Warning: Rated 'M' for horror-genre violence, adult situations and adult language.
The main characters of this story are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
Certain characters have been adapted from 'The Stand,' by Stephen King, and he is the copyright holder of these.
Certain characters are based on 'Hikaru No Go' by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata. I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
Brief references are made to a character from 'Watership Down,' by Richard Adams, and he is the copyright holder of this character.
Tuesday
Aelita was concerned. She had not seen Jeremie at all in the last few days, and the last time any of the others claimed they saw him was Saturday, four days ago!
She had looked everywhere for him, all around the campus, the factory, the woods, the Hermitage, everywhere she could think of. But there was no sign of Jeremie.
Even her dreams were filled with her, calling out for Jeremie, frantically running here and there. All the while clutching the seed that the old woman gave her what seemed like an eternity ago.
She tried to speak with Ulrich about the situation, but he was unreachable, unresponsive.
Yumi had called him on Monday to tell him that her father was sending her back to Japan to spend a few weeks with her aunt. Yumi had tried talking him out of the trip, but he was adamant. She was leaving next Monday.
Ulrich didn't take it well, to say the least.
Aelita threw up her hands in defeat, and walked away from Ulrich.
Odd was nowhere to be found. When Aelita did once see him, he was with Sissi Delmas, of all people, talking intently.
Several times during the day, she tried to either go to Principal Delmas' office and tell him about Jeremie, or to call the police herself. Something always stopped her, however.
By the time she went to sleep that night, she was worried sick for him.
"Wake up, child, time is short," a woman's voice said to her.
Aelita opened her eyes and saw Mother Abagail standing by her bed.
"We've got trouble and we gotta move fast," Mother Abagail said, and continued before Aelita could say anything, "Jeremie's in trouble and if we don't get to him fast, we'll lose him."
At that, Aelita threw back her covers and jumped out of bed.
"Where is he!" she said, rushing around, looking for clothes to change into.
"No time for that, we've got to go now!"
Aelita and the old woman left her room, heading for the Boy's Dormitory level. Even though the hallway was empty, it seemed to Aelita like the hallway was filled with people. Serious people. Dangerous people.
"Don't worry about them, child," Mother Abagail reassured her, "that's just the Host, making sure we get there in time."
They arrived on the Boy's dorm level, and went straight to Jeremie's door. Aelita went to knock, but Mother Abagail, just opened the door. They walked in.
There was Jeremie lying on his bed. He was curled up in a fetal position, facing the wall. Every now and then, he whimpered or moaned.
"Child, this is more serious than I thought. That demon got a hold of him somehow, and won't let go. You have to act quickly, or we'll lose him."
"What can I do, Mother," Aelita asked.
"Deep in your heart, you know what to do," Mother Abagail replied, "but I must warn you. Guard yourself closely. You must walk a fine line tonight to save him. A misstep either way could lose you both. Be careful." With that, Mother Abagail disappeared.
Aelita stood there, alone. I know what to do?
Just then, Jeremie moaned again. This time she thought she heard what he said.
"Aelita... nooo... please... nooo..."
She stood there, and saw his suffering. In his dreams, somewhere, something was happening to her that he couldn't stop. His moan was one of defeat and despair.
Aelita took a deep breath. She wasn't prepared for this. She wished she didn't have to. She understood now what Mother Abagail meant when she had warned her.
Aelita crawled into bed with Jeremie.
He had been lying in the bed for days, sweat and more had soaked him and there was a sheen of it on his skin. She tried not to recoil when she discovered that Jeremie was naked. She settled herself against him, molding herself into his back. She then wrapped her arm around him, holding him close, and began stroking his cheek.
"It's okay, Jeremie, I'm fine. I'm right here with you. I'm safe," she whispered into his ear.
He still laid there, rigid in his torment. She continued speaking softly into his ear that everything was alright, she was safe, that everything was okay.
Outside of Jeremie's room, footsteps echoed on the floor. Jim Moralés patrolled the corridors this evening, making sure everything was secure and no one was up to any monkey business. Especially Ulrich and his bunch.
Something caused his eye to move to Jeremie Belpois' door.
Something's not right there. I'd better check it out, he thought to himself.
But when he turned to the door, he saw a large coyote sitting before it.
You don't need to go in there, Jim, the coyote thought to Jim, while waiving its forepaw.
"Now, I don't really need to go in there, do I," Jim said to no one in particular.
Everything is alright, the coyote thought again, again waiving its paw.
"Everything's alright, I'm just being jittery," Jim said again to no one in particular.
