Memory of Nightmares

Authors Note: This is an excerpt of a series I'm working on. To be honest, I was bored at my night job and found the need to write. Hopefully, it is self explainatory enough to make sense. Also I'm aware that my grammar, spelling, and/or sentance structure may be off for this is a work in progress, but if you like or have reviews for my ideas, characters, or plot please share. Also, if this goes well, I hope to post more as I go on. Enjoy!


"Darling, wake up now." Robbie Vance gently ushered the young woman in bed next to him. Through her labored breathing and frequent lashing out of her arms and legs, Robbie felt the need to wake her out of this nightmare. Little pools of perspiration danced over the young woman's forehead, then hid themselves beneath dark waves of silk. His hand gently threaded in and out of the waves in attempt to calm and bring her back into reality. With another tremble of her frail body, the young woman attempted to kick out toward her invisiable tormentor accidently kneeing Robbie's thigh in the process. Holding back a yelp of pain, Robbie continued to trace his hands along the gentle curls of her auburn hair until they stopped at the top of her bare shoulders. Goosebumps popped their heads up happily as fresh spring flowers would amongst the melting snow. Noticing this, Robbie brought the velvety burgandy blankets over them and pressed his body closer against hers. Thinking that the nightmare was finally ending, Robbie let his head fall back on the pillow while letting his nose and mouth be swallowed up by the peach scented auburn silk. However, with the next moment, the woman tensed as if being struck and let out a sob causing Robbie to bolt upright and look down at her with pain stinging his heart. Warm springs of tears trickled their way out of the woman's eyes racing eachother to the edge of the pillow where the side of her face lay. "Shh, Annie, I'm right here."
Seeing as this action was ineffective, Robbie reached underneath the woman's warm body and lifted it in his strong, loving arms and supported it with his own.
"Wake up sweetheart." Robbie gently coaked into her ear while softly rocking her body as in attempt to sooth her. Her hands fisted as her body tremored once again, yet the warmth of his body spreading it's way into hers caused her breathing and racing heart to gradually calm. Within a few minutes, the young woman sighed while resting her head against his chest finding the rhytum of his heart to be consoling. Slowly, the amethyst sea of diamonds made their presence known causing Robbie to smile with relief. The sight of her eyes resulted in him pulling her closer, if possible and planting a warm gentle kiss against her forehead where the pools had once occupied.

Annie, the young woman, finally lifted her head from his chest and forced a smile upon her face. Even though there was something forced in her smile, Robbie's entire world brightened just as the golden rays of sun spied through the window curtains.
"Thank you Robbie." Annie muttered.
"You had quite the nightmare. You even kicked me in the leg, really hard, I might add." Robbie fake scolded.
"I'm so sorry." Annie replied on the verge of crying.
"Sweetheart, I was only kidding, what scared you so much?" Robbie asked.
"I dreamt of..him." Annie answered.
"Edward? He used to give Emma nightmares as well." Robbie started.
"No, not Edward." Annie shook her head rapidly, then started to cry softly.
"The people you worked for? The Dansworths?" Robbie asked causing her to nod.
"I was brought there when I was eight, between Vivian and Martin, I was so scared! I didn't know what to expect. At the time, I didn't even care, I just begged for them to spare my life." Annie answered.
"Thats reasonable, you were a little girl. I would have done the same." Robbie justifed.
"Even give up you're own humanity in the process? I was bought and sold like a dog or toy. By the time I arrived in the house, I didn't know of my humanity any longer. It didn't exist, I was property of the Dansworths." Annie described.
"But that was a long time ago and you're safe here with me. You're very talented at everything I've seen you try especally magic. Kate loves mentoring you, Emma already thinks of you as her little sister and I love you more than life itself." Robbie professed.
"Don't ever say that." Annie gently scolded.
"It's true and everything about you absolutely fascinates and hypnotises my entire being. You may not be ready to be a wife yet and I'm not even going to ask that of you, but one day you and I will be married and have beautiful children...preferably one of them to be a boy, to carry on the name. We'll be very happy, you'll be just like Katiaya if not even more powerful than her. Most of all, you won't ever need to look back on your past and feel like you're not important or even human. You're a beautiful, wonderful, and the sweetest young woman I've ever met and I am so glad I've waited this long to give my heart fully to one." Robbie continued to profess making light roses to appear on Annie's fair cheeks and a look of intense love in her sparking eyes.
"You really mean that, don't you?" Annie replied in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Absolutely." Robbie smiled while giving Annie a very loving kiss.
In response, Annie uncharacteristically, pressed her body against his; keeping him trapped between the bed and her body. She pressed her lips into his kissing him in a lucious, tender fashion while wrapping her arms tightly around him. After kissing intently for a good five minutes, Annie pulled back with a bright smile and laughed gently.
"Thank you, for everything Robbie! You're the greatest person I've ever met." Annie answered.
"Well I don't know it THAT's true." Robbie laughed.
"It is, so you don't want to marry me YET?" Annie asked.
"Sweetie, you're only seventeen, let's wait until you're alittle older." Robbie smiled.
"Eighteen then?" Annie asked.
"Oh alright." Robbie chuckled.
"That means we have five months to wait." Annie smirked.
"Enjoy being young, kid." Robbie commented while patting her head as she rested against him.
"What time do you think it is?" Annie asked while entwining her hand with his and resting it against her waist.
"Probably-" Robbie started while a loud knocking interupted their discussion. "What is it?"

