Wincing The Night Away.

When Annie was talking about this all being normal . . . But then Kerry understood: you were chased by a Death Monster that was killing your wing man, and--it would seem, you took some guy's head off with a broom stick--

And that, my boy, is your brave new world. It ain't the sort of nightmare fuel that comes from being slapped around in the boy's bathroom at your old school.

As for the other half of Nurse Coraline's statement--

"Sure!" Kerry didn't even bother hiding his happiness. "If no one has a problem, I'd love having Annie keep me company." Kerry didn't even think twice about using the word "love" instead of "like". It wasn't like he would shock anyone here.

Annie beamed up at Nurse Coraline. She was just thinking that the walk back to the coven would be long and lonely.

“I can stay?” She jumped up out of her chair and clapped her hands over her mouth to try and contain the excitement.

Coraline laughed. “Yes, you can stay. Go get changed and I’ll let the orderly know to keep an extra potion ready…just in case.” She watched as Annie bounced off in the direction of the bathrooms and giggled. “I’m off then,” she said, giving Kerry’s leg a light squeeze.

She turned to leave and then stopped. “I know what happened tonight was a very bizarre accident, Kerry. But, for whatever it’s worth…thank you. I’m not sure Professor Palmescoff will pull through,” Coraline smiled and looked down at the bed.

“Anyway, get some sleep. I’ll be back in the morning.” She visited with the orderly, leaving instructions for Annie, and left the hospital for a warm bath and a few hours of sleep.

Kerry couldn't believe the day. It was way too much to believe that it'd all started with him getting his iPad to work. And after all that I'm going to sleep in a hospital--for the first time, too!--and I'm sort of having a sleep over with . . ..

"She's my girlfriend, Emma," he said quietly to no one. 'Cause it was true.

He lay back, hands folded in his lap, waiting for Annie to return.

When Annie returned, Nurse Coraline had already gone. She stood next to Kerry's bed in her shapeless getup, and put her hands on her hips. "These," she said, "are probably what I should wear to the next Madness."

She laughed and hopped into the bed next to Kerry's, dangling her legs over the side. "I'm glad I got to stay with you tonight. Do you think Denna was right to keep you here?"

That question was one that bothered Kerry. "I don't know why she wants me here," he said. "I mean, does Deanna know . . . ah, never mind." Kerry knew that question was a stupid one to ask.

And that was the thing that bothered him. If Deanna--who'd been running the school all day during the attack--left instructions with Nurse Coraline to keep Kerry in the hospital because he might have a bad dream--he had to take that to mean that he was going to have a bad dream. Probably way beyond bad, too.

"After everything that happened today," Kerry said, "I don't know I'd want to stay in my room tonight." He looked around, took in how quiet it was here--even more so than the tower, which always seemed to have some sound emanating from here and there. "I am glad you're here, though. It's . . ." He blushed hard. "Our first night together."

Annie watched the heavenly shade of crimson spread over his cheeks and down his throat. She glanced over at the orderly, who was keeping himself busy with a huge stack of paperwork. Probably backed up from all of the activity today…

Certain that he would not notice, she hopped down off her bed and climbed into Kerry’s, sitting so that she faced him once again. “I’m glad I get to stay too.” She arched forward, careful not to press her body onto his, and kissed his lips. “I don’t know what tonight will bring…for either of us,” she whispered, “but I’m glad this time we get to dream together.”

Kerry loved the kiss. In the decaying light of the hospital--and the light was becoming more subdued the later it got--Annie sitting on the bed looked very romantic.

"We'll see if we have any more dreams in the future, won't we?" Kerry quickly thought of something that had been bothering him. "Hey, did you get a chance to practice your spells? I did up at the Astronomy Tower." He grinned, remembering how he blew up a viewing stand.

"Dueling was difficult." She grinned back at him. "Willow hit me hard with the leg lock, but I think she was frustrated toward the end." Annie shrugged.

"Then there was Ellen..." She toyed with one of the buttons on the front of her pajama shirt. "Dueling her was weird. She gives off this hostile energy and she kept hurling attacks at me--even after I blinded her." She looked up at Kerry, wondering if he was at all bothered by the conversation.

