Dark Silhouette

Chapter 9

(Lauren's P.O.V)

I'm getting down the stairs noticing all lights off. First I think I'd find my sister down here but now I suppose she's went to sleep. And even though she said she'd look after Kay, I can't blame her, she looked exhausted.

I can still see through the darkness of my living room cuz it's not dark enough for me not to see a thing.

Making my way silently down the last step I see a shadow lying over my sofa, constantly moving from side to side. As I approach it I can hear whimpers and she´s mumbling something. To make things worse, it seems that Kay is not only dealing with the fever but also nightmares, and that only makes me wonder what awful dream must it be to haunt her and make her react this way.

Being near of the sofa I saw a change. She'd stop moving and her quick breathing changed. I stand still afraid I might have woke her.

"Who's there?" She askes in a whisper. I reach towards her, walking the remaining distance in silence.

"It's me. Sorry to wake you but I was worried and wanted to know how you're doing" there was silence for a moment.

"Lauren?" she asks looking at nothing in particular as she touches the sofa's furniture.

"Yes?"

"What year is it?"

"2014, why?"

"2014" she repeats "No... not 1944?"

>

"No, Kay. It's 2014. Are you all right?" With a sigh she passed her hand through her messy hair after getting sitted.

"Kay?" I touched her face and just then she turned to look at me, even though I know her now for a while, I couldn't decipher her look on me.

"You still have fever" I told her.

"But it's cooler now than before" she ended. The look she had a second ago was gone.

"Where you having a nightmare?" She nodded once.

"If you wanna call it like that. Even though I believe a better term for it could be a 'memory' than a dream"

Again there was a small silence.

"Weren't you suppose to be sleeping?" She asked and I allowed a smile on my lips, reassuring that she was now much better than last time I saw her.

"And, weren't you suppose to be resting?" She smiled at my comment and I hugged her.

"You scared me a lot when you fell to the ground, and when you told me it was poison I... I thought...

It doesn't matter now, you're here, you're alive"

"I'm sorry I scared you, but I had nowhere else to go" she hugged me back.

"I'm glad you did. Otherwise I wouldn't had know what happened to you" We stood there for a while without speaking until she took a deep breath and I remembered her hallucinations and scars. I let go of her arms.

"When my sister healed you, I couldn't avoid noticing the scars on your back. What happened?"

She thought about it for a couple of seconds before she started to explain it.

"Have you heard the expression: 'Twelve lashes for anyone who disobeys Captain's orders?' " I nodded "Well, when the young sailor I told you about fell from our deck, Howard and Marcus though it was not only my fault but a young fellow's also, so Howard ordered me to punish the lad with 16 lashes. We all knew it had been an accident and that the only person responsible for it was the dead guy himself, he hadn't tied the rope propperly to the railing. When I denied his command, he gave me 30 for it" Seeing my expression she quickly added:

"Don't worry, it didn't catch an infection so it wasn't that bad. Besides, that was years ago"

She sometimes has lack of touch to calm someone with a comment. After all, she´s used to act in that way.

Then I remember another question and I have the feeling it might be an uncomfortable subject, but I ask anyway.

"Who's Scarlett?" I dragged her attention, she turned to see me in the eye.

"You called her name several times before you passed out" she looked through my window before lowering her sight for a moment.

"Please, trust me" I asked her "If she is or was someone important... someone you care about, I want to know it" Reluctantly she starts to talk.

(Kay's P.O.V)

"First time I saw her was on November 1793, at the entrance of a pub near the port, when I was arriving from a trip with the army.

She was a dazzling woman, the first I was attracted with some kind of craving need, the kind of person that catches your eye in a seductive way and invites you to approach even when you know it's trouble. She was seducing a man that night and, when saw me passing by, smiled at me in an inviting way.

Next time we crossed paths was on January 1794. I was drinking a pint of beer near the same port, far from the docks. She passed by in company of two guys and hours later, on my way home, I saw her at the corner of a street, a man trying to abuse her while his friends watched. Her dress was torn at some parts. When saw me, she asked for help. I was still using my uniform, I thought they'll stop when noticing me, but they didn't. I took my gun and aimed but didn't got a chance to shot. My sword ended being out of my reach.They beat me and left me on the floor...

I could hear their laughs while my view was turning blurred. The strong taste of iron was in my mouth, my nose was bleeding and my collar was wet with it. For first time in my life I feel afraid.

I can vaguely see the female figure dressed in torn fabric, looking at me, with a sad expression. One of the men kicks me in the stomach and I hear a crack before coughing out blood. A smooth voice talks in the blur "Stop it! Leave him alone" It's the woman trying to help me but someone puts a knife over her neck. A second man grabs my right arm and pulls harshly sending an unpleasant pain to my shoulder, I scream in agony. "I told you to stop!" The voice ends in some kind of growl before a male scream starts and ends abruptly hushed. The laughter of the other two stops and I can hear frantic steps trying to run but another scream shatters though air followed by a thud. I can't focus properly and my guessing of what happened to the two men gets me more uneasy than I was. The last man whispers by my right. "No...please wait, please" A warm liquid splatters over my face and I hear the man no more. The only sound is my panting breathing and my whining in my attempt to slither. I hear a voice and froze. "Oh, my poor soldier..." In my blur a red haired person comes into view, the same woman with torn dress. "Look the way they've left you" I'm trembling on the floor not only for the pain but because I know what she did to those men. She kneels over and caress my neck, I can feel her breath on it "It will end soon"she says. I can't move, all I can do is stare waiting for something to happen but my mouth opens and words come out hoarsely as my voice trembles. "Please..."

She abruptly stops and raises her face to look at me pressing my arm accidentally in the process, earning a whimper from me. She stares with a shocked expression. I don't know why she stopped but I'll try to make that count. "Help me" I manage to say before coughing again. My eyes are closing against my will and my sight is completely blurred. I felt her hand touching my cheek before everything went black.

I open my eyes to find myself in a place that looks like a basement. Everything is spinning. Every part of me hurts in an overwhelming way. I'm all wet and drops of water fell from the roof, outside is raining. I'm lying over a table in the middle of the room with some candles surrounding it. A voice talks, dragging my attention. I jerk a bit when seeing her.

"No my dear. You're not dead, yet" her seductive voice does nothing but to confuse me. She comes closer to me while I'm still breathing hard, moving a bit from side to side thanks to the strong pain. She takes my face between her hands.

"Calm down" she whispers before kissing me. I'm too weak to push her away, but with it she finds a way to calm me down. When she stopped, an even sharper pain crosses through my neck, her fangs are stabbing it.

I trie to scream but not a sound comes from my mouth, all I can do is rise my left hand trying to pull her away by her back clothes. For the second time I believe I'm gonna die and my mind is dragged into unconsciousness...