Dance in the Dark

Dance in the Dark

Flora_Winters

Disclaimer: I do not own James Cameron's Avatar. It all belongs to him. I'm not making any money off writing this story either.

Summary: Can a true love survive destiny? Grace has a nephew and he's sort of crazy. Don't worry. He has good reasons. Language, MM, OC, Violence

Chapter One

Wither on a sunny day
Time slows down
I wish you’d stay
Pass me by in crowded dark hallways

-Maroon 5 (Not Falling Apart)

Looking into the tranquil face of his dreaming avatar, Kerry realized Tom hadn’t been joking when he had called him beautiful. This sleeping creation highlighted his human looks, making them all the more alien. It was as if he were gazing into a blue mirror, seeing oneself physically perfected in every way.

“This is spooky,” he voiced, still staring into his own face.

The avatar’s smooth skin was an iridescent cyan and its stripes were a bit darker than that. They almost reminded him of cerulean ocean currents. The hair was long and dark, just as his had been, once upon a long ago time. Blacker than an oil spill in perpetual flame.

Norm chuckled, telling him that his aunt would like for him to take it for a test run tomorrow afternoon. She wanted him to get comfortable with it, and to see if it was physically working properly. Plus, it would give him something to look forward to as a treat when he did something pleasing for her.

He wanted to growl, but it would only prove she was training him not to be a naughty puppy. She was so wicked.

He put his gloved hand to the clear glass. Soon this new body would house his consciousness, allowing him to walk unhindered under Pandora’s sky. He would get to experience something Tom had studied and trained so very hard for. It only seemed right for him to do his very best and make his solider boy proud.

“I get to come out with you,” Norm said. “I can’t wait to try mine on too.”

There was so much excitement in his voice. He sounded just like a little kid who’d been let loose in a colorful candy store.

Norm was such a dork, but a nice dork. A considerate dork. Very caring and protective dork. Almost like a big brother would be.

“We should head back to the lab and work through a few of your aunt’s specimens,” Norm told him, turning from the large tank. “That way she’ll have less to do when she gets back.”

Kerry nodded his snowy head and silently followed him from the quiet room.

Neither of them saw the pair of bright eyes snap open with an almost electrical hiss from behind glass, glowing a venomous green in the pale blue shadows. There was no intelligence behind the gaze, only a hollow look of unbridled rage. Slowly, the poisonous orbs closed, and so had the sliding doors.

~*~

Kerry very carefully picked up a glass canister. It contained nectar from a Pseudocenia Rosea. The scientists called it a Chalice Plant. The Na’Vi call it “animal eater” and with really good reason.

A few soldiers had been unlucky enough to have been devoured by a few back in the early days of exploration. This type of flora was literally a maneater. It would trap its prey inside, forcing them down with downward pointing hairs that are razor sharp. They would then drown in the collective water and be absorbed by the plant’s digestive enzymes. Soft tissue didn’t stand a chance.

A sick rumor was told that digested humans only make the plant’s nectar all the more sweet. A few soldiers scare new recruits by telling them false stories about how the Na’Vi will feed captured humans to the plants in order to get the best type of nectar. But, there were a few soldiers he wouldn’t mind seeing getting tossed headfirst into the gaping maws of a Chalice Plant with their feet kicking.

The nectar is very nutritious and extremely dangerous to get at, but his aunt was the very best at her job. He couldn’t picture her failing at anything when out in the field. When she wanted something, no matter what the hell it may be, she never gave up until she had it cradled in her arms.

That is just the way she is.

“Would you like to give some of that a try?” Norm asked him, holding out a tiny metal spoon in his hand.

Having never had any before, Kerry readily nodded in curiosity. He handed the glass container over.

The nectar inside was slightly thick and clear, almost pale lavender in color.

Norm opened it up and the smell was divine. It was so sweet and wonderful.

“Only a little though,” Norm cautioned, just barely touching the spoon to the heavenly goo. “We can’t have you bouncing all over the compound.”

Kerry scoffed.

“Seriously,” Norm told him, handing the little spoon over to him before screwing the lid back on. “Next to this stuff, caffeine is nonexistent on the scale.”

Kerry wished he could whistle, but he couldn’t. so, he just settled on nodding.

He plopped the spoon in his mouth and the taste on his tongue was yummier than honey had ever been. In fact, he couldn’t even remember the taste of honey, seeing as how bees had been extinct for over fifty years now, but manufactured fake honey had nothing on this pure bliss.

“Wow.”

That was all he could say. He felt as if he’d just woken up from eight hours of nothing but REM. He had no other words in which to accurately describe how he’d just tasted paradise on his tongue.

“Tom took a whole tablespoon once,” Norm told him, logging the nectar into the system with a few click of the computer keys. “He was lucky not to have had a heart attack. Your aunt had to make him sit down and not move for over five hours. It had been the most annoying five hours of my life, believe me. He wouldn’t shut up. He actually asked me what I thought of manta rays.”

Kerry softly laughed.

Tom had never been one to really worry about or read warnings. In a small way, he really hated him for that. But, he kept his mouth shut and continued on with his assigned task. He could cry later in the privacy of his tiny room.

Picking up another canister for Norm to log, he suddenly hissed in slight discomfort. His marked hand had stung, but only for a short moment.

