Every Dracula 2000 story has dreams in it, I guess. It's something you just can't get away from. Nonetheless, this is my first Dracula 2000 fic, so I hope it's okeydokey. Dracula x OC if you don't like it don't read it, et cetera :)

Chapter One

First things first – where the hell am I? I'm in some kind of box

(coffin, let me out)

and I'm looking up at a man. He's middle-aged, with a wise face and a 'stache, looking down at me with something like hatred mixed with bafflement.

'You're my new experiment, I believe,' he sighs and I feel

(experiment how dare you, YOU)

just as baffled as he looks. I feel a dull aching in my chest and then I see him lift a hammer, looking pained but resigned. 'Just to be safe,' he says as he brings the hammer down

(no no no no NONONO)

and my body spasms as he hits something, something stuck in me, oh man, there's a lid going over me, engulfing me in darkness. The click of padlocks and I'm still in this box and I feel darkness for what seems like ages until I realise I can move. I put my hands out in front of me and feel cold metal, I'm in a metal box and it's cushioned, what –?

(they put me, ME, in a coffin how dare they I'll kill them)

I banged my hands against the lid – 'Hello?' I started to hyperventilate as I realised I wasn't saying anything, only an angry growl came out – and it did NOT sound like my voice. I tried again.

'Hello? Let me out of here!' I willed myself to say only instead some kind of strangled roar came out and I was scratching, scratching at the lid above me, tearing at it –

(you think you can keep me HERE I'll kill you I'll get out of here, one day, and then I will hunt you down and KILL YOU)

'YOU CANNOT KEEP ME HERE, VAN HELSING!' I heard someone scream, half in anger and half in desperation, and realised that it was me because there was no one else in the coffin, but it was a male voice, I'm in a COFFIN, Oh God, I'm going to lose it –

'VAN HELSING!'

XoooooX

My eyes opened and the first thing I saw was sunlight. Good; you can't see sunlight in coffins.

No freaking duh, Trist. I laughed, out of relief and at my stupidity. Well, that was a creepily vivid dream. And Van Helsing?

Note to self: Lay off the Bram Stoker.

'Triiist?' called a voice and I quickly looked on the floor for a pair of jeans. It's weird, but when I never wanted to be caught by Sarah when not wearing pants. Not that I'm uncomfortable, it's just Sarah's got a dirty mind so it would be somehow egging her on for jokes.

As I fell out of bed in my effort to grasp the jeans a metre away from me and on the floor, my phone rang. I could hear my housemates downstairs and hurriedly got my right leg in the jeans whilst trying to grab my phone from out of my pocket.

'Staring up into the solar system...'

I frowned and left it alone. My ringtone was the Killers' 'Sweet Talk' and my message tone was The Boy Least Likely To.

At that moment Sarah walked in and stared at me, on the floor, my jeans around my knees, my loose Nirvana T-shirt pulled up in my frenzy to my stomach and my purple vampire underpants still visible.

'Be Gentle With Me', my wonderful so-not-the-right-moment-song message tone continued to go and I had to stop myself from laughing at the sheer image Sarah was seeing right now.

'I'm happy because I'm stupid

Scared of spiders, scared of flying...'

Sarah, whose mother was Indian and father was English, giving her a beautiful mocha-coloured skin tone, chortled wildly. 'Oh, Trissy-Bear, you crack me up.'

'Great. I'll just pull my pants fully up...'

'Breakfast is ready,' Sarah said in an overly serious tone. I gave her a stern look. 'Don't you dare laugh.'

Sarah squeaked then ran down the hallway to the stairs, her stifled giggles haunting me until she reached the ground floor, when it became screaming fits of laughter.

Yep, another usual morning for me.

I stood up, slipping off my jeans and walking to my closet, finding a grey singlet and picking the pants up off the floor, heading for the bathroom.

XoooooX

'Love the hair when it's wet,' said Samantha. 'Only time it looks neat.'

I gave her a mock-scowl and sat down at the table, my assortment of friends all doing their thing while they ate their pancakes.

