I haven't stopped looking

Allyn was excited, but who wouldn’t be? She was starting at the academy soon, and could barely contain herself in all of this. Normally she was rather introverted and quiet, but these days she felt more spunky, like she could jump around at any moment. The only thing that had changed was that strange void. The void she saw in her dreams or when she was using her abilities with focus. She hadn’t seen him in so long. Sitting on the floor of her room she had closed her eyes, searching that dark void, making a fine droplet of blood run from her nose. Maybe using her abilities like this wasn’t too good, at least not so often. She had gotten better at controlling them already, but maybe it was because it came so natural to her. Her and her sister would sometimes play a game where Nathalie would think of something and Allyn would have to filter all other inputs away from her thought. She exhaled, rubbing her temple as she was searching until she felt something. It felt almost like hitting an invisible wall, and she pushed at it. ”Shadow?” she called at the invisible wall, not knowing if he had put it up to hide.

Outfit
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Allyn knew that these adventures into the void could get her in trouble, but so far it was only her sister that knew about this part of her ability. It was strange, the feeling of nothingness around her, but in a way it was something she had always known. She heard his voice, like a misty whisper that could disappear at any moment. It sounded like him, but was it him? Then she saw a glimpse of him, his surroundings and felt her heart beat faster. ”I … It’s been so long,” she said, not knowing what she actually wanted in this. Maybe she just missed not feeling alone in her nightmares? Shadow was a strange person to her, a person nobody knew existed except for her. Her parents had written him off as a figment of her imagination, but she knew better than that. He wasn’t fictive, he was real, she just knew it. She hadn’t really had much contact with him for about a year. She feared that things had changed and that she wouldn’t see him again. In a sense he had seen her grow up, but maybe that was just her trying to rationalise everything. ”Are you alright?” she asked, hoping he would hear her. She already knew her nose was bleeding, but it wouldn’t really show unless you were in the room with her.

He told her to go and she was pulled back to her own body, breathing fast and opening her eyes fast. She got to her feet, shaking a bit as she wiped the blood away from her nose. Academy. He’s at the academy. He’s not a dream in a nightmare. He’s real. She knew her parents were sleeping, so she tried her best to silently sneak out of the house. Nathalie had already gone back to the academy, probably hanging out with all her friends. She was a little jealous of her sister, being so easy to connect with others. Allyn was always seen as a kinda weird girl, but her family had always assured her of who she was. She grabbed her phone, shoes and her wallet. It felt like she was running away, but she knew she was coming back. She just had to know. She closed the door behind her, making sure to lock it as well. She turned in the direction of the academy, nodding to herself as she started running. Her heart was already beating out of control. Was this it? Was this real and not one of her nightmares trying to trick her into a fake sense of security? Reaching the gate, she bit her lip. Security was high at the moment, but she didn’t blame them. She had seen what attack there had been at Umbrella, so maybe it was good in this moment. Sneaking around the side she looked side to side, checking for people before she looked at the fence. It started to shake slightly before going loose, a whole segment lifting up at her will and she moved under before placing it back. Allyn knew she shouldn’t be using her powers so much, but the chance to see Shadow gave her adrenaline in her veins. She got to one of the corridors before she closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds and smells. Then she saw him, he was a bit away, at the other end of the academy, but she moved in that direction. Nathalie had told her a bit about the academy already, but it was way bigger than she had imagined. She ran, sliding on he clear flooring and stopping as she saw him. She could recognize him anywhere. Moving her sleeve up to make her bloody nose seem less severe she just stood there. ”Hi,” she said, not knowing if she was going to get pulled away from this at any moment.

