Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ A Dream Among the Sharks ❯ A Dream Among the Sharks ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"A Dream Among the Sharks"
"In everything I'm touching
As I sweat and crush you
And I hold your beating chambers
Until they beat no more"

She was dying. Her mouth tasted of ashes, the world was grey. Where there had once
been light, there was only darkness. She had never felt the icy chill of death, but she knew this
was it. This was all there was. She was dying.

Lacey lay herself down against the fine linen sheets, her eyes, like the bleakest of black
ink, stared up at the roof. There were 328 wood panels covering the roof held up by 32 rafters
and 416 knots that could be seen. There could be more under the rafters, she idly wondered how
many there might be. She had confirmed this number thirty-four times. The first few attempts she
had counted different numbers, but she had become talented at this odd game she had created. It
was how she passed the time now.

Sometimes she pulled herself up from the bed, but the pain often made her think twice.
When ever she needed the reassurance that she was still alive, she would sit up, throw her legs
over the edge of the bed and stare out the window, out into the villa's courtyard. Sometimes she
went out into the garden and sat in the sun. She would sit and tilt her head back, gazing into the

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sun feeling it scorch her eyes. She would stare until her body gave her no other option than to
blink. And then she would sit and feel the warm caress of the sun on her skin. She had darkened
during her time in Ehsias. Not considerably, but if she were to go home, she would be a pariah
among the alabaster skinned nobles of Adronus.
"You die like angels sing
The horror of our love"

Slowly, she sat up from the bed, untangled herself from the sheets and examined the
small bruises covering her body. They were scattered across her body, slight and pale compared
to her darkened skin. In her first year in Ehsias, the bruises were anomalous against her white
skin. They blended better now. Her body had learned to adapt. It had been two years since her
arrival in this odd country, so far from home. She had learned to change her ways. What made
him happy, what didn't. What not to do, things she couldn't say. Little tricks, but it all helped. It
was worth it in the morning, when the bright sun filtered through the cotton curtains, when she
could move. It was worth it to wake and be able to dress in the morning. She had learned so
much over the years. How to smile when all you wanted to do was cry and scream. How to live
when all you wanted was to die.

Sometimes, she forgot why she was in this place. She would wake and think she was a
young child, still in her bed, safe in Adronus. When the body beside her shifted she would re-
member-- sometimes. Every so often she would lay still in fear, and when she remember the tears
would roll down her cheeks and soak into the pillow. He would wake, lean over her and stare

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into her eyes. His black pools staring into hers, an odd sense of confusion swimming in his eyes.
He didn't understand. And that would make her cry harder. So she would hold him to her, cling
him to her breast until she had finished. When the heaving sobs finally subsided he would caress
her head like a master would stroke a pet he held a certain fondness for. He had never understand
and he never would.
"Never so much blood pulled through my veins
The horror of our love
Never so much blood"

She draped the linen wrap around her body, tying the band around her waist and frown-
ing. There was so much more extra material than there once had been. She wrapped it twice for
good measure and stared into the mirror. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders, winding down and
tangling with the material at her shoulders. It had lost the volume it once had. She had once had a
full head of voluptuous curls. They had died. Now they hung, sad and lifeless like slick ink
spills. She wanted it to cut it, she hated it. She wanted to chop it all off and stomp on the excess.
She stood before the mirror and fingered the tresses. It would be so easy. Surely there was a
blade somewhere in this room. She could just slit it all off. So easy.

"What are you doing?" She didn't jump, she didn't even start. Her reflection captivated
her. Her dark eyes were sunken in, surrounded by the waxy, dark pigment that normally came
with illness and lack of sleep. She didn't know which one it was.

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Lacey turned and faced the man standing behind her. So many emotions raced through
her when she saw him. His black eyes stared out at her with that blank glare that always accom-
panied his stare. She idly wondered how eyes so impassive could be so piercing.

"Thinking. I think I'm falling ill."

Arius frowned. "Do you feel ill?"

Lacey turned back to the mirror and examined her reflection. For one shocking second,
she didn't recognize the figure staring back at her.

"Do I look like me?" She watched Arius' reflection in the mirror. An odd glimmer of con-
cern flitted across his face.

"What are you asking?" Lacey continued to stare at her reflection. It was her again, but
she was sure that it hadn't been her seconds ago. It had been someone else. A corpse.

"When you look at me, do you see me, or do you see someone else. Sometimes I don't
think I look like me. I think I'm someone else sometimes." He was staring at her, his eyes thin-
ning into slits, his jaw tightening. That look of concern was back, he seemed strangely fright-
ened.

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"You're not making any sense. Why would you be someone else?" Lacey shook her head
and smiled into the mirror, meeting Arius' eyes.

"Nothing. It's not important." She turned to face him. "How was your training? You left
early this morning."

He nodded slowly, seeming to be reluctant to drop the subject, though at the same time
glad to avoid what could turn into a weighty conversation.

"It was good. But I am tired now." Lacey smiled and reached forwards to help him re-
move the linen drapery on his shoulders.

"Of course you are. It has been a long day for you. You have been up much longer than I
have." She stepped close to him and pressed her body against his, leaning her head into his chest,
listening to the deep beating of his heart.

"Why do you do that?" He was referring to the way she leaned her head against his chest.
When ever the emotion became too much she listed to his heart. It reminded her that he was hu-
man.

"Because, you're like me." She placed his hand against her chest. "They beat the same,
see?"

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Arius pulled his hand away, but she left her head where it was, listening to the steady beat
of his heart.

He made her feel alive, it was only when he was gone that she felt dead. He made her feel
so many things. She felt hatred, loathing, execration, so many words could define her feelings.
And yet, there was an odd fondness, she needed him like she needed air. Like she needed to feel
the sun against her face. She hated herself for it. She hated him for it. She loved him for it.

"Come to bed, you should rest. Tomorrow you will go to war."

She was dying. There was no doubt of it.
"Your body blue and walking
Along the continental shelf
You are a dream among the sharks
Beautiful and terrifying"

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