The Sons and Daughters
Darkness swept over the land like a wave. She stood below a tall tree that seemed to cry and scream, clutching at her heart. She could feel it coming not just toward her but for her. It was calling to her and she knew she had to run; she had to get away as fast as she could but her legs wouldn't work. She tried to open her mouth to scream but no sound came out, only a whisper.
"HELP ME!"
The wave crashed over her and everything went black. She couldn't breath, couldn't move or even open her eyes. Pressure surrounded her body and squeezed so tight she felt like her bones might snap like twigs. And in the chaos of it all a voice entered into her head.
"I see you. I know where you are and I know what you are thinking. I AM YOU." Before her a huge eye appeared but it was pitch black, darker than even the tight lividity that tried to kill her. The eye looked down on her, and suddenly opened like a mouth and shot forward to swallow her whole.
-
She sat up with a jolt, covered in sweat and trembling. It was still night by the outside lights that shone in through the window.
'Run' her mind told her. Her gut told her to do the same and thus she did. Quietly she changed into a pair of shorts and a t shirt. Slipping on her Nike air runners, she grabbed her keys and slipped out into the hall while closing the door behind her and locked it. She put her keys into her pocket and started down the hall to the exit, and outside into the cold night air.
-
Pogue felt an urge to look out the window and did so. He'd already been awake all night studying for the coming test, so it wasn't a stretch to look out the window at the back side of the dorms. But in doing so he saw what appeared to be someone running. It was a woman no doubt, and he had a guess who. Most girls at Spencer Academe don't have hair that looks like living fire in even the dimmest light.
"D." he thought while watching as she continued to run. It was like she was running from something but nothing followed her. Her long legs carried her across the field and around the corner of the building. Turning his attention back to his text book, he shrugged mentally and figured he'd ask her in the morning.
-
From where Pogue sat he could see everyone that came into the class. Groups of friends entered and laughed as they joked about something funny. But it would be easy to spot D. She never really made any friends nor had any even when she was little. She'd always lived in the town and he grew up knowing who she was, but not really knowing her. He felt kind of bad but she never seemed unhappy. He'd talked to her on occasion and she was pretty nice, smart, and had one of those personalities that just screamed "I will set you ablaze" if you looked at her wrong. Her hair matched her personality and he figured that maybe she dyed her hair, but he had also heard rumors just like everyone else too.
"Pogue man, what's up?" It was Caleb like always with his laid back calmness. He looked to his friend for a moment before looking back to the door, waiting for her to come in.
"I'm not sure. But I saw D out running in the middle of the night last nigh like something was chasing her. She circled the dorms about five times before going back to her room." He said while catching a glimpse of red but sat it was only someone's book bag.
"So what if she was running? It's not like It's a miracle or something." He said while propping his knee up on the table. Pogue wasn't able to explain to his friend what he meant, so he only remained silent and waited.
-
Caleb and Reid watched as Pogue was oddly distracted over the redhead who's name they'd forgotten. Reid leaned over to Caleb and spoke in a low tone so they wouldn't disrupt their obviously preoccupied.
"What is his deal? He's been staring at her all damn day like she's the best thing since sliced bread." The boy shrugged and took a bite of his apple.
"I have no clue, something about seeing her out running last night. Who knows with him anymore." They watched as D stood and was about to toss her lunch away when someone asked for it. She hadn't eaten a bite from the looks of it. The girl nodded and handed her tray over before standing up and starting out by herself.
Beside Reid, Tyler sat down and looked to them and followed their line of site to D as she left and then looked back to them.
"I didn't know D was the next pin up model." He said with a sarcastic grin and watched as Pogue choked on his bite of apple. The three looked to the younger 'brother' like that was his first words in life.
"Obviously you know something we don't?" Caleb asked with a smile. Tyler shrugged and opened his soda before taking a sip of it.
"Well if you guys maybe bothered to talk to her you'd know what I know." He said while looking to the door.
"Wait, wait, wait…. Don't tell me you actually built up the courage to talk to a girl finally!" Caleb chuckled as Tyler's face turned as red as his shirt.
