1 comments/ 2928 views/ 0 favorites Living in an Unseen World By: cinnamon_girl Ok so this starts off pretty slow no sex for now but I promise it doesn't stay a complete taco fest. It'll get some sausage thrown in the mix next chapter and the sex to come will be steamy and worth the wait. I just want to develop the sisters' characters and an understanding of their lives a little before I jump right in ;) All feedback is welcome! _________________________________________ Chapter 1 Storm in the Distance Sometimes, right before I fall asleep, I can pretend. I can fool myself into thinking everything is normal. I almost believe it. I almost believe that I will drift off to sleep and dream simple dreams, normal dreams and normal nightmares from my own subconscious. I hope that it'll all go away before tomorrow: the visions, the sight, the "gifts" will all be gone. Then I wake up. Fresh dreams burned into my memory, but not just dreams they're omens, visions of things to come. I try to forget but it never works. I try to ignore the unseen but I still see them: spirits, souls, the ebb and flow of energy that spider webs through everything drawing the unseen to its steady current of life to replenish their weary unearthly bodies. I watch as the fey grow the gardens and harass the clueless humans; the different courts playing their sometimes frightening roles. I see the souls of the living shining through their earthly shells and the souls of the dead rejoining the great ebb and flow of this world. I see the hesitant souls linger and the kind spirits comfort: whilst the unkind leach them until they have no more power to keep from fading to nothing. Then sometimes I see the fearsome and the evil. They are the collectors who capture the innocent souls and feed on them till they're strong enough to go after the living. I never wanted this. I never wanted this power. "Charlie..." "CHARLIE" "CHARLIE!" Layla's snapping fingers and annoyed voice broke me out of my day dream abruptly enough to make me jump. I was over flowing the trough, again. "I swear to god Charles they claim you're the smart one." "Oh, shut it I'm not in the mood..." Layla's concerned eyes sought out my evasive ones. Like always she knew what my deal was without any verbal prompting. "Dream?" "Yea... not a pretty one either." Concern settled on her beautiful features. My younger sister by two years she was like a funhouse mirror reflection of myself. Our mother was Irish and Italian and our father Cherokee. It always made people scratch their heads trying to guess our nationality. The genetic mix was boldly different for each of us. Where my hair was almost black hers was like caramel and honey. Her green eyes held more gold where mine leaned more towards blue. Our skin was the same sweet golden brown of our fathers that glowed in the sun. Yet where I barely passed five feet she almost reached six. She was long limbed with generous soft curves in all the right places whereas I was lean curves and had an athletic look ... I always imagined she was what Aphrodite was supposed to look like. She turned heads of both genders wherever she went she was bubbly and fun with an ease in social settings that would make all others seem dull and lifeless compared to her shining soul. Her soul burned like the sun and showed she was just as beautiful inside as out. I always puffed up in pride of my sister and wouldn't know what to do without her. The concern on her face made me smile. She was always empathetic almost to a fault. The dream seemed almost silly now. Just a strange vision I couldn't even interpret anyway. I finished filling the troughs and headed for the feed room with Layla hot on my heels. As I turned to hit the light I noticed Layla's expectant look. "What?" "Seriously? You're gonna leave me hanging like that? You know that's not gonna fly." "Not much to tell. I really don't even know what the hell this one was about..." "Well, tell me so we can figure it out." "It seriously is not a big deal let's just finish up." "Bullshit! I felt how much that dream scared you and if you're scared then it's a big deal to me Charlie." "Ugh.... please just let it go. We'll talk later." "You know it's so not healthy the way you bottle everything up. You should really consider seeing a shrink." That got a chuckle and a giggle out of us. As dark as it is we always got a kick out of how we imagined a shrink reacting to the things we felt and saw. It would definitely mean a strait- jacket for the both of us and enough anti-psychotics to make a horse drool. Layla, you see, also had similar gifts. She could feel pain in people from a simple paper-cut to a broken heart. She knew what hurt people and she knew what healed people. She was a natural healer and it drew people. She was a guiding light for the weak and wounded and sometimes I wondered at her unending, unfailing strength to care for others. That sort of Mother Teresa kindness and patience was a trait we did not share seeing as I was a notorious hot head. After we finished feeding and watering the many animals who called the Skyband Ranch home we found ourselves taking a breather with Widow Wilson and an ice cold glass of sweet tea on her porch. The summer sun had just finished coming up a while ago and it was already hot as hell. My t-shirt and jeans stuck to me as I attempted to cool myself with the cold tea glass against my forehead. I was imagining diving into the creek at the back of the middle pasture when Widow Wilson broke the silence. "Something is coming girls. I don't know if you can feel it but the tides are changing." "Charlie had a dream last night that upset her... could it be a warning?" Layla wondered. I contemplated what Widow Wilson said coupled with my dream and it made me uneasy. Widow Wilson was like Layla and I but with years and years of experience controlling and exploring her gifts. She could dip into the universal ebb and flow of the universe and see all kinds of things past, present, or future. If she said something was about to happen then you listened. "What was the dream? My feelings have been vague and unclear almost as if something has muddled them. Like trying to see a fish at the bottom of a pond after the water has been stirred and muddied." "Well I honestly didn't understand any of it. It started out normal enough. The horses were spooked by a storm blowing in and a couple broke out