Sorry for the delay in this chapter coming. I had one draft of chapter five mostly finished but then lost it in a rather ugly disk error. There's nothing that really kills your inspiration than losing a lot of work you did previously. But fear not, though it may take a long time, I will not abandon this story. I started up again on Chapter five recently, and just to let you know that I'm still at work on this, I'm going to put up the introductory snipped. I'll take it down and post the whole chapter when it's complete. Thanks for your continued support .
Vanessa's mind was a haze.
She didn't know what time it was, but the slightly orangeish hue of the sky outside her window indicated that it still must be fairly early. All she knew was that despite her rest, she was exhausted. Why was that…?
As she slowly began to regain her full conciousness, the memories of her vivid nightmare hours beforehand came flooding back into her mind. A feeling of icy coldness shot through her body, causing her to shiver and clutch the covers tightly.
Looking to her left side, she saw part of the chain to her father's dogtags peeking out from beneath the covers. She must have drifted back to sleep still holding them…
Grabbing the chain carefully, she leaned over and set the metal pendant back upon her bedside table, then plopped back down onto the mattress with a heavy sigh. Right now, all Vanessa wanted was to drift back into sleep for a little while and wipe the residue of last night's experience clean from her mind.
Unfortunately, she came to notice a new but annoyingly familiar ache in her abdomen - notifying her that she was going to have to get out of bed immediately to do at least ONE thing.
"Damn it…" she mumbled through clenched teeth as she quickly rolled off the bed, grabbing the articles she needed as she dashed out the door.
Sarah sat on the couch in one of the large living rooms, flipping through channels furiously. Morning talk and news shows were a routine for her, but she wanted to hear about things she was actually interested in, as opposed to the constant political babble that had been crowding the airwaves as of late. She finally settled in on a station presenting some current movie reviews.
As she set down the remote and picked up her coffee, Sarah was surprised Vanessa walking down the hallway, holding a glass of water in her left hand and fumbling around with something-or-other in her right. Vanessa's presence was in the house is definitely going to take some getting used to, she thought, as she turned to greet her.
"Good morning, Vanessa. Wow, you're up early today."
Vanessa stopped, facing towards Sarah. "Good morning to you, too." She sighed. "Yes… I had a very rough time sleeping last night. I didn't manage much rest at all."
"Really? I'd have thought you would have been exhausted. I mean, that was some pretty hard training you did before."
Vanessa shrugged in response. "I would have thought so too, but… I guess sometimes 'extraneous factors' can get in the way."
"Uh huh. I see." Sarah scooted over and pat the sofa padding next to her. "You can sit down here if you want."
Vanessa nodded, setting her glass of water down on the glass table in front as she continued to work with the object in her hand - a small piece of plastic and foil casing with two tablets inside. With a hard press of her thumb, the pills burst from their confines and landed upon the table with a soft little plinking sound.
Sarah's curiosity was piqued. "What are you-" she stopped her question abruptly, as she noticed the familiar name on the tablets. "Oh, um…"
Vanessa took the pills in one hand, and picked up the glass with the other. "Yes?"
"Well, uh…" Sarah's voice dulled into a whisper. "I see it's a bad time for you, so… if you, er, *need anything*, I can show you where it's at…"
Vanessa popped the capsules into her mouth and took a swig of water as Sarah spoke. "Don't worry, I've got what I need," she replied in a casual tone. "But why are you whispering?"
Sarah's face went a little red at this. "Uh, well… This isn't really something I would normally go about in casual conversation if Jacky was around." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh wait, what AM I doing? He ISN'T around today!" she exclaimed, mock slapping herself on the head. "Duh!"
This was obviously new information to Vanessa. "Jacky isn't here today?"
"Yeah. He's got a business meeting to attend to." Sarah smiled. "I forgot all about that. I was wondering why I hadn't seen him around…"
"Any idea what for?"
Sarah shook her head. "I think it's a shareholder meeting of someplace one of our groups is affiliated with."
Damn. Without Jacky around, Vanessa wouldn't know if she was doing something he didn't want her to do…
"It certainly must be troublesome to have him take off like that, just on a moment's notice."
"Actually… he hasn't done something like this in a LONG time. It's almost a relief not to have to share the house, even for only the span of a day."
"You really think so?"
She nodded. "Trust me, Vanessa. This is a GREAT thing."
Vanessa was puzzled. "Why's that?"
"Because… we can have our very own girls' day out, that's why!" Sarah replied, with an excited sparkle evident within her big, blue eyes.
"A… girl's day out, huh…" Vanessa had a suspicion she knew what was going on - Jacky would never have been able to leave Sarah alone for an extended period of time without her around. Did he really have a meeting to go to? Or was he simply trying to leave the two alone so Vanessa could learn a bit more about her protectee?
