her mouth, allowing it to bead against her lips.
Theorn watched her.
"Do you know the story of
Selene and Endymion?" she asked him. And she was ashamed when she suddenly
choked at the end of her question.
Understanding seemed to dawn on
Theorn. "I've heard it. Once. Long ago." He answered. "But tell
it to me," He said quickly. "Tell it to me again."
She licked the drop of fluid from
her lips and inhaled. This was going to hurt, she could feel the pain and she
hadn't even started. "There was this Goddess. Goddess of the Moon."
She began with a sigh. "And her name was Selene."
Theorn smiled, nodding slightly.
She continued. "The Moon
Goddess fell in love with a human by the name of...Endymion." She
whispered, allowing the name to come out like a faint breath. She ran her
finger along the rim of the glass, trying to hold onto her composure. "But
the Moon Goddess could only visit him...Endymion...in his sleep. So the Gods
placed Endymion into an eternal sleep." She looked at him and he thought
he almost saw tears shimmering in her eyes. But when he blinked they were gone
and she was merely staring at him sadly. "And Selene and Endymion were
together forever."
Theorn lifted the glass of amber
and ice to his lips and began to crunch again.
She bowed her head. "When I
found the story I was heartbroken." She said softly. "I thought,
'That's the story of my life, right there.'" And she laughed quietly to
herself.
"Without the happy
ending." Theorn murmured.
She shook her head. "I
can't hope to find him." She said to him in a whisper. "Not after so
long." She lifted the glass and stared stonily at the liquid, blocking out
the tender memories that threatened to rise. "I have to move on."
He stopped her, slender fingers
staying her hand. He motioned to his glass with the other hand and Jack came
around, pouring more into Theorn's glass before leaving them once more.
She watched him as he picked up
his newly filled glass, the amber liquid swirling. He held it up to her,
tilting it toward her. "To what then?" he asked quietly.
She gazed into his deep eyes.
"To long life." She answered clearly. "Long life for the past
and its Legends."
Theorn smiled slightly, and
their glasses clinked together. Each downed theirs, Theorn taking it in stride
and she choking up on the burning liquid. He looked at her and she laughed,
sinuses suddenly clear.
The door jingled open.
Theorn glanced over his shoulder
toward the door and she did the same. A dark-haired young man with sunglasses
and dressed in a dark suit waited in front of the door patiently. He clasped
his hands before him and said, "Sir? It is time to go home," to
Theorn, voice soft and polite, a caring edge to it.
Theorn nodded. "Yes,
Nilsson. Yes, it is." He glanced at her. "My chauffeur." He
explained with a modest shrug. He rose to his feet, stretching a bit.
She smiled up at him. He always
had been tall, she remembered noticing, when they had run into each other
occasionally in the far gone past. "You've done well for yourself."
She said.
He glanced at her. "Took me
a while." He said quietly. He reached into his back pocket pulling out a
small folding pack made of skin. She watched as he pulled out a small white
rectangular card and accepted it when he handed it to her.
"Thierry." She read.
He nodded. "If you need
help, look for me." His dark eyes held hers for a moment. "And you
watch your back. If they find out you're awake they'll come looking for
you." He paused. "My advice?"
She arched an eyebrow and gave
him a curt nod.
"Change your name." He
said. "Change everything about yourself and just walk away from the past.
Do what I couldn't because if you don't, you won't be able to later." He
lifted the cup back to his lips, downing the remainder of the ice and crunching
loudly. And then he bowed his head. "Take care of yourself, Selena."
He turned without another word.
The man at the door held it open for him and as Theorn stepped out he turned
and left with him. She saw through the dusty and dirty windows of the bar the
long white car Theorn climbed into. She watched as the young man in black
entered the seat in front. And she watched, almost sadly, as the car pulled
away from the curb quietly, vanishing into the night.
"Change my name." She
murmured, still staring long after they had gone. She was brought back as she
looked down at her empty glass. Where had the amber liquid gone?
"Another?" Jack was
suddenly there, asking cautiously. "He gave me more than enough to cover for
you." He said and he held a bottle in his hand, a bottle of more amber liquid.
But it was close to finishing. Things were always coming to an end. A drink. A
life. A love. She stared at the bottle, caught by the deep familiarity of it
all.
"Such a beautiful color..." she whispered
wearily. It was all right that she wasn't making sense. Life had never made
sense to her, why should she pay it any more respect than it deserved?
Jack glanced at the bottle he
held in his hand. And then he looked at her thoughtfully, studying her with
compassionate brown eyes. He set the bottle down before her. "Take it with
you." He said quietly.
She stared at him, blinking and
then she lowered her eyes to the bottle with the delicious fluid. Almost as if
watching herself from outside her body she leaned in and wrapped her slender
fingers around the neck of the bottle. It was as if she could still feel him,
after all these years. "Thank you." She said to Jack faintly. And
then she rose, clutching the bottle to her chest and she left the bar, going
out into the night.