"Once I knocked the wand from her hand, I snatched it from the floor and let her crawl around looking for it while I waited for her to regain her sight. Once she did, I gave it back and we started talking. I asked her why she was so aggressive and while we were talking about it..." Annie breathed deeply and turned from him, dangling her feet over the side of the bed so she didn't have to face him. She felt her cheeks burning.

Lowering her head, she whispered, "She said something that upset me...and I attacked her. I took her voice so she wouldn't be able to say another word. Nurse Coraline jumped in, and if she hadn't I might have done something even worse.

"Then everything started spinning and I fainted." Annie stopped and folded her arms across her stomach, hugging herself tightly.

"Wow" Kerry reached out to touch Annie. "Hard-core witch, you are." He laughed, keeping it low so they weren't overhead. "She could use with her voice getting silenced for a while." He used his left hand to make a "yapping mouth" motion. "It seems like all she's good for is talking crap and blowing up locks."

Kerry gave thought to his own dueling with Emma. "Yeah, I learned a few things as well," he said. "I found it . . . fun." He leaned forward just a tad. "The more I do this, the more I like it." He nodded his own approval. "This is what I was meant to do."

“I believe in you, Kerry. I always have. Not many first years can pull off a spell while their hands are full. It takes a special kind of concentration to pull that off.” She sighed deeply and hopped off his bed. “You probably wouldn’t think the same about me though, if it wasn’t only Ellen I attacked today.”

She padded across the floor and climbed into her own bed. Settling in, she said, “I came very close to losing it with Emma as well. My emotions are very difficult to control, Kerry. They always have been…” Annie glided between the sheets and rested her head on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling.

“Before I met you, it seemed I was quick to just be angry. Now I realize that it is not only anger I cannot keep in check. I don't want to be that anymore. I want to be different but my problems just keep spiraling out of control in all directions.”

This was something Kerry wasn't well equipped to know how to . . . discuss. There was much about Annie that went way beyond his experience, and when she started talking about her lack of control over her emotion--Kerry was at such a loss to know what to say or do.

"I had to see a doctor a few years ago," he said, already missing Annie close to him. "After we moved to Cardiff my parents complained that I wasn't 'making friends' and that I was 'moody'." He snorted. "Yeah, well, maybe I had those problem before we moved, but the thing is . . . I did learn to deal with it--only not with a doctor's help."

Kerry turned his head just enough so he could see Annie. "After a few months my parents said I wasn't making progress and they pulled me out of consoling." He almost allowed his eyes to close then snapped them open. "What they meant was I wasn't making enough progress for them; they thought I was going to go in and talk a few times and then--ta da! I was gonna be best friends with everyone at school."

Kerry sighed, fondly remembering the doctor he had. "I think . . . we'll both change. And for the better. I changed after seeing the doctor. I didn't make a lot of friends, but the little I learned from her got me to open up just a little. It helped." He yawned hugely this time, blinking his eyes several times after. "You help me a lot. Maybe I'll help you." He felt content right that moment for some reason, like this was how he should be ending his evenings--talking to Annie like this. "It just takes time, is all." He gave her one of his lopsided grins. "Don't you think?"

Annie rolled over in her bed to face him and slid her hands under her head. “I think I’m glad you asked me for help that day in the bookstore.” She yawned and grinned back at him.

“We belong together, Kerry.” Her eyes fluttered closed. “Always…”

Kerry's eyes fluttered closed as well, and he sank into his pillow for what he hoped would be untroubled sleep.

As the night wore on, his dreams began to form. And, as in the past, he sank into them . . . and all was there for him to feel.

It’s all there: the cool wind on your face, the light drizzle, the soreness in the back and neither region from riding all day. But there is something else. Your hands are cramping from gripping the broom. There is a clammy sweat all over your body inside your flying gear, something you haven’t felt all day.

And there’s the fear. The fear that the next time you turn you’re going to do something wrong. That you’re going to fall--or worse, be caught.

The fear due from the dementor chasing you.

You’ve tried to shake it for 10 minutes, and you can’t. You can feel your heart beating hard, and your senses are hyper-aware. You avoid getting too close to the Great Hall; you don’t want this thing swooping away from you and after . . . anyone else.

And you can’t get away. You can’t escape. You’re starting to feel totally boned.

