Chapter 6: A Weakness and Dream
Word Count: 5,209
Schuyler fell asleep quicker than usual. Her mind was reeling from the memories of Jack. Even the few seconds where she was lying in her bed, not asleep, she was thinking about Jack's eyes. He was careful around her, and it always made her smile about how much he cared.
After Mimi tried to go to sleep, she found that everything wasn't working. She sat up in her bed, and quickly whipped off the covers, frustrated. She had a mirror hanging on the wall opposite to her bed, and she looked at her reflection.
Blue Bloods were beautiful, on every occasion. This time, Mimi didn't just see a pretty face in the mirror. Instead of the dewy skin, pink lips, and sparkling eyes, she saw something else. If anyone were to look at her, those were the features that they would see. People usually didn't look too far past Mimi's looks, and her confidence. They saw her has someone with class and influence, not a person who were to break down.
Mimi tried to look closer into the mirror, and what she found within herself was depressing. There was a vulnerable depth to her eyes. Her skin looked like it had been drained of color; Mimi was usually golden, and now, her complexion held a sickly green hue. Her hair was not pulled back, but it was hanging in scraggily bunches around her face. Some sections were plastered to her face, while others were sticking out in different directions.
None of this really caught her attention. The only thing that she couldn't stop looking at was, in fact, her eyes. There wasn't the normal glint of life; they were completely dead. It was like staring at the mirror image of her own corpse.
Nothing had ever affected her this much. There had not been a time where she couldn't sleep over something. Even when she awoke from nightmares, she still managed to forget about them and fall back asleep.
But, she couldn't forget that painful memory.
She kept trying to convince herself that it hadn't happened, and she had imagined it, but the feelings were real enough. Jack and Schuyler, Schuyler and Jack. Mimi always knew that her twin had felt something towards Schuyler, but she had always pushed it to the far corners of her mind; it was just a small fact that held no importance. The kiss the two had shared changed Mimi's priorities. Jack and Schuyler's relationship had been at the bottom of the pile, and now it was back on top.
Mimi had been waiting for her father to arrive home. Charles Force would be able to help her. He knew that Jack could never be with Schuyler, just like Mimi. Last time, Jack hadn't listened to Charles when he said to stay away from her, and she was going to make sure this time, he did.
Mimi always got what she wanted, and when it came to family, it always mattered. She was very angry that Jack disrespected their father's wishes, but her sadness overtook the anger.
She looked down, away from her reflection. Getting out of her bed, Mimi walked over to her pale white armoire, and opened the doors. When the left door swung open, she caught her reflection in the full length mirror. Her tears had left trails down each smooth cheek, and Mimi tried wiping them away. Her hand came back damp, and she rubbed the moist hand on her pajama bottoms. She reached towards the back to get her bathrobe, and quickly put in on. Daring to look at herself in the mirror again, Mimi grabbed an elastic, and pulled her hair into a high ponytail. She tried to make herself smile. It wasn't that difficult, considering that she had gotten used to doing it over the years.
Mimi straightened her back, and took a deep breath. She opened her door as slowly as she could, and walked with her head held high. She walked past her brother's bedroom, and then paused at the top of the stairs like she had before. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she could see the scene play out before her, as it had.
Jack's arms around Schuyler's waist, embracing her. Then, in a moment, the image was gone. Mimi shook her head, to try and clear it. The mirage, the delusion, made her feel nauseous. She kept walking down the stairs, but her head wasn't held as high.
When Mimi got to the spot where the two had been standing, she didn't pause or stop. Unintentionally, she walked around the area instead of walking through it. It was as if there was an imaginary hole there.
Mimi made her way through the winding hallways, trying to keep warm in her fluffy bathrobe. When she finally reached her destination, she opened the heavy wooden door, and let herself inside. Mimi picked a chair, and sat down. Then, she waited for Charles Force to enter his office.
Schuyler awoke from a light and refreshing slumber. As usual, she turned to the left to look out her window. It wasn't nearly as bright and cheerful as it had been the day before. The sky was a darkened hue, and it looked like it was going to rain. Schuyler's mood had been very carefree when she woke up, but the weather outside put a damper on her cheery disposition.
