Two Halves | Book One of The Judgement series

Chapter 14

Dove's Point of View

I nearly forgot how meticulous high school was. Get up at the same time every day, go to the same places only to do work that you've already learned the year before and go home to either work to earn money or work on what you didn't complete in class. I enjoy it though. Children are given the opportunity to learn about new things, even though some of that information could be biased.

Raven and I started school the Monday after we met the skele-twins and it's been about two and a half months since then. Unfortunately, we didn't have any of the same classes. It was kinda like the school wanted to keep us as separated as possible. I voiced this worry to Mr. Gerson, my history and home room teacher, and he told me that they were.

"But why would they purposefully separate us?" The old turtle discreetly pointed the corner of the room, where Nightmare was buried in a history book.

"It's because Nightmare, there, wants to fight his brother everytime he sees him. I'm not sure why but that's how it is. UnderHigh wants to keep it from happening again."

"But why would they think my sister and I would fight like Nightmare and Dream?"

"Maybe it's because you sets of twins were cut from the same cloth."

I didn't get a chance to ask about it further since the bell had rung, dismissing us from school. Just like he had every day since Raven and I started school, Nightmare walked a few feet behind me while we were going home. I don't know why but I think it's because he doesn't want to be seen with me. At school he and his friends, Cross and Error, have a, not so friendly, reputation. They'll fight anyone who gets in their way, which is usually Ink and Dream.

They were called nerds here and because of that they were bullied a lot. Ink has a passion for art and Dream loves studying the stars so they spend time in the library. Ink usually draws what Dream describes. Raven and I have joined in on these sessions but the only reason we get bullied is because we're human. Usually Raven takes the brunt of it, just like she did whenever I got into trouble back home.

"Dove? Dove!" My eyes instinctively closed as I felt something push me to the ground and heard the ear piercing shriek of a car horn. When I opened them again all I saw was Nightmare. The corruption that usually painted his bones in a viscous black goop was gone. I could see that his eye lights were a beautiful shade of light purple, instead of the harsh blue that I was used to. Everything about this version of Nightmare was tender, soft and sweet. He reached down and tenderly stroked my cheek. "You need to be more careful."

My heart pounded loudly against my chest and my cheeks felt warm. There was such an intensity in Nightmare's gaze. It was like he could see right through me. "U-Uh, do...do you think you could get off me?" Nightmare's eye sockets widened and he got off of me quickly. So quickly that he nearly fell right back onto his butt bone but I caught his hand just in time.

"I-I'm sorry for pushing you." Light purple magick flooded to his cheek bones. We stood there silently for a couple moments but unfortunately, all things must come to an end at some point. I heard Cross yell at Nightmare from down the street, which caused Nightmare to allow the corruption to take over him again. "Just...pay attention next time," and with that Nightmare left me to walk alone the rest of the way.

~~~~~~

That night, Nightmare was all I could think about. I guess I was unconsciously comparing the two versions I knew. They were the same person but not at the same time. The Nightmare here seemed like he had more control over his negativity. He just chose to be this way. The other Nightmare, the original Nightmare, wasn't like that. He had another thing that was driving him. What that thing was, I didn't know and I didn't want to know.

I heard the heavy basement door close downstairs. Raven's been teaching herself about the components of magick and experimenting with it so she's been spending a lot of time down there. I don't know exactly what she does but whatever it is, Raven's been more protective over me. It can get really annoying but I know she means well. There are times, like right now, where I just want to get away from this world so I'm doing what I normally do. I checked to make sure Raven wasn't in the hall before locking my door and opening my window. Gripping the window frame and twisting my body, I lifted myself onto the roof of my house.

The night air was cool but I didn't care. This was my thinking place. Right here, under the stars. Yelling ripped through the silence of the night once again. Nightmare and Dream fought like clockwork. Same time every day. It was actually kind of impressive. Staring up at the stars, I sighed. I was stuck in an emotional turmoil that I didn't know how to fix. I felt the wind lift my blonde locks into the air. Other than the fighting, tonight was perfect. The moon was full, the sky was littered with glittering stars, it was relatively quiet. I closed my eyes and let the peace wash over me. It was like nothing could make this moment better. But then again, there were always a few things that could.

I heard a soft grunt and careful footsteps come towards me. "Out here again, I see." Nightmare sat next to me and even though my heart was going crazy, I managed to keep my composer.

"I could say the same to you, Moon. What was the yelling about this time?" The viscous skeleton grimaced. "Let me guess, you just wanted to yell at him again?" The look of guilt Nightmare held told me everything I needed to know.

"I know I mean to do it, to make Dream feel bad, but that doesn't mean I don't regret what I've done." I gently laid my hand over his. The bones were warmer than I thought they would be.

"You're not the monster everyone thinks you are." He looked me in the eye. I could see his doubt as clearly as I could see the moon in the sky.

"Do you really believe that?" His voice came out as a whisper, so soft the wind could have caught it. Hesitantly I raised my hand up and let my fingertips graze his cheek bone, just like he did to me earlier today.

"I know it." My words caught him off guard, that much was obvious but what wasn't so obvious was the emotion that his eye lights held. It was something that I'd only seen when passing couples on the street and it was certainly never directed at me. This new emotion scared me but it lit a fire inside of me that I never knew I had. I identified the feeling as Nightmare and I lessened the distance between us.

It was love.