"No! Well yes… but that's not the point! What I mean is talk to her as a human being, not like the rest of these fucktards." He said motioning to the others in the cafeteria. Pogue leaned over backwards and looked to Tyler with a smile.
"So share little bro, tell us what makes her so special." The look on Tyler's face told them everything they needed to know. Pain, loneliness, and emptiness.
"Hell I could have told you that! Just by looking at the way she walks, she puts 100 of herself into everything." Pogue and Caleb both looked to Reid. He gave them an odd look back and then looked to Tyler.
"What? It's not like I'm dumb or something." He said looking around him. Caleb shook his head and took a deep breath. Something was different about her he thought. Something very different.
-
The long haired blond walked down the hall of the school heading outside to his bike. School was over and he needed a break for a while and Nicky's sounded like heaven on earth right now. Stepping out into the sun he instantly heard an odd noise. It was a mix between a shout and a laugh. Looking to where the sound came from, Pogue saw a group of girls standing over a shorter figure. She was lying on her side, hands over her head as the girls continued to drop her books on her, shouting things like "wanna be witch" and "loser". Pogue felt his anger rise and was about to walk over and knock some sense into the girls but stopped when he noticed something very odd. Her eyes. Unlike their eyes that go black, hers were white, pure white. He felt a cold chill run up his back and a tightening sensation around his throat like he was being strangled.
Suddenly one of the girls started screaming, patting at her legs and skirt like there was something in it. Slowly D stood up and grabbed her books while the others took care of their friend. The chill disappeared and the choking went away as D started toward the road, slinging her backpack onto her shoulders. Quickly Pogue pulled out his cell phone and called Caleb but he didn't answer his phone so he left a message.
"Hey it's me; I'll be at Nicky's tonight. Give me a ring when you can." Jogging over to his bike he put his helmet on and made sure the spare with still in the caring space under the back seat. Starting the bike up, he revved it a few times and took off down the road after the redhead. She hadn't gotten far and Pogue pulled up along side of her and took his helmet off and smiled when she smiled to him.
"Hi Pogue."
"Hey, I saw what happened back there. Are you alright?" She nodded and shifted her backpack slightly.
"Oh yeah, I'm alright. Just confused." She said while looking back to the road as he walked the motorcycle along side her.
"What's that?" She paused a moment before answering without looking to him.
"Why you're talking to me. You never do in school or when we were little." She didn't sound mad or upset, just honestly confused. He felt bad and knew she was a good girl. She never got into trouble, but she wasn't a teachers pet either. She was just… lonely.
"Hey, you wanna go get some food with me?" He asked with a smile while looking to her. He felt like perhaps he should make up for being so rude. She seemed to think about it for a moment before looking to him with a smiled and nodded.
"I'd love to."
-
Pogue was surprised that D had no problems ridding the bike, even when he opened it up wide and pulled it into a wheelie he could hear her whop and holler. He felt a unique energy rolling off of her. It was strong and passionate, but empty in a sense of longing. But it didn't take them long to get to Nicky's and the place was already busy like always.
-
D stopped at the door and looked in a different direction for a moment. Pogue realized she was looking in the direction of the chamber. He was silent as she stood looking off before she turned and smiled to him.
"Sorry, day dreaming." She nodded and pushed the door open for her. Stepping in she looked around like she was confused.
"Looking for something?" He asked right in her ear. She jumped lightly and nodded while holding her backpack against her chest.
"The bathroom." He smiled and pointed her in the right direction and watched as she started off toward the door marked with a pink female sign.
"Well, well! Is it me or did you just send a girl off to the bathroom without following her?" Pogue turned to see Reid standing at the pool table with Tyler beside him making a shot.
"And if I'm not mistaken that's D ain't it? What's she doin' here?" He asked while stepping around the table to make the next pocket shot. Pogue moved to sit at a table by the pool tables and propped his feet up on the other chair.
