Out from the Shadow-Lands [1/6], Susan Pevensie, PG-13
Title: Out from the Shadow-Lands
Author: Cirolane
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Some gore in chapter 5. Spoilers for all seven books.
Prompt: 108)If I waited to be right before I spoke, I would be sending little cryptic messages on the Ouija board, complaints from the other side. -- Audre Lorde
Summary: “The morning was grey. When she looked out the window, it looked as if someone had forgotten to put the colour on this day.” After the death of her family, Susan tries to cope.
AN:This will be my first ever chaptered fic. There are 5 chapters plus an epilogue. Thanks a bunch to Elecktrum for the wonderful beta, without her this story wouldn’t be this good. I did not use the prompt.
Chapter 1:
The morning was grey. When she looked out the window, it looked as if someone had forgotten to put the colour on this day. It was still early though, and she hoped the sun would come out. Considering what kind of day this was going to be for her, it was a little strange that she wanted sunshine. But she knew that Lucy would’ve wanted the day to shine. And since this would be the morning she was going to bury her sister and the rest of her family, she wanted sun, for Lucy.
Susan looked at herself in the mirror, at the pale- faced girl reflected there. Her eyes were dull and red-rimmed. Susan then looked around the room. It was where she and Lucy had grown up. Well, the second time anyway.
Their childhood room.
She looked at her own bed. The sheets were rumbled and unmade. She had spent the whole night alone in her bed crying. The tears hadn’t come before that. She had gone days without shedding tears.
Susan was home alone. Her siblings were out doing something she didn’t approve of, and her parents were coming home from Brighton, where they had been visiting old friends, the next morning. So, she had spent the weekend all alone. Last night she had spent out dancing with her girlfriends. It had been all kinds of fun and she had not arrived home before the sunrise. She had spent the entire morning and afternoon sleeping and she did not wake up before the sun went down.
Susan spent the evening restless; she couldn’t sit down or get anything accomplished. It was as if she was waiting for something, but she didn’t know what. Her family wouldn’t come home before tomorrow and she didn’t have any plans. Maybe that was it? That she was just bored. She was on the verge of calling up Mary and asking her if she wanted to do something, when the door bell rang.
Puzzled, she went to open it, on the other side of the door stood a young constable. His face was solemn and he looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but there.
“Hello,” Susan said politely.
The constable bowed his head and asked “Are you Miss Susan Pevensie?”
“Yes, I am,” Susan answered. He looked at her with pity and she suddenly dreaded what he had to say.
“There has been an accident, Miss,” he said slowly.
Susan went rigid and started to shake her head. ‘No, no, no’ screamed the voice in her head, but she managed to say somewhat politely, “What kind of accident, sir?”
“A railway accident,” the policeman said.
“Which train?” she managed to choke out. In her heart she already knew, someone in her family was dead.
“The one from Brighton, Miss,” was the answer.
“My parents are dead, aren’t they?” Susan asked as calmly as she could. The policeman squirmed and nodded his head. When he didn’t make a move to leave, she asked: “What else?” in a sharp tone.
“I’m- I’m so sorry Miss Pevensie, it seems like your siblings were on that train, too,” he stammered out and wouldn’t look her in the eye.
At that she felt her limbs go cold, and then she fainted.
When she woke up her aunt was there with her; Anne, her father’s sister. The next days were a blur to her. She remembered that she had insisted on the best of everything for the funeral. After all, her siblings where royals, a queen and kings, only the best would do.
Then the night before the funeral arrived. Her aunt had sent her to bed early. And then, only then, when she was alone in her childhood room, the room that contained two beds, but where now only one of them was ever to be used again, did she cry. The tears that hadn’t wanted to come before were all coming now and she spent hours crying, until she didn’t have any tears left. Exhausted, she finally fell asleep.
Her eyes strayed over to the part of the room that she had tried not to look at too much. Lucy’s half of the room. Her bed, which she had made herself before she went, was just as pristine as she had left it. Susan hadn’t touched it. She liked to think that the last person to touch it had been her little sister.
Beside the bed stood a night stand, and on the stand lay a stack of books. After they had returned from Narnia, Lucy had started to read a lot. She had started with the fairy tales and worked her way up to longer, more complicated stories. Susan looked around the room to look for more books, but there weren’t any. The only ones in the room were the ones on Lucy’s night stand. I wonder why that is? Susan thought. It hurt a little that she honestly didn’t know why there weren’t more books in the room.
Curious, she walked over to the stand to see what her sister had been reading before …the accident. The book atop of the stack turned out to be the Bible. That surprised Susan. Lucy hadn’t been much of a Christian, as much as Susan could remember. Lucy was a Narnian and she believed in Aslan.
A soft knock pierced through Susan’s thoughts.
“Are you awake, dear?” Aunt Anne asked, her voice muffled by the door.
“Yes, I am,” she answered. She walked over and opened the door. Her aunt looked back at her.
“How are you feeling?” the older woman asked with sympathy radiating from her eyes. Susan couldn’t stand it and had to look away.
“I’m okay, I guess,” Susan mumbled back. Had it been any other day, her aunt would have scolded her for not speaking properly, but not today. Anne sighed.
“Get dressed now, and we’ll have a nice breakfast before we leave for the church.”
At the mention of the church, Susan involuntarily flinched. Today was the day. After today it would be final. Her family was dead.
She nodded before closing the door. She walked over to the closet and took out the black outfit she knew was hanging there waiting for her.
