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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Alicin Wonderland
By Lizz
Part 9
Reality Check
Her heart was racing and her joints had turned to water. She was pressed into the upright cushion, feet tucked under her, hands white-knuckling the armrests and eyes locked on the sleeping figure at the end of the chaise. Only a moment before, Alicin had awakened suddenly, aware of his presence and fearful of whom he could be and what might happen if she woke him. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room, familiar features began to emerge. Ever so slowly and with great caution, she moved forward onto all fours for a closer look.
Light from the hallway backlit the sleeper’s short, wavy hair, transforming it into a fiery crown of spun copper. It was thick yet soft against her fingers. Her nervous system was bathed in adrenaline and, as a result, the series of synthetic chemical barriers in Alicin’s brain began to dissolve. She moved closer and brushed her cheek against the sleeper’s hair. As she did, the memory of a hug surfaced in her consciousness. It wasn’t just a dream after all.
Sure, it was in her dream, but it really had happened! She remembered now. She remembered how his hair had tickled her face. She remembered how he had hugged her back, his thin arms holding her close. No one else had ever hugged back. Not in this place. They punished you or, worse, ignored you. But not him. Not her Timmy. Alicin’s hand flew to cover her mouth as the meaning of the breakthrough fell in on her.
=====
Raines’ shock treatments and brain-wave manipulation had failed to produce another Pretender of Jarod’s stature, but then Timmy began to show promise as a hyper-empath. The trade off was that he became marginally verbal, having lost all but the most basic of sentence structure and verb construction. Sometimes it was not clear whether he was speaking of the past, the present, or the future. That didn’t seem to matter to the Centre, given that the boy now had a saleable skill that they could market. Raines was in his glory. Timmy’s training with the other children, including Eddie and Alicin, had to end now that the empath had a more profitable use. Raines even gave the boy a new name: Angelo.
From the start, Alicin had refused to call her friend ‘Angelo’. Despite Raines’ insistence to the contrary, she believed that Timmy still existed, driven deep inside himself to seek safety and self-preservation. All that Timmy was, and knew, and felt, still lived on, safely hidden behind a mask that everyone else called ‘Angelo’. She was sure of it because of their exceptional friendship. Three years after that first field trip, she still called him Timmy and would always think of him that way.
They began to spend stolen moments together in their secret place, sometimes causing a diversion to afford them precious time. Alicin discovered that Timmy could understand everything that people said to him. The breakdown came when he tried to respond. Only with great concentration and focus could he utter a simple sentence. But one day, in a fit of frustration, he grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper and began to draw what he could not say! From that moment forward, Timmy expressed himself on page after page of purloined paper, some of it hijacked on its way to the shredder or the burn room. Their lives continued that way into their teenage years, though they had no way of knowing how long it had been, only that their friendship and affection for one another had grown stronger with time.
One day, Timmy didn’t come to the secret place at the appointed hour. Nor did he come the next day, or the next. Their contact had been strictly forbidden so that Alicin couldn’t even ask her trainer about him. For days she traveled the air ducts looking for him, waiting in the gathering spaces and his favorite private spots. He was gone, disappeared. She feared that the Centre had sent him away, yet held onto the hope that they had not.
A week later someone came for her. She was moved to The Front, the smaller building between the water and the larger, main structure that housed the Centre, the Tower and the Triumvirate’s US offices. After a series of medical, psychological and written tests, Alicin began her training there in advanced research protocols with a newly hired systems analyst. She neither saw nor heard from Timmy again.
Until now. In the pale light, her eyes sparkled with happy tears. Her heart was dancing. He smelled of caramel and vanilla and she feasted her senses on him. She wanted to scoop him into her arms and cover him with kisses. She wanted to twirl around the room with him and hug him and never let go. Instead, she slipped over the edge of the chaise and sat on the floor just a few feet away, looking at him, memorizing his features, smiling so hard that her face hurt. Alicin hugged herself as tightly as she wanted to hug him. She choked back the cries that rose in her throat as impatient tears dribbled down her cheeks. When the tears were spent, she laid her head next to his on the cushion; trying to will him awake.
Angelo sighed, stirred and awoke to the sight of Alicin’s sleepy green eyes watching him. He blinked a few times and reached over to touch her face. In return, she ran a hand through his hair and brought it to rest on his cheek. Angelo stood and pulled Alicin up with him. They continued to pass their eyes and hands over each other's features as if to make sure the other was real. He could feel her joy, and her intense desire to embrace him was a feeling he welcomed. He took her face in both hands and pressed his forehead against hers. He struggled to summon the words, but finally was able to say them: "I missed you, Alicin."