of their pens and as I was trying to catch them and calm them down a bit I kept feeling like I was being watched. Like something was closing in and I was suddenly scared. I wanted to panic with the horeses. I felt my hair raise and suddenly felt like there was a predator out in the dark and I was the prey. Then the rain and lightning started up and the wind was so loud I could have sworn it sounded like howling all around me. I made a break for the house but before I knew it I was surrounded by shadows dark moving shadows they were animals but I couldn't make out what. They were snarling and snapping and I wanted to scream. Then I woke up" Widow Wilson contemplated this for a while and began rocking slighty in her rocking chair like she always did when she was thinking. We sat in silence awaiting her input. She always knew what my dreams meant. Before we could get an answer she was up and heading to the house to make some calls. "Great. Vague as always..." Layla grumbled frustrated at not getting to satisfy her borderline nosy curiosity. I just chuckled and stretched feeling better knowing I wasn't facing this alone. We three had each other to face this veiled threat heading our way. Setting out to finish up the chores Layla and I went back and forth on who got to muck out the stables and who cleaned the tack. We finally settled it with rock-paper-scissors; and, of course, I lost. Grumbling about being elbow deep in animal shit for the next hour or so I attempted to smack Layla in her derrier with a filthy poo covered boot and she skipped away laughing at my swing and a miss. I couldn't hold back the self-patronizing laugh had I wanted to. Regardless of what was coming life was good and THAT was something I was ready to protect. I wasn't scared of the black cloud on the horizon anymore, I was ready. I was ready to fight for this. Living in an Unseen World Ch. 02 Still no sex yet but i have some teasing encounters planned next chapter :D _________________________ Chapter 2 New Neighbors Rain fell in fat drops from the sky. I was soaked and water kept running into my eyes making my vision blurry. I frantically wiped at the never ending flow from my scalp to my eyes. I was scared, so scared. It was a real and palpable fear that weighed heavy in the air. It was such a terror I feared the tension would break my body like a rubber band wound too tight. I had to find her. The fearful shadows had returned and claimed my sister. I heard a shrill scream in the distance; the kind of scream that you don't hear but feel resonating in your very core. The sound of my sister's sheer terror drove me mad. I was no longer in control. Logical thought had no place in my mind only blinding rage and fear for Layla; but how do you fight what you can't find? I looked and looked but every time I would reach a shadow it would dissipate leaving no trace of my sister. I was to the point of insanity with terror and frustrated rage. It was as if the shadows were taunting me with evil grins and animalistic snarls. The winds' violent howling only frustrating me more until, finally, I glimpsed a dark figure. I pounced grasping with my bare hands and willpower I never knew I could summon. Gripping the creature's thick coat I bit and kicked like an animal myself. The creature turned and I fought it head on with my limited natural weapons but I was no match. I was quickly in fear for my own life now. I realized I was fighting a losing battle with a massive black wolf. I woke to the quiet creak of my door opening followed by the shuffling of slipper clad feet and the muffled thump of a cane on my room's rug. As I turned to see Widow Wilson's familiar figure beside my bed my eyes finished adjusting to the dark room. I looked into the worried face of my beloved friend and found my fear mirrored there. We didn't have to say anything we had both felt it in our own way. Something dangerous was coming directly for us and it was so dangerous the Great Ebb and Flow was screaming out a warning to us. I stepped out onto the porch and the screen door clanged shut behind me. I looked into the dark quiet pre-dawn and scanned the ranch's horizon. It seemed hard to believe I had ever lived anywhere else. I didn't like to think about before. This was our home and the place we belonged. Ever since setting foot here I had finally found peace and the shackles of my old life were forgotten. Life had not been fun for us on the outside. The constant sights that only we could see and the constant things only we could feel and know that broke the laws of possibility; left us isolated at an early age. Layla, though, with her kind soul blossomed regardless. She could find the upside to anything. She smiled regardless of the bad and savored the small good we had in life but even that wasn't enough to stop the pain. The constant bombardment of pain from everything seen and unseen left her weak and frail. We had no control over our powers and no one to help us. She didn't know how to shut off her abilities and the evil of the world stifled her shining soul. She was like a beautiful flower being choked by the weeds of this world. I think I just frightened everyone. I saw things that weren't there and knew things before they happened. Even bullies gave me a wide berth because of my temper and uncanny habit of throwing the first punch and then knowing where they would strike before it happened. Dreams of the future burned into my brain every night and at a touch I could see a persons' life: past, present, or future. Sometimes the visions would overwhelm my mind leaving me incapacitated on the ground. It was even worse when my other gifts developed and I could see the unseen of our world. Spirits and souls would bombard me while dark fey would constantly harass me. It wasn't an easy time for either of us growing up. As we grew it became evident we were more and more of a disappointment to our parents. They feared us but felt obligated. We were essentially alone just the two of us from birth. Our parents left us to our own devices. We didn't even bother to say goodbye when Layla graduated and we left. We didn't even look back at our childhood home as we set off with two back packs, five hundred dollars, and a clunker of a truck. We didn't know where we were going we just followed the flow of energy that called us. We had little money and traveled cheap: sleeping in the