Schuyler looked over at her clock, which sat in its normal position on the ornate table beside her bed. She gasped. The clock read 1:27. Rushing out of bed, Schuyler ran into the shower as quickly as she could to make up for the time she had lost while sleeping in.
While in the shower, she knew that Jack and the rest of the Force family would have been up for multiple hours already. Breakfast was promptly at nine, and she had managed to skip both breakfast and lunch.
Her shower was over as quickly as it started, and Schuyler ran to her closet, and grabbed the first pair of grey jeans and light blue long sleeve cashmere shirt she found. At least the shirt matched her eyes. She slipped on clean socks, and brushed her hair as fast as she could to get downstairs. Schuyler faced the facts.
Of course, she wanted to see Jack.
After their date the day before, Schuyler felt like things had changed between them. She rushed down the hallway and down the stairs. Realizing that she didn't need to hurry, Schuyler slowed down to a brisk walk, instead.
Checking for Jack in the kitchen, Schuyler was disappointed in not finding him there. She went through each room, checking to see if he was in any of them. Finally, she found him sitting in a chair in the library.
"Jack, there you are! I was looking for you all over." she gushed. Jack didn't look up from the novel he was looking at.
"I was here the whole time." he said. Schuyler could sense a hint of coldness hidden within the contours of his tone. She tried to think of something else to say that would ease the awkwardness between them. Before she opened her mouth, Jack opened his.
"Schuyler, I'm busy, okay?" Jack told her sharply. Shocked by the forcefulness of his words, Schuyler stood up, and jumped away from him. She paused, studying his face.
His eyes were cast downward, pointedly away from her. His body was angled towards the other direction as well. He was shutting her out, and Schuyler was confused by that. Her eyes drifted up to his jaw, and saw that it was clenched. His skin looked more yellow than it did white, too. She noticed that he had deep, dark circles beneath his bottom eyelids, as if he hadn't slept. Schuyler wondered what was troubling him.
"Jack?" she quietly questioned. Her one word held so many different feelings and inquiries. At the sound of his name, he looked up, giving her a wary glance.
"No, Schuyler. I can not speak with you now. Let me be." he told her. Before he let his eyes jump back towards the floor, Schuyler caught something odd within Jack's eyes. She tried to place it, but quickly moved on. She reached out for Jack, wanting him now more than ever.
"But, yesterday—" Schuyler started. Jack pulled away from her, and looked her straight in the eye, not loosing his composure.
"No," he paused, but didn't move or look away. "Yesterday was a mistake. We shouldn't have been…it's just not how things can be. I have already made a mistake before, but now I have to follow through. Like I have told you before, my family had certain obligations that can not be changed… I realize that now, and I think you should too. This has gone too far… There is no need for us to remain as we do, with the relationship we used to have. I do not need anything further from you, so we should just go on with our own lives; the ones that do not include each other. It is better that way… Sorry." Jack shuttered away from her, and left her sitting alone. Schuyler blinked. Jack's apology seemed forced, and if anything, it was saying 'no' more than 'sorry'. Schuyler couldn't believe what she was hearing. It seemed as if everything was moving in slow motion.
"Wait, Jack. Please, don't." she pleaded for him not to leave her. He turned away from her, and continued to walk towards the doorway. Schuyler tried to exhale, but her breath was broken. Something told her that this would be the last time with him.
Jack faced the weak girl sitting below him.
"It never can be." he told her. Schuyler's eyes left his face, and she looked down, tears clouding her vision. She was in desperate need of an arm, to hold her together. She had come so close to having him that she wasn't ready to give him up.
"It never will be, either." Schuyler almost let out a sob, but she held it in. her head was spinning, and the room was starting to become black. Schuyler was trying to finish the conversation, but things were fading fast.
Jack stared at Schuyler's pale, blank face. There was no recognition of comprehension in her expression at all.