"There's a very well-known shopping suburb not more than 45 minutes from here. I can have us driven out there with nothing more than a simple phone call," Sarah said, interrupting her thoughts.
Vanessa's mind was a haze.
She didn't know what time it was, but the slightly orangeish hue of the sky outside her window indicated that it still must be fairly early. All she knew was that despite her rest, she was exhausted. Why was that…?
As she slowly began to regain her full conciousness, the memories of her vivid nightmare hours beforehand came flooding back into her mind. A feeling of icy coldness shot through her body, causing her to shiver and clutch the covers tightly.
Looking to her left side, she saw part of the chain to her father's dogtags peeking out from beneath the covers. She must have drifted back to sleep still holding them…
Grabbing the chain carefully, she leaned over and set the metal pendant back upon her bedside table, then plopped back down onto the mattress with a heavy sigh. Right now, all Vanessa wanted was to drift back into sleep for a little while and wipe the residue of last night's experience clean from her mind.
Unfortunately, she came to notice a new but annoyingly familiar ache in her abdomen - notifying her that she was going to have to get out of bed immediately to do at least ONE thing.
"Damn it…" she mumbled through clenched teeth as she quickly rolled off the bed, grabbing the articles she needed as she dashed out the door.
Sarah sat on the couch in one of the large living rooms, flipping through channels furiously. Morning talk and news shows were a routine for her, but she wanted to hear about things she was actually interested in, as opposed to the constant political babble that had been crowding the airwaves as of late. She finally settled in on a station presenting some current movie reviews.
As she set down the remote and picked up her coffee, Sarah was surprised Vanessa walking down the hallway, holding a glass of water in her left hand and fumbling around with something-or-other in her right. Vanessa's presence was in the house is definitely going to take some getting used to, she thought, as she turned to greet her.
"Good morning, Vanessa. Wow, you're up early today."
Vanessa stopped, facing towards Sarah. "Good morning to you, too." She sighed. "Yes… I had a very rough time sleeping last night. I didn't manage much rest at all."
"Really? I'd have thought you would have been exhausted. I mean, that was some pretty hard training you did before."
Vanessa shrugged in response. "I would have thought so too, but… I guess sometimes 'extraneous factors' can get in the way."
"Uh huh. I see." Sarah scooted over and pat the sofa padding next to her. "You can sit down here if you want."
Vanessa nodded, setting her glass of water down on the glass table in front as she continued to work with the object in her hand - a small piece of plastic and foil casing with two tablets inside. With a hard press of her thumb, the pills burst from their confines and landed upon the table with a soft little plinking sound.
Sarah's curiosity was piqued. "What are you-" she stopped her question abruptly, as she noticed the familiar name on the tablets. "Oh, um…"
Vanessa took the pills in one hand, and picked up the glass with the other. "Yes?"
"Well, uh…" Sarah's voice dulled into a whisper. "I see it's a bad time for you, so… if you, er, *need anything*, I can show you where it's at…"
Vanessa popped the capsules into her mouth and took a swig of water as Sarah spoke. "Don't worry, I've got what I need," she replied in a casual tone. "But why are you whispering?"
Sarah's face went a little red at this. "Uh, well… This isn't really something I would normally go about in casual conversation if Jacky was around." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh wait, what AM I doing? He ISN'T around today!" she exclaimed, mock slapping herself on the head. "Duh!"
This was obviously new information to Vanessa. "Jacky isn't here today?"
"Yeah. He's got a business meeting to attend to." Sarah smiled. "I forgot all about that. I was wondering why I hadn't seen him around…"
"Any idea what for?"
Sarah shook her head. "I think it's a shareholder meeting of someplace one of our groups is affiliated with."
Damn. Without Jacky around, Vanessa wouldn't know if she was doing something he didn't want her to do…
"It certainly must be troublesome to have him take off like that, just on a moment's notice."
"Actually… he hasn't done something like this in a LONG time. It's almost a relief not to have to share the house, even for only the span of a day."
"You really think so?"
She nodded. "Trust me, Vanessa. This is a GREAT thing."
Vanessa was puzzled. "Why's that?"
"Because… we can have our very own girls' day out, that's why!" Sarah replied, with an excited sparkle evident within her big, blue eyes.
"A… girl's day out, huh…" Vanessa had a suspicion she knew what was going on - Jacky would never have been able to leave Sarah alone for an extended period of time without her around. Did he really have a meeting to go to? Or was he simply trying to leave the two alone so Vanessa could learn a bit more about her protectee?
"There's a very well-known shopping suburb not more than 45 minutes from here. I can have us driven out there with nothing more than a simple phone call," Sarah said, interrupting her thoughts.