"Well… She kinda got her ass roughed up back at the school and she's fine, nothing too bad, but it's how she did it. I'll tell you more when Caleb shows up. But anyway, I figured she could use some company and take a break. Besides, she nice and you gotta admit pretty hot." Reid seemed to be pretty distracted to answer. He stood there for a full minute before patting Tyler on the chest and pointing to the entrance to the bathrooms.
"Well you can damn well say that again." Pogue looked over to what had caught Reid's attention and nearly fell out of his chair.
D stood at the bathroom door talking to someone she apparently knew from school. She had a pin in her hair of black silk, a rose with two little streamers from it. Around her neck was a large leather collar adorned with spikes and a silver ring on the front of it. She wore a tight quarter sleeve shirt that was a blue so deep it looked black. Little metal studs lined the sleeves and collar and sat along the shirt seems on the side. Her pants were loose camo pants obviously made for urban warfare by the color. To top it all off she wore black boots and bands of silver around her arms that looked like they could not be removed. Pogue guessed they were covered up by her school uniform, and that she must have had the change of clothes in her backpack. But out of the whole outfit there was one thing that stood out that he had never seen before. It wasn't even part of the outfit either, but he saw it. As she moved slightly, the bottom hem of her shirt lifted up and there was a dark line along her side that looked raised. At first he thought it was a tattoo which was very likely since a lot of the girls in his school got tattoos, but the fact that it was raised made it seem unlikely.
The redhead waved to her friend as she walked off and made her way back toward where Pogue sat with a light smile. She seemed so different now, but he could still fell a sense of longing and the need to belong somewhere coming from her. She sat down across from Pogue and smiled lightly, almost darkly and Reid came along her, leaning on his pool Que.
"Pogue why don't you introduce me to you're friend hm?" She asked while smiling to D. She chuckled lightly and Pogue stopped as he was about to introduce the two even thought it probably wasn't needed.
"It's alright Reid; I already know who you are." She said lightly with a smile to him. He stood upright and looked to her slightly confused.
"Well you know me but I don't think I know you." Pogue felt an odd spike through the room and he was pretty sure Reid and Tyler felt it too. D only smiled and chuckled lightly before answering.
"Maybe that's for the best." She said and he only looked at her before shrugging.
"Alright, your call." He said while turned back to the pool game to make his shot. D looked to Pogue and smiled lightly.
"It's been a long time since I've been out with any friends or for that matter talked to you. I hope you don't mind if I'm a bit silent." He nodded and smiled lightly.
"It's alright. I'm sorry I've kind of… ignored you. Even as kids I mean we lived right next to each other and even then I only knew your name." She smiled softly, almost sadly and nodded.
"Sometimes that the way life is, you just have to learn to deal with it." Pogue liked this girl. She was a fighter but she didn't fight life.
"There's something special about you D, but I haven't been able to figure it out yet."
-
Caleb watched from across the room with Reid and Tyler as D and Pogue laughed they're way through the night. The two seemed to be connecting so well and Caleb felt a sort of connection to her as well. Like the way a brother feels about his little sister, wanting to protect her and make sure she was okay.
"Caleb, you ever wonder if maybe she's got a gift or two." Caleb looked to Tyler with an odd look, and then let his gaze fall back to the two.
"It's a possibility. I'm not sure, but maybe."
-
D laughed and looked like she was about to fall out of her chair as she remembered when he had decided to shot pies across the field and ended up hitting a chicken, feathers and whipped cream flying everywhere. Pogue couldn't help but laugh either. It was the first time he'd gotten the potato gun he made to work, and it worked rather well.
But Pogue calmed down as he watched D. She was beautiful when she laughed, wild and full of life. As she started to calm, a very well known song began to play on the jute box, Back in Black by AC/DC. The blond watched as D began to move to the music and suddenly stood up.
"Something wrong?" He asked while getting up as well. She shook her head and smiled still moving, dancing to the music. He'd seen women dance before, but not as smooth and in tune with the music as she did. It was like the music took over her body and used it for it's self. She held out a hand to him and he could only look at it slightly confused.
