Sweet as lemon

[mely]

she was at the edge of a forest. The trees loomed in front of her, shrouded by the opposing dark. A few curious bushes were dimly illuminated by a dusky light from behind her. A strong sense of familiarity hit her, but she couldn't place where she was. She fought to turn round, she knew the clue lay behind her, but her feet compelled her forward - into the forest.

The ground beneath her was rugged and uncomfortable. The trees slipped by, and as she moved forward, the darkness intensified. But that same sense of familiarity returned, and battled any fear she may have had. A blurriness obscured her senses, and everything around her seemed warped. The only thing clear was that she must carry on.

At length, she strayed from the path, and the sound of voices reached her eyes. She could hear nothing else of the forest noises, but even so the words being spoken were fuzzy, unclear. She strained to pick out the words; all she received was the sensation of rising anger, rising stress.

And then a tortured cry slipt her head, and a flash that was both light and emotion blinded her. The vision warped into an indistuiguishable blur of faces. She gasped with the weight of pain that pressed itself through her body, the scene merged. She picked out faces - none that she recognised- cold and lifeless, whilst a third stood by, riveted in horror and shocking realisation. And then the figure fled, desperate to get away - to be anywhere but here. Running to escape the scene, to escape the horrorfically recent past.

And all that was left was a single figure. A boy, knelt over two corpses, his hands drenched in blood. Sei

The light of day was a relief. Kyli was cold, and yet too frozen to shiver. It was a sensation all-too familiar; the way she'd woken up every day so far this holiday. Terrorfied out of her wits by the illusions of the night. None had been so clear as this, the others had blurred away at the first sign of reality, to leave nothing but a vague impression of sickening dread. This time was different. It felt so, real...

[mely]

She came down late to breakfast, half the family were already there. She made a half-hearted attempt at a "good morning" and then fell with a sigh into her place. Groggily, she drew a box of something that she hoped was lemon sparks towards her, and poured them measuredly into a bowl. She looked up for the milk, and noticed her mum watching her. frowning.
"how was your night?" the comment was too pointed to be casual. Kyli shrugged, "alrigh' I s'pose..." she tried to concentrate on eating her cereal, but mum spoke again. "did you sleep alright?"
Kyli's answer was awkward, "yeh, i-"
"don't lie to me Rache-kyla!!!" her mother snapped. Kyli was taken aback, "I-"
"don't try to pretend you slept well when I know for a fact you were tossing about all night thanks to one of those hideous dreams"
Kyli tried to protest against the anger in her mother's voice, but was again cut off.
"and every night so far this holiday, according to Meally"
Kyli shot a vicious glare at her sister, who was squirming uncomfortably, and then returned her attention to her mother, "look, it's not a big deal, just leave it"
"i will not leave it" her mother's voice had lost its anger, was now resolute instead. "I'm taking you to Bungle's about it. "
Kyli flushed indignantly, "i said just. leave. it" she pushed the bowl away from her; she wasn't hungry. "It's not a big deal"
Standing up to reinforce her point, she repeated herself. Then, as her mother began to speak, she said, "I'm not going to Bungles" her tone was clear, but foreceful, "I'm not going, you can't make me, end. of. story"

[mely]

Back in her room, Kyli smiled at last, to see Featherby twittering dippily on the windowsill. She opened the window, and her not-quite-owl bustled in, bearing a white enevelope. She recognised the handwriting on the letter, and opened it eagerly. Letters from Charles always cheered her up.
What with Kik being on holiday travelling and too busy to write, cenizo obsessed with studying for his newts and Sei not answering her letters, he was the only person she had been writing to with any consistency. And she always looked forward to his replies. It was strange - the last term he'd seemed uncharacteristically nice towards Sei, not even batting an eyelid when she offered to give him extra tutoring now he'd fallen behind with work. She was beginning to question why she'd ever been so mad at him in the first place...

