Alone With... Myself?

Participants:

kaylee_icon.gif

Scene Title Alone With… Myself?
Synopsis The morning after the terrifying nightmare, Kaylee is tortured by the revelations.
Date January 09, 2019

The Sumter Home


It was a typical day at the Sumter’s home. Downstairs was the sound of the family getting ready for school and work. Kids arguing, dogs barking, and Joseph calling for some order. She should be down there too, helping make sure breakfast was made and lunches pack.

But it wasn’t a typical day. Not for Kaylee. Not after last night.

Standing at a window of the master, she barely feels the warmth of the sun as it drapes over her. It can’t dash the chill that fills her, or dash away the darkness that slithers in the corners of her mind, whispering softly. The silken… silvery… sound of a voice just at the edge of her mind. There was an awareness that was there now. A knowing that this wasn’t just some personality split.

It had the potential of being something darker and far more dangerous.

Blue eyes don’t really see the world outside or the tiny bird that hops from branch to branch looking at her with a turn of it’s head this way and that. It can see the unfocused and shocked look. Kaylee’s attention is on the faint reflection of her own blue eyes in the window. Ringed in red from tears, haunted… But no hint of the gold she had seen last night. What did it mean? No matter the answer it had scared her.

Fear? From you? Over me? There is a smug coyness in those words and the sensation of something sliding along the inside of her skull. Just a trick of her own mind, she tells herself.

“Shut up,” Kaylee whispers to the voice in her head.

There is a soft hiss of scales, but it doesn’t say anything else…. Kaylee can almost imagine glowing red eyes staring at her from the depths of her mind…. Judging. But at least for the moment it offers no more commentary. She still sensed its amusement at her distress over the revelations. It like it saw this like a big game.

The telepath in truth hadn’t slept since she woke up from the nightmare. Even now, the fear she had felt as she ran, still made her heart flutter. Laying there, Kaylee had turned it all over in her mind over and over. Each time the clarity of it remained. It reminded her of the Nightmares caused by Hotuko. Even now those trips into the dreams of others stuck with her, only slightly faded with age.

One nightmare had stuck with her. Now with so much more meaning. The moment the snake had revealed itself in the Garden of Eden. Begging Joseph to bite the apple and be hers…. A shudder runs through her, a hand rubbing at the side of her face like she could wipe away that memory.

Kaylee huffs out a long sigh, eyes blinking away thoughts and memories trying to focus again on the here and now. The effort helped by the thunder of feet and paws as one of the kids hurry up the stairs. “No running, Carl!”

It was always Carl.

“Sorry, mommy! Forgot my homework!” Is called back by her son, even as he is a blur passed her door and storms back down the steps just as fast, with Missy and Max hot on his heels.

“Love you, be good,”
“Love you, too, mommy! HANNAH! That’s my box of crayons!”
“I don’t see our name on it!”

Their mother can only shake her head slowly, with a small amused smile. Though it fades quickly at a single thought…

Are they safe?

Predictably, the thing in the darkness says nothing. Why would it tell her? There is only the soft hiss of laughter, a sound that was faint, like it was being carried on the breeze that shifted the branches just outside and ruffled the little birds feathers. Kaylee’s head turns, so that she can listen to the sounds of chaos that came with the preparations to leave. Soon there is a final shutting of the door and the house is plunged into silence, except for the whine of Missy as her kids leave her yet again!

Surrounded by silence, left only to emotions that she has kept hidden, Kaylee’s chin trembles a bit. At least, until teeth catch and hold her lower lip; a shaky sigh leaving her. Anytime, she hid like that, she felt bad. Kaylee knew she needed to talk to Joseph. But… she also knew shouldn’t talk about it with him, especially, if it is what she suspects. In the end, she needed to tell him something. Because…. even if she needed to contain this… to protect him and her family from its influences… lying to him was not the way to go.

Still, if it gets stronger, what would happen to them? It scared her to think about it.

