The Valley Chronicles: A Time Without Start- Chapt 1

The thin light that streamed through the lace curtains wasn't enough to wake her, nor was the slamming of a car door in a drive way right next door enough to disturb her deep sleep. It was something internal, some part of an instinct that everyone still has, a part that saves you from a predator that stalks you in the night or from eating the wrong plant. Or from falling off an unfamiliar bed. It was that jolt, that sudden part of something more that had Lissa sitting up in that bed, her hazel eyes blinking owlishly. The room seemed ...known. She had been here before, but not often enough or recently enough for it to stand out in her memory. So why was she sleeping here? Her eyes darted as old fears kicking in, making her nerves tighten and causing her to look for an enemy, find an escape, make a plan. 1

After a moment or ten, the shaking stopped. There was no one else in the room; she was certain that there was no one else in the house. Not one to take any unnecessary risk, Lissa slipped first one bare foot to the equally bare floor and then the second, taking care to not squeak the bed as her weight shifted. She stood, fighting the queasiness that the fear was making roil through her with one slightly damp hand against her stomach. She was in her habitual jeans, and a white hooded sweatshirt with the word "Ireland" scrolling in earthy green and screaming orange. And that was good, that was quieting because it was comfortingly familiar. 2

Lissa took a step towards the door, a small part of her still waiting for the boogeyman but when she paused, she heard nothing from the rest of the house. Somewhere outside, children joyfully screamed and chanted some song, a normal noise that came like a wave, slowly creeping towards her, then past, unseen. Taking a rather large, though not exactly steadying breath, Lissa pressed her other damp palm to the dirty yellow of the door's knob, turned and then swung the door towards her. She rustled through the house, also familiar in a way that wasn't quite right and stopped by a white door where the dim, wintry light poured through glass. She spotted her infamous flips flops and slid her feet into them even as she opened the second door. Without another glance, she walked out, half expecting someone to grab her hood with a dominant jerk, or a harsh voice to ask her where she thought she was going. 3

It was a dream, had to be, and in her dreams lately everyone was an enemy. She closed the door behind her, shivering in the very cold air, her uncovered toes reacting with screaming pain to the snow on the ground. Lissa took a step, then another, and then another, before shuffling her feet fast to put as much distance as she could between her and the house behind her. She moved purposefully, head down so her reddish brown ringlets offered some relief from the Arctic wind, her hands shoved in the the hoodie's pouch. It wasn't until she had made it, hopefully unobserved, to the street corner that she stopped to really look around. 4

Lissa's gasp forced the ice chilled wind into her lungs, a searing breath that felt like she had downed something more fiery at first. She knew this place. The houses and streets and the very aura of the place wasn't just known, or familiar. It was her's, created by her and another as an escape from their boring lives, a place born out of the want for writing, and commitment to crazy and the passion for people who felt that characters deserved to be more than voices you tapped into for selfish stories. She had helped to create this place so that plots could unravel, and twists could be thrown at their beloved characters, where they had become family and more, where things were never what they seemed and hardly stayed what was presumed once they were figured out. 5

She was in the Valley. 6

"Ohhhhhh-kay," the word coming out on a long stream of heated breath, her confusion actually becoming visible in the air. "The Valley. How the hell did this happen?"7

She watched, her eyes still wide and her body now shaking from the weather, as the small group watched her in return before crossing the street to get away from her. Well, that was normal, NPC's had their own instincts about the strange women from the cliffs. It wasn't often that they even saw a Goddess in full glory, and even rarer lately. Ever since Cee had left, Lissa hadn't bothered to move past the Office or the House, doing her best to not see that the Loft was not there to ignore. Sighing, and still puzzled on how she had slipped into the Valley, into a house she didn't really know, she popped herself to the Office to get warm and figure it out. 8

