Crystalline

Dreams

Lightning split the sky as if tearing it down the centre. Nel sighed, her legs crossed in front of her. She ran her hand over Riley's head and into the fur at his neck, and he sighed wolfishly, the sound making her smile.

The storm had been raging for days now. Katrina had told them nothing but to remain inside, but she could not help but feel that there was something very unnatural about the situation. That maybe, there was something, someone, like her, out there. Doing this. Making a storm that seemed to shake the very earth. Likely to shatter the sky as Lissa shattered glass, as easy as taking a breath. She was yet to see this phenomenon, but Riley had told her about it, as much as he knew, everything he'd seen. Strange and occult, terrible and pain-filled. He had told her without hesitation. And that was where he was different from Tanner; her brother had been trusting, but he had hidden anything that he thought might hurt her, despite his age. Despite the fact that it was her who was meant to protect him, and not the other way around. Despite the fact that she knew, that she knew he heard their parents fighting as well as she did, even through the thick walls. Doors were useless if they were left open: this was something her parents had forgotten often.

Can't sleep either? She jolted at the voice, and then realised that it was not a voice; it was words with a feeling, an echo in her mind.

Lissa lowered herself to the ground on the other side of Riley, and smiled as she ran her fingers through the fur along his back. Riley hummed, and Nel could feel the sound through her fingertips. They were quiet for a while. The storm crashed and raged in the sky, and the window made it seem as if they were in the storm itself, a clear barrier of air between them, its uproar making up for their quiet.

"What do you think I am?" Nel asked, her voice questing into the silence. Lissa looked at her questioningly, but she continued to stare out the window, not returning the look. "Riley's a wolf," she explained. "Kale can become invisible. Katrina is... whatever Katrina is. But what do you do, exactly?" Lissa did not answer, so she continued to speak. "Well, whatever you can do, you all have a place. You're all something. You can all do something. I can't do anything. I just look different."

Riley growled and shifted slightly, and she looked down at the snowy white of his fur mingled with the bright red strands of her hair that tumbled over her shoulders, longer than it had been at the beginning of everything. He looked up at her with baleful golden eyes, as if to say that she was something, she was different.

She averted her gaze. Finally, Lissa spoke, in her peculiar way. I think that everything has its place. You don't need a special... power to belong, to exist. Grass is grass and trees are trees. The sun is a ball of fire in the sky, but it keeps us alive. Everything is what it is. You shouldn't feel like you aren't important. And you asked what I can do? She paused, looked out the window unblinkingly as lightning arced through the sky.

I can see everything you can't, she told her softly, and Nel watched as she changed, charges of light spinning across her skin til she blended with the storm outside, and she wondered what, exactly, that meant. Lightning flashed, and Lissa's skin faded back to a pale cream. She turned to Nel, and she smiled ruefully. Which isn't exactly a good thing. So be grateful that you aren't like me.

Lissa stood and extended a hand towards her. Nel took it and let her pull her to her feet, Riley rising beside them. Lissa began to pull her hand, and Nel didn't resist, simply followed, let Lissa guide her through the darkness. The tap of Riley's claws against the ground accompanied them, loud in the quiet.

Confusion swamped her as the older girl pulled her into her own room, but she went. She watched as Lissa let go of her hand and pulled back the sheets of the bed. Told her to climb in. And she listened. Lay still as Riley jumped on top of the sheets beside her, lay his head on her stomach after Lissa had pulled up the sheets and smoothed them down.