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 Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 12:13 am
Destiny City Night Life[Aquarius + Corvus + Pegasus + MuCephei + Scheelite + Fayalite + Tobernite + Valleriite + Jada + Tate + Parker] Tara drowns her loneliness in a rave, and ends up in a free-for-all with other Senshi, Negaverse agents, and a giant disco youma.
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Posted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 12:17 am
Tara shuffled her notes once more and stepped up to the podium. Her labcoat was freshly pressed and she was wearing glasses instead of contacts, more for effect than anything else. Not only did they make her look more distinguished, they caught the spotlights, hiding how many people were in the audience. Not that Tara was afraid of addressing crowds. On the contrary, she was afraid that no one had showed up to hear her speak.
She peered over the rims of her glasses and, content that there was a decent-sized audience out there, set her notes down on the lectern. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tara Kavanaugh, and I am here today to discuss with you the possibilities of light-speed travel to nearby galaxies."
She went on, speaking at length on her research and her theories. It was hard to tell how it was going over, considering that she couldn't see the audience. Since no one was revolting, she could only asssume that either they were listening carefully, or they had fallen asleep.
Her speech finally winded down, and she was about to ask if there were any questions, when a voice came over the loudspeaker. "We will now commence with the demonstration portion of the lecture. Assistants, please come to the stage."
Tara frowned. She hadn't planned a demonstration as part of her speech. Furthermore, the equipment the white-smocked assistants were wheeling on looked like it belonged in an operating room rather than in a lecture hall. "Excuse me, but I hadn't planned-"
"It's okay," one of the smocks assured her. "Your participation has already been accounted for."
There was a stinging sensation in her arm, and Tara swayed on her feet. Her vision blurred, her limbs went limp, and for a moment, she couldn't feel anything. Then, slowly, things came back into focus. Tara turned her head slowly, and had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming.
She was strapped to an operating table. It was tilted at an angle so that the audience could better see her body- which was now naked. Even her glasses were gone, so she could see each and every person watching her being treated like a lab animal. But something about the spectators struck her as odd. Their faces weren't moving. They weren't even blinking.
"Now that the specimen is prepared, we will begin our demonstration: the vivisection of a genuine alien being."
Like something out of a bad sci-fi movie, the audience, as one, reached to the tops of their heads, and pulled. Rubber masks littered the floor as the real faces of her viewers were exposed. But unlike a bad sci-fi movie, it wasn't aliens beneath the masks.
It was youma. Hordes of youma, pulsing, oozing, watching with more eyes than should have been allowed as the voice went on. "This is how to recognize when your dinner was, in fact, an alien."
The smocks approached her, holding all manner of sharp and nasty-looking implements. Tara didn't try to keep herself contained anymore. She screamed.
The sound of breaking glass met her ears, and suddenly the lights went out. She could hear the smocks run to fix them, but she couldn't move. All she could do was stare up at the few safety lights that didn't go off, looking like stars in the night sky. One of them, the one directly above her, pulsed brightly. It grew in intensity, and in size, until it was clear to her that it was moving. Slowly it approached her, a shadow within the light. When it was close enough to identify, Tara thought she would start to cry.
It was- by appearance, at least- a genuine flying saucer.
"Come with us!" a voice shouted, cutting through the chaos below.
Tara struggled but she was still strapped to the table. "I can't," she screamed, fighting the bonds with all her might. "Help me, please!"
There was another shadow, as a figure began to descend from the saucer, caught in a beam of light. Tara squinted, trying to see who or what it could possibly be. At that point, she felt that nothing could have surprised her.
The shadow came closer, reaching out a hand to undo the first strap-
Tara opened her eyes wide. The ceiling was dark, except for the glow-in-the-dark stars she had stuck to it. They had started to fade, however, with the night nearly over. Slowly the lights from her dream faded as well, until the stars didn't cloud her mind and her vision. The lights receded, and Tara was left alone.
Considering previous company, that was fine with her.
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Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:09 pm
Had your ZOMBIE SHOTS?[Tara + Andrea] Tara proves yet again that she cannot remember names, and tries to help a classmate with an unusual injury.
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Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:22 pm
Nature vs. Nurture[Tara + Howl] Tara looks for new and interesting plants. A new and interesting person is just a bonus in her mind.
