Bite Your Tongue
by DarkHonda aka Tal
Chapter Seven:
She walking in a dark tunnel towards the far away light she could see in the end; droplets of water landed on the murky ground and gave a certain rhythm to her walk. She felt cold and for some reason, very tense, as if something was about to jump on her from behind.
She quickened her steps.
Small hisses came from behind her, urging her faster and faster into the light, until she broke in a frightened run. For some reason her instinct to fight disappeared and she felt scared; the light, she knew, would be her save, because as little as it was – a little of the light could always banish a lot from the darkness.
She was breathing hard when she finally was about to step into the light, somewhat more relaxed and sure of herself. Yet once the pale rays of light touched her skin, she felt involuntary trembles going up and down her body and the fake safety the light had given her faded; her eyes scanned her surrounding worriedly, anxiously.
And then, it moved.
Something sandy was coming her way – no, slithering – hissing, Kelsey turned back, intending to flee but there was no time. Elastic and cold skin has quickly wrapped around her, covering her with spirals up to her neck. The chill from the elastic thing was unbearable and then it started to put pressure on the hold it had on her, suffocating her, crushing her…
The only thing she had left to do was screaming for help.
"ARRRGHHH!!!!!!!" Kelsey's eyes opened widely and she discovered she was still on her bed; she was panting and covered in cold sweat, shivering slightly.
"It was just a dream." She told herself aloud, trying to reassure herself.
"Just a dream." She repeated and breathed in deep, trying to calm down. A glance to her clock showed her it was one o'clock and she scrambled on her feet, walking to the shower for a quick wash and a brush of teeth. There was no use in going to sleep when she had to wake up in an hour anyway.
*
She stayed with Carter two hours until her own shift began, this time, she was sitting next to Dana who was showing slight improvement. She took her hand fondly and sighed.
"I really miss you, Dana." She said softly.
She really did miss her, even if lately they weren't really talking. Sometimes just being able to sit together, in silence, helped a lot; knowing there was someone there, with you, who cared and acted on it.
"Ryan came back, you know, I bet he's the first thing you're going to talk about once you wake up." She smiled. "I haven't been around him a lot, but he's changed, I think you're going to like the new Ryan." Kelsey nodded matter-of-fact-ly.
"He's a team player, remember how he was all big and mighty titanium ranger at first? Now he's cool." Kelsey shrugged, admitting it was harder than it would seem, but there was no use in denying the truth.
"He has a girlfriend now, you know." Kelsey noted apathically. "She's… well, her name is Illyria but everyone calls her Lyri. She has this jet black hair, really smooth and straight, and the pair of the most amazing coal-black eyes. Very mysterious."
She didn't say anything after that, only stayed silent.
It felt definitely better to say this to someone, finally admitting she wasn't all gooey eyed for Illyria as the rest of them were. Falling for fake graces and politeness. Kelsey shrugged and sighed.
Later on, when morning twilight bloomed and the sun sent comforting blue rays into the waves that made the ocean look like a blue diamond, Kelsey couldn't help but surrender to her urge to sleep.
She was in that tunnel again, this time, instead of walking into the light she backed away, walking with her face to an unknown darkness. It was probably better than the light, besides, she couldn't fight a giant… thing. Only the thought of it made chills run down her spine, she was disgusted as she remembered the touch of its skin to hers.
She shuddered.
"Kelsey!" Someone was shaking her a little and Kelsey opened her eyes abruptly.
"What?" she murmured and the shaking stopped, she found herself gazing into chocolate brown eyes and she blushed, embarrassed.
"Aww, man, did I fall asleep?" She groaned and Ryan chuckled.
"Yes, you did. I think you better catch up some breakfast." He smiled and Kelsey found that she could easily return the smile.
"Thanks, I just can't believe I fell asleep!" she exclaimed as she pulled herself up from the chair, slightly stretching her arms, then turning her head sideways to release the knots in her neck.
"Don't worry about it, I don't think Dana noticed and I won't tell Carter." Ryan grinned.
