disorientation [.jinxed.]

Lucy was hiding from her cousin, who had gotten significantly more protective and controlling as of late. Her grades were slipping again, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Time was running out. Each day brought the end just a little closer. For some, it was looming above them like the ghost of the barn at the old farm. For others, it was barely a shape on the horizon. Regardless.

life is thundering blissful towards death/
in a stampede of his fumbling green gentleness.

The thing that had happened last winter weighed heavily on her mind, even as they approached the next. She felt no more used to her power than she had after she no longer had her friend as a crutch. If anything, there were newer and nastier surprises with every passing day. The build-up of the energy out at the abandoned farm was a constant worry, even after she'd taken care of most of the ghosts and the place had been razed.

That kind of aura just didn't sit. The potential backlash was far beyond the scope of her imagination, and she had seen enough to fill the imaginations of many people.


This was the sorts of things that occupied her mind as she stared blankly at the fish drifting through the water in the tank before her. She wore what she was used to wearing. Black pleated skirt, black button-up blouse, black patent leather shoes, and dark gray knee-highs. As dark as the aquarium tended to be, she felt confident that, as long as she didn't move too much, most people would overlook her. She clutched a stack of papers to her chest with one hand, the other holding the handle of her violin case so tightly her knuckles were white.

Movement of the random few people who drifted through the aquarium caused her to start and flinch. On the most recent pass-through, she dropped her stack of papers, revealing that they were her most recently handed-back tests and assignments. All with the inexorable red pen on the top, marking the papers as all failures. Crimson stained her cheeks as she knelt to collect them one-handedly.

    Dirk was out relatively early that morning, he knew it was a few days before his own classes started and he hoped to get as much leisure time as possible. That day he wore simple black skinny jeans, a bright white t-shirt, and a sweater, which was also white. As he stepped out of his own dorm, he wondered at that moment what he should do, he considered his own goals he didn't recall to have any at the moment, so he decided to pick up breakfast and then go to the aquarium.

    Dirk then stopped by the dining room and picked up some light, fluffy pancakes and some orange juice, he ate and after a few hours he entered the aquarium. As he stepped through the door, a person stopped in front of him and said that the person was Lucy's cousin, and the person was wondering where Lucy was, as he didn't know who this "Lucy" was he answered no and then passes by the random person.

The aquarium glow tinted his sweater a bluish color and made him more noticeable to most people. as he passed by a girl, she dropped her papers, while the papers were strewn everywhere he studied the red pen marks on the papers that seemed to be tests. he finally said, "those are some pretty bad scores"

Lucy's head snapped up and she leveled an embarrassed glare at the guy. "D-Did anybody a-ask you?!" she hissed, anger barely hiding the way her cheeks burned with humiliation. She hurried to slide her papers into a semblance of a stack to pick them up. It was nigh-impossible to do this without relinquishing her grip on her violin case, which she did reluctantly.

Many of the papers crumpled as she bundled them under one arm, immediately losing a couple as she scooped up her violin and stood up. It felt like her entire face could catch fire and, given the alternatives, spontaneous combustion was looking more and more appealing. Then again, it would only attract more attention.

Her tone was as cold as ice as she asked (rather rudely,) "What?! Did y-you want something, G-Geryon? Or are y-you here solely t-to annoy me?!" Since she'd been spending more and more time over in that place between places lately, her vocabulary was starting to pick up the old tics that had characterized her speech when she first arrived at the school.

Also, more frustratingly, her stutter was reemerging in full-force now that she was good and upset.

Now, on her feet, she could note a couple of important things. First off, he was slightly shorter than she was. Secondly, he was dressed in a way that stood out whereas her garb was meant to keep her hidden. She definitely didn't want this person to stick around her for any longer; he was increasing her chances of being spotted by the very last person she wanted to find her.

