Beyond Reflections (In Writing)

I'm like... 4'10".

Hmm... my mom said she'd be home in like early evening. It's 10PM.

Yup! But this time zone is stinky when WI goes off for a FIVE HOUR maintenance at 12AM KT. XP

That's not too short for your age. I know a guy a year younger than me who must be like that height.

Whoa! Lol, I think I'm an hour later than you guys. XP But then again, I'm Canadian. XP

There's a guy in my grade who should really be a grade up (he had to repeat second grade I think) and he's like up to my chest. And yet he can cream almost anyone at fencing and he's like super strong... it's weird.

That's awesome! Though I've noticed that sometimes the shorter people are the strongest or the fastest. It just works that way, I guess. XP

I'm not. XD

Ah, that's okay. Me neither. But we have brains and creativity!

Yeah! XP

Sounds good to me, Dream. XD

Hahaha, you guys crack me up.

Chapter 10 - Gydan's Mystery


Penny felt two hands grasp her shoulders, shaking her awake. Her eyes flew open in alarm and she practically soared off of the couch, smacking into something soft and cushiony. Something like flesh...

There was some cashmere there too, now that Penny thought about it.

She looked up to see Veronica’s blue eyes staring back at her, one eyebrow raised in confusion. The girl was hovering over Penny in the entrance hall of the university, her hair a tangled mess and her makeup washed off. In the brief moment, Penny wished she had Veronica’s beauty. She could just feel the envy creeping through her body like poison. But she couldn’t help it; Veronica looked like a goddess, even when she wasn’t wearing makeup. In fact, she looked even prettier without the pounds of foundation, blush and mascara that she felt the need to put on each day. If Penny looked like the woman in front of her, she wouldn’t be going through all that trouble when getting ready each morning, that’s for sure.

Realizing she had her face buried in Veronica’s violet, v-neck sweater, Penny chuckled and murmured a quick apology for bumping into her.

“Ouch!” Veronica joked, with a weak smile that barely reached her eyes. She swiftly brushed off her stomach, sitting beside Penny on the couch. The morning sunshine was gushing through the windows, colouring their surroundings with a golden luster. It highlighted the dancing dust around the air of the scarcely swept area, and it also highlighted the redness around Veronica’s puffy eyes. Penny didn’t notice it before but now she saw that something was definitely wrong.

Before Penny had a chance to say something, the girl tried to hide the redness by brushing a hand over her tired eyes. “About time you woke up,” she muttered, ignoring the fact that Penny hadn’r awoken on her own accord. “Wanna get some coffee?”

“Sure,” Penny agreed groggily, forcing herself off of the couch. She stopped to crack her neck and back, for she was a little stiff from spending the night there. Veronica in her cashmere sweater with grey sweatpants and Penny in her dress from the night before, the two made their way to the bistro. Penny often just rolled out of bed to go there for a coffee, but it was strange for Veronica because she usually spent hours getting ready before even leaving her house to get the mail. Something was up.

On their way to the café, Veronica made small talk like nothing was wrong. They talked about the weather, the party, Razz’s taste in music, just small things like that. Veronica seemed every bit as involved in the conversation as her, but Penny knew that she was only trying to seem like her cheerful self. She waited until they found a table and ordered two caramel lattes before asking what happened.

She exhaled noisily, fiddling with a loose thread on her cardigan. Looking over her shoulder briefly, as if to check if someone was around, she murmured, “I’m pregnant.”

Penny gasped, frozen with shock. This wasn't at all what she expected. “Vanilly is the father, right?” she asked softly.

Veronica nodded, heaving a sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair. Her eyes were closed in stress.

“Well… Isn’t that good news?” she asked cautiously, not wanting to upset Veronica.

She shook her head, burying her face in her hands. Penny saw the tears flowing from her eyes, pooling onto the table like liquid crystal. “No, it’s not… Because when I told Vanilly last night… He broke up with me!” she sobbed, her shoulders shaking.

Penn’s jaw dropped in fury. How dare he! She squinted her eyes, as if she was glaring at him. She then saw that their coffees were ready and sauntered to the counter to retrieve them, handing one to Veronica before sitting down again. Penny took a sip, the hot and sweet concoction calming her nerves.

