Hello and welcome to my new little story! First of all, a very important note: This is kind of a crossover. The plot is based on a movie, a very wonderful German movie called Die Blaue Grenze that I saw last year late at night on tv. It touched and fascinated me, as it had a unique atmosphere. I wanted to write a story that transported this atmosphere, so I placed Bartimaeus and Kitty into the story and then was surprised what happened... the setting is unusual for a Bartimaeus fanfic, but I hope you like the story nevertheless. Now have fun with:
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The Blue Borderline
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When I was a kid, my grandma used to tell me legends, stories as old as the memory of mankind.
One said that in the old days, men and djinn and the dead lived together in one world. But with time the djinn became too mighty and the dead became too many, and the people feared them. So they banned the spirits to the Other Place, and they locked the dead in the mirrors.
But sometimes when…
Sometimes when we look at our reflection, they are there, looking over our shoulders.
And all the time there is a numb ache, a secret, subconscious longing within all three kinds…to be in each other's company again. I think here…might have happened something like this.
We all shall meet eventually, at the bluest borderline…
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Bye
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This was my favourite time of the day, when the air was cool and foggy. Everything was grey and calm and the cold didn't let you miss a sound as I made my way through the silence of the moor.
Yes, I was back on earth again. Four years had passed since the Nouda incident, and though in London I'd been reported dead, the news hadn't reached the shores of South England yet.
Thankfully my new master was quite alright, though bitter and afraid of people. He lived insular near the shore, in the middle of this big and lonely moor, and I could guess that life hadn't meant well with him.
Actually he only summoned me because he needed someone who helped him with the house, as he couldn't afford to pay a human assistant and the company of imps bored him.
The morning when everything changed I was on my way back to my master's house from a shopping tour. From afar I saw a foreign man leave the little house and drive away on an old and shaky scooter.
Without a sound I entered the house. Silence was somehow natural in this house, but the silence was different now, deafening really, pressing down on me. Something had happened.
The old man sat at the kitchen table, staring out of the window. I coughed. "What happened?" He didn't move.
Right, ignore me. I began to stow away the groceries I had bought for him, when he finally spoke. "My son has died" he croaked. I raised an eyebrow. "You have a son?" He still stared out of the window. "My wife and I, we broke the rules. She died so long ago back in London. They took my son away from me, and I cursed them and left the city forever."
"How do you know he died?" I asked.
"His neighbour came to tell me." Now he buried his face in his hands. "He had lived here all the time...just a few miles away."
I didn't know what to say, and therefore went for the cleverest option: keeping silent.
And again I realized that I had changed over the past years. I didn't feel like making fun of his sorrow, it didn't make me happy. I rather pitied him.
He slammed his hand on the table. "I need to get out of here" he muttered. "Pack my things; I'll stay by the sea for a few days." I obeyed and hoped that I wouldn't have to accompany him. I'm a being of fire and air, and I didn't like the sea. Or water in general.
Once in my life I was lucky. My master ordered me to tend the house. "And take care of the funeral" he said. "Otherwise, do what you like, just stay somewhere near." I nodded.
And he was gone. I sat down at the doorstep and absently watched the long blades of grass sway in the wind. Behind me, the only sound was the ticking of the grandfather clock.
I felt like the last djinn on earth.
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A lonely figure on a cliff, the sea way down below; calm and peaceful today, all around the bluest light.
Kitty took a deep breath, inhaling the salty air, trying to adapt the calmness of the ocean to her mind.
Her poor grandma, and she wondered what made her come here, because she didn't think that she could watch another loved person dying.
Lonely, lonely, lonely, something inside her whispered. You are so lonely that you prefer the company of a dying old woman to your life in the city?
What life, Kitty argued. And grandma needs me, I'm the only one left that can take care of her.
She turned away from the open sea and carefully searched her way through the rough pieces of rock into the silent autumn forest, and further to her grandma's little house near the beach. No sound but the ticking of a clock. Her grandma lay in bed as always. Sleeping soundly.
Tic. Tic. Tic.
This clock was mocking her. "I need to get out of here", Kitty thought.
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I hate water. I hate rain. I hate getting wet generally. But I had promised to take care of the funeral, so I stood there in the maddening rain and waited for the priest to be done with his prayers. It was a depressing thing, this funeral. I was the only attendant.
"Amen, amen", I mumbled when the priest had stopped talking. He shook my hand and turned away quickly to escape the rain.
I was left there alone, staring at the open grave. What am I doing here? Damn it; get out of this unnerving shower. But somehow I couldn't just leave without a word. I raised a hand vaguely.
"Bye", I said and went away.
I so have to get out of here.
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Now guess what happenes next...;)
see you next chapter, I hope. Please review and tell me what you think!
3 Nari