you can stand under my umbrella no more!

[mely]

The first meal home was a merry one. Meals always were at home. Kyli lay with her head rested on one hand, her elbow ostinately sliding off the edge of the table, but never fully falling off. Normally Mum would have said something about it, but tonight everyone was too busy eating, talking and pretending to listen. Kyli's eyes flicked round the table, imagining what it was each of her family members was presently thinking, conviently letting what they were saying flap over head.

"oi! Kyli! Pass the gravy!" Dan broke her reverie and her head snapped up. She blinked, startled and Dan laughe at her rabbit like reaction, and reached over for the jug himself, just as mum announced,

"I thought we might have a summer party" her voice airy and bubbly, "you can all invite a few friends if you want"

Pol groaned, "oh joy- a chance for my hideous famil to embarras me in front of all my mates. What an oppurtunity!"

Everyone ignored her; they were used to it. They also ignored Chrissy's typical, "of that would be wonderful mother?!!". ANd they ignored Micheal as he said pompously, "I'll come but only is all under fives are kept under sontrol, and strictly supervised at all times", just as they ignored the way that Dan's eyes glinted excitedly, two sparkling holes reflecting a whole host of schemes and plans, all with the aim of having a laugh.

In truth, they ignored each other, each too wrapped in their own idea and plans to care.

[mely]

No-one ignored the doorbell when it rang. It was no great feat realy, considerig the fac that it was specially designed to delight in bellowing out rangom messages whenever anyone steped through their front gate. Harold had brought it as a family Christmas present from a French market, unaware of how truly horrific its voice was;

"ooooh... who's this then? Nice shoes actually..."

"I'll get it!" snapped mum, whose dislike of the thing was the only reason the family tolerated it at all. She muted it as she made her way out of the kitchen; a flick of her wand just as it was about to compliment the stranger's tie.

For a moment they all strained to hear the conversation, but mum was not the sort to let people earwig on her doorstep discussions, so they could not catcha word. THe attention drifted back tot eh meal, and small talk about the upcoming holidays.

It was only when they heard the door bang shut rather more forceful than normal that they remembered mum had left at all. She entered the room, slightly ruffled but smiling brightly all the same.

"bloody locals... why the hell would I want to sign a petition to ban fireworks except on halloween? It's ridiculous..." she muttered, pulling a chair up. But her eyes had a strange hue to them, like the way they always did when her face was telling a lie but the whole of her could not. And the sharp questioning look diferected at her by dad proved that he had noticed it. But he did not push the matter

"so, a summer garden party, huh?"

Kyli disguised a frown, as she sat, detatched for a moment, puzzling over th meals' disturbance, and what it was that Mum wanted to conceal. Yet the conversation gradually started up again, and the interuption was forgotten.

[mely]

Kyli did not go to bed until late, and even then she spent ages sitting at her window, staring vacantly out at the black velvet sky. She'd thrown a blanket over her mirror; int eh moonlight her reflection scared her - the freakish light did strange things to her features gave her skin a deathly tint. Just looking at it sent shivers down the nape of her neck, as if she were seeing her own ghost.

Yet the darkness itself was not scary. Not the hidden corners of her bedroom, nor the black abyss of the sky above her. It felt welcoming, open.

She hugged her leg tighter and rested her chin on her kees, as she staring out at the waving stars. She traced them all with an invisible pointer, making up the patterns as she went along. As she stared at the intricate contours forming in her ming, she let the cool night breeze creep in through the window and stoke her face. It's cold tocuh was sooth and she smiled as it flicked stray wisps of hair off her face. Each star called out to her, the sky a speckled carpet of secrets - secrets that she didn't knw, couldn't know... had to know.

Enough, it was time for bed,

[mely]

Kyli made her way along the corridor, her eyes still groggy from sleep. Her ears were ringing angrily and her head throbbed to go back to bed. Still, she was up now and so she carried bearily on, taking great care not to trip when she reached the stairs. It was hard to focus on anything this early. She gave a sigh and padded down the stairs.

