Author's Note: Hey all. Thank you for being so patient with me, and thanks for all the support. I really, truly appreciate it. I'll let you all know that I'm doing much, much better. I'm still dealing with the symptoms, though. If you want the whole, long story of what happened... you can ask... but, otherwise, I won't bore you with the details.
But here's the long-awaited chapter at long last! Hopefully I won't disappoint you all...
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Disclaimer: I'm too tired for this...
I do not own Alice 19th or any characters in it, but I own my characters... blah...
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Chapter III: Field of Dreams
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Clementine lazily opened her eyes. Groggily, she looked around--finding herself lying in a field. She blinked, then rubbed her eyes hastily--hoping that she was just hallucinating from sleepiness. Much to her dismay, the field was still there, and she was still lying in it.
"What about the plane? What happened? Did it crash...? No, I would've woken up... unless I was drugged, or something..." As a thought crossed her mind, she felt dread rising. "Frey. He tricked me."
Clementine was a pessimist, so--as a pessimist would--she immediately expected the worst. "He must be some kind of con-artist... but... wait... I haven't given him any money or anything. What could he want?"
Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to look around, she slowly stood--wobbling a bit. "This definitely isn't anyplace I've seen before..." she murmured, slowly trekking through the knee-high grass. As she stepped through a matted patch of grass, her foot slipped into a puddle of mud. "Great..." she muttered. "Just what I needed..."
A small river was visible in the distance. Clem pulled her shoes off and continued on towards the river--planning to wash her now muddy foot off in the water. She carefully made her way through the tall grass, and she suddenly realized that she couldn't hear any sound of running water. The river wasn't flowing--it was still water.
"Strange... rivers always run... ponds are still... but, this is definitely a river..."
Stopping at the bank of the river, she dipped her foot into the water and shuddered at the ice-cold temperature. It took all of her will-power to submerge her foot once more, but she quickly dipped it in and wiped the mud off until her foot was clean again.
Clem sat on the bank for a while as she put her shoes back on. "This place is so strange... I wonder where I am... everything seems almost... magical." For a moment she just sat--taking in her surroundings and plotting her course of action. There was a small wooden bridge to her left, and she decided that crossing it to see what lied beyond would be as good a plan as any.
"Well, the least I can do is get a drink before continuing." She dipped her hands into the water and stopped. The ice-cold water had suddenly become very warm. As she lifted her hands out of the river, she watched the crystal-clear water slowly turn blood-red as it trickled through her fingers. Eyes wide, she gazed at the river. Its mirroring surface held her face in its reflection--but only for a moment. The drops of blood rippled the water and slowly morphed the image into the face of a distorted, blackened fiend. Frightened, Clementine quickly jumped away from the water.
The scene had shocked and frightened her; she sat, stunned, for a few minutes. Then, with tremendous speed, she sprang up and ran for the bridge. She stopped once she reached the middle of the bridge--leaning over to catch her breath. "It's... okay... I must have just been hallucinating... I've been through a traumatic experience--although... I don't remember what the experience was..."
Determined to convince herself that the image she had seen was merely a hallucination, she leaned over the bridge and gazed into the water once more. Not prepared for the image she beheld, her whole body stiffened and her hazel eyes went wide. Floating on the surface of the still water was the body of a blonde woman.
Clem had never seen a dead body before, and the sight unnerved her. "This is just... just like a horror movie... a supernatural horror movie... but... this can't really be happening... I mean, a dead body--sure... but... all the other things..."
"Clementine."
Clementine jumped in surprise. Fearfully, she glanced back at the body in the water. Its eyes were open, and its mouth was twisted in a cruel grin. Her hand flew to her mouth as she stood in horror.
"Clementine. You vile creature--what do you think you are doing? You have no right to what you are aspiring to. There is no room for you in the light."
She backed away from the railing and slumped down against the planks of the bridge, squeezing her eyes shut. "No... no... go away..."
"Do not fool yourself... you belong with us... Clementine..."
All strength left Clementine's limbs, and she found herself completely unable to move. Whether from fear or from some other power, she didn't know. But the voice kept ringing in her ears.
"Clementine... Clementine..."
"Go... away..." Beads of sweat rolled down her face. "Just go. I'm not going to let myself be held back by you... I defeated you once, and I'll do it again!"
Strength started returning to her limbs, and she lifted her head. The field, the river, the bridge--all were gone. She was now sitting in the middle of a black white room, and the voice kept ringing in her head.
"Join us... Clementine... Clementine... Clementine..."
"Stop... stop it... please... just stop!!"
"Clementine!"
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"Aaahhh!" Clementine sprang awake. She glanced around quickly, expecting to see the field, or the white room. All that she saw, however, was Frey's slightly confused, slightly amused face.
"Well, it's about time! I was starting to think that you had fallen into a coma."
Clem shifted her eyes to him in a narrow glare. "I just about had a heart-attack, idiot!"
Frey chuckled. "Sorry, I did speak pretty loudly."
Closing her eyes, she laid her head back against the airplane seat and let out a long, shuddering sigh. "It's alright..." "After all... he woke me up... from that horrible dream... nightmare... but, it was just a dream... just a dream..."
Even though she had established that it was just a dream, she couldn't take her mind off of it. She had dreamt unsettling dreams before, but there was something about this one that disturbed her deeply. "I just can't put my finger on it..."
"Well... the plane's landed... that's why I woke you up. It's time to get off." Frey stood up, and Clementine realized that there were very few people left on the plane. "Eric should be waiting to pick us up."
Clem nodded absently. "Right... let's go."