With her hands cupped around her own drink, Veronica blinked away the last of her tears before the waterworks stopped. Not bothering to wipe away the stray droplets still rolling down her cheeks, she continued. “When I told him… He demanded that I’d have an abortion. But I refused, and that’s when the relationship ended,” she took in a shaky breath but this time she didn’t cry.

“Aw, Ronnie…” Penny murmured sympathetically, putting her hand over hers to comfort her friend. “You did the right thing.”

Veronica sniffed, lifting her broken gaze to Penny’s. “You think so?” she choked.

Penny nodded, “Of course you did. Vanilly’s a total jerk,” she reassured her, glad to be able to express her true feelings about that vulgar man to someone. “No matter what, I’ll always be there for you. I’ll help you through this.”

She honestly couldn’t believe she was saying this to Veronica but the strange thing was that she really meant it. She hadn’t realized how close she was with her roommate, despite their frequent disagreements. They may sometimes ignore each other, but it was like that when you live with someone. They were like sisters in a way.

Veronica smiled and leaned awkwardly over the table to hug Penny. After their embrace, Veronica slinked down in her chair and took a gulp of her coffee. “So you and Bane are together, I hear?” she purred, changing the subject.

“Not really…” Penny murmured, “We haven’t exactly kissed yet. We haven’t gone on a date or anything, either.”

Her previously cloudy eyes glowed a little, the woman sure loved gossip. “What do you mean, ‘We haven’t exactly kissed yet’?”

Penny shook her head, flicking her wrist as if to say it didn’t matter. “I mean, he’s more like affectionate and stuff with me now… But he’s always been that way. He’s a friendly person.”

Veronica let out a chuckle. “He’s only like that with you!”

Penny stared at her blankly, confused.

“Don’t you get it? I’ve been friends with him for ages, almost as long as you have been friends with him, and he’s never been all huggy and hand-holdy with me. He only ever does that with you, Penny!” she pointed out, smiling smugly at Penny’s bright red cheeks. “He’s had a crush on you forever. He’s never said anything about it, but I know it’s true.”

Penny shook her head stubbornly, refusing to believe it. Her heart beat heavily in her chest and she felt dizzy after hearing her friend’s words. But although she wanted to believe Veronica, she couldn’t risk being hopeful when it wasn’t true. Bane would probably forget all about what happened that morning, anyway.

Veronica murmured something under her breath that sounded like “oblivious”.

Checking the clock, Penny realized it was already 11:00; they had been there for a while. “I think I better get going, Ronnie,” she said, tugging her into an embrace before waving and exiting through the doors.

“Bye!” Veronica called after her.



Penny wandered aimlessly through the streets of the small town, unsure what to do. She didn’t have any classes today and she only realized that once she had already left her friend.

Maybe I should have stayed, she thought with regret, absent mindedly kicking the pebbles in her way.

As she made her way to her parents’ house, thinking she might decide to visit them, she noticed Mrs. Rocus’ house was right beside her. Penny gazed at the quaint little home for a long time before shrugging and ambling over to the door.

What could it hurt? She did say that Bane and I could come back… I don’t think she’d mind if it was just me.

She knocked on the door, hearing a faint voice in the distance telling her that she could come in. Mrs. Rocus must have been in the kitchen of the surprisingly spacious home, for Penny could smell the pleasing scent of cookies.

She cautiously opened the door, peeking through the entrance. Gydan had his back to her, hovering over something sitting on the floor. He was ignoring, as usual.

“Gydan? Mrs. Rocus did say I could come in, so would you mind…” she began, trailing off.

Gydan had whipped around to face her in his human form. He growled menacingly at her. “Get out!” he snarled, pouncing on the woman. She flew to the ground, pinned to the floor by his surprisingly strong arms. He blocked her vision, as if hiding something. Penny struggled to glimpse what was behind him, half lifting her body under his weight. Craning her neck, she caught a glance of an open cage with that repulsive creature hanging out of the edge; the same creature from the town hall. Penny gasped, trying to wriggle out of Gydan’s grasp.

“Let me go!” she shrieked out in panic, “I’ll leave if you want me to! Just don’t let that monster near me!”

