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."

[isaiahward]

There's a girl standing on the sidewalk in front of him, coffee in hand and tears streaming down her cheeks. He had felt her devastation before he'd turned the corner, and he's wondering now why he kept on walking in her direction when he knew what would be waiting for him. One the one hand he feels like he should turn away and pretend like he didn't see anything, but on the other, she looks like she's in distress, and who would he be to keep walking without even checking if she's okay?

Quietly, he approaches and ducks his head down to peer at her.

"Hi, are you okay?"

[callmeemily]

She's actually got a mission. She's got soup for Spencer, soup for Joel, a box of cookies to drop off at the fire station (that one's actually for work) - it she had more to carry, she'd be at the point that she'd need a little cart or something stupid to help her. But she shoved it all into a giant bag, and she's off to be the food-deliverer when she just-

There's a girl who's crying, and she can't not. She can't not go over to her, her voice low. "Hey- Hey, are you okay? Do you need help?" Her head tips to the side as she tries to catch the girl's eye, and she's trying to dig into her bag for napkins - sure, they're not tissues, but they're something.

[owenphillips]

He’d bought groceries – after all there were only so many takeaway places in Siren Cove. And his physiotherapist had explained that if he wanted to get back into the shape he was in before, he needed to start eating better. Which was true, there was only so many times he could eat pizza and Chinese and all the other junk currently filling his bin. So he’d been heading home, groceries tucked in a little case on the back of his chair when he’d seen Kennedy stood outside the Quill. He’d called out a small hello and got no response.

“Kennedy?” He’d called out, noting that she looked upset, but she was still not reacting to him. After a second of nothing, he grabs his stick, forcing himself up to his feet and taking a slow and calculated step in front of her. “Kennedy, can you hear me?” He asked softly, lifting his free hand to gently shake her shoulder. Owen didn’t however as she suddenly began crying.

[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.

[kennedyk]

Great, just great. She hates crying in front of anyone, especially complete strangers. So she nods her head, but that nod quickly becomes a shake and she suppresses another sob. She's not okay and she can't even fucking lie about that fact.

"I'm very, very tired," she explains with an attempt at a smile. "I'm being silly, stupid and silly."

[kennedyk]

She's in the middle of telling herself to suck it up, buttercup when she hears a voice and glances over to see a girl digging in her purse. "I'm fine, really," she reassures the girl and then she looks at herself and smiles through the sobbing. "God I look ridiculous right now, don't I?"

[callmeemily]

"You look like something sucks, which isn't really ridiculous." She holds out the napkins, and she obviously doesn't believe that she's fine, really, but she'll let her say whatever she wants. In general, Raleigh's not about the pushing.

"Here, I've got some water, too?" She digs in her bag for her bottle of water, and holds it out - it's one thing to dry your tears, but then you end up with sticky-face forever.

[kennedyk]

His voice snaps something in her brain and Kennedy actually sees the world in front of her, sees Owen's face looking concerned and it's a gut reaction to reach and grab onto his arm that rests on her shoulder, like she's been drowning and needs a breath of air. She finally nods, breathing slowly to try to calm herself down. "Hi Owen, why am I looking up at you?" she asks, reaching for the most off-topic question that's running through her head right now.

[kennedyk]

"My brain sucks. A lot." Kennedy takes the napkins and wipes her face. She manages to turn the waterworks off now that someone's existence has her distracted and she takes the water bottle, splashing a bit on her hands to quickly wash her face. The cold water feels good on her hot cheeks and she thanks the girl.

"I hate crying. Stupid emotions make you puffy and red and leave you with a God-awful headache."

[callmeemily]

Raleigh's brows furrow when Kennedy talks about her brain, and she wonders if that means she's sick, or what - but she nods at the sentiment. "It's the worst. You feel all gritty and gross and rung out." She nods at the bottle. 'You should drink it - it'll help with the headache. I'm Emily, by the way." It's the first time she does it - outright lies about who she is, and she doesn't even realise she's done it.

"C'mon, do you want to come sit down? I'll get you a cup of coffee or something." She's still got the twenty from Cosette - she hasn't been able to bring herself to use it, but for this? This is a really good example of paying it forward.

[kennedyk]

"Exactly." She sips the water slowly. "Hi Emily, sorry to meet like this. I'm Kennedy," she gives her a half smile.

"Oh I have on--" she lifts the coffee and makes a face. "But I don't take mine with extra tears and sadness so...a coffee would be wonderful and also you're an angel." Kennedy plops herself tiredly at one of Quill's outdoor tables and realizes she doesn't even have her purse on her. How the hell did she even get out of her apartment like this?

[callmeemily]

She totally hadn't even noticed that she had a coffee already, and she blinked in surprise - but she nods to the coffee shop. "Believe me, I've met people under worse situations." She flashes what she hopes is an encouraging smile. "Coffee. Like, as froofy and whatever as you like it, because sometimes you just should go for it."

She puts her bag on the chair across from her, snagging her wallet. "What would you like? You just sit right there."

After Kennedy tells her, she comes back with two cups of coffee in a carrier, and a cookie the size of her hand on a plate, settling them down before she takes a seat and hands Kennedy her new one. "You should eat something, too." When in doubt? Feed them.

