Nightmares [OPEN]

[kennedyk]

 She hasn't been seen in three days. Wait, four? No, it's been five days. The last person to see Kennedy was Iris during their girls' night in Kennedy's apartment. Her shop has been closed ever since, and she hasn't been seen outside of her apartment. 

It happened the day after Iris left. She thinks? Her vision blurred, heart racing as she felt the overwhelming drowning sensation of a premonition. A storm, vague like trying to remember a distant dream days after it happens. She tried to paint the scene, but couldn't remember details for the life of her and trying to produce what played in her mind onto a canvas frustrated Kennedy to a point where she tossed her brush and paints onto the floor. Even more frustrating than trying to paint the vision was cleaning her own damn mess. She cursed herself for losing her temper so easily and before she could completely wipe up the vibrant red from the wood floors, paint seeping between the cracks, her mind was attacked by an onslaught of visions.

Storms, murder, death, police, water, love, loss, the sounds of a life torn apart.

This continues for days.

It's confusing. Overwhelming. Locations range from seaside to plains to snow covered cities. Every time a vision fades, Kennedy is left weak, but driven to paint. It's a compulsion she can't break away from. She scratches messages and crumbling buildings into a notebook. Her walls are now covered in canvases--some streaks of violent colours everywhere, others with full scenes, dark and haunting. The visions repeat in a cycle and she can't sleep. She's long lost track of time, barely eating and sleeping. When she does sleep, the visions become worse, playing into her imagination and morph into truly horrifying nightmares that wake her up screaming and shivering. They've infected her mind. 

She finally passes out from hunger and sleep deprivation at 3pm Saturday afternoon and wakes up at seven Sunday morning. Perched gingerly at the edge of her bed like she's afraid to move or she'll shatter like glass, Kennedy takes several deep calming breaths and waits for the next wave of visions to strike. After thirty minutes of freedom, she ventures to get out of bed. This leads to washing her face, changing clothes, brushing her hair, and stepping out of her apartment--all movements that are automatic, her body taking control to care for itself while Kennedy's mind runs a-mile-a-minute, paranoid and anxious.

Next thing she knows, she's in front of Quill. There's a coffee in her hands, though she doesn't remember ordering it. She wipes her cheek and she's surprised to feel tears. When did she start crying? And before she can put the breaks on her emotions, she's sobbing on the sidewalk. A girl sobbing uncontrollably on a sidewalk with her coffee. 

Comments

[neriumoleander]

Nerium has a good sense of what's going on in Siren Cove and its inhabitants at any given time. Its knowledge, information to be filed away to remembered, or occasionally to unfold like a very personal soap opera. But Kennedy is different. Nerium has kept close watch over her comings and goings and the darkness that's swirled around her these past few days.

So when Kennedy breaks herself out, takes to the town, Nerium is out the door almost simultaneously. Even if it means venturing out during hours outside her comfort. She ties a black scarf around her neck, dark sunglasses, and makes her way to the Quill.

She stands in front of the girl, hand with handkerchief extended towards the sidewalk. "Kennedy, come along. This is no place for this."

[kennedyk]

Her eyes go wide when she sees dark glasses and a scarf, but there's no mistaking her cousin. It's a good feeling when she recognizes Nerium because she wants this to stop. She wipes her face, nodding. "I know. I don't do public displays of breakdowns, I don't know what's wrong with me.

It won't stop, Nerium." She says it quietly, desperately.

[neriumoleander]

"Not until you learn how to control it." She beckons Kennedy to take her hand. "I can help. But you can not wear weakness like this."

"Wipe your eyes, clean yourself up, and come with me."

[kennedyk]

"I want to learn to control it." She wipes her face, already feeling a headache coming on before taking Nerium's hand. "It's never been this bad before."

[neriumoleander]

Nerium helps the girls up, and with her other hand puts three fingers against Kennedy's forehead, whispering a few words. "That should ease the pain for now."

She leads the girl away from the center of town, moving towards the woods. "Your power is growing. You're a Grimhilde, our potential is unmatched. But it will consume you if you do not know how to handle it."

She smiles, somewhere between delight and calculation. "Fortunately, you came to the right town."

[kennedyk]

Should Kennedy feel nervous by the grin on her cousin's face? She's still not quite sure what to make of Nerium but her head feels lighter, roomier, something she's already grateful for.

"Are visions a family thing?" She follows the other girl closely. "I really want to learn to control it. I can't do this again."

[neriumoleander]

"No, all Grimhilde women have unique talents. I would need to cast a spell to invoke premonitions. But even then, they would not be so strong as those you come by naturally."

They reach the edge of the woods and Nerium leads them on, summoning a small orb of light for Kennedy's sake, though she knows the path as well as her own home.

"I can brew you a potion. It will take the edge off until you learn to control it." Her smile this time is softer. "I'm sure you could use a good night's sleep."

[kennedyk]

"That's pretty awesome. What's your unique talent? If I can ask, that is." She's grateful for the light and wonders how the hell Neruim manages to path over all the bumps and branches with almost a glide. She manages to not break an ankle at least.

It's like heaven when Nerium mentions a potion. "Oh God, please. Everytime I close my eyes, it gets worse."

[neriumoleander]

Its a sore question, that Nerium is not sure how to respond to. Her grandmother asserted that Nerium had no special talent, that she was a disappointment. A flower yet to bloom. But Nerium has another hunch. That her gift is her connection to humanity. Not just the window she holds into their lives but her leanings towards their simple pleasures and grand emotions.

Nerium clears her throat. "I see people." And leaves it at that. "Keep close." The light goes brighter as the trail deepens and winds. "We're almost there."

[kennedyk]

Kennedy's caught off guard by the phrase "I see people." She wonders what it means, but doesn't press. After all, the girl sought her out and knew her powers below she met her. Maybe that had something to do with it.

She keeps pace with Nerium. "Where are we going?"

[neriumoleander]

"Grimhilde Manor. Its my home." She takes a hard left and the light orb drifts ahead of them, highlighting a looming stone structure ahead. "Yours too. It belongs to all Grimhildes."

[kennedyk]

Kennedy stops dead in her tracks when the orb suddenly shines onto the giant building in front of them. A) Where the hell did it come from? To Kennedy it seemed to have popped up out of nowhere, but she wasn't the best with directions in the first place. And B) it looked like it came straight from an old romance novel her aunt used to read. How is something like this in Siren Cove and so tucked away? She startles when Nerium says it's her home too, quickening her pace to catch up with the other woman again. "It's beautiful."

[neriumoleander]

"As is fitting for our family." The winding path becomes flat stone, leading to stairs hidden within the forest elements until they approach the door. "I must ask that you not tell others of this location. It is meant to be found only by those who most want or deserve to know its whereabouts."

[kennedyk]

"Oh, of course not. I don't think I'd remember anyway. Don't worry, secret's safe with me." She crosses her heart.