"Please, wait. I thought…Jack, I…lov—" Jack closed his eyes, and put his hands out in front of him, as if to stop the words from flowing out of Schuyler's mouth.
"Don't make this more difficult. I have thought about this for a long time, and I know it is the best thing. For both of us."
Schuyler shut off all of her senses, sight, touch, and taste. But, she could still hear his final words directed to her.
"I'm sorry, Schuyler." he whispered, his voice barely audible. He left her sitting there, on the edge of the chair he sat in. Schuyler looked up.
Jack was a ghost. He arrived in her life, and now he would forever disappear. She would see him in the hallways, but she would walk past him, like he didn't exist. Her memories would slowly fade, until there would be nothing left. Like an empty glass or half of a locket. There would always be something missing.
Schuyler felt the tears flowing freely now. The edges of her vision were clouded, but she continued to stare into space. Instead of things moving in slow motion, now everything seemed to be speeding by. It was as if Schuyler was frozen in time, while everyone was going about their lives as normal.
She was sitting sideways on the arm of the leather chair, and she rested her head on her legs. Her mind kept repeating the event over and over, as she tried to make sense of it. One thing kept coming back again and again. The odd look in Jack's eyes. Schuyler gasped mutely when she realized what it was. Within Jack's eyes was the look of desperation. Frozen with the thought, she lay there, silently, until she drifted into sleep.
Jack exited the library, and quickened his pace down the hallway. So many different emotions were going through him. The look on Schuyler's face; it made him think twice about the choice he was forced to make.
The night before, he hadn't been able to sleep. The day was filled with sweet surprises, and Jack's mind was reeling. He was in the library, reading, when his twin had walked to him. Jack was surprised that he saw her the way he did; she looked terrible. Her skin was chalky, and her eyes were puffy. He didn't understand why she had been crying, if she had. She was even in her bathrobe, to top it all off. Immediately, he had reached out to her. Mimi had gladly accepted his embrace, but instead of leaving him be, she brought him into their father's office. He knew something was wrong.
Jack had sat down in one of the chairs, next to Mimi, and across from Charles. Trying to make sense of what was happening, Jack scanned his twin's face for any details. He even tried reading her mind, but she had shut it off, which she never did. Mimi's eyes were on the ground, and her arms were wrapped around her stomach. Jack had tried to touch her, but she just looked at him. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself, and looked away. Jack had never seen his sister like that before, and it worried him.
His father approached him in a professional manner, but Jack could tell that he was disappointed and angry with something he had done. Charles let Mimi tell Jack what she had seen, and how she had told Charles about what had happened when he arrived home. When she got to her encounter, Jack froze. She had seen him?
"You were downstairs, at the bottom of the stairs, you were with her." Mimi had said to him. She couldn't even say Schuyler's name. Jack could tell that Mimi was getting upset by the way her voice cracked at the end of her sentence. He tried to look away from her, to try and escape from what was happening.
"You…you…I saw you!" she cried. Jack sat in his chair, his jaw frozen tightly, and his fists curled. He couldn't even explain himself. There was nothing to explain. Charles sat back, and waited. Mimi became furious.
"You were kissing her! I saw you!" she repeated. Her hands flew from her stomach to the two arms of the chair. She gripped the finished wood tightly, her knuckles white. She faced her brother dead on, her eyes burning holes in him.
"How could you? How could you!?" she howled. The tears that had permanently formed at the sides of her eyes were now pouring over, down the paths that had already been made.
Jack leaned forward, to stop her from saying anything more. He put his hand over hers.
"No! Don't touch me!" she shrieked at him, while whipping her hand out from under his. She covered her face with both of her hands, and sobbed. Jack couldn't stand Mimi getting upset. He looked over at Charles.
"Do you see what you've done?" He looked down at his son. Fury filled his voice, all the professionalism that was once there was now gone. He stood up from his chair.
"Jack, you know what you have to do. You had better fix the situation." Charles commanded him. He was filled with so much frustration for Jack, that he got up from his chair and exited the room, slamming the door on the way out. He left Mimi and Jack in the room alone together. Jack had tried to turn towards Mimi, and comfort her.
