The Fillmore Ch 5

Hey there! First of all, thank you for taking the time to read my work. This is my first attempt at a novel, and it is proving to be a challenge! I welcome encourage any and all feedback. Tell me what you think, good, bad, or otherwise. I try to always return the favor with a review or gp's, so don't hold back! Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy...
NM

         Later on, at her daily meeting with Claire, Zoey was once again feeling troubled. As usual, Claire sensed her inner turmoil and paused in what she was saying. She was silent long enough that she knew Zoey was deep in thought. She simply waited until Zoey had her thoughts in order.
         “Claire, what’s wrong with Alyssa?” she blurted out suddenly. Claire seemed puzzled for a moment, before Zoey saw realization dawn in her eyes.
         “Alyssa…“ she began after a second. “It is frowned upon in my practice to tell you certain things, but I will allow you the events that took place, causing her social stigma. Before I do that though, we need to talk about abilities and affinities.”
         “Oh yeah, you told me about those, you said you could see…auras, or something?”
         “Yes, auras. That is an ability. Affinities are what our abilities are connected by. For example, I have the Mind affinity, my abilities are those of the mind. We believe each affinity has five abilities, though we do not know all of them. The first ability usually manifests itself fairly early, and the others come with age, on average every two hundred years. It’s rare for a shifter to have all five, most develop no more than three of them.”
         “Does everyone develop an affinity?”
         “It is actually hard to say. A shifter who doesn’t develop one seems to make up for it in that they are faster, stronger, and heal faster than other shifter. But, some believe that there is an affinity we did not know of before, the Body affinity. They think that it’s abilities are those of speed, strength, reflex, and healing. There are also shifters who develop the healing ability, but never any other. It was once believed that that ability was of the Mind affinity, but it is now coming to be accepted as one of the Body abilities.”
         “What other affinities are there?”
         “I am sure there exists affinities we have not discovered, but those we know of are; Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Mind, and Body.”
         “So…it has something to do with Alyssa’s affinity, right?”
         “Yes, and no. But good observation Zoey. Which affinity do you think she has?”
         “Well, the Mind affinity, based on what she said to me earlier.”          
         “Yes, that is correct. The most mysterious affinity. The Mind manipulation ability is usually one that develops when a shifter is much older, but Alyssa was graced with it as a first ability. When a shifter’s first ability manifests, it is sometimes extremely difficult to control. It’s a totally foreign concept to the brain, and mastery is not always easy to obtain.
         “When Alyssa manifested, I believe she was being harassed by a couple of other girls. She was already slightly unpopular back then, given her shy nature and tendency toward dark clothes. She must have been feeling either very angry, or terribly frightened, because her ability lashed out, bending the mind of the girl closest to her. I had been alerted, and just arrived to see the other girl cry out in pain, her eyes rolled up in her head, and she fell to the ground, unconscious. She was physically unharmed, but Alyssa had accidentally scrambled the girl’s mind. She didn’t even remember her own name for a short while. The girl has recovered since then, but unfortunately the other residents seem to be afraid of Alyssa. And, I fear, some of the other girls are not helping much.”
         “Wow…that’s awful. No wonder she snapped at me like she did” Zoey chided herself. “You should feel like a jerk for taking her bait.”
         “I assure you, Alyssa is a gentle person, and you have no reason to fear her. Most people fear shifters with the Mind affinity, as the mind is the only truly private place for a person. They don’t like the idea of someone having access to it, let alone the ability to manipulate it.”
         “That makes sense, but I think I have enough memories in my mind, that I’d fear for her if she ever ventured into it.” Zoey smiled, showing that she was making a joke. Claire smiled back, glad that Zoey seemed willing to give the girl a chance. The conversation turned back to other, lighter things.
*****
         Later that night, Zoey’s dream continued. She’d not touched the doll all day, fearing her father would find out she had it. By the time dinner was over, she was so tempted by it, she took it out from its hiding place. Holding it in her hand, she turned it back in forth in the light, fingering the long, soft hair.
         Suddenly, her bedroom door swung open. She did not have enough time to conceal the doll before her father saw it. She held it in her lap, clutching the thing like a lifeline.
         “Where the hell did you get that?” he bellowed. Zoey winced, pulling her arms up in front of her and trying to sputter out a response.
         “Th-the neighbor lady…she, um, gave it to me?” she squeaked out in a rush.
         “The neighbor lady? So you went outside today.” Her eyes widened in fear, but she made no other movement. He stepped forward, snatching the toy from her grasp. She cried out as he held it up, looking at it. He seemed to grow angrier, if it were possible, and he ripped the head off the doll.
         Zoey watched, wide eyed as the dismembered head rolled across the floor and struck her shoe with a quiet “thump”. She immediately pressed her face into the carpet, covering her head with her arms, but not before the first kick fell on her ribs. She whimpered quietly as he kicked her a few more times, knowing screaming would just bring his anger down on her harder. Then she heard his belt clear it’s loops, and she screamed as it contacted her back.