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Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:24 pm
Two For The Price Of One[Tara + Esen] MegaMart has everything you need: food, movies, and old friends last seen in traumatic situations.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 3:52 pm
Everything was dark. For a moment, Tara thought the lights were out, but as she struggled to let her eyes adjust, she realized that they were closed. She couldn't open them. She couldn't move. She could feel a light breeze on her exposed arms, hear a sqeaky wheel beneath her, but she could neither see nor move.
"We gather here today," a deep voice said, "to mourn the loss of Tara Kavanaugh."
If Tara wasn't already prone, that would have made her fall over. She tried to sit up, to tell the speaker that she was still very much alive, thank you very much, but she was paralyzed.
"If anyone has anything to say about the deceased, let them come forward."
There was some muttering, but it didn't seem that anyone was coming anything like forward. While Tara's eyes were closed, she had the distinct sensation that everyone was moving away. "Come now," the deep voice said, a bit impatient. "Surely someone has something to say."
More muttering and indecision, but finally a new voice rang through the room. "I'll say something." It was a female voice, not a friend, but familiar all the same. If this was Tara's funeral, what was Giselle Petrova doing there? And what could she possibly say?
"I'm glad she's gone. She's been nothing but a nuisance. We can get so much more done without her."
The words stung. Giselle and Tara had never got along, but things weren't so bad that she would ever be glad to hear of Giselle's death. She had thought there was some mutual respect between them. Apparently she had been mistaken.
"She was a failure as a soldier." That was Hero, blunt and brutal the way only she could be. "We could never depend on her to do her part."
One by one the Zodiacs came to denounce her, to criticize her, to tear her life to shreds. And when the Zodiacs were done, there was still more waiting for her.
"She got us all killed with her stupidity. What kind of idiot uses a bucket against a monster?" Esen's scorn was almost palpable as she spat the words out.
"She's hurt me so much, and she doesn't even notice! If not for her, my father would be home with us now." Yvette was crying as she spoke, but her words were still full of venom.
"She has no idea what she's doing. She thinks a guess and crossed fingers is enough to get by, but that's no way to live." Andrea's voice was harsh, and he spat when he was through, splattering Tara's chest.
Every decision Tara felt unsure about, every well-meaning attempt to help someone that didn't go as planned, was recalled and pressed into her like a hot coal. She could practically feel her skin sizzle with the intensity of her mistakes, and she thought her ribs might crack under the weight of her guilt.
They were still shouting epithets when the surface Tara rested on tilted. She slid off, landing in the dirt. If she could have, she would have given a grim chuckle. They weren't even putting her in a coffin. She was just tossed on the ground like a piece of trash.
Soil was heaped on top of her, and Tara found herself panicking. Hearing the sheer loathing her friends felt for her was one thing, but being buried alive was something else. She tried to scream, to shove the dirt off, but she couldn't move.
As she started to choke on the dirt that filled her mouth and nose, her eyes flew open in sheer desperation. For a moment she couldn't tell; it was pitch black under the earth. She turned her head in the direction she hoped was up and prayed. There, just above her, were a few spots of light still remaining, sparkling like stars. They were her only hope.
Using energy she never knew she had, she pulled herself up. If she could just get out, she could make things right. She owed it to them to make things right. But she couldn't breathe through the soil, which felt like it was even filling her head. The stars started to fade as her eyes closed, her energy exhausted.
"She thought she could save everybody." There was one voice left, one she hadn't heard in some time. "She couldn't even save herself. But she tried."
She tried. It was hardly an epitaph Tara would have chosen for herself, but it was the only remotely nice thing anything had said about her. Her eyes snapped open, and the stars shone brightly again. The words gave her strength, and she heaved herself through the earth, practically swimming through dirt. She shoveled it aside, not willing to let herself fail again. She had to do more than just try. She had to do, and do well.
With one last mighty pull, her head broke the surface. Tara climbed out of the hole and bent over, coughing up dirt. It was still dark out, with the same constellations she had seen underground shining above her. She sat still, letting the wind blow bits of earth off of her. Everyone had left, thinking she was dead. Or leaving her alone to die. Thinking back on what they had said about her, she had to wonder if there was a difference.
"But she tried."
Even if she failed, she had tried. All she could do was try again.
