Slayer Series 1of 5: Bloody Shadows: Chapter Two

Slayer Series: Bloody Shadows(One of Five)
Chapter Two

~*~*~*~
She ran, the wind in her hair, her eyes watering, her vision blinded. Tears slipped into empty darkness. Pain washed over her skin, tingling her body. Blood enveloped every spot of her being. Her breath ragged as she ran from pain. But it still followed. Everywhere around her was black bleekness. Decay seeked her company with eager agitation. Jaal couldn’t stand this, she couldn’t have this. As she ran, Jaal left behind her comfort and passion, trailing it in the dust. All her compassion and understanding flew away in the wind like paper being wipped away.

By the time she reached the end of the road, a church came into view, white blinded her sight. Coming to a stop, she brought her right hand over her eyes, so she could sheild the shinning light from her sensative silver eyes. But the light never ceased, it never got any weeker. As the wind blew, her hair fell in her face, partly sheltering her. The light was so bright that it stung her skin, it burned with an intensity of a tornado on an extremely windy day. Letting her hair mask her face, Jaal opened her eyes. She saw the church again behind her long, wavy red hair.

Then a sound traveled to Jaal’s ears, making tears water in her eyes. It was a choir. The voices rose above all other sounds, grabbing her attention. It felt as if the voices were pulling her in. They gripped tight, not wanting to let their prey go. Pulling Jaal in, she felt her feet take her away. The choir continued to sing, letting serenity cleanse the darkness. The sweet singing voices became calming to Jaal, they made her sleepy. But Jaal knew if she fell asleep, she would never wake up, but she knew, deep down, that she would be safe and most importantly… welcome. Never in her life had she fully been welcome. Never in her life had Jaal ever been this calm and peaceful. It felt good. She wanted this. She wanted with every fiber of her being. No matter how hard this would be to obtain, Jaal would use every bit of strength she had to take it and keep it with her at all times. She needed this. She required this. This was nessary to take.

When her feet reached the entrance, Jaal saw that inside the church that there was indeed a choir singing. As she started walking down the asiles, people, or at least she thought they were people, all turned to watch her. Although, she could not see any of their faces. Black vails covered them, hidding them from veiw. The choir grew louder, taking Jaal up another notch into her serene state. Could this get any better? Could this all be real? No, it couldn’t.

Jaal reached the end of the rows of pews, and now was face to face with a little girl. The girl had long, wavy red-orange hair with intense, but warming silver eyes. She thought that the little girl was a twin of her, just shorter and younger. The choir stopped singing and sat down, but the piano then started to play. Jaal looked down at the little girl in a poofy white dress, lace gloves on her tiny hands. The girl smiled, showing white teeth. This girl was happy. But before Jaal could speak, wetness sliding down her cheek caught her attention. Taking her thumb, she wipped the tear away. Then looking at the girl again Jaal saw… realized… figured out… that the little girl was her. Memories flooded her head. She remebered this. She remebered this dress. She remebered the gloves. This was her. This was her when she was three years old.

Jaal choked. Tears wealed up in her eyes, and then they raced down her face. "Oh my God." Jaal whispered. She reached out her hand and touched the… no, her face. The skin was warm and soon flushed pink, like she was… blushing. Looking into her eyes, she saw happiness. The sadness filled her, but it wanted out, and so Jaal… let it out. Crying uncontrolably, she grabbed the younger version of herself and brought her into a tight, loving hug. As if on instinct, the younger Jaal wrapped her hands around the older Jaal. The touch was soft but caring and it made Jaal cry even harder. The little girl leaned her head onto Jaal’s shoulder, breathing quietly.

A warm hand touched Jaal’s head abruptly. She looked up through teary eyes and saw a women… her mother, when she had been still alive. This vision of her mother had been the last one Jaal had ever kept in her head. This had been the only "happy" memory of her mother Jaal had ever remembered. Hell, this was weird but somehow… Jaal didn’t mind. Her mother smiled, her eyes glowing with love. "Sweetie, why are you crying?" "Mom," Jaal choked and then whimpered. "Baby, are you ready? Are you ready to come home?" Her mothers eyes were lit with a power Jaal had never seen, had never remembered. "Mom, how are you… where… what?" She stuttered through sobs. "Oh, my poor Jaal, don’t cry. Momma’s here, she’s going to make it all better." Then, her mother wipped the tears away with her finger then leaned down and kissed Jaal’s forehead. Her eyes were puffy with a red tint to them.

The piano had stopped and the choir rose and started singing the song once again. Jaal stood up and watched as the littler version of herself joyiously ran to her mothers side and grabbed onto her leg. Her mother smiled at little Jaal, then her eyes turned to the older Jaal, but as her mother looked at her, Jaal felt dirty, like she wasn’t appreciated around her mother. A softer expression crossed her mothers face. "Oh darling, you are always welcome with me. Never forget that. I love you Jaal, but I must leave, my time is almost up."

