Disclaimer: Same as last chapter.
No profit, etc.
Author: J.A.K
Rating: PG-15
Summary: What would you do if your sister's rapist turned out to be your
soulmate? This is the story of a girl who had to answer that question.
Author's Note: This is a not a timely update,
and I apologize profusely for that. All I can say is that I recently started
college and Midterms come first. Things are finally starting to settle down as
far as the work load is concerned and the only thing I could think of was this
story. I'm intrigued by it myself so I really have to think about what I'm
doing and where I want it to go. I'm really, really sorry for the delay. Please
pardon (or let me know of) any mistakes that I might have, as I tried to
get this out to you guys as quickly as possible.
Thade182: Thank you for thinking I write well 'cause I really do try. Sorry for being late in updating, but college. Here's the next part! *smiles*
Sharmeen: Hey girl! Thanks for the review (as usual) and I apologize in advance for not reading and reviewing your story. If you had any idea how chaotic my life was right now you'd wonder how I have time to sleep. Maybe by the time this uploads and you read it, I'd have read your wonderful story.
Risrana: I totally agree (about the whole turn of events thing). I just figured that I should start edging in some of the bonding between the two, b/c I know that's what people want to read. I want to read that too *grins*.
Redaura: The plot I'm trying to spin up for this story is so wild, I don't think anyone will be able to guess. Not even a little bit. I mean, this fic has me doing research. The story will thicken immensely in the next chapter. Just wait and see!
Irene : Thanks immensely for liking and reviewing my story. I will post sooner, and I will finish it.
Nefertity: You think my plot-line is good? Thank you so much. That's one of the main things I was trying to intone in my fic. Thank you again.
Thea101: Sorry for the confusion. Believe me when I say it'll all become clear in the future.
Pyrope: Yes, we're finally getting somewhere *laughs*. I've been trying to do as much as I can with them, but they're both to stubborn to know what's good for them.
Seanna: I tried to make this chapter a bit longer, especially because I haven't written in so long. Thanks for reviewing. P.S.-do I really have you guys at my mercy *sounds evil cackle*. *smiles*
Arryelle Gamere: Here I am, and I'm sorry for not reviewing sooner. Hope you like it.
Enough of my blabbering...on with the story!
#Chapter Ten#
Kailand
Her left side faced mine as we sat in the common room, both waiting for the other to speak. I lightly placed my palms on my knees and leaned into the sinuous coolness of the black Italian leather couch. Moisture glazed the surface of my skin while my fingers began to drum out the syncopated beat of a familiar but disjointed song. I found myself unable, after repeated attempts, to meet her eyes-and I realized dimly that the feelings passing through my body was nervousness.
The latter of my thoughts made me replicate a very close imitation of a snort under my breath. How could it be, that I-Kailand Desoudres-was nervous?
The answer came lightning fast and with sarcastic undertones, as I tried to submerge the seemingly obvious under a river of denial.
'Could it be that a certain Englishman just came bursting into your house, sat everyone down in your conference room and told us that your soulmate was to rule as high Queen of some place called the New Kingdom? Or was it the part where he said that the only way she could attain that all important status was through death.or that the only way to attain death was through you.'
I cleared my mind trying to focus on the situation at hand. Taking in a deep breath I persuaded myself to gather some semblance of who I was and keep that image in close perspective, as the night continued to unfold.
My tongue waited patiently behind the bridge of my teeth as I opened my mouth to speak. It appeared, however, that my words weren't necessary. She began to talk without invitation.
"My name is Alexandra." Her voice was soft but surprisingly steady.
She made eye contact with me as she spoke, but quickly returned her gaze to her fingers, which were loosely folded in her lap. Her shoulders, including the light blue sweater that covered it, were slightly hunched over. Her pajama covered legs shook with disquieted anticipation.
"I just started college down at Pace University." Her eyes rose to meet my stare, but didn't drop immediately like they had before. Instead they remained locked on mine, as if in silent determination. "I had this nightmare that day you ran into me," She smiled hesitantly "I guess that was like, only two days ago." I nodded my head once, waiting for her to continue.
"So I left my dorm room and went to this bar that I used to go to all the time-don't ask me abut the ID thing 'cause I just don't know why they let me in that night." She shrugged her shoulders looking down at her fingers again. "I was all weepy and glass eyed. I'm sure that made me seem way younger."
I carefully tucked that bit of information away in the proverbial folder of my mind.
"I was high and sorta drunk," she paused, as if silently considering "not wasted though."
