Status: I'm on hiatus until June 27th 2012 due to my GCSE's. Please, please stick with this.
Concealed Within
the second
A claw, a great snarling sound, red eyes. Trying to run but nothing is moving. A scream.
And then, Caja woke up.
A light sheen of sweat covered her body, and her breath came out in short, quick gasps. She wanted to get up, to walk the dream off, but she was frozen. It was always the same nightmare, and she'd had it so many times she guessed she should be used to it already. But no, everytime her reaction was the same. It never got any less terrifying.
It was a while before she could do anything but lie there rigid, her eyes squeezed shut. Slowly, haltingly, she sat up and opened her eyes. The lack of light filtering through her curtains told Caja that it was still very early, and she had hours before she even had to get ready for school. The book she had been reading before she fell asleep lay discarded at an odd angle on the floor, the mermaids on the cover frowning as if to say 'you should take better care of us, Caja'. Gingerly she picked it up and straightened out the bent pages, putting it back in it's rightful place on the precarious pile of books next to her bed.
With a soft sigh, she swung her legs out of bed and slipped her feet into her scuffed trainers. Her swim bag was hanging on her bed post and so she didn't have to go far to find it, and her hoodie was hanging up on the back of her door. The soft fabric comforted her, but was not able to shake off the last of the nightmare. This didn't worry her though, she knew what was left of the nightmare would be washed away by the sea.
Quietly, as not to wake up her parents or her little brother Alex, she crept out of her room and down the stairs, exiting out of the back door. Gravel crunched under her feet painfully loudly in the silence of the early morning, and so she forced herself to tread lighter. Two minutes and she would be re-united with the sea again. Just the thought lifted her soul and was almost enough to make her forget her nightmare, but as always the monsters in her mind refused to leave.
It wasn't quite pitch black outside but there wasn't enough light for Caja to be able to see where she was walking, and so she had to rely on her good sense of direction and, as she got closer towards it, the sound of the sea. As she got to the beach car park she slipped her shoes off so she could wriggle her toes into the sand as she walked. Less than a minute of walking led her to her usual spot on the beach. A quick glance around the beach told her that she was alone, and so she quickly got undressed and into her swimming costume without fear of anyone seeing her. Her swim bag, towel and other clothes were hidden in between two mini sand dunes and behind a boulder, and then she was ready to swim.
The water was freezing, but Caja didn't mind in the slightest. She waded in up to her knees, her teeth already chattering, and then dove under a small wave that was about ready to break. There are many phrases that could be used to describe the sensations and emotions that Caja was feeling as she glided under the water, the most prominent being 'home at last'.
Not normally waking up early enough to have a morning swim, Caja was in unusually high spirits as she entered St Judes Secondary School (better known as 'hell' by a majority of the students). Her friends were in their usual early morning spot, crowded around a radiator in the hall. There were five of them, including Caja, the others being Will, Caitlin, Emma and Rueben. Emma and Rueben were arguing as she approached, and so no one returned her surprisingly cheery greeting.
"You don't just say, oh look how hot the new guy is, in front of your boyfriend!" Rueben yelled. Their argument didn't surprise Caja, Emma and Rueben had been going out for six months or so, and were always arguing. They thrived on it, in fact. Rare was the day that no arguments or jibes passed between them, but Caja doubted that they would be breaking up any time in the near future. The fact that they got a new student, now that surprised her. St Judes rarely ever got new students, mainly because no one ever moved to Angarrack, the tiny village was rarely included on maps as it was of little significance, but also because St. Judes was definitely not the best school in the world.
"But he was hot! I can't help it if the new guy's good looking! You need to stop being so - oh, hey Caja." Caja smiled at her and was about to reply when Emma pointed to the other end of the hall. "Look, see for yourself!"
Caja, along with the others, turned to see what Emma was pointing at and couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her. Entering the room with Jimmy Alcott and Millie Baker and some of the other people that Caja wouldn't associate with even of she was paid millions of pounds, was who she presumed to be the new boy. 'Hot' did not do him justice. He was tall, a lot taller than Caja, with an angled jaw and jet black wavy hair. His flawless skin almost seemed to glow as if there was a light inside of him, and even at a distance Caja could see how beautiful his dark blue eyes were. As if sensing five pairs of eyes on him, he stopped and looked directly at Caja.
She was dimly aware of her friends turning away, embarrased, and one of them tugging on her sleeve to get her to do the same, but she ignored them. Staring straight into his eyes she got the most wonderful feeling in the world, something that she thought only the sea could give her.
Home at last.
And then, Caja woke up.