Penny could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she kicked and pounded Gydan with frustration, her breath coming in quick gasps as the deadly beast crawled swiftly towards her. But for some reason, the man, or whatever the heck he was, wouldn’t budge. Apparently he had changed his mind pretty quickly about her leaving.

“Valyra, back off,” he turned around, addressing the creature in the gentle but stern voice of a parent.
Penny took his brief distraction for granted and tried to rise to her feet but she was caught by the ankle, pulled back down towards him. Her knees thudded against the wood, sending pain springing through her limbs. “Will you stop running away from me?” he growled, “I only have so much patience with you! I could snap your neck right now if I wanted too!”

The strange man held his hand against the so-called “Valyra” creature’s forehead, holding her back from Penny as he restrained the redhead with his other hand.

“Sybil!” he howled, “I could use some help here!”

Within seconds, Mrs. Rocus came bursting through the room. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing everyday jeans with a casual, olive top.

For a moment, Penny was distracted by the normality of her outfit before she remembered the situation she was in. “Mrs. Rocus! Help!” she yelped, scratching Gydan’s hand with her nails. He cast her a fierce look, ignoring whatever pain he was in.

“You let her out of her cage?” she screeched, too infuriated to pay attention to Penny’s cry for help.

“Just freaking help me already!” he snapped, dark eyes blazing.

Mrs. Rocus glared at him but followed his request. She pulled the filthy woman-thing by the hair, tossing her back in her cage. Valyra glowered at Mrs. Rocus coldly, sharpening her claws against the metal, sending a squealing melody ringing painfully through Penny’s ears.

The powerful woman kicked the side of the cage, startling Valyra into stopping.

“Now let go of Penny, Gydan!” she ordered.

He shook his head stubbornly, “She’ll just run away again. Like she did last time when she was with that wretched man.”

“Do it!” she screamed, her voice empowered with her undeniable authority over him. He let go of Penny immediately, shrinking away. Penny watched with awe as her closed his eyes, crouching on the ground with all fours. She thought her gaze seemed to have faltered before an invisible veil appeared, covering where he was before. For a second she just stared at the blank space, dumbfounded, until he became visible again… Except he was the old Gydan now; the strange, animal-like, greasy, gold-brown Gydan that she remembered.

She knew she should have taken the opportunity to escape but she was too paralyzed with amazement to move. Penny couldn’t even find her own voice through her trance to ask what happened. All she could do was gape, watching him with mesmerization.

This version of Gydan was much different than the spoilt, sneering man before. He was shy and weak as he hid behind Valyra’s cage. Once he was in this new form, he appeared much more calm about the situation, but still undeniably angry. “Stop being so harsh on Valyra,” he told her timidly, his voice still perfect English but slightly distorted because of his animal muzzle, “You could have been gentler.”

“Need I remind you who the master here is?” Mrs. Rocus barked, shadows lining her face. “Keep her away from Penny at all costs. And never do that again!”

“She’s not bad anymore!” he insisted, stroking Valyra’s ear as she struggled to nip at him. “You just wait and see… She’ll be restored to her true beauty soon enough.”

Penny’s gaze flicked between the two, having no idea what they were talking about.

Rocus grunted. “She seems to be getting uglier, if anything.”

Gydan gasped, sticking his furry paws through the cage to cover her ears. “You hurt her feelings!” he cried out, cooing something unintelligible to the creature.

Mrs. Rocus rolled her eyes, outstretching a hand for Penny to help her up. Penny gratefully rose to her feet, brushing off the bottom of her dress as she made a point to back as far away from Gydan and his pet as possible.

Mrs. Rocus told Penny she could sit down, gesturing to the table in the kitchen. After offering her a cookie, she sat down with her, fingers against her temples. “There’s something I need to tell you… About Gydan.”

Thanks!

Eep, she's pregnant? What a jerk... get a girl pregnant and break up with her.

Yeah. What a meanie. But that's life! XP

I think I'm falling in love with your story. xD This is exactly the kind I'd love to check out from the library. Awesome job!!

Aw, thanks so much!! That means a lot to me.

The rest of Chapter Ten is on Post 10, after Mira and Miro...
This page - https://shadowsowner888.forumotion.net/original-works-f4/beyond-reflections-unfinished-part-1-of-chapter-10-is-up-t478-230.htm#52686

Aw, thanks!!