"Please, Mimi. Don't be like this." he begged her. His voice began desperate.
"I don't…I am so sorry. I didn't mean for you to see that." he added feebly. Mimi let out a final heaving cry, and wiped her eyes, which were still flooding.
"Nothing…nothing you could ever say could…fix this. You have already done too much." she whispered. Mimi stood up, and the look she gave him made him want to break down. Her expression was so broken, so hurt. Jack rose after her.
"Please," he murmured. She ignored him, and walked towards the door. She placed her shaking hand on the doorknob, and looked back towards her twin.
"Jack, just let me be. Leave me alone… please." Mimi begged her brother. She breathed unevenly, and left the room. Jack was alone, and the silence almost was deafening.
Now, Jack was in the present. He had tried to fix the situation, and now he was left even emptier than he had felt before. Jack walked slowly up to his room, but he stopped in front of his sister's room. He had noticed that she hadn't come downstairs all morning. Without thinking it through, Jack raised his right hand and knocked on the door twice. He heard a small mumble, and with that, he opened the door.
He saw his sister in her bed, still in her bathrobe and old pajamas. Her hair was greasy and stringy, but he didn't care. She looked over at him, and tried not to frown when he walked over to sit on the edge of her bed.
"Mimi." he said. Jack watched her eyes follow his as he brought his hand up to her face. He brushed one of the stray tears from its place on her reddened cheeks. She tried to look within his eyes to see if things might be alright. He reached for her hand, and in turn, she reached for his. When their palms connected, it was like Jack had found the missing piece. Maybe if he could not be with Schuyler, he could find the happiness that was right under his nose all along.
Schuyler had awoken from her slumber, and felt extremely out of place. The area where she had rested her head on her jeans was soaked with tears. Her head was swimming, and she felt dizzy. Her energy had been sucked out of her, and she had stumbled from the chair to the exit. When she got to her room, she felt odd. She was without something.
Oliver.
Schuyler sighed. Her best friend, her Conduit, and even her familiar, was not there for her. She picked up her phone, and checked for messages. She was anxious to see him, or at the very least, talk to him. She had hurt her friend, but she had apologized for it. Didn't that count for anything?
Schuyler clicked a few buttons, and soon enough, she was calling Oliver again. She got his answering machine.
"Oliver, it's me, Sky. Please pick up. I really need you right now. Please…just call me back." She hung up. Her head wouldn't stop spinning, and she couldn't focus enough to tell why. She was standing, and in front of her eyes, all she could see was black. Feeling around for her bed, Schuyler crawled into it, and shut her eyes, all while waiting for the feeling to pass.
Moments and hours past. The Force house was filled with regret and sadness, but also relief. The rain was pounding against the large window in Schuyler's room, and the sound of the rain was all but soothing. It just reminded her of sorrow. Every 'ping' of the drops sounded like, "Jack. Jack. Jack. Jack." Their relationship had been hanging by a thread, but now it was all over. Schuyler was still dazed by everything, and she was still very tired. She sat up slowly. Suddenly, her cell phone rang. Luckily, she had placed it beside her when she fumbled her way to her bed. Schuyler pressed 'talk' on her tiny phone.
"Hello?" she questioned groggily. She sounded as if she had a bad cold, or she had just woken up. A far away, cheerful voice made its way through the speakers on Schuyler's phone.
"Sky? Hi! It's Bliss. How are you doing?" she asked. Schuyler tried to regain as much consciousness as she could for the time being to carry on a conversation.
"Bliss?" Schuyler managed to squeak out her friend's name.
"Gee, you sure sound like you want to talk to me." Bliss's tone was loaded with sarcasm. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just tired. Go on."
"Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to meet me somewhere. I need to tell you something." Right on cue, a huge crack of thunder ripped through the sky. Schuyler looked over to her window.
"It's pouring out. What about telling me on the phone?" she asked.
"No, it's really important. Please, Schuyler." Bliss sounded like she was very anxious, and it actually was something important.