"What don't know how to dance?" She asked as she continued to move. She wasn't being sexual in any kind of way, just calm and moving like liquid. Pogue looked to Caleb and the others. They could only laugh and watch. Out of no where, D grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the table and moved against him in a non sexual way, simply letting the music take over. He could feel the way her bodied moved in tune with the beat and felt it pulse into his own. It was wild like a storm but as controlled as each movement of a uniform dance. He followed easily, his hands on her hips and hers over his to help him guide him through the dance. It seemed like a meaningless movement, but he knew there was no wasted movement with her. Everything had a meaning. But as they danced, he felt his hand slip slightly and brush against the mark he'd seen before. It was a scar. And not just a little one either, about as wide as his middle and index finger together, and longer and his whole hand. But as they danced, he could feel the void in her again. It was so cold and loud. Like a stereo turned up full blast to drown out the loneliness. Looking back to Caleb, Pogue saw that he felt the same thing. It was so weird that they could connect to her so well, well enough to feel the missing part of her life. He wondered what it meant, what she was. A jerk on his hand though unintentional brought him back to reality and he realized right now, she was his friend and his dance partner.
-
As D finished her soda she looked to Caleb who had now joined him. Something was different about this boy but she couldn't put her finger on it. And with Reid and Tyler standing back behind her at the pool tables she felt like she was surrounded in a sea of power.
"So D, what does that stand for anyway?" Reid asked as he made his shot, the clank of pool balls against each other echoing lightly.
"Ah, it's an old family name." She said and took a drink of her cherry coke. Caleb rested his forearms on the table and leaned forward lightly.
"Yeah but it's got to mean something right?" He asked, really wanting to know more about her. She looked around a moment and was thankful there weren't many people in the tavern. All that were left were couples involved with each other. Turning her attention back to the two in front of her she took a deep breath and decided to tell them.
"My real name is Merdur." She was silent, expecting some kind of retort like everyone else gave her, a laugh or a snort of disbelief. But none came and she looked to Pogue and Caleb both, wondering what they thought of her now. Pogue only smiled and Caleb sat silent. He looked as if he was about to fall over or implode.
"Well I think it's a great name! It's unique and sure as hell leaves an impression." She turned to Reid as he spoke and smiled. He was right and had room to talk. After all his name was Reid and hell, even Pogue nodded. Not many people had their names and that's what made them so unique. Everyone knew who Pogue and Reid were without having to ask again.
"So what's you're last name then?" Pogue asked and suddenly thought back to the school yard.
"Bishop." She said and picked a fry that had gone slightly cold by now and popped it into her mouth. Tyler made his way around the table and as he leaned over to make his shot, he saw an odd little mark on the back of D's right and left arm. It looked like feathers but it was hard to tell.
"That's some fancy ink work." He said and D turned to smile at him.
"I didn't know you could see it." She said slightly and tried to look at the back of her arm but was unsuccessful. Making his shot, Tyler nodded and walked over to her and looked at it closer.
"How big is it?" He asked while lifting up the sleeve of her shirt lightly. D laughed and batted him away playfully.
"That's something a lady never talks about. If and when I see fit then you'll be able to see it to." She said softly but jokingly. Pogue wondered himself how large this tattoo was but figured she'd tell or show them when she wanted to.
"Hey guy's I'm closing up. Time to head out." Nicky said while wiping off the bar top. Pogue stood as well as Caleb, as Reid and Tyler cleared the table and put their pool sticks away.
"You need a ride back to the dorms?" Pogue asked, figuring that's where she stayed. D smiled and shook her head.
"No that's alright, I'll just walk home." Pogue was about to protest but Tyler stepped in.
"We'll take her home. That way Caleb can get a ride from Pogue." For a moment Caleb thought D was going to protest but she didn't, only nodded. Tyler was practically gleaming. He loved being able to show off his truck. Besides, he figured that with Tyler and D already being semi friends, it'd be easier for her.
-
The two boys stood watching as Tyler and his two passengers took off down the road toward her home. Pogue got onto his bike and handed Caleb the extra helmet, and started the bike up. He revved the engine slightly and waited till Caleb was on and secure before taking off back toward Caleb's home.