At least, that had been the plan. 9

Lissa cocked her head to one side, like a confused cocker-spaniel, and tried again. She willed herself to be in the sky blue room with the dove gray carpet, the white couch set up in front of a large flat screen TV where Brendan Frasier movies alternated with Sci-Fi classics. Stretching her mental imaginings, in a way she hadn't had to do in years, she saw herself near her ever messy part of the office, a cup form Jitters on the corner of the desk and her tower gleaming with stickers humming out it's eternal monochrome white noise. 10

And nothing happened. 11

"What the fuck! What did Ren do, put up a no popping bubble?" Lissa said, the harsh words a twin of her harsh tone. Glaring, she snapped her fingers to get socks and boots on and stared dumbly at her feet. They were still uncovered, and turning an angry red from the snow and cold air. Now when Lissa uttered her next expletive it came out in a quavering, frightened voice. Ren could do something about people transporting themselves from one side of the Valley to the other and until Lissa understood the exact nature of the Magth (a word that she had come up with to tease the unofficial character ambassadors who used an odd combination of magic and math to run the fantasy land) she would be unable to get around it. But no one, not even the now absent co creator, could take way Lissa's own ability to manifest what ever she wanted out of thin air. It shouldn't have been possible. "Someone better have a really good explanation for this!"12

Now cold and angry over feeling so scared, Lissa got her bearings with a few darting glares at her surroundings. She could see the mountains peeking over her left shoulder which meant the beach was in the opposite directions, and she was in the suburbs. A few blocks walk north should get her to the Strip, what passed as the main drag for all Valley-ites. As she walked, she muttered and planned about the exact wording of her displeasure that one Stephanie Renyolds would be receiving, not ignoring the odd looks she was getting of people walking past a late twenty something year old with a haunted look to her face and flip flops in the snow but not even registering the fact that she was attracting so much attention.13

She was shivering to the point her teeth were not just chattering, but clattering in her mouth. She pounded up the wide white stone steps that lead to the Valley Police Department, ignoring the gold script on the two glass doors that depicted the Town's seal because it was too familiar to be noticeable. Flinging open one of the pneumatic doors, Lissa shook off the cold like a dog shaking off a bath and stamped her feet, while blowing into her hands. "Bullshit weather, I swear that she did it on purpose," Lissa said, her southern drawl a sure indication that she was past surface anger. Lissa strode towards the swinging door to the left of the main desk as if she owned the place, which in a way she did. 14

"And where are you going, ma'am?" a booming voice seemed to cut through the buzzing of people on phones or tippy-tapping at keyboards. 15

Lissa looked up, a frown firmly formed on her face. "Excuse me?"16

"I asked where you thought you might be headed," the man asked again. 17

"Jo, gimme' a break. I don't have time for this. I need to see Ren now."18

Only the years of being trained by Chief Renyolds stopped him from a reaction, except for a few fast blinks. No one other than Ren called him Jo, and then usually only in private. It was a fact that he enjoyed, as he was so in love with his boss that he could barely stand it. Yet, that wasn't a thing you said out loud, not here. Those thoughts lead to a certain police chief frowning slightly and then avoiding you for a few weeks until you came to your senses enough to ignore the feelings again. "That's Chief Renyolds, and you need an appointment unless you are reporting a crime. In which case, I will take you to one of our officers who will take your statement and we will do our best to aid you in anyway we can." 19

"Jo, I am really close to losing it right here. Now, you be a good little puppy and run for your boss, 'cause I am cold, and hungry and confused, and she's really pissing me off," Lissa returned in a voice that shook with controlled anger. "Or, we can keep having this discussion, you can keep being in my way and I will add you to the list of people currently pissing me off! You know you don't want to be on that list!" 20

Johansen's pleasant, public smile dimmed until he was frowning back at her and he stood behind the high waist high counter. "Listen here, and listen well, lady. The Chief doesn't see anyone without an appointment, and I know she doesn't have one as I was the one to remind her of her calender today. Also, you have just pissed me off by breaking the peace. Now, unless you have a crime to report, I suggest you do yourself a favor and go home to sleep off what is wrong with you. Then call, and calmly, make an appointment to see the Chief." 21

