Terra Incognita

Chapter Five

I felt as though all I had done since I arrived was sleep and I was about to do it again.  I headed straight for the sleeping quarters and fell heavily upon my cot.  At least what I had come to think of as “my cot.”  Before closing my eyes, I made note of the amount of light coming into the room and realized more time had passed than I had supposed.  I got up and walked over to the window where I had been the previous night.  Dusk was settling in.  This got me to wondering how long the entire process had taken, how long it had taken for me to move from inside myself into the room across the hall.  I was pondering this when my attention was suddenly brought back to the dismal landscape beyond the window.  Had I seen something move?  So I looked more closely.

There!  There it was again. 

Then it stopped, and I was able to make out a figure.  They were standing in the overgrowth at the edge of the forest.  Their feet were hidden, but my eyes found the shape of clothed legs and trailed upwards.  Very pale hands were clenched at the figure’s sides, and my eyes made their way up the tall, tall body to that pallid face.  Lips pulled back in a snarl, nostrils flaring—of course there is no way I could have seen this in the pressing darkness, but somehow I knew—and animal-shine eyes staring right at me.  What?!  Wait a minute.  It couldn’t be.  I couldn’t believe they were actually seeing me so I squinted and stepped ever so slightly closer to the glass.  Still trying to make them out, I began leaning forward, and somehow the glass failed to stop me, and I continued moving.  Suddenly I couldn’t stop myself, the glass was gone, and I was falling toward the ground.  All the while, the Pale One laughing at my descent.

I jerked awake with a jagged breath.  A dream.  I hadn’t even realized I had fallen asleep.  The room was so dark I could barely make out the bank of windows, though I was very wary of them, as I settled back into my cot.  When I finally dozed off again, it was to a dreamless sleep.

***

I did not see Derik at all the following morning.  Which was just fine with me since it gave me time to gather my thoughts, which were scattered every which way.  Plus, I was still worn out from my psychic excursion.  I ate my breakfast without any event or outburst.  Though I’m sure a few eyes were on me and I heard some whispering, I kept my head down, my eyes on what I was doing.

When I had finished, I didn’t know what to do with myself.  Also, I wasn’t exactly sure what was expected of me.  I couldn’t just go back to my bed, only to come out to eat.  I had to earn my keep.  I couldn’t take from these people without giving something back.  And they could use the help, I was sure, even if all I could do were little things.  Besides all that, I was truly afraid I might go crazy – if I hadn’t already – if I didn’t take action.  I had to do something to take my mind off of black holes and mystical connections.  So, after a short period of wandering amongst all the determined faces heading toward their appointed places, I resolved to find some work to do.

I started upstairs, flattening against the nearest wall whenever someone passed, so as not to be in anyone’s way.  I found myself in the room leading to the roof and climbed the ladder into the sunlight.

As on the first day, the roof was busy.  People were washing and hanging laundry and working in the gardens.  The guards at each corner of the building were all new faces to me.  The shifts must have already rotated for the early part of the day.  Where the children had been gathered before sat three women who appeared to be grinding something in small bowls.

So where could I help?  As I walked around, most people avoided my gaze.  I guess it was hard to trust people in these times, though I was obviously not a Pale One and could not easily overpower any of them.  I made my way to one of the gardens and was just about to turn back to the ladder, when someone caught my eye.  A woman had stopped working and was shielding her eyes from the morning sun in order to see me more clearly.