-
Sitting in the main forayer of the large home, the two youths talked quietly to keep from waking Caleb's mother.
"Her eyes were just… literally glowing white. It was like nothing I'd seen before. I mean yeah our eyes go black, but hers were white. Pure, solid white." Caleb sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees, seeming to be lost in thought. Pogue was silent as his friend thought quietly, taking a drink of his glass of water.
"Wait, what did she say her name was?" Pogue set his water down and thought for a moment.
"Merdur Bishop." Caleb stood from his chair and walked over to the book shelf and pulled down an old book. Opening it, he skimmed through it and stopped at one page.
"Bridget Bishop was the first accused and murdered woman during the Salem Witch hunts. She was hung on Gallows Hill on June 10th, and as this says here "Showed no remorse or fear of her impeding death. She spoke a pray for her damned soul and dropped to her death." Caleb walked over and handed him the book as he sat down. There was a drawn picture of Bridget and it was easy to see that Merdur was related to her.
"It still doesn't make much sense." Caleb stated while leaning back on the soft couch.
"Sure it does. Think about it what if Bridget really was a witch. It says right here she had one daughter. What if her daughter was born a witch too and so on and so on? It would make sense if she had the same strength and powers too. I mean, we get ours from our antecessors, why can't she?"
"But why would she come here all the way from Salem?" He asked. Something didn't add up. There was a bit of the equation missing and he wanted to know what it was. Pogue shrugged and closed the book while setting it down.
"Who knows why anyone does anything." Caleb was going to go insane with this; it just seemed weird that she appeared out of no where, a week before his ascension. Pogue stood and grabbed his jacket.
"I'm gonna head back, if you need anything give me a call." The black haired man nodded and watched as his friend stood and walked to the door before letting himself out.
"Who are you D?" He asked himself while leaning back in his chair and looked deep into the fire that crackled in its little nook.
-
As Pogue arrived back at the dorms he was surprised to yet again see D doing laps around the building. She looked worn out and tired like she'd been at it a while, though he wasn't surprised she looked the way she did, It was already close to four in the morning. As he approached her, she slowed and came to a stop, resting her hands on her knees as she breathed heavily, hunched over lightly. For a moment he thought she was going to throw up but she didn't.
"You know you could get in trouble for being out after hours?" He asked her with a light smile. She only smiled back and chuckled lightly.
"Yeah I know, but I don't really care much." Standing where he was, he could see she was sweating hard, but covered in goose bumps too.
"It's not really my place, but why are you out here? I mean I know you're running but don't you think it's a little odd?" Standing upright, D's back popped lightly and she groaned but not in pain.
"Well… uh… I sometimes get bad dreams and I have to run them out." She said feeling a bit like a fool. Pogue chuckled and nodded.
"Hey, do what ya' gotta do. But let's go in side. It's cold out here." The redhead smiled and nodded while starting toward the school with Pogue behind her.
-
As the redhead unlocked her door, she pushed it open and walked in while dropping her keys on the table.
"Make yer' self at home." She said while heading into the small bathroom to what he guessed, get changed. It was a good sized dorm she had, same size as all the others but set up so there was more floor room. Two beds, one for her and one for her dorm mate, a long table between the two beds and up against the wall, a dresser for each of their clothes and a huge book shelf, piled up with old books of poems and stories, school books, and a few comics.
The bathroom door opened and D stepped out dressed in boxers and a tank top with a towel around her shoulders. The bands were still on her arms and now he could clearly see the scars over her body. She smiled and stepped into the little kitchen and opening the miniature fridge, she pulled out a couple of A&W root beer sodas. Walking back to him she handed one of the sodas to Pogue and smiled.
"So who's your room mate?" He asked while opening the soda and looking around for any pictures that might give it away. Merdur sat down at the end of her bed and opened her soda, legs cross Indian style.
