Hallowed Kaline (1) (MANUSCRIPT)

Issue # 37 Book of Lady Caroline Pt. 4

          Max looked around a dark room. To his left appeared a dresser. Each knob appeared like a standard knob for the front door of a house. 
          Turning his head to the right, Max saw a young girl with blonde hair. Her golden locks, curly and wavy, flew down her back, almost paving a road of some kind. This road appeared long and winding, yet beautiful despite its work. 
        Then the girl turned. 
        Max's eyes flashed open. 
        This time, he looked around a dark forest. 

       "Au- Aubrey?" 
      "Hm?" The young Cardinal's eyes fluttered as she lied over a comfy sleeping-bag, the folds and creases showing a few colors. 
       "I fell asleep, didn't I?" Max sighed. 
       "You did, yes. But if it wasn't obvious enough, so did we." Aubrey began to crawl upwards, reaching into an upright position on both feet over a campfire. 
       "Right. Well." Max turned his head over to a sleeping Amy. Her small body appeared cozy and warm. "Heh. She looks-" 
       "Adorable?" Aubrey's scratchy voice bounced across the mulch-covered park. 
       Max's neck lunged back. "A- Adorable? Hah. Heh. Well, you know." 
       Aubrey raised her brow. "Do I?" 
      "Hah. Right. Well-" 
      "Do you, perhaps, have more of an interest in letting her join the CP that goes beyond just 'raising another hunter for the greater good of fighting evil faeries'?" 
      Max sat up straight, his shoulder aching. "OH! Ow! I should not have fallen asleep on that bench. And, um," The young Kaline looked to Amaret Cook. "I don't know how to answer that." 
      Aubrey shook her head. "Can't fool me, dude. I might be inexperienced with my own escapades -- that is, I've had none -- but I've seen other people. I've seen the look they get in their eye when they see someone who's touched them in such a way that they can't explain. I've seen the way two people behave around each other when they really value one another. But beyond that, I've seen how you act around girls you like. I've known you quite a while, Max. I remember you and Natalie-" 
     "Don't... say her name. Not right now, please. I don't- I don't wanna think about her." The campfire flickered in the reflection of Max's deep green eyes. 
      Aubrey lunged her head back, her eyebrows furrowing. "R- Right. I guess it hasn't been too long since the 'incident' happened. I just figured you were doing better by now." 
       Max shook his head, then darted a gaze to the nightly horizon above the trees of the park. "I thought I was too. Last night, I think I dreamed about her." 
      Aubrey blinked. "You 'think'?" 
      Max nodded. "I was in a room I've never been in before, and I saw her from behind. It sort of felt like her, you know? Hmph. I don't know, to be honest. There was something a little off. She seemed just a tad wider, and she was dressed in a white gown- Almost like a wedding dress of some kind. But dreams are just dreams, I suppose." Max lowered his head, his eyes falling back to the right side of his bench. 
      Aubrey's eyes fiercely narrowed. "How could you, someone who has a de'Navra's ghost in him, say something like that? 'Dreams are just dreams'? I'm sorry, but I'm appalled. Dreams are more than dreams, and I didn't expect you to say something so callous! I expected more from you, Max, than to fall to making incredulous pass-offs like that. How dare you!" 

     Max's eyes widened and he put his hands up. "Aubrey, I didn't mean-" 
     "No." Aubrey looked away, down at the campfire which had passed as a pile of sticks, leaves, and encircled by a wall of make-shift rocks. "I'm sorry. I get a little too emotional whenever people knock off dreams as nothing more than 'dreams'. Max, I've spent all my life living at the Complexia Portia. I've had to hear the news of some terrible things and I haven't really been socialized like a normal girl who's gone to 'public school' or something. I know I'm different. All my life, I knew I was different." 
      "Aubrey-" 

        "No! Listen to me, Max! Sometimes, I hate living at the Complexia Portia! Sometimes, I wish I was someone else! I wish I was never born! And so I put my faith into the wild dreams that my mind can come up with on occasion." Aubrey's head fell into her hands, her back shaking. 
      She's crying. Poor girl. I didn't mean to make her so... upset. Max's eyes closed tightly, stinging tears crawling out from his own eyes. "You're right. I'm s- sorry. What I s- said w- was so callous. But Aubrey, I'm just hurting! And how can I go about it without a callous remark here and there? If I think about it for too long, the memories of all my old friends hurt me too much. It sucks! Natalie and I were such good friends. Kyle and I... STILL HAD SO MUCH GROUND TO COVER!" Max bit his lip and made a sneezing-like sound. 
      Amy's eyes blinked open just then. 
     Still laying down, her left arm sitting tucked under her head, she wiggled her ears. Max and Aubrey. Are they fighting?
     "When I look into Amy's eyes, I see a girl who sees me. Max. Not a de'Navran host. A girl who's excited to be a part of my world. And she puts forth the effort to follow me. She takes away the hole that Natalie created. She fills me." The young Kaline's face flushed into an irritated red, his lips quivering. 
     Aubrey's lips quivered in response as she took a deep breath. "Like I said, I'm sorry. You're carrying a big weight on your shoulders and I guess- I guess I just don't understand the specific burdens you have to carry. But I wanna try. We're a team, us three." 
      Max nodded. "We're a team." 
      Aubrey coughed up a tiny laugh just then. "So, I guess that's the answer from my question before." 
    Max tilted his head. "Wh- Wh- OH! You sly dog." 
    Amy blinked her coffee-colored eyes, her heart beating comfortably in her chest. Lips curving to a smile, she wiggled her ears once more. 
     "You like Amy Cook, don't you?" Aubrey stood up, brushing her knees off.