~* Darkness Rising, Silence Falls *~
A Digimon 02 Fanfic by Bandit, ©2000
Chapter One- Finders Keepers, and Darkness Takes Flight
~*~*~*~
It was the tapping at her window that woke Mimi Tachikawa.
At first she thought it had been part of her dream, but it continued after she had hauled herself out of the warm peacefulness of fantasy and sleep. Blinking drowsiness out of her eyes, she stretched luxuriously, glancing at the red letters of the clock on her nightstand-1:27 am.
Frowning-she needed her beauty sleep, after all-she looked around the room to see what might be causing the sound. She'd been having such a nice dream, too, about flying on a pair of glittering butterfly wings with Lilymon through a meadow full of giant flowers...but just before she'd awoken, something bad had happened. What had it been? Oh, yes. A dark shadow had fallen over them, from behind and above. She'd looked over her shoulder, and there had been a flash of red light, something arrowing toward her-and she'd woken up, to the sound of tapping on glass.
Glass! She looked to the window, and sure enough, a small shadow, birdlike, was being cast on the glass. Swinging her bare legs over the side of the bed, she slid soft pink slippers over her feet and stood, padding over to the window. As she neared the panes, the creature on the other side of the glass took flight, gliding away into the night on an updraft from the street below. She caught only a flash of black wings in the moonlight before it was gone.
A raven, maybe, Mimi thought, or a crow. They like shiny things-maybe it saw light reflecting off of the window and landed. Still, she reached for the latch on the window, flipping it and prying the window open. No sense in leaving things to chance. She would make sure it was gone, and that it hadn't left any messes to clean up later.
The window protested loudly, once, then seemed to give up and slid smoothly up along the grooves made for that purpose. Leaning out so that her soft brown hair whipped around her shoulders and face, Mimi shivered in her sleeveless green satin nightgown. Her hands braced on the sill, she searched the skies above, and the street below, punctuated by the red and white lights of automobile head and taillights, the sound of the occasional honking horn drifting up to her ears. No bird. Not even an airplane lent its airborne sparkle to the night sky, coming in for a landing in the airport nearby.
Shrugging, Mimi ducked back through the window. Her hands brushed something, which fell to the floor inside with a clink. Kneeling, she picked it up, turning it over in her hands. The moon streamed in through the window, giving her more than enough light to see by.
It was some sort of necklace, not unlike the henna necklaces that had passed through style a few years ago, but braided of some soft golden material, finer than silk and just as soft. This necklace wouldn't scratch at the wearer's skin or itch like the ones like it she'd owned before. Woven into the strands of gold were three perfect globes, the center one larger than the two that flanked it, made of what looked like smoked glass, and as red as the last drops of life's blood from a dying beast, or a sunset over a flaming woodland. It was utterly beautiful, and it drew Mimi like a magnet. She itched to put it on then and there.
Standing up, she examined the clasp. It was a simple metal hook-and-eye, knotted up in the ends of the weaving. She moved to sit on her bed, switching on the bedside lamp and squinting in the glare, to better see this mysterious piece of jewelry.
I've never seen anything like it, she thought to herself. It's magnificent...and so soft! Amazing... But should I keep it? It could belong to someone! Mimi frowned, thinking hard. Huh...the raven, or whatever it was, probably dropped it. They do like shiny things. Maybe it was bringing it back to its nest, or something. I bet its owner stopped looking for it already. And since I found it, that makes it mine! Finders keepers, losers weepers. So there!
Having come to a decision, Mimi stood up, holding the necklace up to her neck and admiring herself in the mirror. The gold and blood red glinted against her skin, making her look like a queen in her green satin. With a little smile on her face, she gazed at her reflection, utterly satisfied. Then, impulsively, she brought the halves of the clasp together at the nape of her neck.
A shock ran through her, shivering her to the bone and making her eyes go wide, her pupils dilate. She staggered back, putting a hand to her head, and almost collapsed onto the bed. Having barely managed to stay on her feet, it took her a minute to get her wind back.
"Static electricity," she whispered in a shaken voice to the silent room. "It must have been static electricity. That's all." Without further comment, as if the matter was now settled, she tugged off her slippers and slid back under the covers, leaving the necklace on. Reaching out to switch off the lamp, she snuggled into her pillow, hugging her stuffed bear, at ease once more.
However, the matter was far from settled. While for the moment her sleep was peaceful, it would be the last of such she would enjoy in what would come to seem like a lifetime. And it would be a long time before she felt such security again.