car, showering at rest stops, even gathering food in woods along the road. After about a week of travel following the winding current we reached Skyband Ranch. We pulled up the drive to find Widow Wilson smiling happily with cookies and tea. She had been waiting for us and we were finally home. We needed Gran as much as she needed us her husband had died three years ago and her hired hand had graduated and was heading off to college. There was no way she could have worked the ranch herself. Skyband Ranch used to be a working cattle ranch but now that Widow Wilson was collecting on the propertie's mineral rights there was no need for it. It became a home for rescued animals to live out the rest of their lives peacefully in this beautiful oasis. Widow Wilson had decided to care for these animals out of pocket because it was what the land was meant for. The current that we had followed made a loop around the whole property and formed an extremely rare pocket of constant spiritual renewing energy where only the living could enter. It truly was the perfect place to mend the broken souls of this world human an animal alike. What made it perfect for us was that spirits and dead souls couldn't cross the barrier or even remain near for too long. The flow was too powerful for them to resist being re-absorbed for too long and the dark evil fey couldn't live happily with such a small population to torment. I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of the screen door as Layla joined me on the porch. She began checking her boots and pulling them on as I waited contentedly. We were starting a bit late this morning but the break of the dawn made me feel replenished and renewed. Layla and I walked headlong into the sunrise with confident strides to tend our home and its other broken occupants. Despite my dreams and Gran's premonitions I felt at peace pushing the looming black cloud to the back of my mind for now. After we finished our chores we decided to take it easy that hot Saturday and saddled Buck and Sunny to head down to the large creek to relax in the cool muddy water. We spent the better part of our afternoon swimming and goofing off until our stomachs reminded us it was way past lunchtime. The day was going great and we were both anticipating the great lunches Gran always prepared for us special on the weekends. We were riding up a little recklessly knowing we'd probly get a scolding from Gran but in too good a mood to be overly bothered by it, when I sensed it. Layla and I swung down from our horses with one mindset both having felt gran's distress at the same time. I tossed Buck's reigns to layla not even looking to see if she caught them. I bolted around the barn between the garage and house to find Gran toe-to-toe with four very large and very intimidating men. As I reached them and positioned Gran behind me she let her tirade trail off. "Everything ok Gran?" I asked not taking my eyes off the very tall, very built, very handsome, and very dangerous seeming man standing a little too close to us for comfort. "Everything is fine, we were merely propositioning Mrs. Wilson here-" the man began before being cut off by Gran's agitated voice. "They're trying to get they're filthy claws into my land! They've been buying up all the surrounding properties even all that uncleared woodland right behind us! I told them no, no, and no again but they just won't take no for an answer!" As Gran filled me in I attempted to take in our antagonists but couldn't seem to take my eyes off the man right in front of me. I noticed his smell first, a musky spicy scent that brought crushed pine needles and a wildly intimate romp in the woods to mind. He was over six feet with a powerfully muscled build that still hints to a lithe and agile body. As my eyes reached his face I noticed the almost ivory skin in bold contrast to the dark short curles atop his head. I completely froze when I met the steele of his eyes. Gray and clear and meeting my gaze with enough intensity to make me feel like jell-o. I knew in the back of my mind we were reaching awkward level of staring at each other but I couldn't look away. My heart was beating like a maniac and I knew my breathing was becoming rapid. I didn't know if I was more fearful of him or more drawn to him. I felt Gran grasp my shoulder and heard Layla round the house and we finally broke our gaze. I felt dizzy and shaken. Like I had just run a marathon and completely burned all my energy. I attempted to regain composure while ignoring the odd looks everyone else from both parties were giving us. Just as I opened my mouth to ask the frightening men to leave the mysterious leader apologized for bothering us and respectfully put our encounter to an end without so much as another glance my way. We watched them get into their expensive black SUV and disappear down the dirt road and off the ranch. I shakily made my way to the back porch and sunk wearily into a rocking chair only to find Layla and Gran giving me worried questioning looks. I ran a shaky hand across my face before asking whether they had felt the same feelings I had. Layla and Gran both admitted to sensing they were powerful but neither of them had the strong reaction I had had to any of the strange men. Gran asked me to explain in detail how I had felt and I complied even though it embarrassed me for some reason. As I explained Gran's expression grew grim. She sat down and began to rock for a long time before she finally startled us by speaking. "They're wolves. They're pretty rare around here, much less in the U.S., because they are extremely territorial and stay on a certain territory forever. We obviously have a pack moving into our back yard and it worries me. We have no way of telling what kind of pack this is and why on earth they have left their ancestral territories. I pray this is not the darkness we have been warned of. We can't possibly handle a whole pack by ourselves...." More deep thought and worried looks settled over her face, "Move the horses in from the far pastures just to be safe. You girls don't go too far out without each other either..." Layla and I knew Werewolves existed but the new, news still came as a shock to the both of us. Meeting Gran's eyes she looked pointedly at me and gave me a grave warning that reawakened my fears of the night before. "Don't get too close to wolves it's a good way to get bit."