CH5 Sleep
#3 of Lost in the world: Home
Slayne woke in a cold sweat, tears running down the side of his face, memories of the past invaded his dreams. The sun was out, a clock on a near by table read 8:17 AM, Slayne had only slept two hours. He tried to sleep, but he became restless, a new place with new people and the fear of having the dreams again caused this. He stirred from his restless position on the sofa, he wanted to get to know the others more. As he reached the bottom step of the stairs leading up to the bedrooms he recalled what time it was, the others would still be sleeping. He slumped, placing his head upon his hand to think. He couldn't go out, "Still to bright." Nor could he stay in without dyeing of boredom. "Hrm. What to do? There has to be something." Just then steps were heard at the top of the stairs. Slayne already knew who it was. "Hello Luceil." He said without even turning to look up the stairs. "Oh! Slayne, what are you doing up so early?: Luceil was dressed in a moderate blue business suit, half whispering not to wake the others. "Can't sleep." "Why not?" "Dreams again." "The orphanage?" "No...The fire." "Slayne...It's not your fault." Luceil sat down next to Slayne, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You were four, you didn't know any better. I know that I have only been your case worker for two years now, ever since Roy left,, but now I'm you foster mother too...we don't need to say what else though." Slayne sighed and nodded with a slight smirk. "And what are you doing up Luceil?" "I have to attend a meeting for all the staff under 30 years of age." Luceil's appearance reflected her youthful, and beautiful, 27 year old age. "So can you do me a favor and keep an eye on Amy? She should stay sleeping." Slayne nodded, accepting this task. Luceil kissed him on his forehead before leaving. Slayne didn't move, even after Luceil's jeep could no longer be heard as it drove away. He remained at the bottom of the stairs, listening, waiting. Almost an hour had passed before he could hear anything. Light, soft crying, Immediately Slayne knew this must be Amy, he followed the sound upstairs into Luceil's room. Amy was indeed crying, sitting up in her and Luceil's bed, sobbing in her hands. He made his way over to Amy, slowly sitting on the bed beside her, placing his arms around the small girl. Amy looked up through teary eyes. "Mama?" Less than a second after she knew it was not and began to cry again. "Shhh, shhhhh. Your mama had to go for a while, but I'm here. Tell me, what's wrong?" Slayne spoke softly and calm. "I-I had--a-b-bad-bad drea--" Amy could barely speak between sobs and gasps for air. Slayne hugged her tightly and held her close. "It's ok Amy, I'm here.Big brother Slayne will take care of you." As Amy's crying slowed, Slayne laid her down. "I'll make all the bad things go away." He wiped the few remaining tear drops from Amy's face as she was already returned to sleep. Slayne, too, felt a new kind of calm wash over him. As he drifted off to sleep, there next to Amy, he couldn't help, but to feel a sense of security. This time there were no bad dreams, no haunting past, no crying. Only comfort. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Slayne awoke once again, almost forgetting where he was. The crimson goose down comforter, and matching pillows, red satin curtains shining soft pink light upon the walls, dark oak furniture consisting of one old rocking chair, a large dresser located just left of what Slayne suspected was a walk in closet, and the four post bed Slayne had been laying upon. If not for the sweet smell of Luceil's perfume lingering about the room, he would have thought he was in some other abode. Upon awaking, the first thing his eyes fell upon was a digital clock reading 3:22 PM. He had slept another six hours. The second thing was that Amy was gone. Slayne did not worry, because within a moment he could hear her giggling somewhere within the new house. Upon leaving the room he immediately saw what had been causing the giggling. Jen and Chrissy ambushed him before he had a chance to react. Jen smiling sweetly, Chrissy smiling mockingly, and there, Amy half hiding behind Luceil with matching pink blush lines across their faces. "Aww how sweet! Would never expect you to be a softy!" Chrissy mocked, wearing a similar school uniform to the one she wore the night before. "You really do have a beautifully kind heart Slayne..." Jen was being very serine and sincere with the way he spoke. "Thank you Slayne, for taking care of Amy while I was gone." Luceil thanked for Amy who was too timid to speak, though she did bow her head as a way of thanking him. Slayne rubbed the back of his neck, a small, thinly chained bracelet had fallen from his wrist, unnoticed."Yeah, well. I know what it's like to be a kid...and how it feels to be alone that young. It gets scary." He began walking down the hall in the other direction. "I need to take a good, long bath. If you need me...Knock first." This was directed at Luceil who laughed at it. Before drawing his bath Slayne had proceded down stairs and grabbed his clothing bag, returned upstairs into the bathroom and locked the door for some extra security. The bathroom was bright, white tiled walls, light slate-gray cobblestone tile flooring, towels bright green as fresh spring leaves captured in the pre-noon sun. Porcelain sink and toilet, the shower too was white, but made of pewter instead. Unfortunately there was no bath tub, but only the shower, he didn't care. ~~~The water was warm as it soaked his white fur and hair, and cleansed his body with the soap he lathered in with it.~~~ He dried with one of the green towels hanging on the rack. With the towel around him, securing itself around his waist, Slayne riffled through his clothing bag. From within he pulled a pair of Scissors, proceeded over to the mirror and wiped the fog from it. * * *
TO BE CONTINUED