And then comes the rescue. You need it. You can’t take any more. You hear screaming in your head, and a feeling of doom and loss that won’t go away. You’re not going to see anyone again, ever again, ever . . ..

You drop to the deck and skim the ground. The death thing--the dementor--is right behind you. You can almost feel it touching you, though it’s still a couple of meters away, but it feels like there are icy fingernails on the nape of your neck. You want it gone. You want to be safe. You need to be safe. You just want to rest and relax and feel someone holding you and kissing you--

Then you’re told to break, and you turn away from the danger, and as you glide away you look back, turning your head to your left, looking back, watching the dementor being flung off into the air, back farther and farther, and you know it’ll hit the shield and that will be the end of it--

And when you look back to the front, there are . . . things.

You can almost stand aside and see it happening in slow motion. There is a formation ahead and to the right. You see it. Two people--one on the ground, the other standing over them. They are in distress. Something’s not right. There’s something very wrong.

And then another. They’re right there, in front of you--

No, that’s not right. They’re not right there. All of this is happening 1, 2 seconds away . . . there is time to react. But you don’t.

You cover the ground. You close. You see the two people; women both. The one standing is turning towards you.

The person in your path is raising his wand arm, and you’ve seen that move before, only the last time it was aimed at you--

And you’ve closed. You’re right there. You had a second or two to do something.

You didn’t.

You hit him. The impact goes right through your hands and arms. The broom starts to flip over--but only because it’s passed through his head.

Most of it.

It’s brutal, like something right out of Scanners. The guy’s head opens up like a melon. You see it all in total bullet-time, like you’re standing off to the side. You feel the blood spray; you feel yourself being pelted with bits of his skull and brains. It’s on your jacket and helmet and goggles . . . and on your face.

You leave the broom flying, the guy’s body dropping behind you. You are airborne for what seems like forever.

You’re wet and you’re warm.

You know what happened.

The impact is coming. There may be darkness. There may be pain.

But the fear is gone.

You can rest.

It’s over--

And Kerry was gasping for air.





13 Sept, 12:49 AM

The sound of someone gasping for air woke Annie from her bed. She opened her eyes and rolled over, trying to figure out what was going on when she realized...it was Kerry.

She untangled herself from her sheets and rushed to his side. "Kerry," she whispered, her heart racing. She noticed the orderly had gone. He's probably off to get a snack or check the triage... Not knowing what else to do, she climbed into his bed and cradled him close to her. His body was tense next to hers, and his forehead was slick as if he'd just finished running.

"Kerry, it's okay. It's me, Annie. Shhh." She smoothed his hair and hugged him close.

Kerry's eyes snapped open the moment Annie touched him. His breath was coming in short, quick gasps now, and he could feel his heart beating hard in his chest.

He opened his eyes and blinked away the tears. "Oh, Annie," he whispered. "Oh, man . . . I never thought you'd touch me again."

"I know the feeling," she whispered, remembering the same thought rock own world her after seeing Emma brought into the triage—without him.

Annie held him in her arms until his body responded to her own and his breathing returned to normal. She settled in next to him, lying down on her stomach, and wiped away his tears—letting her fingers travel down his neck, where they rested on his bare chest.

"What happened, Kerry?”

"I had a dream," he said. Closing his eyes again, he tried to remember everything. "It was all being chased and how the Dementor was trapped, and then . . ." He swallowed, seeing it all in his mind's eye. "I saw everything before I hit that Death Eater. They didn't pop out in front of me--"

Kerry forced himself to take several deep breaths before continuing. "They were like 20, 30 meters away when I started to see them. I had a couple of seconds to react." He shook his head. "I didn't. I went right into the guy." Opening his eyes, he looked up into Annie's. "He had his wand arm back; I think he was going for a Killing Curse when I hit him.

"But the thing I remember the most--" His eyes began to tear up. "I was scared. I really was scared. I didn't know it, or didn't want to know it, but I was. I felt it in the dream." And finally Kerry slowly put his arms around Annie and hugged her.

Annie held him close, wishing she could take away his pain. “You did the right thing, Kerry.” She stroked his neck with her fingers. “When it’s too painful to look back…and you’re scared to look ahead, you always can look beside you and I’ll be there.”

And then Kerry did something he'd never thought he would do. He slid over closer to Annie, leaving more of the left side open. He reached over and slipped the covers back, wincing a little as he put more pressure on his shoulders than he needed.

