Unsettling Nights

[Jake]

((First time writing any RP, hope its understandable XD!))

<Sakuri's Apartment: Galaxy City, Starlight Apartments, Block 10, Room 43>

The wind pierced Sakuri's bare arms as she quickened her pace. She had become familiar with the route home from Galaxy Girl some time ago, but she could not stop her heart from racing whenever her ears were plagued with the helpless cries of the city. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as a sharp wind pushed her forward, causing her to misplace her steps and collapse onto the rough gravel pavement. She swung her head around, swiftly whipping her hair out of her face in the process. It was as-if she had expected to see someone, something. But nothing was there. She pushed herself upwards in a huff and hopped into a jog forward. She was almost home, although the tall, grubby building could not be depicted amongst the shadows at this late hour.

Craack!

Sakuri spun around and let out a shrill scream that seemed to echo throughout the whole of Galaxy. Before she could even begin to comprehend what had just happened she was blinded by a blaze of white light. She tried to run but she was frozen to the spot, rigid in fear. Falling. Spinning. Faster and faster she fell, into nothingness. The brightness of the white soon became overpowering, she began to claw at her eyes which were apparently wide open.

Thud!

She opened her eyes and jerked forwards, hurling the covers off her small, old bed, in a desperate attempt to cool herself down. She dragged her legs over the side of the bed and sat up, taking deep breathes and wiping her forehead with the discarded blanket. She pushed herself ungracefully to her feet and stumbled over to a rough wooden table, taking the half broken ball point pent from its resting point by a scrappy notepad and slumping down onto the chair that resided next to it. She exhaled a long drawn out sigh and flipped on the table lamp now next to her with one hand and lunging forward for the broken pen with the other. She bit her lip and flipped the notepad to a new, tea-stained page and began to scribble messily on the top line

<The Dream. Night 18>

The wind pierced my bare arms as i quickened my pace...

[Shadowe]

{Huntington Manor, 5 Feb 2008, approx. 1.00am}

Samantha Huntington sat in her bedroom, mind opened to the activity in her house. Poor Sakuri. The girl was in a bad way as a result of this 'dream' she kept having. Sam was pretty sure that she had identified it as the work of an outside intelligence. The only questions left were who and how. Someone who could identify when the girl was asleep. Someone who was trying to either break her will, or numb her to the reality when he actually did this to her for real.

She rose from her bed, wrapping a sheer nightgown around herself, and moved to her dressing table, flipping open the three-way mirror with a practiced hand.

"Helena? Display: Bedroom five. Full bio monitor. Access override Sierra-nine-eight-four-two-zulu." The central mirror opaqued for a moment, then flickered to life with a light-enhanced image of Sakuri lying tangled in the sheets on the bed, her sleep obviously restless, despite the soporifics Helena had dispensed. Data streams began to flow across the right-hand mirror, showing heart rate, respiration, neural activity, liver function, digestion rate, blood pressure, skin temperature... The list went on and on.

In one corner of her mind, Sam identified Sakuri amongst the occupants of the manor. Taking a deep breath, she settled herself more comfortably, and sent a probing tendril of thought in the girl's direction. "Right, you bastard. You picked the wrong kid to mess with. No one screws around with one of my girls. Let's play."

Her awareness flowed out of her body, enveloping Sakuri's mind, forming a barrier of pure thought that should serve to stop anything on the outside getting in - at the very least she would notice if something tried to break through the shield.

Back in her own bedroom, her mouth moved, murmuring quiet words that only Helena could hear. "Inside or out, assault or sapping, warrior or spy. Let's find out what you are."

A brief pause as she triple-checked her mental shields and readied her finger over the concealed button that would activate the hidden - and highly illegal - psychic-white-noise generator in the basement.

"Helena? Cut her meds. Now."

An odourless, colourless gas filtered into Sakuri's room, counteracting the effects of the sedatives, and allowing her to enter a normal sleep.

And Sam waited for the dream to come.

[Jake]

<Huntington Manor>

The whiteness engulfed her once again, falling down, down, deeper into nothingness. Out of nowhere, the ground appeared underneath her as if it had always been there, no thud, sudden landing or anything. She blinked rapidly realizing her vision had returned, but she was puzzled by what she saw. Everything around her was once again white, she blink. Blinked again. Her vision was deffinatley back, but what was this? Where was she? She started to run, forwards, backwards, north, east, south, west, anywhere to find a clue to what was going on. On her, what seemed like, 100th lap she began to see streaks, of black. Only on further inspection did she realize that they were her tracks, she paced backwards a little to check she was correct.. It was then that things started to change. In a sudden surge of what seemed like electric she flew out of her body, up above her now motionless figure. The tracks, they spelt something...

"I l-" Craaack!

She jolted up in bed and rested her back on the cold headboard behind. Throwing the quilt off her she breathed deeply, unsure of what had just happened, this dream had seemed too real than before.. she sighed and reluctantly squirmed out of bed and stumbled through the shadowed room toward the door. She swung it open and shielded herself with the light from the corridor, pausing, before plodding out of the door in search for a glass of water.