Even as she makes the tortured decision not to open up fully to her husband about what happened, she knew she couldn’t do this alone. Who could she talk too? Immediately, her thoughts turn to Luther. Her heart betrays her when her thoughts turn to him, that flutter of something… the intensity of the emotion. It always took her breath away.

Kaylee hated it.

The snake loved the conflict.

If you ask me, the heart is so easily manipulated. The snake whispers, a glimpse of black scales shine out of the corner of her eye. It is the desire of nearly all humans to find a soulmate. A silly concept. Yet, their hearts will leap blindly if given the right push. The voice is almost bored, as if this was a conversation it has had countless times. Kaylee’s head slowly turns until she finds herself looking at the thing that lived in her head. Startled, eyes go wide with fear and Kaylee quickly moves to put distance between them. The coiled lengths are not in her head, but wound around one of the bedpost; head swaying, it watches her with interest.

“I’m not interested in—”

The question is, my dear girl… It leans forward, tongue flickering out to taste the air in front of it. Which love is the manipulation? It was surreal to see the midnight black head pivot on its neck to look at her like a curious dog. And which is real love? The word ‘love’ drips with disdain.

“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.” There is a keening quality to Kaylee’s voice as she covers her ear, fingers curling into the hair around them. It is no use, the voice is just as clear.

It sounds wistful, as the snake continues, I miss the days when we’d make them love us. Less messy.

“SHUT UP!” Kaylee sobs out, desperate for it to stop, even curling into herself as she tries to will it away. Still the hiss of laughter twists through her mind, taunting. It drives her to suddenly lunge at it with clawed fingers… only to have it disappear. The pain of her hand connecting with the post, brings to her senses a little. What was wrong with her?

Still the laughter filled her ears, bringing it all back again and drawing out a growl of frustration from the woman. Looking around her, Kaylee snaps out angrily, tears falling steadily as she declares fiercely. “Your days are numbered, you smug asshole. I will find a way to get rid of you.” Thoughts already turning to that very task. She needed to get to Yamagato… she needed to see if the scroll was still there. Needed to start hunting for answers.

The shouting starts the trio of canines barking in alarm, the younger ones, bursting into the room looking for danger. They mill around in confusion, huffing and woofing; but in the end ignored by their master as she struggles against her demon.

But, the snake was right about one thing… Hands rub at her face, coming away wet… There were a mountain of questions left. How much of her life was her choices and how much was those same choices made for her. The overlays made her wonder, but what had happened in her nightmare brought it into sharp focus and now she couldn’t stop.

Kaylee loved her family, deeply, but she wondered if it was the manipulations of her father that put her there. What a better husband could a father ask for his daughter, then a man who was gentle and caring? One that wasn’t interested in the facing the dangers of the world. What would have happened if she had ended up with someone a little more volatile and passionate like Luther? Possibly dead. One of her might be proof of that.

A heavy sigh escapes her and she falls to sit on the edge of the bed, rumpling the straightened covers. She’ll have to fix that again. Unable to contain the torrent of emotions, Kaylee covers her face with her hands. “What am I doing?” she whispers to herself. Doubting her marriage. Doubting all her choices. Doubting… everything. There was an intense feeling of shame over that, especially her marriage.

But more than that, she asks herself… what was she doing?

How could she hope to stop whatever this is?

You can’t hope to stop it.
She couldn’t hope to stop it.

I’m too big for you to beat. There is no hope.
It was just too big. There was no hope.

Wait

A cold hard realization slides though her, freezing her to her very core and sending a shiver through her. It is cold fury that has her shaking. Face still buried in her hands, blue eyes fly open; and, even though her world is a blur, she is focused on the conflict within. Even as the tears stream down her face, her head slowly lifts from her hands.

“Fuck you,” Kaylee whispers out in rough anger. “You won’t win this time.”

We will see, child. We will see.


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License