Time rolled by---breath by breath---hazing and fazing my sight.
Wh-where am I? The overwhelming question in my mind brought no answer.
I am so relaxed---so pleasantly relaxed---I---
My words were cut off as my vision cleared, and like the Cheshire Cat---grinning all the while--the Warden, or what looked like him, stared straight at me, whistling through his teeth. He snapped his fingers and I soon became aware of reality.
"A little fuzzy, are we? You dozed off there." He giggled like candy was on his lips. I saw we were in my office. It was way too quiet. The walls, the furniture, everything looked muted.
"Wh--why are you here?"
The Warden squinted his orange tinted eyes and cocked his head against his shoulder. I stared back for a moment, then started to get a little nervous when he said nothing.
"What are y-you--what are you star-"
Before I could enunciate another syllable, he leaned forward and said, "You have a bit O' mustard on your cheek, there." He smiled and pointed a gloved finger to the spot on my face. I took a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped my face, but there was nothing there.
"Ha!"
"What?" I asked, confused.
"It was on the other side of your face!" He giggled as he curled into a ball in the chair, his laughter musical and familiar, and soon all I saw was his glowing eyes---
"Oh, shut up..." I said endearingly, speaking in a strange voice---that was so sure and so different, as did the Warden. He merely smiled.
He stretched like cat, his whole body--purring--a soft, breathy sigh leaving his lips, his eyes suddenly so intense.
I literally lost my breath when I saw them.
Just then---all I felt was the Warden grab my handkerchief from my clenched hand, leaning in close to my ear, "Here, let me get that..." His voice was as loud as it was silent... creeping into my senses as his breath trailed lower, to my lips---
And suddenly, his features morphed---
"I love..." A shock of blond hair, a glimmer of blue eye, "you--"
Then---I woke up.
--
I decided to write down that dream up there so I will soon forget it. It was horrible, so horrible it fascinated me.
And Allie in my dream like that---
. . .
---I'm sure glad the Warden doesn't have that damn Dream Machine anymore.
--
Today, I got a very strange surprise. Very, very strange. I don't even understand it. And I still don't know why the Warden was upset the other day. It almost seems like it never happened. I don't know. And now, I don't know if he'll ever be alone. At least, alone enough to talk to him in private.
Anyway, I knocked into a very beautiful woman as I was walking to the mailing room today, and at first I thought she was lost, or had intruded. Now that I know who she is, I really wish I had been right.
She almost fell over, but I instintively grabbed on to a little fold of her olive green skirt, keeping her from falling. She stumbled a little before she got her bearings back. I apologized like a mad man, stuttering, blushing that I had touched her skirt and all. It was kind of funny to her, though.
And then, before I could get one real word in edgewise, the Warden shows up.
"Oh, ho, ho, I see you two have met." The Warden grinned, wrapping his arm 'round her waist. I blushed, I know I did.
"No, not yet. We sort of just---stumbled upon one another." Her voice was strangely relaxing, sort of monotone, but had a definite feminine edge.
"Ah, well, Faryn, this is Jared. Jared, this is your new sextetary..." He looked at her and winked like a loony. "Isn't she a gem--"
She jammed his side and he 'Oohphed!', her smile catching and bright at his surprise jab. The Warden apparently thought her aggressive act was attractive, as his eyes went all fluttery.
I was so damn nervous---I couldn't even breath, much less talk. I had a million paranoid thoughts running through my head---but then in an aching realization, I summed it up to---to...
She jumped me out of thinking as she held out her hand. "Do not mind him---he's quite the charming flirt when you first meet him," She leaned in a little closer, "But you have to wonder if the flirting is for himself, sometimes." She whispered, and laughed a little. I chuckled, taking her hand finally---feeling a little stupid to let her hand dangle in the air like that.
She didn't seem to mind at all when it practically slipped from her grasp---I was sweating like a mad-man. The Warden blew a raspberry at her, and she did it back, with playful venom. They giggled.
She grinned again, and stepped back, releasing my sopping hand.
I took her in my sight.
She reminds me of someone.
No, not someone.
Two someone's.
But I definetly decided to ignore THAT thought.
I decided she was alright.
"So, uh, Faryn, was the Warden kind enough to procure you with a office of your own?" Wow. I didn't stutter at all.
She smiled wryly, and the Warden scoffed. "You talk just like a book, you know that?" She commented, then went on. "Yes, he did in fact." I saw her trail a finger along his yellow waist coat. His face was like paradise, his breath all soft and--ahh!
"Yes, and it's the most amazing office!" The Warden cut in. I saw Faryn roll her eyes.
"Amazing like you, huh?" She added in there, knowing what he would say.
The Warden was in a oblivious moment, and nodded with a cocky grin, his eyes all knowing.
I smiled, but felt my stomach tie into knots. Something about her.
Something--
I hope for the Warden's sake my suspicions are wrong.
But the problem is---they usually aren't.
--
She is very efficient. She's been very good at her job for the first couple of days, and I feel better, I guess. Doesn't even get distracted by the Warden's wiles. At least, not all the time, anyway, and I can't blame her. Anyone could get lost in the Warden's wiles...
But everyday, I notice something---eerily familiar about her.
She has a very creepy grin sometimes.
Her hair---curly--short--blond, her eyes a hazel green, her skin, pale.
She has a wonderful androgyny to her, but at the same time, it is oddly familiar.
Familiar.
--
I know that if I said something about my suspicions--the Warden wouldn't listen! But if I don't, I'll just keep on thinking I'm insane---or---just
Insanely---jealous...
--
I have no proof of anything.
I have nothing.
---
Nothing.