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#Post#: 3551--------------------------------------------------
Madness & Memories
DIR By: Maggie Flannery
Date: March 14, 2019, 12:13 am
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A/N: I've always wondered if Vampires retained memories of their
human lives and have delved into it a bit in my own way. I don't
entirely buy the whole 'their pasts are hazy after they're
reborn' bit as it's said in some pieces of fiction. This might
serve as a partial introduction to Colleen's Sweet William. I'll
gladly introduce him later on.
Boredom was never ever good in what had become the Astwood
household. Boredom and an unsettling quiet during the month’s
first full moon were an even worse combination. Especially for
someone as ruled by the moon and as sensitive as Colleen was.
She was still young by Kindred standards ( if nearing her three
hundredth birthday was considered young ) and the Madness that
their kind went through after turning still affected her during
the fullest moon phase. Her demeanor and accent changed her past
memories coming back in waves and her heart was broken all over
again. Cage swore that every year it would get better and for a
bit it had until they had moved to the outskirts of Inverness.
The sprawling estate had been up to auction for a steal and
Cage, stupidly now that he thought about it, thought that this
place would be the perfect place for them to settle for a bit.
“Dearest? Where're you gotten off to?”
Cage had nodded off in the drawing room amidst his newspapers
when he had realized his beloved hadn't come in with his
preferred dinner from the cellar. Perhaps she had trouble
reaching one of the decanter racks again? Or she had fallen
asleep upstairs in the library. He noticed the clocks in the
vast sprawling house had stopped, even the cuckoo that had been
made with the maker’s promise of it never needing winding but he
had bought it nearly two hundred years ago perhaps it was
finally time to get the inner workings restored.
“Colleen?”
Ducking into the larder and the vast kitchen where normally the
one or two ghoulish servants were working away on something or
another to keep up appearances should an unsuspecting mortal
acquaintance pop in and he found no one. Not even warped
Chisholm who left even him unsettled give his sheer size but
Colleen saw him for what he was, a man with the mind of a child
and kept her instructions to him as simple as she could. All
remnants of hunger were overcome with the need to find her. His
steadfast companion.
‘Where in the worlds could she have gone?’
For a moment he thought that surely she had left him. But no, he
knew her better than that a woman such as his Colleen would
never leave. Even after her Turning she had somehow held onto a
bit of her original sweetness and a kindness. He heard movement
just outside the solarium they seldom used unless it was a
spectacularly stormy evening as she so loved the sound of the
rain and to watch the trees on the acreage bend and whip to the
will of the wind. The moon was bright and obscenely full hanging
in the sky low and glowing as if to beckon his female companion.
“Uilleam far a bheil thu?”
He had always thought his companion had come from the northern
part of Ireland but with each passing year he learned a new
piece of the puzzle that was Colleen’s past. A part of her that
she kept hidden away even to him. Stepping out into the cold
night air he watched her in her madness as the memories took
over. Her voice growing more and more frantic as she searched
the edge of the forest line that was part of their land.
“William! It’s no’ funny now! It’s almost time for the wee one
to be tucked into bed and there’s still work to be done with the
fleece.”
Her accent had taken a deeper lusher tone than what Cage’s ear
was used to. He noticed now that the hem of her thin dressing
gown had become sodden with mud and moss stains as she clambered
about trying to find the man named William. Colleen had known
someone that had worked as a sheep shearer. He stepped towards
her intending to steer her back towards the house.
“Perhaps I can help you find him?”
Her eyes, normally a sharp spring green had gone a deep mossy
jade and clouded over with memories from her mortal life went
large as she startled at Cage’s voice. She reminded him of a doe
ready take off into the woodland after it had been startled. She
slowly backed away into the shadows and shook slightly as he
came closer. He had been just close enough to nearly touch her
when she let out a scream that would have stopped his heart had
it still had a beat. Her face went ashen as she took off into
the brush screaming for the man named William arms outstretched
blindly before her.
“Colleen wait!”
Clambering behind her as fast as his feet would take him he
watched as the woman he had taken under his wing for nearly two
hundred years ran from him like he was the devil himself. She
stopped chest heaving with unnecessary exertion. Even her body
had forgotten that it had no longer needed to breathe. She stood
now in what looked to be an overgrown area. The remains of long
abandoned cabin sat in the quiet forest the only true signs of
what the place had been was the crumbling stone wall and lone
hearth that looked as if it was about to topple over any second
should either he or Colleen even dare to look at it the wrong
way. He watched as she bent down and touched the back of the
hearthstone. Upon closer inspection he noticed that it housed an
engraving of a clan badge. A a cat with the motto. Touch not
the catt bot a glove. A warning to those that dared harm the
clan of Chattan. Where had he heard that motto before?