"Alright, where do you want to meet?" she asked, agreeing right away. Bliss thought for a moment, pausing.
"How about Starbucks, a few blocks from my street?" she asked. Schuyler confirmed the location, and she grabbed a jacket, some money, and an umbrella, before heading off to meet her friend.
When she got to Starbucks, she tipped the cab driver and hurried inside, away from the blue and black air that clung to her jacket. She opened the door and a warm blast of air hit her. Inside Starbucks, she felt safe, like it was a refuge. The heat, the coffee, and the smells. It was even quiet. She scanned the shop for Bliss. She found the curly redhead at the table closest to the window. Schuyler made her way over, past the empty tables and chairs.
"Sky! Hi!" Bliss greeted her friend. She patted the chair next to her, and she sipped her warm hot chocolate. Motioning to a second hot chocolate in front of the other chair, Bliss held it up for Schuyler to take.
Schuyler gently grabbed the steaming cup from Bliss's hand, and sipped it slowly. She was going to take advantage of the much needed relaxation.
"Hey, Bliss! So…you dragged me out here for some reason. What is the important news?" Schuyler asked. She took another sip of her drink, and sat back in her seat. She let the warm of the liquid engulf her from the bottom of her stomach to the tips of her fingers.
"I had the strangest dream." she started. Schuyler gave Bliss a look. This is what she came all the way here for?
"A dream?" Schuyler asked, doubtingly. Bliss rolled her eyes. She leaned forward, towards Schuyler, and kept her voice down.
"Yes, but it is important because of who it was about…" Bliss exhaled. "Dylan." Schuyler looked up from her hot chocolate, now interested in what Bliss had to say. Her eyebrows were raised.
"Go on." she encouraged. She knew that her own dreams held importance, and Bliss's might be vital too. Bliss took a deep breath, and then took another sip, before she continued on.
"Well, I have been having many dreams, where I just see his face. But, the one that stood out the most to me was the one where I was in my own room. It was so clear, as if I truly was awake. I was standing in my closet, looking at a picture. I can't remember what the picture looked like, though. All I know is that it was very important. The picture had come from a velvet box…the one that held Lucifer's Bane. The emerald necklace. I saw something in the photograph; I saw something that was like the second to last piece of the puzzle. It was like I had almost figured something out, but not quite.
While I was looking at it, there was a huge crash. I turned to look where it came from, and there was Dylan, in the corner of my room. He was bleeding from the glass broken from my window. It was strange, because he was still wearing the same clothes that I had seen him in before.
I remember feeling exhilarated. Dylan! Dylan was alive. But, he was in pain, hurt. I was holding the emerald in my hand still, and he flinched, like the very presence of it burned him.
I tried to help him, but he waved me away." Bliss stopped, and took a sip of her drink, trying not to get too worked up. Schuyler watched her intently.
"And, he said, 'I know who the Silver Blood is.' After he said those words, I woke up, in my bed." Bliss sighed. She knew that even if she couldn't see Dylan in her real life, at least she had a chance to see him in her dreams, no matter how strange they were.
"Well, what do you think?" Bliss asked. Schuyler pondered the dream for a moment.
"Bliss, I really don't know. Maybe, give it a while. You might be able to figure it out after a few more dreams. They could each reveal a few details, but the outcome of it all might make you realize what they are trying to tell you."
Bliss smiled, and then nodded.
"Maybe you're right. Well, thanks for coming out here to meet me." She checked her watch.
"Oh! It's already ten! We should get back." Bliss stood up. Schuyler followed her, and they each grabbed their empty cups. As she was following Bliss to the trash, the blackness came back and fogged her sight. Schuyler leaned against the wall, waiting for it to pass.
"Sky! Sky! Are you okay? Schuyler? Wake up!" Schuyler opened her eyes. The weak feeling had come back. It was tiring to even get her eyes open. Bliss was at her side. It wasn't until then, that Schuyler realized that she had sunk to the floor. How long had she been sitting there? Even the Starbucks employee had come to see what was going on.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." she waved her hand as if to dismiss the fact that she could barely keep her eyes open, and she was sitting on the ground. She tried to stand up, and grabbed a chair for support.