Why don't you go on back to your room and get some sleep, the coyote thought to Jim, again waiving its paw.
"I think I'll just head on down to bed. My mind is just playing tricks on me," Jim said to himself.
You just do that, Jim. And don't worry about remembering any of this, either, the coyote said lastly, waiving his paw.
Jim didn't say a word as he walked away, he just waived his hand in the air and went to bed.
Inside Jeremie's room, the battle raged on.
Jeremie was still trapped inside the evil dream that held him. Aelita was still laying next to him, trying to bring him back.
She shifted herself up, so that Jeremie's head was pressed against her chest. She curled herself over him, and tried to roll him over. He seemed to fight at first, but after a moment, he relaxed and let her move him.
All the while, she whispered in his ear.
With him turned around now, she placed his head so that his ear was pressed to her heart. Then she did the one thing she thought she could never do at that moment.
She relaxed.
During the entire time, she was tensed up, afraid of being caught in his bed with him in his condition, afraid that Jeremie wouldn't make it, that she would lose him. Now, she forced herself to relax, to slow her racing heart down. She forced herself to hold back the growing despair in her mind. To soften her arms, her legs, her body.
She forced herself to hum, softly.
The melody came from somewhere deep inside of her. There were no words, she had never heard it before. But it still came.
Something told Aelita to keep it low, keep it in her chest. So Jeremie could feel it as well as hear it.
All the while, she kept stroking his head gently.
Finally, it seemed like something broke in Jeremie, and he relaxed and melted in to her.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Aelita?"
"It's alright, Jeremie. I'm here. It's okay. Go back to sleep. Everything will be better in the morning," she whispered back to him.
Jeremie swam in the darkness. It seemed all around him was blood and gore. One moment, Aelita would be laying next to him in his bed. The next, he would leap upon her like some animal, tearing at her clothes, and then her flesh. Her screams only seemed to excite him into tearing into her more, devouring her more.
And each time, the demon in him laughed.
It seemed to go on and on, a never ending sequence of events. Aelita. The tearing, The screams. The ripping. The laughter.
But somewhere, far off it seemed, a small voice whispered to him.
It's all right. I'm okay. It's only a dream. Everything is alright.
Jeremie could hardly hear it at first, but it seemed to grow. And he heard something else. From somewhere, maybe the same place the whispering came from, a drum started sounding.
Dum-dum. Dum-dum. Dum-dum.
It was a slow, rhythmic beat. It too seemed to come from far away, and yet it was all around him.
He stopped his savaging. Now it seemed like his vision of Aelita was stroking his cheek, talking to him, telling him it was okay, that she was alright, that it was a dream.
He then started hearing a low melody. It intermingled with the drum that was sounding all around him. The music calmed him, soothed him.
The demon inside him raged its defiance, and vanished.
His vision of Aelita softly stroked his head as she slowly faded away.
Consciousness slowly came to him. The first thing that registered in his mind was her scent.
She smelled the way angels should smell.
For a moment, all he did was draw the scent of her into him, etching it indelibly into his mind. Then, slowly, he opened his eyes.
Even in the dark room, he realized that Aelita was lying beside him in his bed. She had her arm underneath his head, and had his head cradled against her chest. It was soft, warm, wonderful.
"Aelita?" he started to say.
"It's alright, Jeremie. I'm here. It's okay. Go back to sleep. Everything will be better in the morning," she whispered back to him.
He closed his eyes, relaxed into her again and went back to sleep.
As she lay there, relaxed, in Jeremie's bed, with Jeremie pressed close to her, Aelita thought to herself, this is so right. I don't want to ever leave him, I want more.
It is Right, child, but is not Time, came Mother Abagail's voice to her, I told you that you must walk a fine line tonight, and you cannot afford to step off of it. This was necessary, but it is too soon for both you and him, especially after what he has just been through.
Should I leave then? Aelita thought.
No, you may have this time to make sure he recovers, Mother Abagail's voice came back, but you must be gone before he wakes in the morning. And be mindful now, of both him and yourself!
I will, Mother, Aelita replied, as she drifted off to sleep.
Wednesday
Aelita managed to wake up before Jeremie did the next morning. She tried to carefully remove herself from his bed without waking him, but when she moved, he only hugged her closer to him. Aelita almost panicked, but calmed herself, and softly whispered to him to let her up, that she wasn't going far. He then relaxed enough that she was able to get up and leave. As she turned to leave the room, she thought to herself, Jeremie, this is Right. And someday, soon I pray, it will be Time.