'I'll go head to the living room. Then I can curl up on the sofas and pretend that I'm awak'
'tut tut - are you being lazy?'
'oh great, not you'
'well good morning to you too'
'this is not morning it's a non-existent time invented purely to deprive the brilliant of sleep. Now buzz off and leave me alone for goodness sake, it's too early to put up with your irratating presence!'

She reach out a hand and rested it against the dark mahogany wood. For a second something stayed her hand, some invisible force telling her not to open it. And then it passed, and she pushed open the door anyway.

"I still think kyli should know..."

Chrissy lay on a sofa, Pol on another, and Dan was stood up by the far wall.


"know what?" they hadn't noticed her come in, but spun round now to stare at her, their faces a mixture of surprise and guilt. She noticed Chrissy visibly squirm and all three of them froze in silence, facing her.

"what should I know?" she demanded

"nothing, nothing" said Chrissy swiftly, after a moments pause. An obvious lie. Kyli stood stil, holding her gaze, challenging it. Slowly, she said again, "what should I know?"

"N-nothing, just" Chrissy faltered, then Pol cut in, "for G_d's sake, it none of your damn business" she snapped. Kyli stood for a moment, stock still. "fine! don't tell me" she glared at all three of them, "see if I care"

and she turned to leave the room, slamming the door behind her. She did care.

[mely]

After the first day of the holidays, Kyli went to bed with a feeling of underacheivement mistrust and frustration. not to mention a sense of being lied to, and a unnerving idea that everyone was talking about her behind her back. SHe told herself she was being stupid.

'it's the holidays - stop being so paranoid'
'yes, quite'
'will you BUZZ OFF!'
'but I could hold the answer to all your problems'
'you've never been useful in the past, why would you break the mould now?'
'good point'

Kyli felt a vague satisfaction as The Voice disappeared, or at least shut up. SHe lifted her hands to her head, and breathed deeply. Why couldn't she think right? snatches and snippets of scenes flashed through her brain, to fast for her to focus on them, all dancing past without leaving a clear idea of what they were, just a vague impression that she should be able to decipher them, link them, find out what they meant. But she couldn't.

She fell onto her bed, forgetting to change in her pyjamas. Her head was suddenly heavy - with sleep, confusion and frustration. Her eyelids jammed shut and she rolled over, subconciously clasping her fish pillow closer to her face.

she was atop a cliff, the breeze rushing past her, and the satly scent of sea cloggin her nostrils... she felt a sick feeling, and looked down at the foaming waves of the sea, a sense of dread welling inside her, increasing with each crash of water against those jagged rocks far below... a peculiar feeling of dread, that was more like an acknowlegdement of stale mate than anything else... she knew that something was going to happen, and she also knew that she didn't want it to happen... but it had to happen... she didn't want it not to happen, because otherwise nothing could be right... it wasn't the first time her emotions baffled her, but this time, they left her utterly confounded...

And as she was thinking this, a man appeared on the horizon. All she could see of him was a vague sillouette. Tall, and his arm was stretched towards her, but she couldn't see anything further. No details, nothing. But he was beckoning her, and she was moving towards him.

And then she saw something else,a group fo people to her right, calling out to her, beckonging like the man. Now she could pick out their details - mum, dad, Sei, Kik, May, Cenizo... her eyes flicked over the group, masses of people and she could recognise each of them. She took a step towards her, but there was a lurch in the bottom of her stomach and her head was drawn back tot he man on the horizon. The beckonings were getting mroe frantic now, but she coudln't move. She was rooted to the spot, torn by indecision.

And a path appeared at her feet, veering away from everyone. And the hesitation was gone, in the blink of an eye. She trod it, foot after foot, moving further from the all. Only when she glanced over her shoulder, it wasn't so easy. Behind her she saw her friends and family, their faces broken, screaming out to her. She coudln't stand their screams, so she moved away faster, but still she couldn't tear her gaze away from them.

The sky had darkened, and the ground underfoot was no longer smooth, she tripped, and sprawled out, she turned back to the others, just wishing they were gone, gone gone.