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:48 pm
Follow the Leader[Aquarius + Taurus] Aquarius and her captain get down to business to defeat some youma.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 11:29 pm
Blinded by the Light[Tara + Calintha] A locker might not be the best place to keep a plant, but since Tara doesn't know better, someone needs to teach her.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 11:33 pm
Birthday Dinner[Tara + Andrea + Ume + Azzo + Ladon + Andrea's Parents] Tara is invited to Andrea's birthday party. Not only does she get to dress up as Princess Jasmine and watch her first ballet in years, but she gets free food!
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 11:34 pm
Run to You[Aquarius + Libra] Libra enlists Aquarius' help in investigating a crime. Somewhere, a flock of pigs is taking flight.
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 11:36 pm
The lights of downtown Destiny City seemed dimmer than usual that night. Sailor Aquarius walked down a side street, her flat shoes practically silent against the concrete. Upon further reflection, she realized that her footsteps were there, simply muffled under all the noise from the city. But like with the lights, something with the sounds was wrong somehow. Aquarius stopped walking and closed her eyes. There were no running motors, no ringing cell phones, not even the casual chatter of people going places in a hurry. Instead, there was shouting, frazzled and angry, and rhythmic bangs that sounded like they came from fireworks.
Aquarius looked up. The sky was dark; aside from the few stars visible beneath the city's smoggy atmosphere and the sliver of moon that night, there was no light to be seen.
It was, then, a mystery. Mysteries were, despite their shadowy nature, familiar to Aquarius. She spent most of her time chasing improbable leads on even more improbable subjects. She was not usually afraid of not knowing things. But then, most of the mysteries she was used to dealing with, while world-shaking in their way, didn't affect her directly. While she longed for the answers to life, the universe, and everything, not knowing wasn't putting her or anyone else in mortal danger.
Then she died, and everything changed. Tara Kavanaugh was content to chase down the means for inter-stellar travel. Sailor Aquarius knew that there was life beyond their planet, and not only because she had spent previous lives protecting the outer reaches of the solar system. Sailor Aquarius knew that the longer a mystery was left unsolved, the more dangerous it could be for herself and everyone she was trying to protect. While she still enjoyed the process of searching for answers, every time she failed, her heart seemed to freeze. It was hard to have fun when failure was not an option. Not impossible, but very difficult.
Aquarius rounded the corner, stepping out of the alley and onto Destiny City's main drag. She made it three paces before stopping short and sinking to her knees, petrified by the scene that played out before her. Her mind tried to analyze the situation calmly, but it was too busy screaming for her, her throat too seized with panic to do the job.
She was surrounded by senshi. Her fellow Zodiacs were closest to her, which wasn't too unusual. The dozens of Lunars intermingling with them was more unusual. The fact that they were advancing on a crowd of police officers was just plain bizarre.
As she looked, Aquarius spotted a number of familiar faces in that crowd as well. Yvette, Aggie, and Calintha were clustered at the front, dressed in the iconic blue uniforms. It didn't stop at her classmates, though there were plenty of them. Leading the charge was her brother, his gun pointed squarely at Aquarius' chest.
All of the officers were armed. As were the senshi, Aquarius realized belatedly. Her voice finally returning, she squeaked out a question. "What's going on here?"
Kent answered first, speaking for all of the assembled boys and girls in blue. "You senshi are a menace to society," he shouted, as his comrades roared their agreement. "You cause nothing but fear and pain. We're only doing what we should have done when you first started to terrorize this city."
"We're just trying to help you!" Aquarius shouted back, her voice coming out harsh from sheer effort. "We're not your enemy!"
"Be quiet." That was Aries, to her left. Chronos, just in front of her, looked back. The princess' expression, usually kind, was hard as steel. Aquarius stood up and lurched towards her, but was held in place by the rest of the Zodiacs. All she could do was listen.
Chronos shook her head. "They don't want our help. Left like this, they'll all succumb to the Negaverse. We can't let that happen." Aquarius tried to get loose again, but her teammates held her tightly. "We need to eliminate them at any cost."
"Are you kidding?" Aquarius looked around, but it was easy to see that they weren't. Not just the Zodiacs; the Lunars may not have had any concrete leadership, but they were all working together for once. To achieve their goal. To wipe out the citizens of Destiny City.