[mely]

[cant be bothered to start a new thread, so basically stuff happened and now it is night]
Kyli awoke with a start. It was dark, in the kind of the way that hinted of a morning light soon to break. Her head throbbed and she rubbed her temples. The throbbing soothed slightly and she was able to recognise the taste of blood in her mouth. her nose was sticky, and as she drew a hand across the lower half of her face, she realised she must have banged it in the night. It was bleeding. She pinched it for a while, and flowing calmed.
She was crouched on the floor uncomfortably and a dim vision of a dream pooled in the back of her mind. Then her mind focused and it was gone.
Blood was spattered on the floor, and there were a few specks on her pillow. As she screwed up her face, and felt a cut along her cheekbone. She traced it with her forefinger and it stung.
Heaving herself onto all fours she scrabbled around, attempting to find her wand to clear up the mess. The sound of footsteps on the corridor made her freeze, and she crouched where she was, praying they would carry on past her door. They didn't.
The door was pushed open and a pool of lights spilled in, blinding her for a split second. She squinted dimly, and the figure became distinc. It was Mum.

[mely]

"Bungles store of medicin marvels - if you've got a problem, we've got a cure"
Kyli stared up at th sign, feeling uncomfortably like one of the four year olds being dragged by the hand into through those ominous doors. She remembered the days when she had been. Forced in by her over-bearing mother, who dragged her through the eisles of potent seeming chemicals, to find one particularly foul one that would not only be the foulest, but also the only available remedy for which ever ailment she was struck with. The same feeling of reluctance filled her now.
Mum barged into the shop, and she followed, with prounced disinclination. "hello Janey," her mum warbled to the store-owner, "I'm looking for something for my daughter..."
Kyli began furiously praying for that blackhole to swallow her up before the saga could progress any further
"she's having a bit off trouble with nightmares - illusions and the like, y'know?"
Despite Kyli's best efforts, the blackhole remained non-existent and her mum trilled on.
"no, we haven't given her anything yet - wanted to get your advice first..."
Kyli flushed red, and felt slightly dizzy. She didn't like the effect all these potions were having on her.
"I did try murtlap leaves, but she wouldn't wear them. Said they made her nose itch - she's as fussy as her father..."
Kyli's insides squirm. She was no longer sure whether it was the fumes making her sick, or her mother's incessant trilling. "mum, it's not a big deal," she hissed desperately "let's just get out of here..."

It took another half hour of cringe-worthy warbling on her mother's part, rooting out of various steaming bottles on the part of the manager, and focusing heavily on one spot to prevent falling over in a dead faint on Kyli's part, they finally left the confines of the steaming shop. Mum was clutching a bottle of thin, maroon liquid. Triumphant. She hadn't suggested Kyli carry, which was a relief since it seemed to her to ooze an inherent dread. Without particular reason, she feared to touch the thing.

[mely]

"Kyli I won't tell you again- take it!"
Kyli shivered. The bottle stood in front of her, a silent and unmoving threat. Beside it lay a spoonl just a simple kitchen spoon, but its intended use warped it until it seemed to her the very personification of evil. She couldn't explain why, but there was a feeling of powerful fordeboding about the bottle - it was ill-omened, and something deep inside her prevented her from reaching out and taking it.
Mum's stress level rose. "Rachel-Kyla, if you don't take it this instant, I will clear out the menagerie and throw all your filthy creatures in the Thames"
Kyli couldn't let her mother do a thing like that over a stupid bottle of medecin. But still...
"right, that's it - if you're going to behave like a stroppy four year old, I'm going to treat you lie one too"
And next thing she new, a spoonful of the threatening liquid was being rammed down her throat. with a feeling not dissimilar to loathing, she swallowed.
All at once, it was as if a blanket was swamping her sense. A thick, unweilding, slimy blanket. She struggled to move as mind was swamped - her thoughts felt caged, restricted.

Next thing she knew, she was lying on her bed. It was morning, and she was awake. Well, mum would be pleased; a dreamless night's sleep. Just what the doctor ordered.