Hot breath washed over her without scent. Jessica stood there frozen. “Am I scaring you? Sorry about that, but I can’t get any smaller. A king has too much presence to be anything but larger than life.” A deep chuckle rumbled in Jessica’s chest.
“What are you?” She whispered. Barely expecting an answer.
“I am King. I belong to you now.” It said, Jessica looked around, surrounded in dark gray scales that shone in the light emanating from her.
“I don’t understand.” King merely chuckled, “That’s alright. It is unnecessary to understand at this point.”
Jessica shook her head, “Please, go away! I’m scared.” King seemed to think on that. “Ok, It seems that you are a bit young to appreciate this. I’ll let you sleep, but I can’t simply leave.”
“Why?” Jessica asked.
King looked down at her, its lizard-like eyes piercing her just as well as his claws could. “I know what you mean, and I can’t answer fully. As for me, I have tied myself to your soul. As long as you live I will be here.”
Jessica shook her head, unable to hear this. First her parents and then this. It was too much. “I won't tell you that everything is fine, child, but it will be, one day.” Jessica ignored King, refusing to look at him. “Can we talk for a bit? I would like to.”
Jessica didn’t say anything, so King continued. “Well, then perhaps I can talk about myself a bit? I’d like you to know me as well.” No answer.
“Let’s start with my name, King. It is both who and what I am. I am sovereign over the Dusk. That’s where I’m from. It is a vast place, filled with shadow. The people there are powerful, but none as powerful as I. I served my people, and kept order among them. Then, after many lives lived in service, I heard of this place. A place where we could see the impossible. Where I could meet you.”
“But I couldn’t just leave my people could I? So I set up a way for people to live without too much influence. Then I named my Regent and left.”
Jessica shook her head in confusion, “Why?”
King gave a fang filled grin, “To meet you of course. I happily gave it up to see you, and the impossibility of your world of light and color. I must say, your memories alone are incredible. I hope to see it myself one day.”
Jessica couldn’t take it, her memories? Those were hers not his! “Please, I want to wake up now, I want to go home.”
King’s smile dropped, “Of course, I didn’t mean to prattle on.”
A claw raised as if to wave her away, then King paused, “There is one thing I would like to ask.”
He waited for a reaction, but there was none. “Your light, I have never seen anything like it. It is so beautiful. May I touch it?” A clawed hand with 3 fingers and a backwards thumb reached out. Jessica shook her head wildly, refusing to speak. King sighed, seemingly disappointed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. You have no idea who I am, not really, but you will. We have all the time in the world, child.”
He waved his claw and the light disappeared, and Jessica slept.
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Jessica woke up, her dreams clouding her mind. It was terrifying. She needed to tell someone, right now. She grabbed secret bear, and told him everything, from her parents fighting to the dream of King. She kept going until there was a knock on her door. “Princess, it’s time for breakfast.”
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Jessica took a deep breath and put secret bear down. She didn’t feel hungry, and she didn’t want to talk to her parents about her dream. “It’s bacon today!” Jessica opened the door, “Really?”
Daddy smiled down at her, “I’m always serious when it comes to bacon.”
Jessica followed Daddy downstairs, Mommy wasn’t there. “Mommy had to leave early, we’ll be taking the bus to school.”
Grabbing her tray with bacon and eggs with apple juice and vitamins, Jessica ate quietly, hoping Daddy didn’t ask. He didn’t. Instead, he smiled, and watched his baby girl eat. As if trying to commit her to memory. Jessica stared back and was soon smiling wide. “You’re being silly daddy!”
Daddy shrugged. They sat there, smiling at each other, and for a little while, everything was alright. Then there was a knock on the door. Daddy sighed, and got up. “Finish quickly and get dressed. We leave in 5 minutes.”
Jessica did as her father asked, dumping the finished tray and running upstairs to get dressed. She put on a simple white dress that went down to her knees and shorts that stopped above to be hidden. She grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs. Daddy was on the couch, with a man and a woman she’s never seen before. They were dressed in gray suits, and the woman smiled at her.
“You must be Jessica, please sit.” The woman said, her voice was soft but there was this feeling that the please was fake, like when Daddy told her to brush her teeth. She would, whether please was said or not. She looked at Daddy, who nodded and patted the couch next to him. Jessica left her backpack on the stairs, and sat next to Daddy. His arm wrapped around Jessica and pulled her close. It helped a lot.