I grinned slightly, remembering that night well. Thierry had just finished spouting off his insane accusations, claiming that someone had put false images of me in the girl's head, and that the said images made her believe that I was the one that raped her.
I took my hands off my knees and folded them, lamenting, while my face begat an even broader smirk. The most important night in history and both me and my soulmate were two sides of drunk.
Her solemn voice pulled me gently away from my thoughts.
"I was about to leave the bar, but this woman told me that my fortune would be saved if I stayed a few seconds longer." She smiled weakly and shook her head. "She was right too, 'cause if I had left, you would have never given me that note," This time when she stared at me there was an odd set to her eyes "and you would've never known to recognize me and save me from that vampire."
I looked away from her then, not enjoying the sensations that were quietly being cast about in the pit of my stomach. Her switch of gear, her lack of her previous attitude, was affecting the way I regarded her. Seeing her pain and vulnerability written so plainly across her face was a stark reminder that she was nothing more but a pawn in a game.a means to an end.
For the first time since we met, I saw her as less of a human and more of a person.
Which was unfortunate considering what I had to do to her.
This time her voice was sharper than finely tipped wood, as it unhesitatingly
led me away from my own thoughts.
"And of course you know what happened after that."
I nodded my head, still unsure about a couple of the things she'd told me.
I turned my body so that it was more directly facing her.
"Did the woman in the bar give a name?"
She shook her head.
"Even if she did, I don't think I would remember it."
I sighed, not having the energy to subject her to one of my more cutting remarks.
"What about you?" she asked.
When I gave her a blank impatient stare, she quickly spoke up, elaborating on what she meant.
"I mean, don't you have anything you'd like to tell me about all of this?"
I looked her square in the eye.
"No."
I stood up prepared to leave and process the new found information.
"What do you mean no?"
She settled on her feet as well, hands on hips and the familiar indignation written across her face.
I smirked, realizing I missed the spunk which I'd become so accustomed to.
Turning to face her I folded my arms and responded with a cover of arrogance I knew would elicit an even greater response out of her.
"Must we go through this again," I asked rolling my eyes and glancing at the wall that stood adjacent to her.
She stepped forward, hand pointed at me, looking tired but also clearly annoyed.
"I just told you everything that happened to me, which obviously filled in some of the pieces that were missing in your head." She stepped even closer, eyes clear and narrowed.
"The least you could do is tell me everything you know so I can try to figure out what's happening to m—"
Her last words were abruptly cut off as she pitched herself on the couch clutching her head between her hands.
If that wasn't surprising enough, she elicited an ear splitting scream that bounced off the walls of the small room and rung within the cavities of my eardrums.
I knelt before her, confused as she continued to writhe around, eyes gazing blankly at the ceiling above her.
"Stop," She screamed. "Stop this right now."
Was this some sort of game she was playing to make me sympathetic to her cause?
I grabbed her wrists and held them together, trapping the upper half of her body against my larger form and the couch.
"You stop." I said through clenched teeth. "Stop this bullshit now."
Her eyes fell on mine as her movements subsided.
"Stop hurting him," She moaned, pressing her back even further into the couch.
I grounded my teeth harder against each other in aggravation. This was absurd. She was wasting time. Valuable time. Time which I could've been using to figure out just what the fuck the old powers were trying to tell us by releasing all of these freaking prophesies.
I pushed my face a short distance closer to hers, so that our noses were all but touching.
"Okay," I agreed. "You're gonna find out what's going on anyway, so you're just wasting your time with this…" I stared at her as her eyes became glazed over with a fine layer of white film "ploy." I finished weakly.
The power of her distress was beginning to penetrate the barriers I had carefully constructed around my mind.
The anger of before returned full force as I realized what was starting to happen. My fingers squeezed her wrists even harder as my free hand roughly grabbed her dark curly hair.
"Look you bi—" the word stopped before it escaped my mouth. I realized that she had somehow earned enough of my respect for me not to debase or name call her.
Both of my grips lessened as I thought of a more tactful, less angered way to speak to her. But before I could open my mouth, she effectively silenced me by leaning up to kiss me.
It wasn't a short kiss, but it happened so spontaneously that I didn't respond for a full five seconds.
I pulled back, noting that she was still in a disillusioned state.
"It's okay Kaliand." She pulled her hands out of my grasp and resolutely brushed away invisible tears. "Don't cry for me."
I stayed absolutely still, horrified by the implication of her actions, yet oddly intrigued in spite of it all.
What the hell was she seeing?