As the golden light from the hall hit the opposite wall above Sakuri's bed, the messily strewn writing now became clearly visible. Scrawled in black ink, dripping in places;

"I live on . . "

[Shadowe]

{Huntington Manor, That Night, At About The Same Time}

Sam sat bolt upright, her consciousness returning to her body with a lurch, and she saw the writing. Terror gripped her for a moment as she read the words, then composed herself. This was no time to panic. No harm had been done. It was pure information. Dangerous information, certainly, but all information was dangerous in the right - or wrong - hands.

Rising smoothly from the stool, she checked that her nightgown was still covering her modesty. Not that she cared, but Sakuri might find her ideas about necessary dress a little... peculiar.

Padding swiftly and quietly down the corridor, she followed Sakuri down the sweeping staircase toward the kitchen. As the younger woman hunted down a glass and moved toward the sink to pour herself some water, Sam leaned nonchallantly against the doorjamb, trying to project a confidence that she didn't feel. When she spoke, she did so in a soft, calming voice.

"Interesting guest you have in your head, sugar. Who is he? Who died?"

She paused briefly, not really expecting an immediate response, and continued with a tiny smile. "Oh, and for the record, ain't no way you're sleeping on your own from now on, sugar. Feel free to hog the duvet - I sure as hell don't need it - but be warned, I like to spoon."

[Jake]

<Huntington Manor>

The discussion of her father's death and, what seemed like life story, dragged on into the early hours of the morning. The rising sun shone through the large windows and blinded Sakuri as she slinked out of the kitchen, hanging back at the door to grab the directions to Sam's bedroom. As she bounced up the stairs to the second floor of the house she bit her lip and gulped, she wasn't aloud back into her room? Were things really that bad? What on earth is going on?! Before she knew it she was facing the large wooden door to Sam's room, pushing it open carefully she dressed and prepared herself for the day to come.

The nights to follow were still plagued with disturbance but she was unable to remember her dreams. She would wake up every time as before but with no recollection of anything, and nothing could be detected from the house-hold computer or Sam's computers. Sakuri felt more out of the blue than ever before, Sam wouldn't tell her anything of her findings, if any, and she was a prisoner at home.

She didn't know why. But every morning when she would wake up, she felt a growing.. "feeling" she couldn't describe. That sometime soon, something was about to happen.

[Shadowe]

{Huntington Manor}

Sam bustled about the kitchen, frying pancakes like a madwoman - Kit had stayed over for the night, and would doubtless be downstairs soon, feeling hungry like always. Her mind expanded across the grounds, seeking, searching, watching. In seconds she knew the whereabouts of Richard, Kit, Brian, Joanne, the cats and...

"Ah, Sakuri. Just in time for the first batch." She spoke loudly and clearly, her back to the door. Scooping the pancake onto a plate, she turned and grinned at the younger woman. "How're you feeling this morning?"

The younger woman mumbled something vaguely positive in response, and Sam sighed inside, even as she chuckled outwardly.

"Right. Time for you and I to have a little chat, before the starving masses descend upon us." Sam passed the plate to Sakuri, handed over a knife and fork, and perched herself on one of the stools next to the worktop.

Taking a deep breath, Sam began. "Right, here's what I know: Jack shit. Nothing. Diddly-squat." The younger woman's expression of concern was like a knife to Sam's heart. "On the other hand, I'm smart, so I can make a few damn good guesses. Here goes. For some reason your daddy didn't die when you thought he did. His spirit, or soul, or mind if you want, is sitting pretty in your skull, sharing your life, manifesting in your dreams. I don't know why. There's something else, too. An outside force that's trying to suppress him. I haven't been able to trace that, sorry." She picked up a glass of apple juice, and took a sip.

"I also happen to know that you're worried about what the hell's going on, and you're scared, and you think I'm bossing you around without telling you things. Sugar, you're not half as scared as I am. Things are not as bad as you're afraid of, though. I'm not treating you like a prisoner, though if I wanted to, I can think of worse places I could keep you than a mansion where your every wish can be met just by you asking." She smiled easily. "See, I'm one of Veskit's seconds for a reason. That reason is that I care about the Alliance, and I care about the people in the Alliance. Including you. You're family, sugar. That's what we are. One big, explosion-happy family. You are free to come and go as you please. If you can drive you can borrow one of Richard's cars - not the Aston, that's his favourite - and if not ask Brian for a lift in the limo. If you want to grab a boy and fool around in the hot-tub, go for it! Richard and I have a long history of letting friends stay over, and you have a room here for as long as you want one. The only reason I want you in my room, sugar, is because it's a lot easier to keep an eye on what's going on in your noggin when you're next to me. I can, quite literally, do it in my sleep if you're that near. I have to stay awake if you're in another room, and I need my beauty sleep."

Sam could feel another presence approaching the kitchen door, so hurried to the end. "I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Although I believe that prevention is better than cure, I know so little about what's happening that I don't want to act before I understand more. And because I'm worried about you and want to help, I'm trying not to let you out of my sight too much. But if I'm being too much of a mother-hen, just tell me, sugar."