( Chapter 2:)
Author: Cirolane
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Some gore in chapter 5. Spoilers for all seven books.
Prompt: 108)If I waited to be right before I spoke, I would be sending little cryptic messages on the Ouija board, complaints from the other side. -- Audre Lorde
Summary: “The morning was grey. When she looked out the window, it looked as if someone had forgotten to put the colour on this day.” After the death of her family, Susan tries to cope.
AN:This will be my first ever chaptered fic. There are 5 chapters plus an epilogue. Thanks a bunch to Elecktrum for the wonderful beta, without her this story wouldn’t be this good. I did not use the prompt.
Chapter 1:
The morning was grey. When she looked out the window, it looked as if someone had forgotten to put the colour on this day. It was still early though, and she hoped the sun would come out. Considering what kind of day this was going to be for her, it was a little strange that she wanted sunshine. But she knew that Lucy would’ve wanted the day to shine. And since this would be the morning she was going to bury her sister and the rest of her family, she wanted sun, for Lucy.
Susan looked at herself in the mirror, at the pale- faced girl reflected there. Her eyes were dull and red-rimmed. Susan then looked around the room. It was where she and Lucy had grown up. Well, the second time anyway.
Their childhood room.
She looked at her own bed. The sheets were rumbled and unmade. She had spent the whole night alone in her bed crying. The tears hadn’t come before that. She had gone days without shedding tears.
Susan was home alone. Her siblings were out doing something she didn’t approve of, and her parents were coming home from Brighton, where they had been visiting old friends, the next morning. So, she had spent the weekend all alone. Last night she had spent out dancing with her girlfriends. It had been all kinds of fun and she had not arrived home before the sunrise. She had spent the entire morning and afternoon sleeping and she did not wake up before the sun went down.
Susan spent the evening restless; she couldn’t sit down or get anything accomplished. It was as if she was waiting for something, but she didn’t know what. Her family wouldn’t come home before tomorrow and she didn’t have any plans. Maybe that was it? That she was just bored. She was on the verge of calling up Mary and asking her if she wanted to do something, when the door bell rang.
Puzzled, she went to open it, on the other side of the door stood a young constable. His face was solemn and he looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but there.
“Hello,” Susan said politely.
The constable bowed his head and asked “Are you Miss Susan Pevensie?”
“Yes, I am,” Susan answered. He looked at her with pity and she suddenly dreaded what he had to say.
“There has been an accident, Miss,” he said slowly.
Susan went rigid and started to shake her head. ‘No, no, no’ screamed the voice in her head, but she managed to say somewhat politely, “What kind of accident, sir?”
“A railway accident,” the policeman said.
“Which train?” she managed to choke out. In her heart she already knew, someone in her family was dead.
“The one from Brighton, Miss,” was the answer.
“My parents are dead, aren’t they?” Susan asked as calmly as she could. The policeman squirmed and nodded his head. When he didn’t make a move to leave, she asked: “What else?” in a sharp tone.
“I’m- I’m so sorry Miss Pevensie, it seems like your siblings were on that train, too,” he stammered out and wouldn’t look her in the eye.
At that she felt her limbs go cold, and then she fainted.
When she woke up her aunt was there with her; Anne, her father’s sister. The next days were a blur to her. She remembered that she had insisted on the best of everything for the funeral. After all, her siblings where royals, a queen and kings, only the best would do.
Then the night before the funeral arrived. Her aunt had sent her to bed early. And then, only then, when she was alone in her childhood room, the room that contained two beds, but where now only one of them was ever to be used again, did she cry. The tears that hadn’t wanted to come before were all coming now and she spent hours crying, until she didn’t have any tears left. Exhausted, she finally fell asleep.
Her eyes strayed over to the part of the room that she had tried not to look at too much. Lucy’s half of the room. Her bed, which she had made herself before she went, was just as pristine as she had left it. Susan hadn’t touched it. She liked to think that the last person to touch it had been her little sister.
Beside the bed stood a night stand, and on the stand lay a stack of books. After they had returned from Narnia, Lucy had started to read a lot. She had started with the fairy tales and worked her way up to longer, more complicated stories. Susan looked around the room to look for more books, but there weren’t any. The only ones in the room were the ones on Lucy’s night stand. I wonder why that is? Susan thought. It hurt a little that she honestly didn’t know why there weren’t more books in the room.
Curious, she walked over to the stand to see what her sister had been reading before …the accident. The book atop of the stack turned out to be the Bible. That surprised Susan. Lucy hadn’t been much of a Christian, as much as Susan could remember. Lucy was a Narnian and she believed in Aslan.
A soft knock pierced through Susan’s thoughts.
“Are you awake, dear?” Aunt Anne asked, her voice muffled by the door.
“Yes, I am,” she answered. She walked over and opened the door. Her aunt looked back at her.
“How are you feeling?” the older woman asked with sympathy radiating from her eyes. Susan couldn’t stand it and had to look away.
“I’m okay, I guess,” Susan mumbled back. Had it been any other day, her aunt would have scolded her for not speaking properly, but not today. Anne sighed.
“Get dressed now, and we’ll have a nice breakfast before we leave for the church.”
At the mention of the church, Susan involuntarily flinched. Today was the day. After today it would be final. Her family was dead.
She nodded before closing the door. She walked over to the closet and took out the black outfit she knew was hanging there waiting for her.
( Chapter 2:)