Shots were fired. Dully, Aquarius' mind identified the sound as the fireworks she had heard earlier. Senshi went down. Police went down. But there were always more where they came from, and the carnage continued. Eventually the soldiers holding her back fell as well, leaving Aquarius free to move. Not that there was anywhere she could go. Buildings penned her in on both sides. If she went forward, she would be shot. If she retreated...
"What do you think you're doing?" Despite a bullet in her arm, Aries was still leading the assault. "Are you or are you not a soldier of the Zodiac? If you're not with us, you're against us." Aries cocked her gun. Still trembling from head to toe, Aquarius slowly stepped backwards. Aries kept the gun trained on her, but Aquarius kept inching away- until she bumped into the person behind her.
The barrel of a gun lodged into her spine. "What do we have here?" Even without turning around, Aquarius recognized the voice. "One of the terrorists." Raising his voice, Kent called to the others. "Get them!"
"Get the traitor!" Aries shouted at the same time, rushing forward just as Aquarius threw herself out of the way. The senshi let out a collective battle cry and charged forward again, mixing with the police until the two mobs merged into one. One mob with twice the anger, twice the hatred, all directed at the one senshi who wanted nothing more to escape.
She tried, backing up again, but this time her back hit a building. The mob came closer. More shots were fired. Aquarius had to throw herself flat against the ground in order to avoid being hit. But a trick like that wouldn't work for long. Before they could shoot again, she picked herself up and jumped. Her abilities as a senshi still amazed her. With ease, she leaped onto an awning that read "Bob's Best Bagels" and, using it as a trampoline, shot off into the sky.
As she flew through the air, she tensed, expecting to have to dodge bullets midair. But though the gunfire continued, none of it seemed to reach her. Aquarius chanced a look down. With their most convenient target gone, the two groups had gone back to fighting each other. Aries took another bullet, this one in the chest. Even as she went down, she was shouting orders. Kent's head was bleeding and he was limping, but he continued to press on.
Neither group would stop fighting until the other was dead. Or, Aquarius realized with a sudden jolt, until they found something else to shoot at.
They had guns, the rational part of her brain screamed indignantly. It was sheer luck that she hadn't been killed already. If she baited them, she was as good as dead. And even though death had been kind to her in the past, she knew that the third time had to be the charm. If she died again, she wasn't coming back.
But if the others killed each other when she could have stopped them, she might as well be dead.
Her decision made, Aquarius moved to attack. But for some reason, she hadn't yet reached the peak of her jump. She was still rising, above the battle, above the buildings, above the clouds, except it was a cloudless night. It defied the laws of physics. But wasn't that what Sailor Aquarius was all about? She could bend science to her will, and that was what was saving her life. Just when she knew it didn't want her to be saved.
She tried to stop, to change her course, but it was as if the gravity of the sky was pulling her in. It was practically welcoming her, enveloping her with nonexistent arms. For a moment, Aquarius was tempted to give in. She didn't want to go back down and end up shot and dead. She didn't know what she could do if she did somehow manage to get their attention. The likelihood of the fighting continuing past her death was extremely high.
Stay with us, the stars seemed to say to her. Don't go back there. Live.
Aquarius smiled, thinking of the possibilities. But it was impossible to think clearly with the gunfire that continued to ring in her ears. "I wish I could," she said softly. "But that's not living."
As she spoke, she began to glow. It didn't make any sense to her, but neither did catapulting herself into space, or trying to interrupt a gunfight, or most things about being a senshi. She decided not to question it, as she was too busy looking down. The arrival of a beacon above the battle did not go unnoticed, and even though she was too far away to see clearly, she could still see them swarming like moths to a flame.
"Get her," she could hear in the distance. It wasn't too surprising that if she could somehow fly, so could the others. The bangs of gunshots got closer, and she found herself twisting in midair to avoid a few well-aimed shots. She didn't stop going up, but now that she was being followed, she felt oddly content.
Is this what you want? the stars asked.
Aquarius shook her head. "But under the circumstances, it's the best I can hope for."
The shots rang out again, closer this time. "The moon," a voice shouted. "She's against the moon."
