Do You See What I See? (part 3)

Posted on Thu Oct 23rd, 2014 @ 9:22pm by Commander Rylie Cattmor & Lieutenant Commander Dylan Blake & Lieutenant Jensen Foster

2,158 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: What Dreams May Come

[CONTINUED]

From the aftermath of the mission on the Edmorn, to the incident in the mirror, even the sanctity of her quarters was making Rylie jumpy. But it was late, and like many she had already decided to try to put a little bit of distance on the situation, and attempt to get some rest before getting a start on things with a fresh head in the morning. The only problem, or more likely one of many, was that any time Cattmor closed her eyes, visions would fill her mind's eye which were not at all for the faint of heart.

But she felt exhausted, more tired than she had in a very long time. Once she'd changed, she got a small glass of water, pulled the sheets back on the bed, and laid down. Sleep however, would not take hold. She opened her eyes sharply, the feeling of many times in the past few days of being watched was unbearable, and tossed and turned over propping herself up on her elbow catching sight of the same man from her mirror vision sitting in the lounger in the corner. "So this is what you did." he stated flatly.

Rylie's heart was beating in her throat, "Ral?" The man didn't respond, and just kept looking at her with deadened eyes. "Cattmor to Security, intruder alert." But there was no response there either.

"Sorry," Ral said softly, "I had to arrange for a little privacy."

"You're not here, you're not real." Cattmor stated resolutely. "I saw you die, I saw the marines put sixteen spikes in your chest before you even felt your legs give way."

"Ah, you mean these --" Ral replied looking down at the bloodied remains of his top, crimson blood staining the majority of the cream garment. "You would know everything about that wouldn't you, you were still in my head when it happened. You let this happen," he forcefully stated sitting forward. "I could have had a chance if you hadn't have been using your little teep trick. You were about to be free, and you let them do this to me anyway."

"Yeah, well, it turns out it wasn't so freeing." Rylie exhaled. "Now if you'll excuse me, get out of my head, because I have had a very long day."

Ral stood, and walked across the room to the bed. "You think it's that easy? You were in my head, so now I'm in yours, and I can't leave any more than you'd want me to. I meant what I said y'know--they'll never trust you. Once they find out what you did, what you're capable of, they'll never look at you the same way again." He finally sat down on the bed, "Never let you in."

Cattmor got up suddenly. "I tried to ask nicely before, now let me put it succinctly: get the hell out of here."

"Can't do."

"Get out!" Rylie shouted.

"No." Ral countered defiantly.

"Fine, then I'm going to leave." And not caring what she was wearing, in her peach silk shorts, thin strap white top and a small wrap-around, Cattmor stormed out of her own quarters to come face-to-face immediately with Ral outside, to which her only response was to exhale a breath she'd been holding.

"You can't run," Ral said as he followed her down the hall. "You can't dismiss me out of your head that easily. Where you go, I will always be there with you."

"More to the pity." Rylie stated quickly just as a young petty officer passed her in the hall looking a little nervous at the sight. "I regret a lot of what I did, what I had to do, and you can't tell me you didn't feel any different."

Ral jumped in front to stop the pace and threw his arms wide out to the side, "I had a good life on Athera, the best of what I could make it."

"You think that was a life?! You were an unwitting pawn to Fragir's game, selling substances to the socially desperate. You think you were helping them, but you were only helping them escape their own puerile existence by paving the road to inadequacy and ruin."

"They were already lost--"

"That's what you told yourself to try to justify what you were doing." Rylie interrupted. "It wasn't them that were lost, it was you and the delinquents of society that pushed Athera down that way, that made us do what we did."

"Spoken like a true noble family patriot. I thought you left all that behind, that you believed that people deserved better than what they got, that that's why you came here, to wear the Earther's uniform."

Cattmor scooted round Ral to continue down the corridor to the lift. When she entered, Ral was still standing in the corridor where she'd left him, until she ordered "Deck twelve."

"I guess that's why you don't deserve to be here either." said Ral's voice behind her.

Rylie turned to face his dead eyes once more. "I went from riches to ruin, and clawed my way half back again, only to find myself in another piece of hell. The only decent action you took, I forced you to, and look at the payment I got for that." she finished glancing down at his chest, a couple of spikes still protruding from it.

Ral heaved a breath. "That still doesn't change anything."

"I suppose it doesn't--I'm still alive."

"Hmm," Ral agreed, "but for how long?" He rhetorically asked before clasping both hands around Cattmor's throat.

Rylie's back slammed hard against the doors of the lift as she tried to pry his dry, caked hands from her throat, but his grip was too strong. She tried to push him away or stun him with her mind but found her talent had vacated her. Suddenly the doors opened and she fell backwards, landing hard on the floor, her head practically bouncing on the deck plating. As she shook off the fall, she realised that she was once again alone, with her own hands near her neckline.

As she gingerly got back to her feet using the side railing for a little support, she puzzled over what had just happened, and despite the experience, the one thing she really landed on was not being able to source her teek ability. She'd often fantasised about not having any special sensory abilities, but at that moment it really concerned her that she wasn't who she thought she was without them, that she was lost in herself. Was this what Ral was trying to tell her, or was it something deeper?