“Is something wrong?” Norm asked over his shoulder.

Kerry quickly answered, telling him he was fine. It wouldn’t do having them worry about him. He’d caused so much trouble already.

He handed the coded canister to Norm and then silently slid his glove off, looking his hand over. The slight tingling sensation felt as if it were actually spiraling along the purple marking on his pale flesh.

“Well this is weird,” Norm said, capturing his attention.

“What?” He asked, wiggling his fingers a bit.

Norm spun around in his chair, showing him.

“This little sprout of Binary Sunshine has completely blossomed.”

Kerry cocked his head to the side. “Huh?” He didn’t understand.

“Well,” Norm said, scratching his head in obvious puzzlement. “I don’t think it is supposed to do this, at least not while being in this specialized container.”

Kerry nodded.

He looked at his hand. The sudden tingly-stinging sensation was gone.

“I’ll just log this in like normal and make a special note for your aunt to read later,” Norm went on, turning back to the glowing computer screen.

Kerry listened to the keys being tapped and slid his glove back on his hand. It wouldn’t do for someone to walk in and see him. Of course, he could probably play it off as an eccentric tattoo he had gotten back in the day, but some had also seen him with no markings upon his flesh. So, that could raise some annoying questions. He could just say it was a Na’Vi tribal marking then if it were to ever come down to something like that. It would be the more believable tale.

Jarheads know very little of Na’Vi culture and the higher ups only care about how much money they shovel into their pockets. So, it would be the most believable lie.

“Go get some rest,” Norm told him, still typing. “I’ll finish up here and see you in the morning.”

Kerry wanted to object, but quickly thought better. He didn’t want to do or say anything that could jeopardize the fun he could have tomorrow afternoon.

So, with a pleasant smile, he left Norm with his talking computer.

~*~

Phosphorescent rainbow hues flashed and flickered all around him. The sound of gentle flowing water hypnotized his ears, drawing his naked feet closer and closer to the source.

Blazing blue petals fell amidst the flower strewn jungle path for him to follow. All of nature seemed to be singing from within the darkness between the many dancing lights.

Hidden creatures darted in and out the corner of his eyes, always just beyond a blink. Those forest drums began beating out the familiar rhythm of a lone heartbeat.

It was wild, untamable.

The heartbeat of nature as one.

Beautiful and terrifying.

The same pool came into his view. Glowing green waters and streaming pink strands of vibrant silk illuminated the lone figure in the steamy pool.

The figure was calling his name in soft thunder, echoing the heartbeat.

He stood before the pool and flora burst into bloom at his feet, twining up his long legs, flowering about his slender frame in poisonous beauty. Those silky pink strands of soft light whispered with ghosts across his bare skin, reminding him of all the kisses he missed.

The hidden figure patiently urged him to step into the pool by holding out its hand. It was shapely, pale as bleached bone, and all too familiar.

Drums only got louder and that single heartbeat pounded in his ears, within his very veins. It was in his blood now.

No

It was in his soul.

He took a single step into the cool water, reaching out to take hold of that waiting hand, but the figure suddenly seemed to be just another step away. Dark coils of long hair looked to be slithering and curling about the figure’s hidden face, reminding him of the way serpent’s danced.

A strong pair of muscular arms suddenly embraced him from behind, gently keeping him from taking that next step towards the enigma in the water. A warm kiss teased the back of his neck, soft and lighter than a falling star.

All was still, so terribly silent now.

It was as if everything were suddenly made of glass, awaiting a rock to be thrown, shattering the moment into a billion glittering fragments.

“You have a choice, Snow,” the sweet voice tickled his left ear.

Tom?

He couldn’t speak.

His voice had been silenced by an invisible force.

“Actions speak louder than words,” the slender figure in the pool spoke, voice airy, bubble soft. “You’ve been still and whispering for so long.”

He could only let himself be held within that haunting embrace. It was all he could really do.

“Remember my love,” Tom spoke. “Let that keep you…you.”

The figure in the water took a swift step forward, as if the water was not there, as if gliding like a monster through water.

Kerry held his breath. He was face to face with himself.

Monstrous and alluring.

The voice which spoke then was his very own. Deep, distorted, and pissed off. Those blue eyes looked mad and twisted with grief.

“Time to pass out them apples,” the beast beyond the looking glass giggled, grinning with the fangs of a Na’Vi.

A bone white fist was about to punch him in the breast, but Tom let him go.

He fell towards his terrifying reflection, falling upwards like a beam of light.

“Not yet.” Tom’s voice followed him. “You make the choice.”

~*~

Kerry woke up, gasping.

His hand was stinging terribly.

Gripping hold of it, he fought not to scream, but the mental one had been enough. The violent sound of glass cracking and being shattered assaulted him.

His spiral marking glowed with violet fire, and what he saw in that illuminated darkness made him scream.

To Be Continued…

Note: Please review and tell me what you think. I do apologize for taking so long in updating. I’m working full time as a receptionist and going back to school to get my degree in Biology. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter and let me know what you think about it. I await your words.

-Flora

Special Note: The information on the “Chalice Plant” I used for this chapter I got from James Cameron’s AVATAR: An Activist Survival Guide. Like I said before, it is a good read and gives me so many ideas to be used later on in this story.