Looking behind her, Aquarius could see that the moon was fast approaching. This close, it wasn't the sliver she had seen from the ground, but a perfectly round disc of pure white. It shone brilliantly, casting off a glow that seemed to come from within, instead of being, as she knew, reflected sunlight. As she watched, she realized that the glow she thought had come from her was really the moon behind her, and that she was not a beacon, but coming between the shadows and the light.
Between her human life and her senshi duty.
You can do better than that, the stars told her, sounding disappointed. But there was no time to worry about that.
"Shoot the moon!" the voice ordered. It was a good direction. A huge noise, the sound of a hundred guns going off at once, drove all other thought from Aquarius' mind as she reeled in pain. Bullets rushed towards her, and no amount of dodging would allow her go get away unscathed. Hot lead tore into her flesh, in too many places for her to be aware of them all. It was as if her entire body was simultaneously being torn apart and set on fire. With what little strength she had left, Aquarius screamed, her hole-ridden body driving any hope she had once felt out of her mind. All that remained for her was pain and fear.
Finally she started to fall, past the remnants of the two mobs chasing her. With their distraction gone, the police had once again turned on the senshi. Protectors fought those they had once sought to protect. Aquarius had accomplished nothing. Everyone was still going to die. Starting with her.
Another round went off, piercing Aquarius in the head, and the image went abruptly black. The screams and gunshots continued in her ears for some time, as did the intense pain that coursed through her entire body.
Tara screamed and rolled out of bed, landing with a thump on the floor. She banged her head on the foot of the bed and her elbow on the floor, but that was nothing compared to the pain of- she stopped, and looked around. She was in her room. She was not riddled with holes. There were no gunshots, no anguished screams except for the echoes of her own. Huddling on the floor, Tara put her head in her hands and burst into tears. Not because of the dream, but because of what it seemed to mean. No matter what situation she found herself in, Tara was doomed to failure. As a person and as a senshi, she couldn't do what she set out to do.
"I can't do this," she sobbed. "I..." Faces came back to her. Not those of the senshi and civillians who had terrorized her in her dreams, but those of people she barely remembered. People she had known, once upon a time, who hadn't been able to save themselves. People she couldn't save. They were dead, but she wasn't- not at the moment, at least. That had to mean something. She just wasn't sure what.
But until she found out, she had another mystery to work on. The pile kept getting bigger, but Tara swore again that she wouldn't stop. To stop was to admit defeat, and she couldn't do that. "They'll have to do a lot more than that to take me down," she whispered shakily. "I'll make it hard. I'll..."
Her display of false confidence crumbled, and Tara slumped against the side of her bed, slowly crying herself back to sleep.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 9:52 pm
Whispers in the Dark[Aquarius + Paragonite] Aquarius goes out looking for trouble. She finds it, and then some.
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:36 pm
Tara screamed, long and hard, until she realized that she was in her room and mostly unharmed. Then she stopped, abruptly, and tried to get her bearings. Her hands were trembling violently as she pulled her quilt up to her chest. No matter how hard she tried to get them to stop, they continued to shake. After a few seconds she realized that her effort was futile and stopped. There was probably something else she was supposed to be worrying about.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. Tara tensed for a moment, then reached under her pillow for her pen. She usually kept it in her pocket or bag of choice, but the past few weeks had made her uneasy. She liked to take chances, but she also liked to take precautions. Her pillow was thick enough to keep the lumps from bothering her during the night- not that anything bar an earthquake had the power to wake her when she was fast asleep. Or, she supposed, a nightmare beamed into her mind from hell itself.
There was a knock at the door. Relaxing suddenly, Tara let go of the pen, her fingers still shaking as she unclenched them. An intruder wouldn't bother knocking. Still, her throat was sore from screaming, and she lacked the strength to acknowledge the knock with anything more than relief.
After waiting for several seconds, the door opened slowly. "Tara? Are you okay?" Kent was in his pajamas, a buttoned shirt and pants made of dark green silk. They had been a gift from their aunt, a prim and proper woman who always served tea in porcelain cups and thought ladies were not meant to wear pants. For that reason, Tara's present that year had been a silk nightgown. Because it was a nightgown, she never wore it, though she often teased Kent for being the guy with the silk pajamas.