In the front of the church was a huge cross. It spanned across the entire wall, covering the white paint and adding a hint of transquility to the place. An unforseeing light suddenly came from behind the cross, lighting up the enitre church. Her mother and her younger version turned to the cross and held hands. Walking slowly to the cross, Jaal knew they were leaving. The choir’s voice’s finally penetrated Jaal’s defences, bringing her to her knees. Falling to the floor, Jaal looked up and saw her mother leaving. She didn’t want this. This couldn’t happen! But it was. It was…

Sniffing loudly, tears wealed up in her eyes, causing her to be temporalily blind. Jaal felt weak, so weak that her body would not hold up the weight any longer. Her body leaned forward, as if on autopilot, bringing her face closer to the floor. No. Jaal forced her left arm to work and catch her body. Huntched over to the ground, Jaal lifted her head, tears filling and emptying from her eyes, she reached with her right arm, hoping to grasp something. Anything. Her mother couldn’t leave her. She just couldn’t. Jaal needed her, more then anything! She had grown up without the one person who she had needed, and now she was walking away. Leaving again. Abdoning Jaal, just like before. It didn’t matter that her mother had committed sucide last time, she was still leaving and that’s all that really mattered.

But Jaal could not grab her mother, her mother had kept on walking. Kept on going. Kept on leaving. "Mother…" Jaal’s voice gave out, silenced by the choir. At the last second before the blinding light took all of her mothers body, her mother turned her head back to look at her grown daughter. Her mother smiled with warmth. Watching her daughter suffer was agonizing. But she couldn’t stay. This was only suppose to be a short visit. Her time had come to leave her only child behind again. Tears filled her mothers eyes as she watched her daughter. She had to speak, had to tell her… "Jaal, my baby, I’m not leaving, I never did. It was never your fault." Jaal saw a tear finally fall from her mothers face as she tried to reach for her. "Jaal… I love you." Then in a blink of an eye, her mother vanished, leaving her behind again.

Her mothers words had stunned her. She had never left Jaal… but yet, she had, but then she didn’t. But either way now, her mother was gone. Her uncontrolable crying had returned. Jaal slammed her right fist to the floor. Screaming out in pain, blocking out the choirs calm voices. Tears streamed down her face, her cheeks stained with rose coloring. Her head felt like ten thousands pounds, so Jaal let her head fall. After a few minutes, Jaal raised her head and stared at the Virgin Mary statue through cloud eyes and wavy rad-orange hair. Blood red tears fell from the statue. Virgin Mary was crying with Jaal. Jaal wasn’t alone. Then she blinked and a soft, stunning voice rose above the choir. "What grace you have never seen. You are not alone Jaal, never. I am with you. I am crying with you. In grace I plead, let you pass, let you pass. Let you pass."

~*~*~*~

A sound of a stream splashing against the rocks, dragging little tiny water droplets to Jaal’s face, awoke her. The sun felt warm against her skin again as Jaal opened her silver eyes. Looking around, she realized she was in a field with wild flowers and lush green grass sprouting. "Auntie Jaal!" Cypher yelled, then launching himself onto his aunt’s lap. Jaal caught him and spun his around so that she could look at his face. Was he real? She looked into his eyes. Yes, he was real. The small twinkle that Marissa had always had in her eyes, back in days, was now sparkling in Cyphers. What a beautiful, calming sight to see.

Jaal’s mind caught up with her, and on there own, tears fell silently from her eyes. Cypher’s smile faded and he gasped. "Auntie, you’re… crying." He said in a soft voice, taking his small hand and putting it up against Jaal’s cheek, letting the tear slid over his hand. "Mommy!" Jaal heard Sylver scream, "Auntie’s crying!" "WHAT!" Marissa yelled, hopping up from her spot by her older sons, who were now rushing to Jaal’s side. Jaal smiled and pulled Cypher into a tight embrace. She couldn’t let go. She didn’t have the will to. "Jaal?" Marissa asked out of breath, "Jaal? Are you okay?" Giggling for a slight second, Jaal smiled a little. Lifting her head, she saw Shadow, the oldest son, watching her with question in his black eyes. "I’m fine." Jaal reassured. But even after she had assured them, Shadow did not look away. Breaking the eye contact with him, Jaal looked down at what was in his hands, a sketch pad and a pencil. She couldn’t make out what was on the sketch pad, but it must have been really good.

Shadow, beinging the oldest and tuffiest, surprisenly had a soft side. He loved to draw, and in fact he was wonderful at it. In the hallways all over the mansion, there were paintings and drawings and sketches of flowers, crosses, made up characters, and too many others to name. He was an artist and a damn good one at that. Jaal had enjoyed seeing Shadow’s artwork. It was amazing. The work he had done was fabulos. It was outstanding. It was flat out perfect. Some of the models Shadow had used in the past were deathly stunning. What Jaal wouldn’t do to be one of his models, but she knew that it could never be. All his models had been his girlfriends, now all ex of course. The models had come one after another. This man was loaded and she couldn’t blame the ladies at all. Shadow was damn fine. With black hair that had splashes of bright neon yellow color in it, and deadly, beautiful eyes, Shadow was toned and attractive. Far too attractive. He could stop any woman in her tracks and he could get any woman with a snap of his fingers. But, Shadow was like five thousand years old, so all his girlfriends were dead now.

