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Match-making with a sound. |
| Chapter2 Looking at her watch, Neylan realized she might miss the last tram home. She ran quickly through the Hall. The stylish but vastly impractical boots for running pinched her feet. She hurried to the exit with the sound of her heels echoing through the monolithic corridors. She glanced at her watch again. oh no I'm not going to make it! Using a burst of speed she barged through the doors of the Hall only to see the last tram slide away from the curb. Dammit! Now her only option was to contact her brother or stepfather to catch a ride back to her apartment. Behind her, the lights went dim in the Hall. Only the street lights and the distant lights of the city illuminated the area. Night had fallen quickly. She had been in the Hall longer than she had realized. Apparently it was closing time and now she was stranded miles from the city. She stomped her foot in childish frustration. Now was not the time for this to be happening! She had work to finish at home and her furluga needed to be fed before it tore up the apartment. Oh to be able to have her own vehicle! At eighteen she wasn’t making enough to afford a car and the rent on her apartment plus her other expenses. She was barely making enough money to cover food for her and her furluga, Zooma. Well if she didn’t splurge on boots and her other weakness; old Earth things. She reached in the pocket of her coat for her computer link to find it wasn’t there. “Oh by the stars! I must have left it at work!” She ran her hands through her white-blond hair, ruining the bun she had put it in that morning. All she needed now was for it to.. Thunder rumbled overhead... rain. She felt like crying. This had started out, as a beautiful spring day now it had turned into a nightmare. Without a car there was no way back to the city. A public link had to be somewhere around. Neylan looked back at the huge five-story building, in a small alcove to the right sat the public link. It was well sheltered against the elements and mercifully in working order. Now if only her brother was home than maybe this day could be salvaged. Punching in her request on the screen she waited for her brother to answer and shivered, as the temperature seemed to drop dramatically. Chand’s strong, chiseled features appeared on screen. “Yeah what?” his voice sounded irritated and out of breath. His short white-blond hair was plastered at an odd angle against his head. He leaned close to the screen so she could only see his well muscled bare chest. His face was flushed he had a glazed look in his dark grey eyes. “Oh I hope I didn’t interrupt you in something important. But I need a ride back to my apartment I missed the tram and its starting to rain. Can you come get me please? “ She did her best I’m- scared- come –save- me look. “Alright give me a few minutes. You're at the Hall again?" Chand looked annoyed. His eyes seemed to loose the glassy contented gleam to be replaced by a stern glare. "Just stay out of the rain. “ He cut the link. Now she just had to wait. She wrapped her coat more firmly about herself and took inventory of the contents of her pockets in search of something edible. She found few scraps of paper, a small square of metal she had been trying to match with other metals and a small wood figurine worn smooth by countless hands. It had been given to her by her grandfather. The family legend said it had come from Ancient Earth. She doubted the legend; it seemed unlikely that a small piece of wood had lasted over a thousand years. With nothing better to do she pulled the small keepsake out of her pocket and looked it over. Her grandfather had told her it was a mythical beast called a dragon. Here on Zaynala a few animals almost resembled the dragon and were just as dangerous. This small bit of the old world had started her on her quest for Old Earth things. She had collected everything she could get a hold of which wasn't much. The tenth king of Zaynala, Azim Siraj imposed a ban on all thigns of the old world. Not much survived the culling. Azim almost destroyed the entire civilization in his obsession. He was murdered in the thirteenth year of his reign and his younger brother Hasan asssumed the throne. According to her history lessons it was often thought that Hasan had murdered his own brother to protect the kingdom. Neylan thought there may have been more to Hasan's assuming the throne than lofty ideas of saving the kingdom. The sound of an engine caught her attention; a sleek two-seater vehicle slid to the curb. Chand had arrived to save the day. She pulled her coat over her head a bit to keep most of the rain off her head and dashed over to Chand's car. She climbed in with great relief and adjusted her coat. Chand seemed to have taken the time to straighten his hair and put on clothes. "So how did you get stranded this time sister mine?" Chand asked. He glanced over at his bedraggled sister before returning his attention to the road. "For your information I was helping Aunt Maysa. She enrolled today and awoke a sleeper, " She replied smugly. She glanced at her brother he seemed lost for words. "You sure it was Aunt Maysa, not some bizarre look-a like? " "Yes, it was her. What is more of a surprise is that the sleeper was none other than Anwar Siraj, second son of King Nadir the third." She was enjoying her brother's incredulity. "Oh,did I interrupt