Dirk considered her question, but before he answered he saw some of the papers on the floor, he bent down and picked it up, which was then when he found the girl's name in front of him, "Lucy" he muttered as he ignored the scores. He made sure that he picked up all the papers and then handed it back to her. "By the way Lucy a person came up to me in the front, and was looking for you, do you know who he is?" Dirk was about ninety percent confident that she was avoiding the man in the front, but Dirk wanted to see how she would react to the question.



Dirk asked himself if he should tell her her name and then remembered her question, "Geryon? What are those?" He knew if he proceeded to ask these questions, there would be some point where she would tell him to leave her, but he had no intention of leaving until he found out the reason behind her hiding from the man at the front.

Dirk suddenly felt a little too warm in the aquarium, so he pulled off his sweater, he wore a black T-shirt that was baggy enough to hide some his muscles and also fit enough to the point where people would not confuse him for being obese.

Dirk then returned his eyes to Lucy and he studied he features a little more, at that point he noticed her violin was a little different then the usual wooden instrument, this alone set off some emotions he hadn't felt since... he was in that place.

Lucy flinched at the mention of her cousin. She could definitely imagine Sam, dark-haired, pale-skinned, and as gaunt as a skeleton, going up to people at this point and flashing them a page from his notebook asking about her. He'd been that paranoid as of late. If she were a more reasonable and rational person, perhaps she would understand his perspective. At this point, though, she was just done with the over-protectiveness.

She took the papers back, grinding her teeth. Her almost-black eyes flashed angrily. "Of c-course I know who h-he is. And i-it's none of your g-godsdamned business." Lucy was working herself into a right state, more unreasonably angry than she'd been in a very long time. A part of her knew this, made weak suggestions in the back of her head that she might be overreacting a little and this stranger didn't deserve her wrath.

It didn't matter. He was a convenient target for a lifetime of frustration and fear. His question only pointed out the fact that she was falling back into old, bad habits. "He's a m-monstrous figure that d-d-dwells in amongst the d-denizens of the seventh and eighth levels of h-hell. And, if h-he were a p-person, he'd most certainly see fit to p-p-pick on me as you are d-doing now!" The second sentence was a cover for the first, said in haste and stupidity.

It wasn't good to be talking about death to the living. Lucy was determined that she would not accidentally drag another person over because of a silly mistake or their inquisitiveness. She set her jaw and repositioned the papers, which were in the process of seeking their freedom again by slipping down between her arm and side.

The guy had taken the moment to remove his sweatshirt. Her eyes flicked over him dismissively- she gauged by ability to harm and little else. Only during that one party in the student lounge had she really been struck by how handsome a person could be and that particular person had been extremely good-looking. And she'd spit beer all over him.

Embarrassing story aside, she was irritated that the guy had picked up on her nickname. "J-Just forget that you saw me here and we w-won't have any problems." She wasn't sure if this was a threat or something else. Whatever it was, it didn't have much weight to it given her stature and the softness of her features. She wasn't built for violence, not in this plane and not in this form.

Watching lucy as she started to, in Dirk's mind, lose composure and start to degenerate to violence Dirk sighed. He hated it when people started acting like this, but again that feeling hit him, was it a nagging doubt? He didn't know and he didn't like it. His fear was validated when she explained what a geryon was, he knew it, she had somthing to do with death, people like her didnt just come to foresta for no reason. The thing that bothered him the most was that he was not afraid of death, but he was a little scared of her and especially the aura the violin was giving off. It was more of an instinct to Dirk, since he assumed he was the only one to feel this vibe.

As Lucy said "J-Just forget that you saw me here and we w-won't have any problems.", Dirk's anger flared a tiny bit. Dirk then replied in a low voice "You and your violin don't know problems as I do, I've went to the depths of darkness in my mind and came back, my eyes have seen light in the dark and dark in the light, I've come back from insanity in a way that no one has. Some people say insanity is the gateway to hell, if thats the case I have stared into the fiery pit of dispair and laughed." He then proceeded to look into her eyes to give her the look.  The look, he knew, scared many people, what it was, as someone described to him before he went to foresta, was the look of a madman who wasn't afraid of death and torture, but also was a mirror that reflected his loneliness, want, and hidden emotions at the last part Dirk had scofed and told the person to shut up.