"Oh, Timmy, I've missed you, too! I've missed you so much!" She began to cry again and gathered him into a tight embrace, trembling with the thrill of discovering him alive and well and so close. Then she kissed him. Oh, how she kissed him! She kissed his face, his ears, his hair, his neck, his shoulders, his hands, the tips of his fingers...
Angelo interrupted Alicin's joyous display of affection by drawing her hands to his lips and placing a soft kiss in each palm. Then he kissed her loudly on the very tip of her nose and they both laughed. Without warning, he embraced her once more, this time lifting her slight body off the floor and waltzing her around the room in time to the music of their laughter. He kept her close as he ended their pas de deux, looking into her eyes for a very long time, searching for any sign of fear or hesitation about what he wanted to do next.
At the same moment, Alicin put a hand on his cheek and drew her thumb lightly across his lips, tilting her head a just little, an invitation to what she hoped he would do soon. Their lips brushed lightly, then touched tentatively and finally met with determination. It was an awkward, sweet kiss from the past; a tender first kiss shared long ago in a place only they had known. It was a kiss that had united their souls and had guarded that new treasure against a day when they might not be together--always possible in this place. But now it was a kiss of celebration, of life, of joy, of hope. Angelo suddenly pulled Alicin’s hand and she tumbled into the chair with him, landing with her legs thrown across his lap. When he drew her close once more, she necklaced him with her arms and met his lips with hers, each whispering the other's name between breathless kisses.
=====
Angelo stood and gathered a sleeping Alicin into his arms. He stepped to the side of the chaise and gently placed her on the soft cushions, lowering the backrest to make her more comfortable. When he slipped in behind her and pulled her close, she immediately turned in his arms to snuggle against his chest. He rested his chin on top of her head, hoping that his pounding heart would not wake her. He felt tired, but not ready for sleep. His eyes slowly started to fill with tears. He was overcome by her feelings for him. He was awed by the depth and power of them. Yet, as he lay in the dark, breathing in the scent of her, he realized that not all of the emotions inside of him came from Alicin. As he finally began to drift into sleep, he understood that some of those feelings had their origins in his own heart.
=====
End Part 9
Alicin Wonderland
TBC
Feedback shamelessly solicited!
By Lizz
Part 9
Reality Check
Her heart was racing and her joints had turned to water. She was pressed into the upright cushion, feet tucked under her, hands white-knuckling the armrests and eyes locked on the sleeping figure at the end of the chaise. Only a moment before, Alicin had awakened suddenly, aware of his presence and fearful of whom he could be and what might happen if she woke him. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room, familiar features began to emerge. Ever so slowly and with great caution, she moved forward onto all fours for a closer look.
Light from the hallway backlit the sleeper’s short, wavy hair, transforming it into a fiery crown of spun copper. It was thick yet soft against her fingers. Her nervous system was bathed in adrenaline and, as a result, the series of synthetic chemical barriers in Alicin’s brain began to dissolve. She moved closer and brushed her cheek against the sleeper’s hair. As she did, the memory of a hug surfaced in her consciousness. It wasn’t just a dream after all.
Sure, it was in her dream, but it really had happened! She remembered now. She remembered how his hair had tickled her face. She remembered how he had hugged her back, his thin arms holding her close. No one else had ever hugged back. Not in this place. They punished you or, worse, ignored you. But not him. Not her Timmy. Alicin’s hand flew to cover her mouth as the meaning of the breakthrough fell in on her.
=====
Raines’ shock treatments and brain-wave manipulation had failed to produce another Pretender of Jarod’s stature, but then Timmy began to show promise as a hyper-empath. The trade off was that he became marginally verbal, having lost all but the most basic of sentence structure and verb construction. Sometimes it was not clear whether he was speaking of the past, the present, or the future. That didn’t seem to matter to the Centre, given that the boy now had a saleable skill that they could market. Raines was in his glory. Timmy’s training with the other children, including Eddie and Alicin, had to end now that the empath had a more profitable use. Raines even gave the boy a new name: Angelo.
From the start, Alicin had refused to call her friend ‘Angelo’. Despite Raines’ insistence to the contrary, she believed that Timmy still existed, driven deep inside himself to seek safety and self-preservation. All that Timmy was, and knew, and felt, still lived on, safely hidden behind a mask that everyone else called ‘Angelo’. She was sure of it because of their exceptional friendship. Three years after that first field trip, she still called him Timmy and would always think of him that way.