~*~*~*~
A Digimon 02 Fanfic by Bandit, ©2000
Chapter One- Finders Keepers, and Darkness Takes Flight
~*~*~*~
It was the tapping at her window that woke Mimi Tachikawa.
At first she thought it had been part of her dream, but it continued after she had hauled herself out of the warm peacefulness of fantasy and sleep. Blinking drowsiness out of her eyes, she stretched luxuriously, glancing at the red letters of the clock on her nightstand-1:27 am.
Frowning-she needed her beauty sleep, after all-she looked around the room to see what might be causing the sound. She'd been having such a nice dream, too, about flying on a pair of glittering butterfly wings with Lilymon through a meadow full of giant flowers...but just before she'd awoken, something bad had happened. What had it been? Oh, yes. A dark shadow had fallen over them, from behind and above. She'd looked over her shoulder, and there had been a flash of red light, something arrowing toward her-and she'd woken up, to the sound of tapping on glass.
Glass! She looked to the window, and sure enough, a small shadow, birdlike, was being cast on the glass. Swinging her bare legs over the side of the bed, she slid soft pink slippers over her feet and stood, padding over to the window. As she neared the panes, the creature on the other side of the glass took flight, gliding away into the night on an updraft from the street below. She caught only a flash of black wings in the moonlight before it was gone.
A raven, maybe, Mimi thought, or a crow. They like shiny things-maybe it saw light reflecting off of the window and landed. Still, she reached for the latch on the window, flipping it and prying the window open. No sense in leaving things to chance. She would make sure it was gone, and that it hadn't left any messes to clean up later.
The window protested loudly, once, then seemed to give up and slid smoothly up along the grooves made for that purpose. Leaning out so that her soft brown hair whipped around her shoulders and face, Mimi shivered in her sleeveless green satin nightgown. Her hands braced on the sill, she searched the skies above, and the street below, punctuated by the red and white lights of automobile head and taillights, the sound of the occasional honking horn drifting up to her ears. No bird. Not even an airplane lent its airborne sparkle to the night sky, coming in for a landing in the airport nearby.
Shrugging, Mimi ducked back through the window. Her hands brushed something, which fell to the floor inside with a clink. Kneeling, she picked it up, turning it over in her hands. The moon streamed in through the window, giving her more than enough light to see by.
It was some sort of necklace, not unlike the henna necklaces that had passed through style a few years ago, but braided of some soft golden material, finer than silk and just as soft. This necklace wouldn't scratch at the wearer's skin or itch like the ones like it she'd owned before. Woven into the strands of gold were three perfect globes, the center one larger than the two that flanked it, made of what looked like smoked glass, and as red as the last drops of life's blood from a dying beast, or a sunset over a flaming woodland. It was utterly beautiful, and it drew Mimi like a magnet. She itched to put it on then and there.
Standing up, she examined the clasp. It was a simple metal hook-and-eye, knotted up in the ends of the weaving. She moved to sit on her bed, switching on the bedside lamp and squinting in the glare, to better see this mysterious piece of jewelry.
I've never seen anything like it, she thought to herself. It's magnificent...and so soft! Amazing... But should I keep it? It could belong to someone! Mimi frowned, thinking hard. Huh...the raven, or whatever it was, probably dropped it. They do like shiny things. Maybe it was bringing it back to its nest, or something. I bet its owner stopped looking for it already. And since I found it, that makes it mine! Finders keepers, losers weepers. So there!
Having come to a decision, Mimi stood up, holding the necklace up to her neck and admiring herself in the mirror. The gold and blood red glinted against her skin, making her look like a queen in her green satin. With a little smile on her face, she gazed at her reflection, utterly satisfied. Then, impulsively, she brought the halves of the clasp together at the nape of her neck.
A shock ran through her, shivering her to the bone and making her eyes go wide, her pupils dilate. She staggered back, putting a hand to her head, and almost collapsed onto the bed. Having barely managed to stay on her feet, it took her a minute to get her wind back.
"Static electricity," she whispered in a shaken voice to the silent room. "It must have been static electricity. That's all." Without further comment, as if the matter was now settled, she tugged off her slippers and slid back under the covers, leaving the necklace on. Reaching out to switch off the lamp, she snuggled into her pillow, hugging her stuffed bear, at ease once more.
However, the matter was far from settled. While for the moment her sleep was peaceful, it would be the last of such she would enjoy in what would come to seem like a lifetime. And it would be a long time before she felt such security again.
~*~*~*~