"Tell me, what do you see in these eyes?"

Lucy was not going to put up with this any longer.

She knew what insanity was. She'd spent an institutionalized year contemplating her own before the true nature of her own powers manifested themselves. This 'woe betide you because I've seen Hell' nonsense was only infuriating. She hissed, "B-Bullshit."

She held her violin in its case protectively behind herself, since he'd mentioned it. Her instrument had been stolen before, one was even completely destroyed. This one had been a gift from her uncle, the wood inlaid with spells to prevent ageing and breakage. In itself, that was the most interesting thing about it. Lucy's power was her own. If she wanted to look foolish, she could lead the dead to their rightful place with a kazoo.

Whatever in her that had latched on to anger wasn't about to be quelled with a look. She'd been negated once, and had shuffled off the mortal coil quite a few times since her career started. "I see a p-person who should have k-kept walking! Leave me alone- I never a-asked for y-you to stop, or b-butt into my business! W-Why I'm hiding from m-my c-cous-cousin is my business and m-may you never c-c-come to know the inaccuracy of your words!"

It wasn't the darkness in his gaze that had her turning on her heel to find a new hiding place. It was the underlying emotions. Those struck a little too close to home, resonating with certain parts of her psyche she'd rather not deal with. Besides, she told herself, life was too short to deal with assholes. The papers slipped again and she paused only to scoop up a hurried handful of them, walking off with purpose in her gait.

Dirk smiled in satisfaction, he had finally found out who the person at the front was, but then he felt sorry for the girl. Dirk debated with himself on what to do, he finally decided to return the papers before her cousin came and found the papers, but before he did he corrected some of the mistakes on her paper and wrote, in short sentances why she had gotten some of the answers incorrect. As he concidered the last one he looked at, he realized that all the mistakes were made as if she could be bothered about the assignment.

This was when Dirk used his right eye, since his left would just give him away, and predicted where she would go. Dirk didn't know why he was helping her, in fact he was mostly a sociopath, but he was also, strangely, equipped with a moral compass which told him that he probably dug too deep and hit some wrong nerves.

Dirk turned the corner and this was then when his daydreams hit him again forceing him onto his knees and to drop the papers he was holding his watch beeped at the 9:30 pm.

(start of daydream)

A dark mass expanded before him, looming and ominous. Eyes, peered out with bright with writheing flames, a mouth opened and spoke, "You should have died, but if you wont i'll come and kill you." Just as the dark mass finished speaking a sword shot out of the darkness and stabbed him in the gut. Dirk told himself that this was a dream, but then blood began to leak out of his mouth. Thats when his body began to crack like glass, from the wound it grew, larger and larger, until he shattered and...

(end of daydream)

Dirk woke up screaming and sweating profusely his watch said 9:31.

Lucy heard a scream as she slipped out of the aquarium, not bothering to even turn around. It was the boy, of course, but she'd had enough of that conversation and his proclamations of madness. If she'd been any faster, she would have run into her cousin on her way out. In fact, they'd missed each other by only a matter of half a minute or so.

Sam had heard some people talking about a couple arguing in the aquarium, one of whom sounded like Lucy (the speakers mentioned a stutter, which narrowed down the possible students to a handful, his cousin included). A sense of responsibility had gripped him ever since the incident in the previous Winter- Lucy undoubtedly had felt it and he worried greatly about her obsession with death. Even if she thought it was her job, she spent inordinate amounts of time in the Otherside, ignoring her obligations in Life and to her own future.

In terms of family resemblance, they both shared a remarkable pallor (though Sam could and often did tan in the summer) and dark hair. Sam's hair was a jet black (and quite long), while Lucy's was just a deep brown. And both of them were as stubborn as stubborn could be.