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"Frey!"
Frey looked up, and a wide grin spread across his face. "Eric!"
A tall man with red-orange hair walked over and gave Frey a hug. "Glad you're back." His gaze shifted to Clementine, who stood next to Frey, hands folded in front of her a bit shyly. "And who is this beautiful young lady?"
Laughing at the slight blush that crossed Clementine's face, Frey put a hand on her shoulder. "This is Clementine Greensley--budding, young Lotis master. I found her on my trip to America."
"Ah, well--welcome, Miss Clementine." Eric bowed slightly. "I am glad to meet you."
"Um... the pleasure is all mine... sir..." Clementine stuttered, a blush still staining her cheeks.
Eric smiled charmingly. "The car is waiting outside. I'm sure you will love it at our branch, Miss Clementine."
Clem forced a cheery smile. "I'm sure I will."
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"Ugh... all these boxes..." Clementine faced a stack of boxes lined against the wall of her new room with disgust. "I am such a pack-rat..." With a sigh of despair, she opened one and started unpacking.
Eric had been very obliging. He and Frey had given her the grand-tour of the branch. It looked like an old church--the stained-glass windows, the steeple, the white-washed appearance... It was rather quaint and homely. "Rather adorable..."
The room she had been given looked out over a wide, green plain. From living in the city for so long, Clementine hadn't even realized that places such as that existed. "It's so beautiful... so peaceful... and charming. Not busy, like the city. But... there's something eerie about the stillness... something chilling in the calm... for some reason, something just seems... off."
Visions of the dream wouldn't leave her mind. Pictures of the blonde lady dead in the still water distressed her. For some reason, she couldn't help feeling as if she had seen that lady before. Just thinking of it sent shivers down her spine. "Think happy thoughts... think happy thoughts..." Closing her eyes, she let out a shuddering breath.
Unpacking was a laborious task--one that Clementine hated with a passion. The minutes--and hours--slowly ticked by. Finally, every box was unpacked and every possession had found its niche. "Finally... done."
Slumping down on her window seat, Clem gazed out the large window to the field beyond. There was something rather... inviting about it. "I've never really ran in a field before... except..." She bit her lip and cut off her train of thought. "Not now..."
Her hazel eyes quickly glanced at the clock hanging on her wall. "4 o' clock... there's time for me to take a quick walk before dinner... er, 'supper'..." She stood and quietly made her way out of the building.
The wind was mellow, yet it was still there--gently pushing her hair away from her face and brushing the grass against her legs. It was a sublime day. The sky was a crystal blue--not the smoggy, gray blue of the city. Billowy clouds graced the sky every so often. Purple and pink flowers popped up every so often, dotting the fields. All in all, the landscape was beautiful.
"What a beautiful day... I've never seen anything like this..." Clementine suddenly frowned. "Yet... I feel like I have... I feel like I've stood in this field before..."
Continuing on across the field, she could hardly keep the strange thoughts from flowing. "I couldn't have been here before... but... that oak tree looks strangely familiar... and..." She stopped abruptly, and then bent down towards the ground. The grass was matted--as if someone had been lying there. "Strange... I wonder if someone else is out here..."
She pressed onwards--a little cautiously. Her surroundings were still foreign to her, and trusting those at the "branch" was a little hard--no matter how nice they were. As she walked along, absentmindedly, her foot slipped and she barely avoided stepping in a puddle of mud. Her eyes went wide, and she froze. "No... wait... that can't be... calm down, Clementine... it's just your imagination... you're making too much of the situation... so what if there's a puddle of mud? They're all over the place in fields..."
Although she tried to convince herself that it was a sheer coincidence, her superstitious side continued to pester her. "What if it's not a coincidence? What if something is going on here? Something... supernatural...? That 'being' in your room wasn't exactly 'normal.'"
Shaking off the thoughts, she gritted her teeth and kept going. There were some times when her mind went out-of-control, and she was tired of submitting to its crazed antics. "There's nothing going on here... I'm just psyching myself out... AGAIN..."
She trudged up a short hill and stood on the top--overlooking another green sea of grass. Only, this time there was a separating line between two fields. It was a river--a river with a small, wooden bridge crossing it. Clementine's mouth went dry as her darkest fears were affirmed. She fell, and only heard one thing before everything went black...
"Clementine..."
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Author's Note: -nervous gulp- Uhh... that turned out nothing like I expected... this is getting a bit out-of-control...
Please, please, please leave reviews! They are the life-blood of a fanfiction writer!! And again, I want to thank all of you guys for your support. It really helps me.
Review Responses:
Helbaworshipper: Thanks for being so patient. I hope this chapter was a sufficeable re-payment...
Essence of Dreams: Haha, your review made me laugh. 'Tis a good thing, don't worry. But thank you very, very much. And yes, I do have a fiction press account. Same pen name. But... I don't really have much there right now. I'm working on some original fiction.
RedCrow1120: Thanks! I'm very glad I'm not associated with those "crappy authors"... although... my old fics are pretty crappy... -gulp- lol, but thank you. I'm glad you like this fic.
Arielle: Yay!! -hugs- I'm actually talking to you as I write this... haha... I'm glad you like it! It kind of means a lot to me when a personal friend likes one of my fanfics... because... I normally don't let friends read them... -koff- But I'm glad it's "captured your interest."
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Destiny825: Oh wow... cancer... that must be really tough. Even tougher than my "situation." I hope you feel much better, as well. And thank you--I'm so glad my writing is "quality!" I've worked so hard...
anime lover: lol, thank you. I hope you liked this chapter.