While the silk pajamas train of thought was hardly helpful, it was at least more comforting than the darkness of her dreams. When Tara didn't answer, Kent came over to the bed, his face full of concern. Tara still didn't reply, or even move. Frowning, he waved his hand in front of her face. "Tara? Tara?"
Blinking, Tara suddenly focused and batted Kent's hand away. "What is it?" she snapped, relieved to have something else to look at and trying to hide her relief. "What time is it?"
"A little after four. Are you okay?" While he was a bit miffed at being brushed off, Kent didn't take it seriously. Ever since Tara had come back, something had been different about her. That was to be expected; one didn't get kidnapped by an organ ring and come back normal, although Tara had never been particularly normal before. When Tara had decided to stay in Destiny City with him, he knew that he would have to be patient with her.
He had also been proud. Proud of Tara for making her own decisions and taking responsibility for them. Proud of himself for being somebody that she could turn to for support, even over their parents. Proud of their relationship. The days when Tara was an obnoxious sibling that he was forced to look after were long gone. She had been his to watch over for years, and while she was still obnoxious, she was also amazing. Tara thought the same of him, and often told him so. And that, too, made him proud.
When Tara still didn't answer, Kent searched for the right words to express his concern, without seeming like pushing. "You screamed," he said uncertainly. "Did something happen?"
Tara looked at her hands, folded in her lap on top of the quilt. Kent looked at them too. They were still shaking, though not as violently as they had been before. He knew what that meant, but didn't say anything. She knew that he knew, but she couldn't think of anything to say. He couldn't know the truth, and she didn't want to lie to the one person who had always believed in her.
Finally: "I had a bad dream."
"I guessed that much," Kent said, trying not to sound offended. She had to give him some credit; he wasn't completely blind. "You've been having a lot of bad dreams lately, haven't you?"
"I guess," Tara admitted. She could tell him that much. But not what the dreams were about. Not about the real-life nightmare that she had lived through, and continued to live through. Not about her other life. Tara was aching to tell him, knowing he would understand, somehow. It was only through extreme effort that she managed to keep silent. Only by keeping quiet about all her feelings was she able to keep her secrets secret.
Pushing her the wrong way would be catastrophic, but Kent was starting to get frustrated. He had been patient with Tara for months, hoping she would open up to him, even just a little bit. Once or twice she had confided in him, just small things, but to him, they were steps in the right directions. But if she couldn't even share her dreams, he wasn't sure they were making any progress at all.
"I had a bad dream too," Kent said slowly. "Would you like to hear about it?"
Did she have any right to hear about his life, when she had no intention of sharing hers? Probably not. "If you want to tell me," she found herself saying. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she scrambled for a way to backtrack. "I don't want to make you relive it."
Kent hadn't considered that as a possibility. "It was scary," he admitted. "But you know, I think talking about it will help. If I just keep things pent up inside, it's just going to eat at me." Tara was smart. She'd probably know what he was trying to do. But he had to try something.
Tara simply nodded dully. Taking that as the only cue he was going to get, Kent down on the bed and leaned back against the headboard. "I was in that new bookstore downtown, with some friends. Suddenly, a giant squirrel crashed through the glass door and pushed over a bookcase."
That was not what Tara had been expecting. "A... a giant squirrel?" she asked, trying not to laugh.
"It kept touching books, and every time it did, they went up in flames. And when it was done, it started touching people." Kent shivered. "First the bookstore owners, then my friends. Everyone lit up like paper and shriveled away into nothing but a few ashes." He didn't mention that Tara had been there as well, and had been the last to go before he woke up to her screams. That had made his dream-to-life transition more difficult than usual.
Despite the ridiculousness of the image, a chill ran down Tara's spine. She pictured her friends, her teammates, burning away to nothing. Then she remembered that she had burned before, and she had to put her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming. Even though it appeared to be silly and out of the question, being burned alive was not something to be taken lightly.
"I didn't mean to scare you," Kent added gently. Maybe talking about his own dreams hadn't been the smartest idea, but he was running out of options.
Tara shook her head and, as soon as she felt she could, removed her hands. "Are you kidding? I was trying not to laugh." She attempted a smirk, and found it was easier than she thought it would be. "Giant squirrel. You're such a goof, Kent."