anything? When I called you seemed preoccupied." She couldn’t help reminding her brother she knew exactly what he had been doing. She just wanted to know who he had been doing it with. Flashes of a pointed face with dark brown eyes and hair, sensations of incredible pleasure and a lithe body gliding across skin appeared in her mind. "Oh Chand, not her again!" she turned to her brother with horror on her face. He didn’t reply only the light of the console illuminated his face. The vehicle stopped suddenly, pitching them forward. Chand turned to Neylan, his jaw set in anger. "Don't you dare tell me she isn't the one for me! I'm not looking for that perfect person like everyone else in this family." He slammed his hands on the steering wheel then ran them through his hair. He looked over at her, his eyes bright with anger. "I'm just living my life the way I want to. I can't believe you saw into my mind again! You said it didn't happen anymore." He seemed to struggle with his emotions. Neylan felt the rage and hurt and the feeling of violation. She wasn’t usually sensitive to people, but lately her sporadic insights were becoming more frequent. Neylan remained silent as Chand drove the vehicle; there wasn't anything she could say to take back what happened. She had no control of the visions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Neylan hobbled into her building. Her feet were killing her. The high-heeled boots she had to have because they matched her skirt had made matching blisters on her toes. She could feel the stinging pain. They had time to form and break and now were hot and painful. In desperation she dropped to the floor without even shutting the door and dragged the offending footwear off. With a sigh of relief she wiggled her toes and examined the damage done. Blisters the size of her thumb marred each big toe. Ouch. Gathering her boots she shut the door to her apartment and stepped in something cold and unpleasant. Oh god what did Zooma get into now? She looked down to see a hairball her furluga had decided to produce directly center in her tiny entryway. She stepped over the mess and surveyed the destruction done to her living room. The sofa was still in good shape but the bright throw pillows she had were shredded. Pillow fluff was scattered throughout the living area with small forays into the kitchen and bathroom. Thank goodness she had locked her work area or the dang beast would have destroyed her delicate jewelry. With a trill the furluga ambled over to Neylan and rubbed its wide head against her legs. Zooma's affection left white and grey hairs on her skirt.The furluga had the same face as an old Eath cat with two hand-like paws.Its wide ears were perked upright making it look so happy to see her. Yeah happy to get food. Two bright orange eyes looked up at her with eagerness and expectation. Neylan limped into the kitchen and grabbed a can of furluga food from the high cupboard. She learned early not have the food in a bag or anywhere the beast could get at it. Ready to eat food was too tempting; furlugas either burst from eating too much or choked. With a scowl Neylan opened the can and scooped out the dark meaty mess into Zooma's bowl. Unaware her human harbored ill towards her the furluga raced over to the bowl and greedily inhaled the offered meal. Neylan watched her pet for a moment and sighed. If only she could eat with such abandonment. She was so nervous about the enrollment in the Hall of Bonding her appetite had decreased to almost nothing. She didn't feel like doing anything else for the night. She thought about the metal and the jewels in her work room waiting to be finished but she didn't have the energy. She shed her clothing as she walked down the hall to her bedroom and crawled naked into the blankets. The dream started soon after she fell asleep. A familiar dream, which was not comforting in the least. She was standing on a street in the city. The buildings were different but she knew where she was. In front of her stood the elegant Opera Hall. The grand matron of theatres built almost three hundred years ago. Patroned only by the obscenly wealthy and titled. Around her milled a small group of richly dressed people. She had to hurry them along soon the show was to start, they were going to be late. She turned; her movement seemed to slow to almost nothing. The world seemed to stop for a microsecond before the concussive force of an explosion blew her forward. A wave of heat and debris scoured her body. Landing on top of someone she instinctively shielded him. When the world stopped rocking and the sounds of sirens filled the air it seemed safe to get off her charge. Pushing herself up she looked into the face of man who had a striking resemblance to Anwar Siraj. With a face more square than Anwar’s angular planes he seemed almost identical. No, this wasn’t Anwar but he was related. Hot stinging pain in her back and the numbness spreading down her legs signaled something had done some serious damage. She rolled to her side off of the man the pain was getting worse as adrenaline left her body. Someone was screaming it wasn’t her. A striking woman with long black hair was shrieking. She ran over to Neylan screaming a name but she couldn’t understand it. “ No! Don’t you leave me! Hold on!” The woman shouted into Neylan’s face. She couldn’t hold on. Goodbye Vessa. She thought. |
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