Title: Every Now and Then
Pairing: Laurie Strode/Annie Bracket
Summary: Annie rarely dreams.
Chapter: 1/1
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or the movies they are from.
A/N: This is a story based on Rob Zombie's version of the Halloween movies. Also, I wrote this at 4:30 in the morning after I had my own night terror. So yeah, forgive any mistakes?
Every Now and Then
Laurie Strode thrashed around and cried in her sleep. It was what she did every night, and she was used to it. She supposed it was her own fault. After all, she could prevent all of the dreams if she just took her sleeping pills every night, but she just couldn't. She couldn't be drugged because what if she needed to run? What if she needed to think quickly of a hiding place? What if she had to fight but was too slow because of the medication? It was too much of a risk, and so she refused to take the pills unless the dreams were just too terrible.
Annie took her sleeping pills every night. She refused not to take them. She needed to be drugged, because what if she was attacked again? What if she had to run, had to hide, had to suffer being stabbed and cut up again? She didn't want to feel it, any of it, if it ever happened again. She wanted to be numb. She wanted to stop thinking of that horrible night when everything in her world had ended. It was too much of a risk, so she refused to skip her pills unless she knew she wouldn't sleep anyway due to an all-nighter for a school project.
This meant that if Annie ever had a dream, even though she had taken her medication, it was far worse than the dreams Laurie had. Annie never just tossed and turned and cried. No, she ran, she kicked, she lashed out and screamed and screamed and screamed. And she cried out for help. And she cried out in warning… And then she cried out for Laurie and Laurie would be there.
The first few times Annie had suffered from her dreams, Laurie had been at a loss of what to do. She had rushed into Annie's room, shouted at her to wake up while shaking her mercilessly. When that failed she carried the thrashing Annie into the bathroom and stuck her under freezing water. While the water shocked Annie into consciousness, she would still shake with fear. Laurie would hold her; kiss her head, her cheeks, her eyes, her tears all the while whispering soothing things. And eventually Annie would stop shaking so violently. And they would both sit under the icy stream, shivering and clinging to each other like they were the only people in their fucked up world that only they could understand.
Annie would spend the rest of the night in Laurie's bed, her friend holding her tightly from behind, protecting her from the shadows. The light would stay on, and Annie's dad would come home and sit outside the door with a shotgun, just to make them all feel better. The day after Annie's nightmares would always be spent the same way. Annie's father would call in to their school and have them dismissed from their classes for the day. Then Laurie and Annie would get into the car and drive. Laurie never asked Annie what the dream was about, just like she never asked her if she wanted breakfast. She knew Annie would tell her when she was ready to talk, and only after that would Annie be able to get a little food in without throwing it back up.
They'd drive down main roads and highways, never along deserted, narrow streets and never in areas with too many trees or places for people to lurk. Sometimes it would take Annie five minutes to talk to Laurie, and sometimes it took her five hours. Laurie didn't mind. She would always wait for Annie. Once Annie started talking they would pull over and Laurie would hold her, rub her back and comb her fingers through her hair and just listen. And then Annie would kiss her, slow and thoughtful and savoring, as though she knew she would die tomorrow and be separated forever.
And that would be when Laurie would swear to protect her, because they both knew how absolutely mad they would go without one another, forced to live alone in their fucked up world without anyone to understand.