"Hey, I know it's silly," Kent said defensively. "It was just scary in the dream. I know it would never happen, but in the moment, it really freaked me out." His tone changed, becoming less offended, and more calming big-brotherish. "Now that I've talked it out, I see how silly it was, and it won't scare me again. I mean, it was just a dream."
Just a dream. The words echoed in Tara's consciousness. Anything could happen in a dream. Nothing was too ridiculous, too out-of-this-world. Nobody believed that the things that happened in dreams were real once they were awake. Tara knew better, but she had reason to. Kent didn't.
"Just a dream," Tara repeated. Kent watched her closely as she clenched and unclenched her fingers. They were finally steady. "Kent, big brother of mine." She took a deep breath. "Would you like to hear about my dream?"
"If you want to tell me." Kent scooted closer to her and put one arm around her comfortingly. "If you think it would help to talk about, I'm always ready to listen."
Tara leaned her head against Kent's chest, nearly sliding off of the silk of his pajamas. She adjusted the angle, slid her hand into his, and started to talk. Her dream that night had been of war and death, but that wasn't the dream that she wanted to share. There was an older wound festering in her heart that needed attention.
"It's the middle of the school year. I'm in a classroom with some friends of mine for Science Club. And it's all going fine, until..."
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Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 10:42 pm
Prom Preparations and Such[Tara + Yvette] Yvette invites Tara fabric-shopping. Tara agrees out of guilt, but Yvette has something more up her sleeve.
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Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 11:52 pm
"I haven't been sleeping well."
Tara set her aloe vera plant down on the table, next to the one she had brought a few weeks before. They looked more or less the same to her, but she was hardly experienced with the well-being of plants. She could only hope that they were both doing well.
"It's nothing too bad, but at least that's not a problem you don't have, huh?"
She sighed and set to feeling the soil. Her own plant had been watered well before leaving the house, but the other one felt dry, so she pulled out a bottle of water and sprinkled a little over where she guessed the roots were. There wasn't a whole lot of light in the coma ward, probably to save electricity, but there was one desk light over the few plants on the table. Tara checked the bulb to make sure it wasn't too hot, then stopped fussing over the plants and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I know that probably doesn't mean a lot to you. When you wake up, you'll probably feel like you never want to sleep again. Or maybe not. I've been wrong about other things."
Her voice was bitter. Tara reached out to stroke Laney's hair, but caught herself at the last second. She reached over, grabbing the water bottle and pouring a little of it into her palm, letting the rest spill onto the floor. Hands sufficiently wet, she rubbed them together a few times and wiped them dry on her pants.
"That's better. Wouldn't want to get your hair dirty. I mess up enough without making things actually messy."
Laney would forgive her. Laney always did. Maybe that was why, whenever Tara visited, she confessed her insecurities. She apologized for the actions she took that she wasn't completely sure of. She was sure that Laney would accept it. But the longer she did it, the less sure she was. Not hearing her voice was starting to erode her confidence. Was it possible that Laney wouldn't forgive her for this? For anything?
"Never mind. I'm sure you're sick of hearing me talk about my screw-ups. Or maybe it's better than hearing nothing. I really wouldn't know. You'll have to tell me about it."
If Laney was still speaking to her when she woke up. Not that she was doing a whole lot of talking now. Tara was conflicted. The silence was filled with mysteries, with questions left unanswered. When Laney woke up- and she would- she would fill in the blanks. But would Tara be satisfied with the answers? Usually she didn't fear the truth, she embraced it. This was a special case. Laney was a special girl.
"I wish I could stay, but I can't today. I'm meeting Kent at that pizza place downtown. He said he had some kind of surprise. I can't imagine what, really, it's been months since my birthday. But I've been hinting that I need a new telescope... eh, who knows? Boys are so weird, huh Laney?"
The lack of a reply didn't usually bother Tara. She was used to talking enough to fill the void. But that day, the silence was deafening, and she was all too ready to leave. It made her feel guilty, but she would feel guilty whether or not she was there. Better not to keep her brother waiting, not when the pizza was on him.
"I'll be back soon. I promise. And you know I always keep my promises, sooner or later."
Tara would later wonder what would have happened if she had spent just a little longer at the hospital. If she hadn't been scared away by the emptiness that gnawed at her. What would have happened if she'd been forced to catch the next bus? What if, what if?
One way or another, she was going to keep her promise.
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