"Er… thanks." She said awkwardly, what else could she say? That old, comfortingly familiar feeling of awkwardness and embarrassment washed over her again and she could feel her cheeks heat up.
"You're wel –"
"Sweetheart! You forgot your – " Illyria rushed into the room carrying a small cellular phone device. "Oh," she stopped. "I didn't realize I was interrupting." She said and blushed. Kelsey tried to suppress the urge to roll her eyes or vomit. Or both.
"You weren't, Lyri." Ryan said calmly, a large smile spreading on his face.
Kelsey was blushing now, she felt out of place – a third wheel, should she leave? Then again, she couldn't move her eyes away from his smile, it enchanted her, bewitched her; it was the kind of smile she remembered he gave her on his first day on the Lightspeed team.
"Hi, Kelsey, isn't your shift over? You must be very tired." Illyria said coolly, not a hint of concern in her voice.
"Hey, Illyria. No, I'm not tired." Ryan sent her an amused glance to which she had the dignity to blush and add: "Anymore."
Ryan started to laugh and Kelsey gave him a small smile before heading out of the infirmary, passing near Illyria and not saying a single thing to her. She walked to the ranger common room with a skip to her step, it was the first time she felt genuinely happy in the last couple of months.
*
Her happiness lasted the entire day, so much that in the afternoon she wore her rollerblades put on a helmet and her black and yellow gloves, intending on going out. She skated through the long hallways of the Aquabase, wanting to make sure there was someone with Dana before she ventured out of the Aquabase.
She loved the thrill of sliding very fast through the corridors, swooshing through people, making them stare at her wondrously. She was probably the only one who was allowed skating inside Aquabase territory. She loved it.
Going faster she took a sharp turn to the left, making a random soldier squeal, she laughed and took the immediate turn right and straight into the infirmary – to Dana's room. She entered very fast but skillfully stopped near Dana's bed; she gave Dana a worried glance and moved to read the examination page, a slight frown decorating her forehead.
Sighing, she returned it to its place – hanging at the end of the bed – and turned to survey the room; only then her eyes found Ryan and Illyria watching her. Ryan looked amused and Illyria, rather shocked.
"Are you staying here for a while?" Kelsey asked, intending on replacing them if they could not stay for long.
"We've just arrived when you entered, not that you noticed." Ryan chuckled and Kelsey smiled at him.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for not noticing you." Her words faltered and she shrugged, Ryan shook his head, still chuckling.
"It was too easy noticing you though," Illyria chirped in. "These clothes sign you out from miles away." She added another insult in the form of a compliment, Kelsey frowned slightly and tensed up.
"Well, if you're staying then I'm heading out. Have fun, bye!" She said quickly and skated out of there as fast as she could possibly be.
She hoped the fresh air would make her feel better, calm the tension that was caused not only from Illyria but from those strange dreams… nightmares. What was that thing that attacked her in her dreams? Slick, sort of wet-like, cold... she shuddered. Maybe she shouldn't think of it now, when she finally has go the time to actually have fun in a non-ranger-related way. She missed it.
Too bad she was so out of mood recently.
It was pleasant hearing all the little children playing at the park at sunset, seeing the world warm up to the dying rays of sunlight that departed the earth. She could hear giggles and laughs, watch lovers walking hand in hand or arm in arm and children running and playing with a ball. Everyone had someone or belonged somewhere and she felt so detached, so lacked.
She missed Dana.
She missed Ryan.
Why is it so hard to be happy? She shook her head. There's not a reason in the world that should prevent her from being content and feeling loved! She should try and be her old-self, she was happy then, was she not? And with that, she made the decision; she would try and indulge in all of her hobbies: scary books, rock climbing, jogging, cycling, scuba diving, free diving and of course, skating, maybe she should try new things as well, like horseback riding! There was an old glamour in the good, old extreme, a promise of a feeling that was so long since she last felt it.
With her mind made up, she decided to head back to the Aquabase, hoping for a better tomorrow.
A/N: So, here's another update… been fun with my mates:) Review!