[owenphillips]

It’s weird how much Owen can relate to this exact situation. To the point where he hopes whatever has upset Kennedy doesn’t leave the empty ache he feels in his chest most of the time. And even then there are people going through worse pain that he’ll ever have to face. The corner of his lip quirks up at the question, it is strange really. He is after all relatively tall and Kennedy is quite petite. “Oh, I am quite literally stretching my legs.” He replied, hooking his cane over his wrist and pulling a clean tissue out of his pocket. Folding the corner over, he gently wiped at the damp patches under her eyes as though it was nothing, adding, “And I’ve been wondering for ages if I could use you as a chin rest when I’m back to walking again.”

[kennedyk]

"I'm sure there's worse meetings, I just like to keep up my stone-cold exterior," she smiles to show she's joking. "I'll have a caramel macchiato, please."

Food? Oh God, she realizes she can't even remember the last time she's eaten, probably why she feels so fragile. She takes the drink, warming her hands and the smell of it is automatically calming. "Seriously, thank you."

[kennedyk]

His height has properly distracted her and she laughs. "For a hot minute, I thought I'd missed a miracle." She lifts her chin a bit to allow him to dab under her eyes, her mind still filled with a million thoughts and she's trying to remember if any of the visions over the past several days had anything to do with Owen. "Think it'll work? You may be too freakishly tall."

[tarnishedbadge]

There were some things that Levi was absolutely not equipped to deal with and crying women were one of them. First of all, their thoughts tended to be a mess and for an unwilling telepath it usually just meant a headache. Still, he would have to be a completely uncaring asshole to just pass her by without asking if she was alright.

"Is it the coffee?" Levi asked as he took a seat next to her on the sidewalk. "Because I just got a cup of it myself and if the coffee is that bad I'd rather know about it now."

[callmeemily]

"Don't worry. We've all been there." Raleigh smiles, and when she brings it back it's got extra caramel drizzle on top because... sometimes, it's the caffiene and sugar that helps.

"It's not a problem. Just pay it forward if you can, okay?" She takes a sip of her own coffee. "I've only started to get to know people around here - do you live in the Cove?" She doesn't really know anybody, and it's an advantage in times like this when she's not going to push about what's wrong, but she doesn't feel right leaving her alone.

[kennedyk]

She sips the drink and feels instantly better. Kennedy and coffee, her ultimate OTP. She breaks a piece off the cookie and chews it happily. It's a reminder that she should probably find Iris though, the poor girl probably went frantic looking for her. "Pay it forward, got it."

"Been about a month I think? Guess I'm still new around here."

[kennedyk]

She's replaying the nightmares and the visions in her head, trying to make sense of the chaos but failing miserably when she feels a presence next to her. Kennedy would normally jump, maybe smack the person for sneaking up on her, but she's too tired and her reactions are way off their game. She glances at the man and shrugs.

"I think you're good as long as you keep it from my hot mess of a self."

[owenphillips]

His grin got a little broader at that, “Sadly no miracles, just the wonders of modern medicine and the human body.” Owen finished wiping her eyes before scrunching the tissue up and shoving it back in his pocket. He readjusted his stick so he was leaning slightly on it again. The hand that had been on her shoulder moved to lightly rest on the top of her head. “I think you’re a perfect height actually for chin resting. Even for someone as freakishly tall as myself,” replied Owen, pulling a face of mock surprise.

[callmeemily]

"That's about how long I've not been being a hermit," Even though it's actually a little less time, maybe? She's not sure. Still, she smiles. "I work at Seaside Bakery. I don't really know much of anybody." That's not as true anymore, but she hasn't actually realised that's how things are. It takes time, for your perception of yourself to square up with reality.

"But I'm glad we met, even if it's not under the best circumstances." She smiles encouragingly, and she drinks more of her coffee - she actually needed it, without realising it. She's tired, and the pick-me-up will help a hell of a lot. "Is there anything I can do to help?" She's tentative as she asks, just in case she just doesn't want to talk about it at all.

[kennedyk]

"Damn. I was going to sell your story to Lifetime. 'Miracle at Quill' or something catchier than that." She runs a hand over her face, hoping she doesn't look as ridiculous as she feels. But she smiles when he pretty much measures her. "Super stoked to be the perfect height for chin resting. I'll add that to my resume."

[kennedyk]

"Yeah? I haven't been there yet. I own the little art shop at the Boardwalk, Keke's Art-ifacts. Cheesy name, I know, but I'm not creative with that stuff."

"I don't think so?" She takes another drink. "Unless you know how to control premonitions?" she raises her eyebrows hopefully. This Siren Cove place is chock-full of magically-inclined experts and maybe Emily knows thangs.

[owenphillips]

“I suppose you could lie, but I imagine the people at Lifetime get angry about that kinda thing,” he contemplated. The idea of his life as a Lifetime movie was pretty ridiculous, he wondered if they’d completely erase the whole escort section or if they’d just dust over the top of it really quickly. “You should, who knows, maybe it could be a unique business thing, you paint and act as a chin rest simultaneously.” He patted her head lightly one before moving his arm back to his side.

He hates to break the comfortable bubble they’re in and ask, because he himself knows he hates the question. But sometimes it’s better to put the question out there and let it get shot down than to ignore it entirely, “Are you ok?”