Or perhaps it was none of those things, and it was just a hallucination, a self projected image--but that would just mean that she was crazy.

~~~~

"They don't know do they? They don't know the truth about me, do they?" the voice whispered against his ear, softly and seductively. And so familiar...

Eyes snapping open, Jensen sat up abruptly and found him looking into eyes that glowed pure white.

"What? Who...?"

"Oh, Jensen. Tsk. Tsk. You really should learn to sleep with the lights on," the seductive voice said, before those glowing eyes drifted across the darkened bedroom towards the doorway to Jensen's living room. Suddenly, light flooded the room, making Jensen squint up at the figure that stood in his bedroom.

Realization dawned on his face and Jensen felt tears welling up in his eyes.

"No... it can't be... not you..."

Smiling, the figure said, "You've always known I'd come back. I told you, one way or another, I'd come back to you. To finish what we started."

Pressing a fist to his mouth, Jensen fought to hold back his tears. Neon blue hair fell across the figure's face in a haphazard way. The body was clothed in a grey tunic and black pants.

But the thing Jensen couldn't help but take in was that the young man's eyes, which were once a clear and vivd blue, were white - blindingly white - and that was all because of himself.

"Cal'n?"

"Oh, come now. It hasn't been that long, Jenny."

"No... This can't be. I'm dreaming. I have to be..."

The figure came over and sat down on the bed, leaning in close to Jensen. "You're not dreaming. I'm here. And I know what you're capable of. It's what killed me. It's what's going to kill them. You're going to kill them."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jensen replied, "I will not. I've... I've gotten much better at controlling my abilities!"

"Really now? And how did that help Kai? Oh, wait, that was a medical tragedy."

"Yes, it was. And it still haunts me."

"But then again, the way you reacted empathically killed nearly half of the town, including me. You're little friend's only brother and your lover. Guess Jason was right to have treated you the way he did..."

"Shut up, Cal'n! I didn't mean for it to happen! You know that!" Fighting back tears, he angrily yelled, "And Jason had no right to do to me what he did! You were the one who made me see that... You loved me even with my faults."

"Yes, I did love you. And you may not have meant to lash out like you did. But you did all the same. Odd, have you even told anyone about me? Or have you only mentioned Kai?"

The way Cal'n was looking into Jensen's eyes made him realize that he was probably reading his mind too. It was one thing about Kai's species that wasn't well known. About a fifth of the population had minor telepathic abilities. Jensen and Cal'n had created a mental link their first night together intimately.

"You only have mentioned Kai... I feel hurt. Why is he so special? What about me? Don't you care about me still, Jenny? Or am I just to be shoved to the back of your mind like refuse?"

"Just... go away Cal'n... I don't need this right now." Something seemed off, this wasn't how Cal'n had been. But Jensen didn't have the heart to delve further, to seek the truth. He was hurting too much as it was.

"Oh, yes, you don't need it. But maybe I do."

"What? We spoke just before you..."

"Yes and I forgave you. Well, guess what? I've had time to think on that. And I made a mistake. And since they don't know what you're capable of, I'll just have to help them out. Won't I? I'm not leaving Jenny. We have a debt to settle."

"Cal'n..."

The young man got up from the bed and then crossed to the doorway. "I'll be back Jenny. And just you wait. I'll make it so hard for you. That they'll be wishing they'd never accepted your transfer from the Zenobia."

Jensen watched the young man walk out and then quickly ran after him a few seconds later. He wasn't to be found in the living room and when he went to check the hall, he wasn't there either.

Shaking just a bit, Jensen retreated to one of his lounge chairs. A few seconds later, after the shock had worn off, he began to cry. Not just out of sadness and deep-seated hatred, but because he felt like he'd already began to loose his mind. Maybe he had. After all, what person had conversations with their dead lover in the middle of the night?

~~~~

Unable to sleep having been utterly spooked by the video on Edmorn Dylan Blake untangled himself from the arms of his sleeping girlfriend and padded softly into the living area. Slipping around the empty dark room he fell exhausted on the sofa with a groan. Wither asleep or awake he couldn't find rest sandwiched between the images of death and decay from the Edmorn and a scattering of nightmares he felt spent.

Therefore he wasn't surprised to see movement in the corner of his eye. A quick stretch of his neck revealed nothing but empty space. Satisfied be lent back, tilting his head over the edge of the backrest...only to find the dark space directly above was already occupied! A long, white, gaunt face filled his vision. Wide grey eyes stared back with a open, gapping mouth bearing distinctive pointed teeth.

With a whooshing sound of escaping air and the twang of sofa springs Dylan scrambled free in time to witness the sweeping of a dark cape swallowing the pale face from sight. Panting from the scare he leapt to his feet and darted around the furniture several times before scooping out the room.

"Right," he whispered out loud still breathing heavily. "Now, how am I suppose to sleep with Dracula lurking around?"

~~~~~

Lieutenant Commander Rylie Cattmor
XO

Lieutenant Jensen Foster
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Dylan Blake
Chief Science Officer

 

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