He was still glaring at her. What the hell was his problem? Jaal saw his eyes shift and look her up and down. Then he looked away. Yeah... not interested. Thanks for rubbing it in. Jaal looked at the grass, Cypher jumped off her lap, freeing her. As if it was a reaction, Jaal brought her knees up to her stomach, wrapping her arms around her legs, securing herself in place. She still felt all eyes on her, so she let her head rest on top of her knees, hiding her face from view of the others. She wouldn’t have them see her break down. She couldn’t let them see her do that.

Time passed on and night fell, covering the landscape with darkness. The others had gone inside, leaving Jaal by her lonesome. This was better for her anyway. All her child life she had been left alone, until Marissa that is, but before Marissa had saved her, Jaal’s world had been as bleak and dark as male vampire eyes. Nothing co-exsisted in this world. Her father would never love her, he would beat instead. And then after every beating, her father would lock her to the wall, wrists and ankles in chains. It hurt to know that her father never really wanted her. And when that day came when her mother had hung herself in the living room, Jaal had nearly died. She remembered herself crying under her mothers body. She remembered sitting in the pool of her mothers blood. Then, when her father had come out from his bedroom, slut following, he had stopped in his tracks. Jaal was glad that this hurt her father. She was happy to see him pained. She was happy to see him suffering. This is how she had been suffering everyday of her life, except that it had been ten times worse. The whore even felt sorry, for the slut had come up to Jaal and took her and hugger her. At the time, Jaal didn’t care. She was in too much pain to really care. But what that whore had brought her in the moment, it felt like love. It probably had been and Jaal for once wanted this woman to stay. But after two days with Jaal, the slut had left. Her father on the other hand, had cried for two weeks, never taking his mate down from her grave. After the whore had let her go, her father had actually hugged her and never let go. For days on end, her father had held her, never releasing her. This was the only good memory of her father she had had.

Footsteps were softly coming closer. She could hear shoes squish the grass gently. It had to be Cypher or... Shadow. Turning around, Jaal was surprised to see Shadow behind her. The tears had come off and on, but tears streaks had still dried on her face, showing him what she had been doing. With one sweep of his hand, he gracefully stroked her left cheek once. Jaal gasped, her eyes widening. Did he just... "You’ve been out here for five hours now. Why don’t you come on in." His voice was deep, but not too deep. It was just right. Jaal closed her eyes and whipped her head away from him. She was not going to start crying again and he was not going to see her cry. Jaal had exspected him to just go away, because that’s what happened when Shadow was around Jaal. Hell, Shadow never really liked being around her. Maybe she smelled bad. Maybe she was... dare she say it... ugly? No, instead, a growl greeted her backside.

"You think you have it so damn hard. Why don’t you just get off your ass and smile." Shadow said angrily. Now this shocked Jaal. Turning around, she stood her full height, but she was no where near the height of Shadow. Damn his tall ass. I’ll show him. "What did you just say?" Jaal asked, her eyes wild with rage. "You heard me clearly. Now go, my word is law." This surprised Jaal even more. Screwing the fact that he was even talking to her, which he never did, it was the way he was talking to her. Like he owned her or something. "Oh, your word is law, huh?" She sarcasically said, licking her bottom lip. Shadow took a step forward, coming way to close for Jaal’s liking. Damn he was tall and sexy. "Yes, it is. Now do as I say." Jaal scoffed, "Fuck you!" Now it was Shadow’s turn to retaleate. He smirked, "You want to know something? I knew exactly what you invisioned in your head today." "Why the fuck are you fucking around in my head?" "I was making sure you weren’t dying. You were thrashing around slightly, thank God my mother didn’t see that, because if she had, you’d be in urgent care." "What? You suddenly care if I die now?" That was a punch in the face, but still, Shadow made no expression of hurt whatsoever. Amazing, She thought to herself, Shadow never shows any emotion at all.

Shadow stared hard into her eyes, never blinking, "My mother would pretty much parish if you died." A small pause followed. "My younger brothers aren’t even of age and they need my mother. If they lost her..." He trailed off, although, he did have a tiny point. "I wasn’t dying." Jaal pointed out softly. "In your head you were." Shadow replied, lowering his tone as well. "No I wasn’t." "Practically." Jaal blinked, Is he trying to tell me that I had no right to cry? "You know what Shadow, you can’t tell me shit because you have no clue. So why don’t you just shut the fuck up." Shadow hissed, barring his teeth at her. BAM! She thought. This was the reaction she had wanted. Pain. Anger.

~*~*~*~