Sam broke into a run at the sound of the scream, concern flashing across his face as he knelt down next to the guy, who, even on the ground, was obviously considerably shorter than Sam himself. Not that that was uncommon. At 6'4", Sam could be considered taller than average (though perhaps not for this school), and wiry. The student he was currently next to was stockier than himself, and wearing more modern clothing. He reached over to touch the boy on the shoulder to wordlessly inquire about his current state.

Sam froze in place when he saw the papers on the floor in front of the boy- they had his cousin's name on them. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a notepad. He flipped through pages to where he'd already written, "Smallish girl, dark brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin, violin case. Where is she?"

Dirk felt a hand on his shoulder, it was that guy from the front, he knew it without turning around because Dirk knew he would be looking for her. He debated turning around, but then thought better of it. He knew he was going to be asked by this guy where Lucy was and he had no intention of doing so, but then again, he also knew that this person probably was concerned for her.

Dirk decided to turn around and saw him holding up a notebook with the words "Smallish girl, dark brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin, violin case. Where is she?" Dirk concidered the question, but he was too shaky to answer in words, he needed bacon. His gold eye brightened and shot out a piece of bacon, which Dirk caught the bacon and started nibbleing on it. Dirk was disapointed with himself, he had shown a weakness that he intended nobody to see. As he finished the bacon his unease was lessened.

He mustered up the energy to speak "Why do you think I knew where she was going? All I was doing for her was trying to help, but she got angry after I commenting about her papers, and then I got a little angry myself... then she dropped these and left, its not like my pink eye can predict where people are headed." 

Dirk then picked up the papers and started to get up, and try leave in the direction that he thought Lucy may have gone, but his legs were too shaky and he fell down again. 

He gave up after a few tries, and finally not really careing, he asked "what's your name?"

Sam offered only a blank look in response to the answer that turned out to be more than, less than, and other than what he had been looking for. Furthermore, he'd felt completely thrown out of his element when the bacon was the first thing the boy actually did. All he could offer in return was a shrug, not conjuring enough nonchalance to pull off the gesture convincingly.

He knew better than to press matters- his social skills were bad, but they weren't that bad. It'd be rude to continue to press that particular line of questioning with a person so obviously not wanting to answer. Sam scrawled a, "Sounds about right. She's been pretty difficult lately. Sorry about that." to flash at the guy, pausing once when he got up to walk off and again when the guy asked his name. He then added with a flourish, "Sam Lennox. You? Need some help walking out of here?" He moved forward to show the note to the guy with the bacon-eyeball.

--

Lucy wound up retreating to an empty classroom, feeling moody and unpredictable. She contemplated going out into the woods in order to get some work done, but she didn't trust herself to avoid stupid mistakes with her anger still gripping uncharacteristically at her. Plus, it was night and the woods were dangerous even when the sun was up. She sat at a desk, placing her violin case atop it. Wrapping her arms around the case, she rested her head on top of it and closed her eyes in order to clear her mind for a time.

Dirk nodded to Sam,  he thought he didn't need Sam's help, but apparently he did. He hated being in positions like these where he needed assistance, especially because he was trying, for once, to be a good person. Then, he realized that he had lost his jacket back at the place he had met Lucy, that may have been the reason he had slipped into that daydream. His sweatshirt was like a psychological shield for him, binding him to a focused and analytic lifestyle, but he didn't have it on his mind tended to wander. Dirk then dismissed the idea of going to retrieve the sweatshirt, he could use some time thinking about different things.

Dirk then wondered if Sam couldn't talk, would he be able to describe what he saw in his eyes and why it incited anger in Lucy. "Hey Sam, can you tell me what you see in my eyes? I'm told that its pretty interesting and then again some people say they don't see anything... you don't have to, but I just want to see it described in an interesting variety of words"  Dirk had asked this because he knew that Sam and Lucy were related and he wondered if he would get the same result. 

Dirk chuckled to himself, and then he realized he had accidentally loaded his eye with a concentrated light beam, so before anyone could get hurt he shot it out a window, making it streak across the campus skyline as a bright light.