A light sheen of sweat covered her body, and her breath came out in short, quick gasps. She wanted to get up, to walk the dream off, but she was frozen. It was always the same nightmare, and she'd had it so many times she guessed she should be used to it already. But no, everytime her reaction was the same. It never got any less terrifying.
It was a while before she could do anything but lie there rigid, her eyes squeezed shut. Slowly, haltingly, she sat up and opened her eyes. The lack of light filtering through her curtains told Caja that it was still very early, and she had hours before she even had to get ready for school. The book she had been reading before she fell asleep lay discarded at an odd angle on the floor, the mermaids on the cover frowning as if to say 'you should take better care of us, Caja'. Gingerly she picked it up and straightened out the bent pages, putting it back in it's rightful place on the precarious pile of books next to her bed.
With a soft sigh, she swung her legs out of bed and slipped her feet into her scuffed trainers. Her swim bag was hanging on her bed post and so she didn't have to go far to find it, and her hoodie was hanging up on the back of her door. The soft fabric comforted her, but was not able to shake off the last of the nightmare. This didn't worry her though, she knew what was left of the nightmare would be washed away by the sea.
Quietly, as not to wake up her parents or her little brother Alex, she crept out of her room and down the stairs, exiting out of the back door. Gravel crunched under her feet painfully loudly in the silence of the early morning, and so she forced herself to tread lighter. Two minutes and she would be re-united with the sea again. Just the thought lifted her soul and was almost enough to make her forget her nightmare, but as always the monsters in her mind refused to leave.
It wasn't quite pitch black outside but there wasn't enough light for Caja to be able to see where she was walking, and so she had to rely on her good sense of direction and, as she got closer towards it, the sound of the sea. As she got to the beach car park she slipped her shoes off so she could wriggle her toes into the sand as she walked. Less than a minute of walking led her to her usual spot on the beach. A quick glance around the beach told her that she was alone, and so she quickly got undressed and into her swimming costume without fear of anyone seeing her. Her swim bag, towel and other clothes were hidden in between two mini sand dunes and behind a boulder, and then she was ready to swim.
The water was freezing, but Caja didn't mind in the slightest. She waded in up to her knees, her teeth already chattering, and then dove under a small wave that was about ready to break. There are many phrases that could be used to describe the sensations and emotions that Caja was feeling as she glided under the water, the most prominent being 'home at last'.
Not normally waking up early enough to have a morning swim, Caja was in unusually high spirits as she entered St Judes Secondary School (better known as 'hell' by a majority of the students). Her friends were in their usual early morning spot, crowded around a radiator in the hall. There were five of them, including Caja, the others being Will, Caitlin, Emma and Rueben. Emma and Rueben were arguing as she approached, and so no one returned her surprisingly cheery greeting.
"You don't just say, oh look how hot the new guy is, in front of your boyfriend!" Rueben yelled. Their argument didn't surprise Caja, Emma and Rueben had been going out for six months or so, and were always arguing. They thrived on it, in fact. Rare was the day that no arguments or jibes passed between them, but Caja doubted that they would be breaking up any time in the near future. The fact that they got a new student, now that surprised her. St Judes rarely ever got new students, mainly because no one ever moved to Angarrack, the tiny village was rarely included on maps as it was of little significance, but also because St. Judes was definitely not the best school in the world.
"But he was hot! I can't help it if the new guy's good looking! You need to stop being so - oh, hey Caja." Caja smiled at her and was about to reply when Emma pointed to the other end of the hall. "Look, see for yourself!"
Caja, along with the others, turned to see what Emma was pointing at and couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her. Entering the room with Jimmy Alcott and Millie Baker and some of the other people that Caja wouldn't associate with even of she was paid millions of pounds, was who she presumed to be the new boy. 'Hot' did not do him justice. He was tall, a lot taller than Caja, with an angled jaw and jet black wavy hair. His flawless skin almost seemed to glow as if there was a light inside of him, and even at a distance Caja could see how beautiful his dark blue eyes were. As if sensing five pairs of eyes on him, he stopped and looked directly at Caja.
She was dimly aware of her friends turning away, embarrased, and one of them tugging on her sleeve to get her to do the same, but she ignored them. Staring straight into his eyes she got the most wonderful feeling in the world, something that she thought only the sea could give her.
Home at last.
♠ ♠ ♠
Dedicated once again, to my lovely wife Sara. I quite like this chapter, and at least you can see that there is a plot line to this story :') I originally was just writing as I went with no idea of where I was going at all, but I have a pretty good idea now. Thank you to everyone who commented and subscribed! :)