“Which clan was William part of, Colleen?”
“Clann MhicPhàil.”
MacPhail. Startled with realization Cage felt a twinge within
his chest. How had he lived with her for the last three hundred
years and never once thought to ask her of her life before him?
She had been near death when he had found her lost in the woods
and soaked through to the bone from the rain her feet cut so
deeply he could almost see bone and her voice hoarse. How had he
never thought to ask her where her husband was? He had spent the
better part of the eighteen hundreds reading up on the battles
that had taken place on the soil they traveled but he never once
thought that Colleen had known someone that had fought in it.
“Where was William from?”
“Here. Inbhir Nis I begged him not to go but he did it anyway.”
“The night I found you where was he?”
Her head hung low for a moment as she reached out to touch the
hearth once more.
“Dead.”
“Why were you running that night?”
"I had papers...coordinates for the rebellion that needed to get
to Anne and Angus. Word traveled fast then and they had started
to build the pyre because the gibbet was too good for me they
said.”
He remembered her pounding at his door pleading with him for
sanctuary. He didn't dare tell her when she had awoken on the
other side that her babe had not lasted that first night. He had
tried to warm it and put life back into it but he just couldn't.
The little thing had suffocated as she had clutched it to her
chest as she had run through the wood like a fox chased by
hounds. She had clutched at his shirt and pleaded with him to
get the papers to the Mackintosh clan. He had kept his word to
her but the Jacobites had still lost.
Her eyes had cleared, hopefully the Madness had passed this go
around.
“I lost everything...didn't I? My William and my child? Why did
you save me, Cage?”
“Because you deserved to live.”
“That wasn't your choice, Cage. I can never ever see them
again.”
“Perhaps one day you’ll find them again. It’s my experience that
souls come around more than once, Colleen. You’ll know them when
you see them.”
“Oh I hope so.”
“Would you leave me if you found them?”
“No. I’d introduce you and you would become part of our clan.”
“I quite like that idea.”
“So do I. I think you and William would get on quite well.
You’re cut from the same roguish cloth.”
He smiled as he helped her up to her feet once more and took her
hand gently. She never compared him to William but knowing they
shared the same temperament warmed him for some reason. Perhaps
if they had known one another under different circumstances they
would have been fast friends and drinking companions.
“Tell me about him? What was he like?”
“Perhaps tomorrow. I smell rain coming.”
With a small smile he watched his steadfast companion took off
running back the way she came. Turning back towards the hearth
for a moment he studied it and smiled.
“I’ll continue to care for and love our girl until the very end
of time, William. You can stake my honor to it. Until next time,
friend.”
He ambled down the path as he watched Colleen’s long dark hair
whip behind her as she ran.
#Post#: 3553--------------------------------------------------
Re: Madness & Memories
DIR By: Wolfy
Date: March 21, 2019, 9:31 am
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HTML https://im.ezgif.com/tmp/ezgif-1-a21b0515c0c4.gif
I'm quite smitten with this piece, mostly because of how Cage
behaves throughout and how he is so understanding of her past
hurts and the current battle of emotions running through her,
enough to comfort her despite the basis of it all being on
someone she loved before. Cage is honestly one of my favourite
muses, out of all the muses you have had over time, he's
definitely within the top three and has been for a long while. I
enjoyed how he bonded with Joey as well, when I was active over
there and I love the way he cares for Colleen. He is without a
doubt one whom has loved her most, in all her relationships. For
him to care in such a way that he connects to what she's feeling
on such a level that he chooses to guide her through it, as
opposed to steering her clear away from it, is beautiful. I also
can't wait to read further drabbles involving William, because
now I'm intrigued and want to know a lot more about the life
that he led with Colleen, long before she knew Cage, even.
#Post#: 3556--------------------------------------------------
Re: Madness & Memories
DIR By: Maggie Flannery
Date: March 22, 2019, 12:14 pm
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Aha! You've no idea how much this means to me. :-D Cage, is
honestly one of the sweetest most steadfast pairings for
Colleen. ( I mean there are a few others but he's by far the
most understanding and there for her ) I loved the bond between
he and Joey and perhaps some day we can bring it back? I think
part of the reason he helps her through the way he does is
because he's been in her shoes and had to learn to navigate in a
world so different from the mortal one. Every so often I'll get
snippets from William. Despite his warm personality the man is
certainly not a talker. Still waters run deep and all that. ;)
He much prefers to let Colleen take over in that department but
when he does open up he's quite poetic about his views on life.
Thank you so so very much for the encouragement and I'm still so
happy that you enjoyed it!
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