The woman smiled, “I’m Ms Gray, this is my partner, Mr. Rick. We’re here to ask a few questions, ok?” Jessica nodded. She knew, of course she knew. Ms Gray knew about the dream.
“I’m sure you can guess what I’m about to ask, but before that, I hear you have a birthday tomorrow. How old will you be??” Ms Gray leaned back, Mr Rick stood in the doorway behind her. Jessica raised 8 fingers, “Eight,”
“Are you excited?” Jessica nodded, the woman then asked, “You planning on doing something fun tomorrow?”
Daddy answered this one, “I’m taking Jessica and her friends to a surprise tomorrow.” He looked into Jessica’s eyes, “It’ll be lots of fun.”
“That sounds like fun,” Ms Gray agreed, then her eyes changed. Like when Ms Everly catches a student breaking a rule. “Jessica,”
Jessica couldn’t breathe.
“Can you tell me about your dream last night?”
The tears came immediately. She grabbed Daddy and cried. The two grown-ups shared a look and Mr Rick left. Ms Gray stayed quiet, and Jessica was ok with that. She didn’t want to talk about the dream. By the time Mr Rick came back with a thick case, Jessica had calmed down.
She told Ms Gray about King, what he looked like, what he said, everything.
“But he didn’t touch you, there wasn’t a connection?” Ms Gray seemed to focus on that detail. It was probably important.
Jessica nodded, “He wasn’t pushy. I don’t think he’s bad, just scary.” Ms Gray nodded knowingly. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Ms Gray nodded to Mr Rick and he opened the case, “Do you know what King is?”
Jessica shrugged. Ms Gray nodded, “Then let me be clear, King is what we call and Entity. Do you know about Entities yet Jessica.” Another shrug.
“I guessed not, Entities are really only taught in 5th grade and up. Basically, an Entity is a creature that exists in people’s minds. They can change how people act, and grant them powers. This can be very dangerous, so when an Entity appears, people like Myself and Mr. Rick are called.”
Jessica knew this. Daddy knew that Jessica knew this. It was in some of the stories Daddy read.
“Now, what we know is limited. What we do know is that if King touches your light then you will probably gain a superpower. Unfortunately, that means you would have to leave home. It would be too dangerous for you to stay here.”
Tears threatened to pour again, Daddy squeezed Jessica and quickly added, “But that didn’t happen. She’s safe.” Ms Gray nods.
“For now, but most of the time, as people get older, they can have a lapse in judgment. It’s possible that after a bad day, Jessica might want to use that power. As such, we need to scan her chip and register her.” Ms Gray held out her hand and a thick device was handed to her.
She held out her other hand to Jessica, “I’ll need to see your wrist for just a moment, it won’t hurt.”
Jessica looked at her Daddy, he smiled, “It’s OK princess.”
She held out her hand, the one she used to do things with. Ms Gray grabbed her arm and held it tightly. She pressed the device against Jessica’s wrist. It was cold. The screen lit up, showing a colored dot and a number. The dot went from green to yellow, then orange, then red, then it went darker and darker. Mr Rick stiffened, his eyes looked surprised. Ms Gray pursed her lips and looked at the number. It read zero.
Jessica’s arm tingled suddenly and Ms Gray let go. “All done.”
She handed the device back to Mr Rick, and pulled something purple out of her pocket. “Now then, I will need to have you wear this.”
It was a band of stretchy cloth. Daddy grabbed it with tight lips and helped put it on her arm. It went above her elbow, it was light. She barely felt it. Ms Gray began to tell Daddy the rules “She’ll need to keep that on at all times. Only take it off when she is bathing or changing. It must be worn on the outside of her clothing and cannot be hidden in any way. She will be set up with a therapist for an appointment twice a month.”
Daddy interrupted her, “Is this all really necessary? She’s 7,” Eight, Jessica thought.
“It is, I’m sorry but these are the rules. It’s lucky she did what she did last night or she would be taken away. I think you should count your blessings that your daughter is smart enough for that.” Ms Gray’s voice took on a tone that made Jessica cold down her back. She didn’t want to be taken away.
Daddy didn’t like it any more than Jessica did, and he told the two grown-ups to leave. He watched the car leaving. Finally he said, “Grab your bag, we’re taking the bus to school.”
The bus ride was fun. Daddy played Chopsticks with her, and she showed him her bird drawing. She kissed Daddy’s cheek and hugged him. He waved her off as she climbed the steps to school. At least she could talk to Maddie now. That always made her feel better.