He seemed cold, but he had always been like that in a way. Maybe that was why she had opted to call him Shadow, cold and and always moving away from the light. She exhaled as she watched him step closer. Was it wrong that she sought him out like this? She just needed to know. Just needed to see. His question made a soft scoff escape her lips as she smiled faintly. That question she could return easily, but she remained silent. She saw how his posture changed, looking like a wild animal ready to jump it’s prey. ”Woaw … Woaw … Easy now,” she said, holding up her shaking hands as she had forgotten her jacket. Stupid, yes, but it was summer – she rarely wore a jacket anyways. ”I’m not taking you anywhere – I just wanted to see you,” she said, her voice shaky as she had always hated seeing him in situations like this. When he was in her nightmares and he had been friendly, they hadn’t been so bad, but when the nightmares had been there and he chose to scare her away, that was hard on her. She couldn’t really understand however. Take him back? To where? Her nightmares? ”I honestly don’t know where back is anyways, soooo,” she said, moving her hand up to scratch her neck. She was still a little scared, but maybe it was because she still thought she was dreaming. Although her mind couldn’t fathom a place like the academy in her dreams, and when she usually saw him all around them was a void. She seperated her lips, wanting to say something, anything really, to calm him down, but she closed her mouth and swallowed. Waiting his response.

”Why? That’s a stupid question,” she scoffed, shaking her head at herself. She didn’t want to make him more angry, not hen it would have been for nothing. She could defend herself, but having already used her abilities a lot today, she wondered how much more her body could take. The world of shadows. Was that what she was calling the void? She found it so confusing, but just looked at him, slowly lowering her hands as he seemed to calm down. She looked at the jacket he handed her, taking it and putting it on. His scent was all over it, making her a bit confused as it smelled just like in her nightmares. How was that posible? ”Thank you,” she mumbled. The jacket was way too big for her, but it would keep her warm nonetheless. Allyn wasn’t used to silence, not in a household like hers. Two dogs, her parents and not to mention her sister, but she didn’t mind it. His confession made her smile a bit as she saw what she called a safe mark. When he smiled like that she could be calmer around him. ”I knew you were real,” she said, wanting to jump around in joy, because she had just known it. She shook her head and looked at him. He didn’t look too good though. Of course she could use her abilities to sneak in on his thoughts, but she didn’t like doing that. At least not when she could choose not to. ”You look like shit, though” she said with a smile on her lips.

Allyn couldn’t help but chuckle a little at his words, shaking her head a little at him. She stood for a while, looking at him like she hadn’t really looked at him before. She knew how he looked of course, but it just felt so different in the real world. Part of her had always known he was real, even when other people didn’t believe her. Maybe she was as stubborn as her sister, but she didn’t see it like that. Allyn was hopeful about things, even if she didn’t always come across as a positive person. Mostly she liked to just stay hidden, not get noticed and watch people interact, but it was something else with Shadow. He was someone that had been a constant in her head. At first she had thought perhaps it was one of her biological parents trying to contact her, but everything made sense in the mind of a child. His question made her shrug. ”I bet I could beat you in a game of hide and seek with the guards running around,” she said with a smile. Sure, she was a petite size, but being unnoticed was one of her abilities. It was like when she used that part of her ability, people couldn’t even look at her without straining their full body. She took a step closer, standing within reach of him now. Part of her wanted to reach out, touch him and just make sure it was real, but as she was thinking that her arm had already started moving. She stopped herself, her arm just hanging in the air before she moved forward and touched his chest. ”Tag – You’re it,” she said and she was off, running.

Allyn felt a rush in her system. She was a kid again, playing and it was so nice. To many she still was a kid, but that only made it that much more fun to play around like this. She was at the age where half of her friends either tried acting grown up or was in a sense, and the other half still was up for slumberparties and not the teenage kind. It was strange, but it was also exciting. She felt his arms around her, letting out a squeal followed by a laughter as he spun her around. He put her down, she stumbled a bit, being a bit dizzy, but looked at him with a small snort leaving her mouth. Covering her mouth quickly she couldn’t help but belt out a laughter. She stopped to look at him, feeling like she hadn’t seen him like this before. She popped her head out like a chicken, trying to signal it was his turn to run.