At that moment Kit pushed through the door, a silk dressing-gown - several sizes too big - wrapped around her, and a huge grin on her face. "Pancakes? Yes, please!"

[Jake]

<Huntington Manor>

Sakuri grinned after gulping down the last of her apple juice, placing the glass next to her deserted plate, now scattered with the remains of a pancake coated in sugar. She felt content in knowing that she was safe, yet free, in this outstanding mansion. She sighed and slouched down on her kitchen stool a little, staring aimlessly out of the large kitchen window at Kit and Sam's escapade down to the bottom of the large garden.

As the blazing rays of the morning sun hit her face, she closed her eyes and pondered on what Sam had told her; Her dad hadn't completely died? An outside force? She paused for a moment in mid thought and smirked to herself, muttering out loud "Are you listening to me Sam?" she bit her lip and focused down the garden at Sam who was slouching against a tree in which Kit was perched. She held her breathe for a moment, expecting a reply but giggled to herself once none came. Her thoughts of what could be happening dragged her on a good few hours, moving from the tall stool to a comfy armchair about half an hour in.

She could feel her eyelids getting heavy, she had only had around 2 hours sleep that night, suddenly migrating to the armchair seemed like a bad a move. Determined not to fall asleep she heaved her self up and sprang into a jump to liven her body up. But as soon as her feet left the ground the felt a jolt across her body like she had only felt once before, which was in the dream of the previous night. Landing ungracefully on the armchair once again she squinted at the familiar sight she saw. Whiteness.

Just like before the white seemed infinite, stretching for miles. In front of her she saw what seemed like a man, almost 10 times as tall as herself. He stood motionless, towering over her like a block of flats. She squinted her eyes but her vision was blurred, she could make out the burgundy chair she was still resided on, but that was about it. The man was glowing white, almost blending into the surrounding, she could just about make out the outline, which seemed brighter than the white around her.

Her heart began to race as she made out the figure's mouth begin to move. His voice boomed and echoed around her;

"Sakuri. You are not safe"

A faint sound of a siren could be heard in Sakuri's ears.

"Its your father. He needs you for something"

Sakuri tried to shout out up to the man, but she had no voice, nothing could be heard.

"A-"

Jerking upwards fast she blinked and re accommodated herself with the room. She was back in the Manor. Sam on her knees in front of her her eyes tight shut, concentrating hard. She could make out Kit lurking nervously in the background, the previous sound of the siren now becoming clear as she winced at the sound of it throughout the rooms of the mansion. Sakuri took a deep breathe and stared aimlessly to the floor. "...Dad?"

[Jake]

<Huntington Manor>

Weeks past and Sakuri seemed to be recovering, the nightmares had gone and she was sleeping properly, but this did not un-nerve her. She still felt the lingering presence of something looming, but she was unaware what.

It was a chilly day, despite the taunting sun that beamed across the manor. Sakuri had gone through her daily routine that had been suggested to her by Sam, to help protect her mind from intrusion. She found it pointless sitting there for an hour just.. breathing and thinking of things, but Sam had reassured her that it would all pay off in the long run, so she stuck to it. She had now moved on to a morning fly around the grounds of the manor, her flight had improved dramatically from when she had first got her wings, and it had become a new love of hers to soar around the gardens and perform adrenaline filled stunts.

It was a good hour before Sakuri returned to the kitchen, where she found a tired Richard already eating, she waved happily, still out of breathe from the morning exercise. Richard lifted his head and greeted Sakuri, not that she heard what he had said due to the sausage he was still devouring. She giggled at Richard before plodding out of the kitchen toward the stairs. Once reaching the second landing, Sakuri familiarized herself with the many doors and eyed out the bathroom, despite the countless trips around the mansion, she still was unsure of the positioning of most rooms.

As Sakuri reached for the handle of the large bathroom she felt a tiny tingle on her forehead, that she had felt before, but couldn't place it where. She disregarded the tingle as an itch and smiled as she pushed open the door. She stepped onto the white tiles and her smile faded, her eyes widened and her breathing increased. She wanted to scream but resisted the erge. In front of her was not the pearl white bathroom she had expected, but it was, what seemed like a dungeon. The room was large in front of her, with 4 pillars highly decorated, supporting the room. She was raised off the ground, standing on a large platform with many steps leading up to it. In front of her, with torn clothes and broken glasses was a man she reconised as her father. She reached out a hand, unable to move her legs, but what she saw shocked her. Her hand was not hers, the hand in front of her was ten times the size, and seemed demon-like, in the hand, was held a golden septor with a giant red orb perched on top of it. She heard a shriek from her father below and attempted to call out to him. But what came out was a cold-callous laugh. A jolt shot through her as she regained consciousness, lying on the cold bathroom floor, with Richard by her side, and the sound of Helena diagnosing what had happened to him.

This had been unlike before, the only time she had experienced this kind of vision was when Sam had implemented the crude thought of Richard into her head as an example. She felt like this had happened before, that she had lived it, that it was real.