She tried to smile, and eventually the employee slowly walked away, giving Schuyler a weird look on her way back to the register. Bliss frowned.
"Schuyler? What's wrong?" she wondered. Bliss put her arm around Schuyler's waist, and Schuyler put her arm around Bliss's shoulder for support. Schuyler just groaned. Bliss walked them both back to the exit of the shop and kept her voice low.
"When was the last time you fed?" she asked. Schuyler would've rolled her eyes, but she felt too worn-out to do so. Bliss looked at her friend with worry.
"I'm serious. You seem really weak." Bliss sent one last concerned glance Schuyler's way, and then helped get a cab.
When the cab had pulled up to the Force mansion, Bliss helped Schuyler up the steps and into the house. The weakness seemed to be slowly disappearing. Bliss was getting worried about her. She had seemed so differently lately, sadder, possibly.
As Bliss was taking the steps up to the entrance to her building, she was thinking about what Schuyler had said. Maybe she just had to focus, and wait it out. In time, she could probably figure out what her dreams actually meant. And, that made her happy.
She greeted the doorman, and went straight for the elevator. Soon enough, she was up in her penthouse. Her parents weren't there, as usual. Her father was away for business, and her stepmother went with. Her sister was in the penthouse, which, she couldn't care one bit.
She went over to her room and opened the door. Bliss half expected to see a boy curled up in the corner covered in blood and glass like from her dream.
She got her pajamas on, and hurried to bed quickly. She brushed her teeth, and washed her face, but then turned off all of her lights. She pulled back the covers, excited to see if she would have a new dream. She found that she slipped into unconsciousness quite easily that night.
Bliss was in the alleyway between Block 122 and The Bank. It was just like the fateful night of Aggie's death. The same wind whispered through the streets, and the moon was bright and full. Bliss looked around her. She wasn't standing on either side of the alley. She was directly in the middle between The Bank side, and the Block 122 side.
On one side, there was Jack, Charles, Lawrence, and many other male Blue Bloods who had been bonded. On the other side, stood Mimi, Allegra, Cordelia, and the other bonded females.
Suddenly, Bliss was leaning against the wall among the women. On her left stood Mimi, statuesque, and on her right stood Allegra, looking eerily identical to Schuyler. She faced forward, like all of them were.
Each of the women held up their hands, palms out. The men on the other side mirrored their actions. Suddenly, a wind raked through the alley, which caused a faint glow to shimmer on the palms of the Blue Bloods. The males took a few, synchronized steps, and one by one, they pressed their palms against the opposite person's. Bliss watched in amazement as Jack walked to Mimi and placed his palm against hers softly. A beam of light shot up from the center of their hands. Then, Charles did the same to Allegra, and down the line. As each couple went, the light got brighter and brighter. Every male and female had connected hands.
They were bonded.
Suddenly, a face appeared in her mind. He became more and clearer, until he was there, with her. His sad eyes were upturned, like he was doing something right, and that he wasn't regretting it. Dylan walked forward, and slowly raised his palms up to hers. Bliss could feel herself smiling and she did the same.
He took one last step, to close the tiny gap that separated their hands. The moment their palms touched, something made her feel complete; she felt like she was whole. The same beam that glowed from her friend's hands shone from hers. Her ray of light became less dim, and grew brighter and brighter than the others. It shot out from between their fingers into the air, and flashed through her vision until it became completely white.
Bliss awoke with a jump. Her dream had been so real. She sat up in bed, and looked at her palms. Nothing seemed different. Bliss was aware of how warm it was in her room, and she wiped the sweat from her forehead, and lay back in her bed.
She thought about her dreams, and what they could mean to her. Just before Bliss fell back into a dreamless slumber, she sat up with a start.
She put her past dreams together, and there was one thing in common. She connected the common factor into the new dream, and to the common factor in that.
She had been having all these strange dreams for a reason.
And, now she finally knew why.