This is basically a rewrite of the books, except this time Claire knows what's going to happen and things are going to go down quite differently. It starts with her waking up, from her nap at the Glass House as she goes for her interview with Michael to see if she can stay with them, except she kind of accidently ends up sleeping the night away and waking up there in the morning. But you see Claire Danvers isn't the Claire Danvers we all know and love (hate), she has absolutely no idea how she got from her home in wherever-the-hell-she's-from to Morganville, because it was all just a really cool dream right? Vampires don't exist! And neither do ghosts or draug or living houses or secret labs and almost magical portals. Or do they?
Oh and beware there is swearing and over use of italics.
Claire Danvers, an exceptionally ordinary girl, despite all her self-consciousness that told her she was a complete freak, woke up to find that it had been a dream. One huge dream. An exceptional dream.
Sighing, she groaned and looked over at the glowing number of her digital clock, signaling just how tired she was going to be tomorrow, er, today. 4:33. What an awful time to wake up. With another groan she flopped back against the soft warmth of the pillow that promised oh-so-sweet slumber and tried in vain to fall into a blessed sleep until light began to stream in through her windows.
Two years.
Two whole complete years.
She didn't even think it was possible to dream two whole years in a matter of five hours. Days sure, but years?
That a was looooooong time. Exceptionally long.
Ah, bugger. 5:58. Since when did it start getting light out so early? Claire now how had exactly one hour and seventeen minutes to try and get some actual sleep, but she knew it was futile. She was far too awake. Her whole freak-smart brain was still twisting the strange dream around in her head, desperately trying to make sense of it. Two years! God, the dream so was so real, so crystal clear, and now, staring around her slowly lightening room, it felt like life was turning into a dream, all fuzzy around the edges like a really bad trip or something. Claire also realized as she gazed about in her stupor that the bedroom had three windows. Which was exactly two more than her bedroom possessed.
What the hell?
This was not the bedroom of Claire Danvers.
Alright, Step one: Figure out where the fuck I am. No. Step one: Health check. She flexed her toes, bent her legs, then her arms, finally letting her fingers roam over her face to check for collateral damage. One split lip, one major bruise. Ick. Any missing body parts? Nope? Good. Step two: Figure out where the fuck I am. Step three: Get out of wherever the fuck I am. Step four: Get home from wherever the fuck I am.
Except this room wasn't exactly unfamiliar.
It was large, spacious, bigger than any room she'd had before and had a large dresser against one wall, a huge dresser, big enough to store a body in. Creepy. And the bed, full sized, dark, sturdy wood and thick columns, and a closet across the room next to the door. Door. Okay that seemed important. Claire wondered briefly where that door would lead, but then she laughed. Not a real laugh, a frightened, chocking laugh, because she knew exactly where she was remember?
"But it was just a dream!" she whispered, unable to contain the growing panic.
"I'm afraid it's not," said a voice from the corner. Claire jumped straight up in bed, barely stifling a scream, eyes straining in the dim light to see, arms held out in precaution.
"Who are you?" she gasped, barely able to talk, the fear rising. Have I been kidnapped? Claire frantically looked around and spotted a shadowed figure sitting prim and proper on the edge of an old Victorian style chair. A girl definitely, very small in stature, but beyond that Claire had no idea what she looked like, the light almost seemed to bend around her.
"Someone. Someone you'll meet later. But for now, simply the person who awakes you. I wish you luck. I hope you win."
Claire blinked and a moment later the figure was gone. The fuck?
No time now, to think about that or the dream. Wait no, the dream. Was she still in it? It didn't feel like a dream, but then again the dream felt so real! Claire paused for a moment, thoroughly confused.
She was in a house, a house she had dreamed about living in. Dreamed that she lived in this very house for two whole years! But now she was in it? In a dream house? No, that wasn't right, wasn't possible. It was a dream. Aren't dreams synonymous with "not real?"
Before Claire could ponder any further or even begin to come up with a plan, a soft knock came at the door. "Claire? Are you awake?"
Creepy. How did they know my name?
Oh right, the people who lived in the house with me, obviously knew me, in that dream.
"Claire?" She froze, unsure whether to answer or not. She went with the opossum version and decided to play dead, or more specifically play sleeping. Claire leaned back in bed, making sure it didn't creek and slowly pulled the covers back over her, listening intently for outside movement. After a moment's pause she heard soft footsteps padding away down the hall and then the quite swish of a door opening and closing.
It had been a girl at her door. What was her name again? Ever? Ellie? Shreve? No! Eve, Eve, Eve. That was it. The goth girl. The nice one. And Michael. The boy she was dating. Wait no married, they were married and he wasn't exactly a boy.
Well there that proved it. Vampires. Vampires don't exist and therefore that/this is all a dream. Either Claire was still dreaming and all she had to do was fall back asleep to escape this dream-turning-nightmare, or she had gotten kidnapped and drugged and the weird dream was just a side effect, the room familiar because she had been dragged into it the night before. Which certainly brought up an interesting and rather important question.
Did I get raped or something? Am I going to get raped?
It certainly didn't feel as though she had gotten raped, but that didn't really guarantee anything. No, she wasn't going to think about that, it would just scare her more. "I'm just being paranoid, really, really paranoid, like every teenage girl," she whispered to no one in particular. But she knew the words held no truth. She was in a mildly strange place, how she had gotten there was a complete mystery, there had been a stranger in this half-strange bedroom, a slightly less strange roommate and a very, very strange dream. Yeah, Claire Danvers had quite a bit to be worried/paranoid about.
Back to the stranger. Who had she been? How had she gotten in here? Where did she go? Portal?
Claire stop! It was a DREAM! There is no such thing as monsters or portals or anything. Maybe there's a trapdoor or something.
Except Claire knew there wasn't a trapdoor because one moment there was a person there and the next moment there was no one. Less than a second. Boom.
Damn it, Claire! Keep your head straight!
She was losing it, slowly, but surely freaking out into a state of utter panic. Who wouldn't be? Claire was genuinely surprised that she had even been able to keep her cool for this long. Before she could help it, tears started pouring down her cheeks.
How could this be happening to her?
So tell me what you think, loves! And please for the love of all that is holy, REVIEW! It's really not rocket science, in fact I will be minorly to majorly offended if you don't….
Peace and love and sweet dreams!