He patted the bed. "Like a sleep over?" he asked. "I could use it."

Annie didn’t even think twice. She slid between the sheets and made herself comfortable next to him. “I could too,” she whispered, burying herself into him. She listened to the steady rhythm of his heart, her head rising and falling with each of his breaths.

“Kerry, this might sound strange…” What doesn’t when it comes out of my mouth these days, Annie smiled as she stretched her arm over his chest and closed her eyes. “I was wondering if you might tell me about your secret spot. The one you used to visit in the woods behind the unfinished house. What is it you used to spend all your time reading?”

I'm not even going to ask how she knows that, Kerry thought. It's a vision she had--move on. "When we were living in Sleepy Hollow in California, we were in this subdivision--well, the whole town is a subdivision . . ." Kerry thought to skip the subjective description and bore straight to the story.

"When I first started riding my bike, I was like just about 7, and the better I got the farther I'd ride from home. Which was okay, since everyone rode bikes, and my parents were never home.

"There was this one road, you'd follow it all the way down and it turned into a fire road, which is nothing but a dirt road leading into the hills. I never went on it, because those roads are pretty rough and I wasn't exactly the sort of person who did mountain biking.

"There was a house on the left side of the road, it was just about completely built, but for some reason it didn't get finished--maybe they ran out of money or something. Anyway, one day I stop and start looking it over, and I sort of wandered back into the woods behind the house.

"About 40, 50 feet off the road, up a hill a bit, there were two trees that almost came together, and you could sort of sit in the crook of the trunks and rest. It was comfortable and cool: all sorts of shade. And the best part was you could see everything on the road below but no one could see you, 'cause of the way shrubs and everything sat.

"I started going there to read. I don't know why, I did. I liked it, I guess, because it was outside and there was a breeze and it was really sort of comfortable.

"The first books I started reading was the Odyssey Novels--Arthur Clarke's books, 2001, 2010, 2061 and 3001. I spend the whole summer up there reading all four books, getting through them before school started." He snuggled up closer to Annie. "Those were my first real adult books."

He nuzzled Annie's hair. "After that I didn't get over there much. Sometimes on the weekend, but that was it. Seemed like in March of the following year I went up there to sit and think, and I feel sleep . . . and when I woke up, I'd guess I'd been crying in my sleep 'cause my face was all wet.

"I got my bike and looked at that place before riding off--and I knew I'd never see it again. I don't know why, but I knew I was seeing it for the last time." He sighed into Annie's fluffy locks. "A month later my Dad told me we were moving to Wales." He nodded slowly. "And I never have been back. And probably never will."

“That was the first summer I learned what a bicycle was,” she sighed. His voice in the quiet room gave her goosebumps, and she shivered beside him. “My father thought I lost my mind when I described it—and then asked for one. It wasn’t long after that he bought me my first broom.” Annie lay still, thinking about his story.

“I remember your hair in the sun. I used to think it was a flame. I never desired to run my fingers through anything so much in my life as I did your hair.” She giggled as she remembered all the nights she spent crying in her mother's lap about wanting the red flame. If she knew where I was right now, she'd get a huge laugh.

"I don't know, Kerry. You might get that chance again." She tilted her head up and nuzzled his neck. “But then again, you might find other forests worth exploring.”

Kerry found Annie's discussion about him to be a little strange--she's talking about me like she knew me for years before we met, he thought. And maybe she did, 'cause Kerry thought of some times after they'd moved to Cardiff when, in his dreams, he'd hear strange voices and wonder, Why am I not dreaming in English?

"I want to explore," he said. "I've always wanted to see other places. I've been in parts of England and even went up to Edinburgh once, but that's been it. I've never even been on the European mainland, and I've lived in Cardiff for 3 years now."

Inching his left arm over Annie, he lay it across her and anchored her in the crook. "But there's so much time to do that." He almost hummed something to himself and wondered why. "Don't you agree?"

Annie could never remember a time she’d ever been more comfortable than right at that moment. His warmth reached out to her and ensnared her very being. Listening to his melodious voice in the darkness, the rhythm of his accent held her captive.

“I’d go to the ends of the earth with you, Kerry,” she whispered into his ear. “But, this is the only place I want to be right now.”