Lissa stared at him. Jo knew her, he was less NPC than most because he directly related to Ren and some of the other Housemates, and therefore the Bard of the House herself, and yet he stood there as if she was anyone else in off the street. Glaring at him, she shoved her fists onto her hips and then opened her mouth wide. "REN! Get your sorry ass here now before I make your Lieutenant really really really interested in chewed gum he can find on the sidewalk!" Lissa kept shouting various non-threats at an ever increasing volume until everyone in the bullpen stopped what they were doing to turn and stare at the crazy woman. Finally, Ren's door opened and she came out slowly, as if not curious. 22

"Ell Tee, what's going on?" She asked, barely casting a glance at the redhead that really reminded her of a freckle-less Emmaleigh Hutchkinson, a Housemate. Another Hutchkinson, she thought. Just what this Valley needs. 23

"I was just about to arrest someone for disturbing the peace, Chief," Jo answered as he made his way around the counter. 24

"Stephanie, I swear by all that is green and leafy in Ireland, stop him or I'm going to!" 25

Everyone froze. It seemed the wind itself held it's breath outside to see what would happen next. No one dared to even pretend like they knew the Chief's first name; it was a good way to get triple beat duty while having to clean up the dog park for a month to even utter it near her. Ren's eyes blazed, and she made a cutting gesture with her hand through the air that Johansen knew was an indication that he should stop moving. "C'mere," she barked at the red head, who glared at Jo and actually stuck her tongue out as she passed him. Ren stood to one side of the door and watched the short woman stride into her office before looking at Jo. "No calls, unless the Valley has caught fire. And only then if it looks like Jitters is going to burn down, too. Got it?"26

"Yes, Chief." After Ren had closed the door, Jo looked over at the quiet, still bullpen where all the officers were staring at the Chief's door, as if waiting for something else to happen. "Are we taking a break, here, ladies? Get cracking!"27

Ren closed the door, then stood momentarily at a loss as the woman plopped herself on the edge of Ren's very orderly desk, legs straddling a corner and her palms pressed on the wood between her jean covered thighs. "How'd you do it, Ren?"28

"Get off my desk," Ren barked, her tone harsh as she walked to the other side and sat down. 29

Lissa sighed, with an eye roll that caused Ren to lose more of her hold on her temper before the red head finally scooted off the desk and sat in one of the high backed brown chairs. "There. Now. Tell how you did it so I can fix it and tell me why I don't change your entire wardrobe into an orange fuzzy things. I mean, how did you even manage to stop me from manifesting anything? And blocking my popping powers? That's just a pain in the ass! You're very lucky I don't throw your ass against the bubble a few times!"30

Ren sat in her chair carefully, her body language not betraying the intense curiosity and frustration she was feeling. Here was a woman, nearly recognizable, talking to her as an equal; no, more as a friend. A woman Ren knew she had never seen in her life, but one who seemed to know a lot about Ren and the Valley. "I don't know what you mean. What...bubble?" Although Ren knew exactly what bubble the woman was referring, there was only one definition in the Valley when someone spoke of the bubble as an actual thing. The bubble is a defense mechanism that kept things and people from entering the Valley without certain protocols being observed. Like Ren's express okay. But it also stopped people from leaving, making the whole town a virtual prisoner. Only certain people, certain people with certain magical skills knew about it. It should be impossible for the woman to know. Especially since Ren knew there was no one new coming into the Valley for at least another six months. 31

Lissa sighed and rolled her eyes. "Ren, serisouly, not in the mood. I woke up in some one's house, and it's freezing here and you stopped me from popping to the Office and I'm hungry and could you just stop dicking around and lift the block on my powers. Or whatever it is you did. And I really want to know how the hell you managed to block my powers in the first place!"