Emma, Robbie's 18 yr old sister, still dressed in her sapphire velvet pajamas burst into the room with a look of concern in her pool blue eyes.
"Why is the window in your room completely shattered?" Emma asked.
"Oh yea, I forgot about that." Annie muttered.
"A rather large rock was thrown into it." Robbie answered.
"Who would throw a rock at your window?" Emma asked.
"No idea, but I'll have to ask Richard to repair it at some point." Robbie yawned.
"Hey Em, what time is it?" Annie inquired.
"It's seven thirty, do you have lessons today?" Emma asked.
"Em, can you please go." Robbie ushered. Emma gave him a very annoyed look, then left hastily.
"Aww, she was only concerned about us." Annie laughed.
"Yes, but seeing as you'll have to get up in fifteen minutes, I'd rather enjoy our time together." Robbie whispered while leaning over to kiss her again. Surprisingly, Annie pulled away and sat up.
"How many kids were you seeing us having?" she inquired.
"Three or four." Robbie mused.
"I guess that's alright, I was afraid that you'd say six." Annie nodded, then pulled him up to her and gave him another long tender kiss. After pulling away gently with another beautiful smile, Annie started to climb out of bed.
"Where'd you learn to kiss like that?" Robbie asked making her laugh almost wickedly, blow him a kiss and disappear in the bathroom.

-About an hour later, Annie Tannlyn climbed into carriage VC2 where she made friendly banter with the driver. The driver was a youthful hearted man around eighty yrs old with the vision capacity of a child..making him a perfect fit for the role of the Vance's 2nd chauffeur. The pair had become accustomed to one another and shared a pleasant friendship.
"To the fortress as always, Miss Annie?" he asked.
"Yes sir." Annie replied with a smile.
"And how is your day starting out?" the driver asked as he started the carriage.
"I woke up with a nightmare, but Robbie helped me through it." Annie answered. "And yourself?"
"Jean wanted me to cook her blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Are you a fan?" the driver inquired as they descended into the forest on the winding road that seemed practically endless.
"Yes I love blueberry pancakes, but the blueberries have to be fresh." Annie explained while gazing out the window at rainbow colored butterflies that flew in and out of the trees. The cool pleasant air from the carriage movement danced over her face and hair making her content smile grow even bigger. "Mmm it's such a beautiful day."
"Yes it is, miss." the driver agreed while looking up in the rearview window at her, then looked quizically at something further.
"What is it?" Annie asked looking back as well seeing another carriage a few feet back.
"That looks like the same carriage that was behind me yesterday." the driver spoke.
"No offense, but alot of carriages look the same." Annie chuckled.
"But I remember the silver at the top." the driver added causing Annie to look back once again. The carriage remained the same distance away, yet with the assistance of the sun, the top of it glistened a silver glow. Annie turned with a shrug and sat back against the velvet seats.
"We're almost there anyways." Annie said just for the sake of saying something. She tried to ward off the strange feeling of something not being right.
A few miles later, the carriage stopped at the top of the large hill infront of Katiaya's fortress. While preparing to get out, Annie looked back once more and sighed with relief when she didn't see the strange carriage.
"Give me a call when you're ready to come home." the driver smiled as he helped her out of the carriage.
"Thank you, have a great day." Annie replied with her usual bright smile and hurried to the door of Katiaya's fortress which was promptly answered by Leena, Katiaya's friend and very loyal attendant.