They began to spend stolen moments together in their secret place, sometimes causing a diversion to afford them precious time. Alicin discovered that Timmy could understand everything that people said to him. The breakdown came when he tried to respond. Only with great concentration and focus could he utter a simple sentence. But one day, in a fit of frustration, he grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper and began to draw what he could not say! From that moment forward, Timmy expressed himself on page after page of purloined paper, some of it hijacked on its way to the shredder or the burn room. Their lives continued that way into their teenage years, though they had no way of knowing how long it had been, only that their friendship and affection for one another had grown stronger with time.
One day, Timmy didn’t come to the secret place at the appointed hour. Nor did he come the next day, or the next. Their contact had been strictly forbidden so that Alicin couldn’t even ask her trainer about him. For days she traveled the air ducts looking for him, waiting in the gathering spaces and his favorite private spots. He was gone, disappeared. She feared that the Centre had sent him away, yet held onto the hope that they had not.
A week later someone came for her. She was moved to The Front, the smaller building between the water and the larger, main structure that housed the Centre, the Tower and the Triumvirate’s US offices. After a series of medical, psychological and written tests, Alicin began her training there in advanced research protocols with a newly hired systems analyst. She neither saw nor heard from Timmy again.
Until now. In the pale light, her eyes sparkled with happy tears. Her heart was dancing. He smelled of caramel and vanilla and she feasted her senses on him. She wanted to scoop him into her arms and cover him with kisses. She wanted to twirl around the room with him and hug him and never let go. Instead, she slipped over the edge of the chaise and sat on the floor just a few feet away, looking at him, memorizing his features, smiling so hard that her face hurt. Alicin hugged herself as tightly as she wanted to hug him. She choked back the cries that rose in her throat as impatient tears dribbled down her cheeks. When the tears were spent, she laid her head next to his on the cushion; trying to will him awake.
Angelo sighed, stirred and awoke to the sight of Alicin’s sleepy green eyes watching him. He blinked a few times and reached over to touch her face. In return, she ran a hand through his hair and brought it to rest on his cheek. Angelo stood and pulled Alicin up with him. They continued to pass their eyes and hands over each other's features as if to make sure the other was real. He could feel her joy, and her intense desire to embrace him was a feeling he welcomed. He took her face in both hands and pressed his forehead against hers. He struggled to summon the words, but finally was able to say them: "I missed you, Alicin."
"Oh, Timmy, I've missed you, too! I've missed you so much!" She began to cry again and gathered him into a tight embrace, trembling with the thrill of discovering him alive and well and so close. Then she kissed him. Oh, how she kissed him! She kissed his face, his ears, his hair, his neck, his shoulders, his hands, the tips of his fingers...
Angelo interrupted Alicin's joyous display of affection by drawing her hands to his lips and placing a soft kiss in each palm. Then he kissed her loudly on the very tip of her nose and they both laughed. Without warning, he embraced her once more, this time lifting her slight body off the floor and waltzing her around the room in time to the music of their laughter. He kept her close as he ended their pas de deux, looking into her eyes for a very long time, searching for any sign of fear or hesitation about what he wanted to do next.
At the same moment, Alicin put a hand on his cheek and drew her thumb lightly across his lips, tilting her head a just little, an invitation to what she hoped he would do soon. Their lips brushed lightly, then touched tentatively and finally met with determination. It was an awkward, sweet kiss from the past; a tender first kiss shared long ago in a place only they had known. It was a kiss that had united their souls and had guarded that new treasure against a day when they might not be together--always possible in this place. But now it was a kiss of celebration, of life, of joy, of hope. Angelo suddenly pulled Alicin’s hand and she tumbled into the chair with him, landing with her legs thrown across his lap. When he drew her close once more, she necklaced him with her arms and met his lips with hers, each whispering the other's name between breathless kisses.
=====
Angelo stood and gathered a sleeping Alicin into his arms. He stepped to the side of the chaise and gently placed her on the soft cushions, lowering the backrest to make her more comfortable. When he slipped in behind her and pulled her close, she immediately turned in his arms to snuggle against his chest. He rested his chin on top of her head, hoping that his pounding heart would not wake her. He felt tired, but not ready for sleep. His eyes slowly started to fill with tears. He was overcome by her feelings for him. He was awed by the depth and power of them. Yet, as he lay in the dark, breathing in the scent of her, he realized that not all of the emotions inside of him came from Alicin. As he finally began to drift into sleep, he understood that some of those feelings had their origins in his own heart.
=====
End Part 9
Alicin Wonderland
TBC
Feedback shamelessly solicited!