But they weren't, they were even closer, looming in front of her, and her eyes darted from one to the other, frantic, panicking. Mum, furiously yelling at her, but no, not furious, just desperate. Dad, shaking his head, a look of lost in his eye. And Sei, oh G_d Sei, on his knees his face torn. Kyli turned cold at the look in his eyes, the glaze of pain and memories and fear, but of what? of himself. He was crying out, but not to her, no not to her. she tried to move to him, to comfort him, but she couldn't, he was cut off, shut away, locked up, unreachable. gone.

"sei!"

But he ignored her, and all she heard was his voice calling, broken, distressed, nervous, tragic "Saire!"

"sei!" she called again, but he turned away, and there, behind his shoulder, stood Jaxio, triumphant, gloating.

"SEI!"

She woke, panting, her breath coming in great raking bursts, as her head pounded. Her mouth formed words, but no sound came.

[mely]

Kyli was distant all that day. She'd fallen back asleep after waking, but it was a strange sleep. She hadn't dreamed, not really. At least she didn't think so - all she could remember was the noise of a clock, ticking. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. waking up for the second time, and she'd shaken her head several times to rid it of the sound. But she couldn't quite, and it followed her, tucked up in the back of her mind, over powered by the soud of normal everyday life, but still there.

Dad noticed the change. "are you alright?" he asked, after she spilt mungrat feed all over snoodles food bowl. She nodded, shakily, "yeh... just tired" she lied, adding a yawn for effect. Dad raised his eyebrows, but Mum suddenly called out, stopping any chance of him questioning her,

"have you kids decided who you're going to invite to the party?"

Kyli groaned, she'd forgotten about that. Side-stepping round dad, she escaped the kitchen and headed to her room. Might as well write some invites, it was something to do anyway.
After ten minutes hunting, she located her quill, and pulled it out with a flourish. Then she snatched up some parchment, and set about writing her first draft.

It took a few stabs to get the right tone, but eventually she managed it ok. She scanned it over. Well, it would do. She paused. Scrap that, no it wasn't. It was totally dry and boring and dull. Ah well, she could just tag a line on the end of her letters to her mates about it. Now all she needed to do was decide who to invite.

May... Kik... Sei... Cenizo... Charles. Wait, what the heck!? CHARLES?! No way! she scratched out that last name vehemently. Then paused, her quill hovering over the parchment... invite leo or not? well, he was jerk, but May would like his company... In the end, she decided just to send him an invite, but not a full letter.

Finally, she began to write.

[mely]

It is dark – so dark that the pitiful streaks of moonlight that waft through the leaves overhead are unable to even attempt to disperse some of impeding gloom of the forest. Kyli treads softly on the leaves, the damp twigs making no sound as she moves over them. She holds a hand out to protect herself from the threatening shapes of the trees, that loom so close to her that their presence presses down on hers, and leaves her with the feeling that they are trying to squish her, if only they weren’t anchored by those treacherous roots that forced them to one spot, and rendered them unable to move any closer to the small girl walking amidst them. Beneath her feet, all kidns of creatures are crawling, creatures that in daylight hours seem perfectly normal, mundane even, but are transformed by the consumption of the dark, into disturbing vile things that writhe along the forest floor, their scuttlings akin to those of tortured prisoners fleeing captivity. Even she, who knows all of them by exact categoric species, and can, during daylight, pick them up, a dozen at a time and watch with amusement and fascination as the wriggle across her palm, even she is frightened somewhat by their night-time forms. She lifts her head, and forces her gaze ahead, wondering as she does so how on earth she even came to be here, and to what end. No matter, she dismisses the thoughts, rational though they might seem, because something else, deep inside her, is pressing her to continue, forcing her onwards. Her head is light, empty of mostof her usual concerns. Everyday life has been swept away and now all that remains of her consciousness is a violent urge to carry on.