"I did it because…" she paused staring beyond my face, as moisture slowly gathered at the corners of her eyes, "I shouldn't have done it should I?"
As she spoke, I could actually feel her presence fading from the recesses of my mind.
It didn't take a genius to imagine what the scenario in her head must have been.
Her fingers, which had been resting lightly on the blades of my shoulders, crawled slowly around my neck as she clenched the lapels of my shirt in her hands.
"I just reacted…you know."
More tears spilled out of her eyes as she brought my face closer to hers.
"I'm sorry." The words were soft, intoned with deeply set remorse and regret.
The strangest part about what happened next, was not the fact that the hazy film had left her eyes, or that her heart had stopped beating, but that the once familiar presence in the corner of my mind was now replaced with a dull silence.
******************
Alexandra Lanai
I was not completely removed from the situation as it occurred. A part of me watched on as I was taken to a different place, saying and doing things that were completely out of sync with everything that was sane and right with the world.
The girl who held the identical features of my face struggled fiercely against a group of men who were dragging her away from a person they appeared to be torturing. The build of the man seemed vaguely familiar.
From the view that I had, I could tell they had been poking and prodding him with different types of what appeared to be wood, for a while now. Up until this point he had been silent, but now he started to scream.
That seemed to be the breaking point for her and she demanded passionately that they stopped.
She tried to get to him as they were only a short distance apart from the other…but they held her back and dragged her away.
"Stop hurting him." She-I moaned miserably, unable to scream anymore...
…there was a falling sensation and suddenly we were in another place...or was it the same?
I watched in stunned disbelief at the sight of Kailand leaning over my doppelganger, shallow tears trickling down the sides of his cheeks.
She kissed him deeply, pulling away only to speak.
"It's okay." My double said, wiping tears away from his face. "Don't cry for me."
I couldn't see his expressions too well, but the pain in his voice was enough to tell me what my eyes couldn't.
"Why did you do that?" He asked, voice surprisingly steady.
"I did it because." she trailed off abruptly as what appeared to be realization, slowly overcame her features. A flood of tears sprung to her eyes. "I shouldn't have done it, should I?"
He shook his head sadly, fingering wasps of disquieted hair.
Her hands tightened around his neck.
"I just reacted…you know."
He nodded once.
I somehow made myself go closer to where they were, trying to see his face. The plains of his checks were dry, and his eyes were firm.
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice full of regret.
And with that I started to travel again.
This time, the falling sensation increased tenfold as I kept descending further and further into the unknown.
When finally my feet touched the ground, I appeared to be myself again and back in Kailand's mansion.
The only thing off was that I wasn't in the room I had originally been in.
The place I was in had a bed accompanied by the typical furniture found in a bedroom.
Confused I bolted straight up, only to be met by a reassuring voice.
"So you're awake?"
The voice belonged to an old woman who was ringing a wet cloth over an oddly shaped basin.
'O-kay.' I thought. Now I wasn't so sure I was back where I'd come from.
"Lord Kailand had you sent to his room after you became unconscious."
I spoke hesitantly, afraid of the answer I would get.
"How long have I been out?"
The woman dropped the cloth in the water and went about putting an array of herbs back into various bottles.
"Not too long dear." She spun around with a speed that belied her years.
"The only reason I'm here is because you were breathing well and fine.but your heart wasn't beating."
"What?" the exclamation couldn't be held inside.
She turned back around, busying herself with the rest of the herbs that were out of place.
"I must admit I've never seen anything like it before."
My mind, still unable to wrap itself around the words I'd just heard, somehow found a way to assemble a string of words together that inexplicably made a sentence.
"Where's Kailand right now?"
"Lord Kailand is—"
"I'm right here."
I looked towards the door to find his shadowed form leaning against the archway.
I clenched the black sheets in my hand, wondering silently if my collapse was caused because my soul couldn't find its way back to my body.
As he came closer, I couldn't help but remember the Kailand of the other world who cried because of my death.
"Leave us," he said.
The woman obediently stopped her actions and left, closing the door behind her.
"I think I figured it out." His voice was soft as he moved to stand by the window; and though much hadn't changed between us, I couldn't help but think that the little that had changed, was about to make the world of difference.
An2: By the way, have you noticed I haven't really described the physical features of him and/or especially her? I wanted to let you guys imagine what they looked like. I did this b/c sometimes I have a picture of a person in my head when I'm reading a story, and then the author messes things up by describing them in a way that's totally off from my image. What I'm asking now is, should I describe them in more detail or not? Let me know what you want to read and I will try to oblige.