         Zoey jerked awake at the sound of a soft knock on her door. Looking at her clock, she realized it was early, only two in the morning. She sat, frozen in terror, unsure of what to do. She knew her door was locked, and thus she was safe where she was. Why would someone come to her room at this time? Maybe it was Claire… at that thought, she got up and hurried to the door.
         “Wh-” she cleared her throat and called out, “who’s there?”
         “Uh… it’s Alyssa. Can I, uh, talk to you?” she heard from the hallway. Alyssa? At her door at 2 A.M.?! She sighed and shook her head, not sure if she could deal with this girl so late at night, but she opened the door anyway. On the other side, she found an amusing image of Alyssa, much different from the ones she’d seen so far. Her black hair was rumpled from sleeping on it, and she was clad in an extra long, light pink night shirt, with clouds and sheep on it. Zoey repressed a giggle and tried to look serious.
         “What’s up?” she said evenly.
         “Uh, well…” she sighed in frustration, “I was uh…talking a walk, and I heard you sort of…moaning? I just wanted to make sure you were ok?” Zoey flushed bright red before promptly turning a sickly shade of pale. She knew she often made noise when she was having nightmares, but to have someone else hear it? It was highly embarrassing. It mollified her slightly that the other girl looked just as uncomfortable, if not more so.
         “UH…” she blurted out dimly, “I was just having a nightmare…”
         “Oh man, it must’ve been a bad one. Do you want some company?” When she saw Zoey hesitate, she rushed on. “Look, I’m sorry about today, I thought you were only talking to me because Audrey told you to. I shouldn’t have assumed, and I should have given you a chance.” Zoey let the door fall open and stepped back, letting Alyssa inside. She shut the door and turned back to her.
         “Does Audrey really do that?” She asked.
         “Uh…well not that I can prove, but it sure seems some of them do. I dunno why else people would be nice to me out of the blue. They always end up being hateful, two faced people.” She seemed deeply sad as she talked about it, and Zoey’s heart broke for her.
         “I’ll be okay Alyssa, I couldn’t ask you to stay up for me.” Zoey protested.
         “Actually, I’m an insomniac, I wont be sleeping any time soon.”
         “Oh...well, okay then, that would be fine, I‘m afraid I wont be sleeping either.” Alyssa dragged the armchair over to the side of Zoey’s bed and flopped down in it.
         “Why don’t you lay back down, and we’ll watch a movie? You might be lucky enough to catch some more sleep tonight. I’ll stay here if you want, it’s almost the same thing I’d be doing in my own room, only I wont be alone.” Zoey thought about that sad, sad statement for a minute. Claire told her there was no reason to fear Alyssa, and she didn’t seem to have any ill will toward her. Plus, she did feel safer with the other girl close by.
         “I think that sounds great. Do you want me to put some blankets on the floor for you?” she asked, awkwardly trying to express her desire not to share the bed. She didn’t think she could ever be that comfortable with someone.
         “Nah, that’s fine. When I do crash, I sleep like the dead, and I’ll be great right here. But I will take a blanket if you have a spare.” She smiled, trying to relax and enjoy the company.
         Zoey gave her a blanket from the closet and snuggled down under her own. Digging the remote out from the foot of the bed, she turned the TV on and they were soon watching the beginning of a corny chick flick. The two girls laughed and chatted together for close to an hour, both of them relaxing quickly, and pleased to find themselves making friendly conversation.
         Zoey soon quieted and began breathing rhythmically, and Alyssa studied her for a moment. She seemed so peaceful now, compared to the frightened, timid girl that had stood awkwardly in the doorway not long ago. She smiled to herself and leaned back in the chair, relishing a feeling she’d not had in a long time; friendship. Alyssa soon joined Zoey in sleep, soothed by the sound of her even breathing.  Both girls slept soundly for the first time in a long while.

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Author's Note:

I would like to ask for some more specific feed back here, about the flow of time. I feel like I've been saying "the next day" and "an hour later" an awful lot, and while I don't think it's a bad way to let the reader know the time of the scene, it feels like too obvious of a statement to use all the time. If you have any suggestions, please do let me know! Thank you!