Then she sees him, standing against the trees. She feels no surprise, and now realises she was expecting him. Going to meet him. Speak to him. This time he is resting against the trees, hands in the pockets of his trailing navy robes. He is not beckoning, and the look in his eyes - yes she is close enough to see his eyes; those oak brown rugby balls, one slightly bigger than the other, that have a perfectly aged feel, as if they have seen the world, though the smooth glowing sking in which they are carved seems to declare age as an impossibilty - the look in his eyes shows that he is expecting her, like she him. His expression is one of calm waiting, his stance fashioned in a way that suggests he could wait forever, possibly has been, as if waiting is a mere trifle in the grand scheme of things, as if time means nothing, as if he is just biding his time, and will act when he feels like it. Will act soon.

Kyli feels a new feeling break across her face, releif, mingled with excitement as she draws ever closer to the man. She can see the sharp contours of his face, highlighted by the thin vein of moonlight that falls across it. She takes yet another step forward, and now she can almost touch him, if she were to reach out. She opens her mouth to say something, then realises that he is going to speak first. When he does, his voice is smooth, with a hint of austerity.

"Hello, at last," He says, "It's good to finally meet you Kyla"

Kyli says nothing a first. She has no urge to speak, no urge to ask even the smallest of questions; who are you? What do you want? How do you know my name? He's this person, who she is talking to. What he wants is not important, the purpose of this meeting has nothing to do with that. She does not know what the purpose is, but she knows what it isn't. And she isn't bothered by his knwing her name. Why shouldn't he know her name.

AT last, one question surfaces, breaks past this veil of unspoken concord. She voices it, her voice sounding strangely eerie in the night, "am I dreaming?"

He lets out a soft laugh, although Kyli does not see the joke. Then, his reply is interupted, by a third voice,

"KYLI!"

Kyli's head snaps backwards, and her sense tingle. Mum is marching towards her, ignoring the man, "kyli," she repeats now she has caught her child's attention, "get back, back in the house" she is next to Kyli now, and she has grasped her arm.

The man speaks again, "suzi, have you come to take her away?" he adds with a stab of inexplicable bitterness, "again"

Mum says nothing, but she succumbs to meeting his gaze. That gaze that earlier had been simple calm, was now melancholy, yet still as unsurprised. It is met with a stone cold hardness.

For a moment, no-one moves. THe two adults are locked in a battle of the glares, whilst Kyli is transfixed by the deathly stillness that clings to the air. Mum's hand digs into her arm, ut she can't feel it. Her head begins to swim, as the forest dips in and out of veiw. And then, one word, justone word, even, yet even the one syllable hints at the break in it's owner's voice,

"why?"

And then Kyli feels herself lurching backwards. Arms catch her, and she leans all her weight upon them, as gradually her consciousness leaves her.

[mely]

Kyli's head ached. She clasped a hand to her eyebrows, feeling them tickle her fingers as sh did so. She left out a soft murmur, trying to gauge her surroundings. Gradually it dawned on her, she was in her bed. But how that happened?

Her gaze scanned her room, and she felt it blurring in and out of focus. Eventually her eyes focused on the freshly written letters on her desk. Her ink pot was out and her feather quill lay perched on the corner of the desk. She remembered now, writing those letters, five peices of parchment, ready for delivery. She remembered finishing the last one - Leo's - with a authentic flourish. A nice stiff formal thing, to remind him that just because he had managed to lie to her best friend, she could see through him. She wondered if he would turn up - and prayed he wouldn't. She'd only invited him to appease May.

But then what? How had she got to her bed? The only thing that she could remember happening after that was a strange sensation creeping over her, like an egg cracking on the top of her skull and dripping down, leaving her light headed and giddy. And then that dream - but was it a dream?

Confused, and strangely deflated, she rolled over, glad to feel the reasurance of the plaster wall blocking her path. She rubbed a hand along it, trying to iron out her thoughts. But she still couldn't answer that question - was it a dream?

[mely]

Kyli heard a noise from outside her room, and sat up, yawning slightly. She was totally disorientated now, and lifted up the corner of her curtain. Peering out at the garden, she was surprised to discover that it was midday. Strange, she could have sworn that it had been late afternoon when she'd finished those invites. Swinging her legs over the end of her bed, she gave another yawn, and shook herself. Why was she so tired?