"Lilly Sire," She said while taking a drink of the soda. Pogue nodded and wanted to sit down but there wasn't much in the way of chairs. He turned to D when she chuckled and watched her stand from her bed, set her drink down and go to the closet. Opening it, she pulled out two bean bag chairs, one neon green the other black.
"Take your pick." Pogue looked at her then the chairs and smiled. This girl was a real kick.
-
D watched as Pogue nearly laughed himself into a coma from the Monty Python movie. She took a sip of her soda and smiled. After a while he was finally able to pull himself up into the bean bag chair and turned his attention to D.
"I forgot how funny this movie is." He said while smiling back to her. The two sat in silence for what seemed like a long time, and Pogue wondered himself if she was what they thought she was. It was like she had put a spell on him, but he wasn't sure it was something he wanted to break.
"Tomorrow night is the big party, are you going to be there?" She asked before taking another sip of her soda. Nodding, Pogue set his drink down and yawned feeling tired and ready for bed.
"I'm pretty sure I will yeah, are you going as well?" She nodded and yawned after seeing him do so. Chuckling lightly the blond boy reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly.
Merdur felt his warm hand on her shoulder. The heat seeped out into her entire body and made her all the more tired. But there was something else to it, something a bit deeper, stronger. The last thing she remembered seeing was the floor coming towards her.
-
Pogue wasn't sure what to do with the girl who had just suddenly passed out, but he was able to get her off the floor and onto one of the beds. She wasn't running a fever; she didn't look sick or even exert the feel of sickness. She just… passed out.
"She must have been tired…" He thought while sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her quietly. Unlike most males that went to his school who would have been having their way with her, he took this time to inspect the metal bands on her arms and the scars.
The bands were very unique. They were silver or titanium, and were firmly in place on her skin. It was like they were part of her skin. The odd thing was that they produced a very odd sense of power. It was much like the feel of her herself, strong and fierce but lonely and quiet.
The scars were unique as well, long and deep, they stretched over what looked like her entire sides and over her stomach as well. Reaching down, he carefully lifted the edge of her shirt up just to see where the scars went. What he saw gave him a bit of a shock, but nothing that would make him jump or scream. 2 deep scars ran down toward her stomach where the other two met at her stomach, just at her belly button. And around her belly button was a pentagram with a crescent moon facing out away from the tattoo at each point of the star. But in the center of the star was a tree that's branches swooped down to become the roots. As he sat inspecting the tattoo and scars, he hadn't noticed that Merdur had woken.
"Find something interesting?" She asked groggily while laying still. Letting go of her shirt he looked to her with an odd look.
"I like your ink work…" he stated while sitting upright. Merdur lay on her back, her arms at her sides where they had fallen, but her smile seemed sadistic.
"Thank you." She said and lay where she was, watching him and feeling like she might fall asleep.
Reaching out Pogue rested his hand on her forehead and checked her temperature. She seemed fine and ready for sleep, and he wanted to sleep in the same room, even the same bed with her. Of course to any other male or female that would have seemed perverted, but it was simply the feel of friendship and connection he felt with her. He felt her hand on his own and was snapped back to reality.
"I'm alright Pogue, thank you." She said while leaving her hand on his. "but it's late and you should probably get to bed." He wanted to protest and say he was alright, but instead he only nodded and sat where he was.
"I can't escape…"
-
The hardest thing for Pogue to do that night was leave her dorm, knowing she felt the same connection he did. A pull that they had to each other was never one sided. It was like two magnets, each side pulling toward each other. But as he lay in bed, Pogue could still feel the pull from her not only in body, but in soul and spirit. He couldn't explain it, and he wasn't going to ask the others just yet. He needed time to figure it out for himself. Right now, he just needed some sleep to let things settle in.
Rolling over onto his side, he closed his eyes and let his mind drift off to somewhere he'd never been before. He sat atop a tall hill where the sun shone brightly and warm. The breeze was calm and cool and smelt like sweet apples. This world was sweet and wonderful, and he liked it a lot.
"I'll have to come back here again…" he thought as his mind slipped off into the deep void of sleep.
