Sylvie

Aside from the small detour for a new blouse and brassiere and the subsequent discussion on how Casey wouldn’t go into the department store with a hood up like a criminal, Sylvie managed to get the couple safely back to her house within a few hours of dawn.  Unlike earlier in the evening, Sylvie let her motorcycle coast beyond the front door and followed the remainder of her driveway then came to a stop inside a small detached garage hidden by the house.  Kicking down the metal stand, Sylvie shut down the heavily thudding engine and pulled the keys from the ignition.  

When Sylvie didn’t feel Casey move, she twisted and rapped lightly on the helmet her companion wore. “Hey, Dreamgirl.”  Sylvie smiled and hopped off the bike, “We’re…home.”

Unbuckling the tight fitting headgear, Casey pulled it free and her curly auburn hair fell down over her shoulders. “Dreamgirl?”  She raised one of her eyebrows and held onto Sylvie’s hand as she slowly climbed down. “Was I that lost in my head?”

“You didn’t say a word all the way back, and gripped my waist so tight that I thought I was going to bleed.”  Sylvie tried to be a little playful. “So I figured you were night-dreaming.”  She snapped her fingers playfully, “Dreamgirl just popped into my head as something funny to say.”

Stretching for a few seconds, Casey shook off the sleepy feeling in her legs and followed Sylvie out of the small garage and gazed around. “You live here?”  Casey questioned and turned to see Sylvie frozen in place, with the sliding door half closed.  “Oh boy, I know that blank stare.”  Casey softly spoke and picked a piece of mud from her hair while she waited.

Sparked just after she’d said night-dream, Sylvie saw a bright light with human-shaped shadows bouncing from tree to tree as though they were doing some macabre dance without music.  Within seconds of seeing about a dozen coupled shadows dancing, the small area became clouded in a blended darkness that left a small light ring. 

-Eclipse.  But what does it mean?

Quickly as the feeling came over Sylvie, the images left and she blinked free of the sudden vision. “Sorry, I can’t control when that happens.  Sudden ones are so unnerving.”  Sylvie finished pulling the door down into place and locked it. “Let’s get you inside and cleaned up.”  She laughed and plucked another bit of mud from the auburn beauty’s head. “There is plenty of time to talk once we get you taken care of.”  Sylvie winked and opened the side door to her house.

Casey walked past Sylvie and into the kitchen, “This looks so..”  She paused to absorb the normalcy of it all. “..I didn’t expect to feel at home, it’s comfortable.”  Casey looked over her shoulder as Sylvie walked in behind her and closed the door. “Vivienne’s places are always a little off.  Gives a creepy feeling.”  She laughed and walked to the other end and peeked down the hallway. “Faye is helping with that, but you know what I mean right?”

Nodding in agreement, Sylvie tossed her keys on the table and helped Casey out of the leather coat then hung it on the back of a chair. “Makes sense.  I don’t think she’d ever tried to fit in until you and Faye came along.”  Sylvie laughed, “Hard to fake something when you know nothing about it.”  She shrugged, “All she did was hunt, rest and hunt again.”  She opened the refrigerator, “The girls have a bunch of things to eat and drink in here if you are interested.  I could make you something while you shower.”  Sylvie spotted a folded piece of yellow legal paper on the table. “How cute, it’s addressed to us both.”  She held up the note with their names in lovely script.

“I can’t write like that.”  Casey laughed, “Strangely I was never taught cursive in school.”  She shrugged and turned to face Sylvie. “Well, what’s in it?”

Sylvie flipped the note open and scanned the contents briefly.  Noticing the intense look on Casey’s face, Sylvie crumpled the paper and folded her arms. “You look like a cat about ready to pounce on a ball of string.”  She laughed and held out the ball of paper. “Are you quick enough to get it?”  Sylvie chuckled and saw the unamused look in Casey’s brown eyes. “You’re no fun.”

“My night has sucked.”  Casey countered and raised her eyebrow, “Present company excluded.”

Sylvie tossed the little ball in the garbage, “It would appear we have the house to ourselves, so you can get settled in.  Veronica is with her new friend, Alan.”  She wiggled her eyebrows, “Remind me to tell you that vision later.”  She continued, “Amber and Jessica are staying with a couple of other friends.”

“I didn’t know that the bunnies lived with you.”  Casey leaned on the door frame. “I just assumed that they would have stayed at the manor.”

Shrugging, Sylvie walked over and leaned against her black ceramic sink. “We’ve been together for quite a few years.  While they did enjoy living the big life at the manor, without Vivienne there it felt a little strange.”  She paused for a breath, “To be honest, most of the leftovers have gone.  Some stayed on to work the grounds and live in the small set of homes at the edge of the property, but for the most part they all went their separate ways.”  Sylvie pointed behind Casey. “Veronica assured us that your room is ready and that there are towels, along with a change of clothes for us both.”

“Where?” Casey questioned and looked down the hallway.

Moving her fingers like a little stick man, Sylvie smiled. “Left and the first door.  That is the bathroom.  Take your time.”  She sighed, “They know I like to get a shower and get the smell of beer off me after a night at the bar.”  Sylvie saw the confused look on Casey’s face, then walked over. “Come on.”  She pushed her friend a few steps down the hall and then turned her left in front of the door to the bathroom. “I didn’t work much tonight, so I don’t need a shower.”  

Casey turned to face Sylvie, “Yeah, I’m a fucking disaster on feet.”  She took a deep breath, “The hot shower will be nice though.”

“We’ve sat in silence through both necessity and desire for the last few hours.  I’ll look at the stuff the guys did to you after you are cleaned up.  We can talk about whatever you want while I do it.”  Sylvie winked and closed the door to the bathroom. “Take your time.  I will be in my room, it's seriously one left turn and a few steps, and another left turn.”

“Where’s the room I’m using?”  Casey asked while stripping out of her clothes.

“It’s your room, you aren’t using it.”  Sylvie corrected, “It’s right across from mine.”  Seconds later Sylvie heard the shower start.

-Why can’t I have a vision of what to say to her?-

Walking into her room, Sylvie shook off the thought and saw that Veronica had laid out a small ivory-colored nightgown with a matching robe on her bed.  Rolling her eyes, Sylvie sighed and breezed back to the kitchen and grabbed the lens case from her coat pocket and pulled ‘Cody’ free from her eyes.  Thinking to keep the little computer system close, Sylvie hustled back to her room and put the case in her dresser for safekeeping.

Noting that it was a little past 3 am, Sylvie took off her watch and looked down at the short gown.  Shaking her head, she knew that the little silk garment would barely cover her body and that the added robe was just for decoration.  Unwilling to dig through her closet for something else to wear, Sylvie undressed to her panties and slid the gown over her small frame, adjusting the crossed spaghetti straps so that it covered her body and provided a measure of comfort while she meditated.  Surrounded by her pile of clothes, Sylvie started kicking the pile to the corner of the room when she heard a light laugh coming from the door.

Suddenly conscious that her attire barely hid her chest and showed off most of her thighs, Sylvie stopped messing with the ball of clothing and quickly donned the matching robe and tied the sash loosely around her waist. “Sorry, Veronica was being cute with my evening wear.”  She pointed to the pile, “My clothes were kinda in my way.”

Dressed in an oversized man’s plaid workshirt, Casey finished drying her curly hair and tossed the towel back in the bathroom. “She knows you pretty well, I think.”  Casey walked to the edge of the bed and pointed. “May I?”