Leena brought Annie to the sitting room where the twenty yr old sorceress greeted her warmly with a soft embrace. Leena watched with a small smile, then proceed with her chores. After pulling back, Katiaya studied Annie's face with her smoky brown eyes which windowed a degree of concern.
"Is everything alright, you look alittle pale and worried about something." Katiaya inquired in her heavy Kienkan(British) dialect.
"I woke up with a nightmare, beat up Robbie in my sleep, and still alittle jumpy from it." Annie answered honestly. Katiaya's presence in the way she carried herself, made it impossible for Annie to tell anything but the truth to her. In addition, Katiaya was one of the few people she could whole heartedly trust.
"Do you remember it at all?" Katiaya added as they sat down on the pink and white sofa's that occupied the Victorian style sitting room.
"I think it was more a memory of me being brought to the Dansworths house." Annie started.
"When you were eight?" Katiaya interupted briefly.
"Yes, sold and treated like a pet." Annie grumbled while fisting her hands.
"Listen to me please, I'm not going to pressure you into to talking about it, just know that I'm here if and when you may want to. My mentor was the same way and it worked perfectly for me." Katiaya consoled.
"Robbie did a great job of comforting me this morning, so I'll be fine." Annie smiled. "But thanks."
"Just doing my job, so today I think we should have our lesson outside." Katiaya expressed causing Annie to nod quickly.
"Oh yes! It's gorgeous out!" Annie reacted happily.
"Great, now which garden?" Katiaya mused.
"The one with the fountain that overlooks the kingdom." Annie responded with even more enthusasm causing Katiaya to giggle.
"Oh alright, it'll be more of the theoretical stuff today...more on the Guardians and historical information." Katiaya convied causing Annie to fake groan.
"Oh okay." Annie agreed, then accompanied Katiaya outside while talking a mile a minute as Leena served them tea.

Following the surprisingly very interesting lesson on many known myths regarding the Guardians and legends, Leena served the two young women lunch on the patio which overlooked the kingdoms of Kienka, Icenome, and a hint of Edgebrook. The warm breeze and radient sun made the occasion very light and peaceful without any cause for worry or fear.
"Robbie hinted that we were definately going to get married." Annie informed her friend who coughed a bit on the salad she had just forked into her mouth.
"You seriously are like a little me." Katiaya commented with a laugh.
"Only you were sixteen and he would have married you then. Robbie thinks I'm much too young and should enjoy being young." Annie remarked while forking a cherry tomato into her mouth.
"You are, heck I was too. But Robbie is right and I'm sure Thomas was as well, enjoy being young and free. Once you get caught up in marriage and children, you can never really turn back." Katiaya explained.
"Like Blaze and now Cyris?" Annie implored.
"Exactly, you see Blaze was alot different than she is now. She was loud, wild, very very flirtatious and possessed an affinity for thrills and excitement. When we were younger, about thirteen or fourteen, we used to sneak out of the school grounds and invite ourselves to whatever festivials or parties were going on." Katiaya remininsed.
"Do you miss how it used to be?" Annie investigated.
"What difference does it make, you can't stop from growing up or going through life's rites of passages, you know marriage, childbirth, old age..they have to happen at some point." Katiaya countered while pushing her brick red hair behind her shoulders and dropping her eyes. "But yes, sometimes I do."
"Kate, she's still your best friend right?" Annie beckoned while wiping her face and pushing the empty glass plate toward the middle of the table.
"Of course and she will always be, as will Cyris and Cadence." Katiaya started
"And me?" Annie suggested with an innocent smile.
"Absolutely, it's wonderful to make new friends. Thats one thing I love about life, no matter how old you get or where you go, there are always a few good people to encounter..if not become friends with." Katiaya stated causing Annie to get up and hug her from behind.
"And when Robbie and I do get married, you'll be in my wedding of course." Annie implied happily.
"I'll be honored, but wait until you're at least nineteen." Katiaya returned.
"Robbie said that he'll ask me when I'm eighteen." Annie echoed, then sat back down beside her and continued their pleasant conversation unaware that just a few feet away beneath the trees and brush sat the carriage with the silver on the top.

TBC...