She stood up, her legs shaking slightly as she moved across to the door. Her bed let out a plaintitive moan as she left it. The whole room seemeed glazed with a dusty feeling of slumber. It was disturbing how distant everything seemed, and Kyli's head reeled slightly as she stared around at the unfamiliarity of this room that she normally recognised so well.

She put a hand out to open her bedroom door, when, with a sharp click, it was opened from the other side. she stepped backwards, just in time to avoid being knocked over by Mum, who marched determinedly into the room, holding a bundle of freshly washed clothes.

"ah, good you're up at last" she said, her voice fresh and cheery, with a hidden edge that only one who knew her as well as they knew themselves could detect. Kyli frowned, "I've been up all day"

Mum looked puzzled, "no... you've been sleeping since all morning, and since early yesterday evening"

Kyli lifted a hand to her head, trying to figure out how she'd managed to sleep through into another day without realising it. "sleeping?" she repeated, more to thin air than to her mother, as if just voicing the word would explain the pecularity.

Mum nodded briskly, "yup, fast asleep" yet, behind the primness of her voice, Kyli sensed a slight hesitation, the small flicker of doubt that gave away the lie. she remembered the man, and suddenly burst out, "I- I had a dream" the heavy, distant air seemed to suck energy from her words until they came out sounding pathetic, desperate. She continued, "At least, I think it was a dream, but, but I'm not really so sure"

Something about the look on Mum's face changed sharply. She took hold of Kyli's shoulders, gently, but with a certain force. "it was a dream, kyli, just a dream"

Kyli was surprised to find her voice more reassuring than reprimanding. But quite who it was supposed to reassure was debatable. They stared at each other for a while, every fibre of Kyli's being was dying to scream out, force her mum to answer all those questions that she could not. 'why do you hate my dreams?' 'what is it that everyone is hiding from me?' 'what's the big SECRET?!'

But she said nothing, and at last Mum relaxed her hold on Kyli's shoulders and turned to leave the room, dumping the clothes bundle down on the floor by Kyli's foot with a soft thlump. A last attempt - Kyli called out after her retreating figure, "what about the other dreams?" she didn't know why, but she had to, "what about them?"

Mum turned round, her eyes glazed with an cold distance "they're just dreams" she said, her voice firm. "just dreams"

And then, she had turned into her own room, and Kyli was left standing in the door frame, staring blankly out onto the littered corridor, looking, but not seeing.

[mely]

By dinner that evening, Kyli had returned to reality, and the phased out sensation that had taken over her person previously had faded with the sun. The kitchen was it's usual busy brimming self, with Meally, Ella, Terry and Kim screaming and running around making more noise than the entire Great Hall at meal time and doing less help than a lazy Slytherin, whilst Chrissy busied helping mum, and Dan and Kyli sat by rolling their eyes at the mad chaos that was their family.

Kyli sighed, from her great vantage point, perched on the kitchen dresser. This scene of mad rush was oddly comforting - everyone was eager to do their part, for better or for worse. Some wanted to help, others just wanted to get noticed. But everyone wanted to be together, be part of something. Part of the family.

Dan flicked a plastic grape at her face, and snapped her out of her trance. She grinned, and flicked it back, wishiing she was able to do magic without her wand, and levitate it into his flop of hair. But alas, she had to settle for the pathetic flop of her throw, and it hit him just below the collar, having fallen about a foot in it's returning dive.

Dan grinned, "better luck next time sis" he said, suddenly jumping up and moving to the other side of the kitchen. Kyli grinned, she was the only one he called sis. The others were, in his words, 'to tightly wound', by which Kyli had interpreted as 'too reluctant to let him throw random goo at their face and see what happened'.

She stood up, and followed him, only to sit down on the adjacent table, which was covered with stacks of files that had to be carefully avoided. They were only moving to avoid the supersonic radar of their mother - skilled enough at skipping chores to know that sitting inconspicuos in one corner of the kitchen, occansionally moving to fit in with the constantly moving drama that surrounded them, they were far likely to be called upon than if they just attempted to vacate the scene altogether. Like Pol did.