Sammy, beautiful, punk/Hayley Williams rocker, long dark red hair and green eyes, usually covered in eyeliner, sat across the table from me, her hair tied up in a ponytail. She winked at me and covered my plate in maple syrup to which I praised her for, bowing and repeating 'We're not worthy, we're not worthy!'

'You're worthy,' Jen said firmly, throwing the juice in my direction. And I mean throwing. I caught it one-handed, mentally patted myself on the back and poured myself a glass. Jen is probably the nicest person you'll ever meet, the reason we call her Saint Jen; she's also pretty, with streaked flaxen hair layered to below her shoulders, and she's an absolute stick. The crazy thing; she doesn't know it and refuses to believe it. Seriously though, if she could save your life by cutting off her own arm or just run away, she'd probably be like 'Well, I don't really use my left arm...'

Okay, maybe not, but I think if the situation was like that, only a little less dire, she'd be up for it.

Next at the table; Sarah, as we heard before; dirty-minded, beautiful, black hair streaked with hot pink, long-ish, obsessed with the Oh-So-Disgusting Justin Bieber. When the guy hits puberty, he'll lose all musical career; then again, maybe my music taste sucks (for some odd reason I love Coldplay and Nirvana simultaneously) and I just don't know it.

I looked over at the girl next to me and smiled. Holly, my best friend. Her face was fairy-like, her hair was a coppery auburn, her eyes covered by purple John Lennon glasses, to whom she bore a strange female resemblance. Also unbelievable immature, which is probably why we're friends, that and our compatibility on basically EVERYTHING.

She also knows me way too well. Because at that moment, she whipped off her glasses, gave me a look which means Give Me No Crap Here, Missy, and said, 'Bad dream again?'

I shrugged, giving her a sarcastic smile. 'More or less.' Okay, now we get to me. Freak show. What more do you need to know? 'I've only been having them for years.'

'Touché,' Holly smirked, while Jen looked concerned. 'Again? What happened this time?'

'The coffin dream,' I shrugged and the table went 'Ahhh. That one.'

'Well, you also forgot something,' Sarah said, smiling secretively at me.

I frowned at her then – bam! 'Crap! Someone sent me a message,' I said, pulling out my phone and realised that it had not been the answer everyone at the table was waiting for. I blinked. 'Um. P.S. I Love You is on today all day?'

'Close, but no,' Jen said, starting to grin.

'Okaaay, I give up,' I said warily, staring at all of them.

'It's your birthday, you idiot,' Holly said, rolling her eyes while Sam, Sarah and Jen yelled 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!'

I clapped my hands to my mouth as they all pulled out wrapped parcels from under the table – and Holly got up, opened the fridge and took out a cake; a huge cake, decorated with a little white Phantom of the Opera mask on top and a bunch of red roses. I laughed through my hands, feeling guilt-stricken that they had gone to the trouble to do this and that I had forgotten my own birthday, and overfilled with joy because this was so nice. 'Oh, my gosh, I – completely – oh, THANK YOU!' I yelled, launching myself at Holly as soon as she put the cake down. 'I know how much you hate cake, so the fact you even tried to make one for me, thank you, Holly!'

'Open your presents,' she yelled, trying to push me off her, but pleased nonetheless.

'Oh, thanks so much –' I gushed as I pulled myself back into my seat and helped her up, eyes wide upon the Phantom Cake, praying I wasn't crying or something overly-feminine...

'You heard the girl, open your presents,' Sam laughed, chucking a hastily wrapped flat rectangle at me.

My presents; Nirvana, Live and Unplugged, from Sam, a gift voucher for CDs, from Sarah, a cute, tight-fighting white T-shirt with a P.S. I Love You slogan on it (from Jen, obviously... she found my weakness for girly movies and proceeded to show it to everyone whenever she could) and a new pair of boots from Holly.

'Geez, how much did this all cost –?'

'Doesn't matter, but you're getting us all amazing stuff for our eighteenths!' Jen laughed. I stared at her, smiling crookedly. 'You all are eighteen, Jen.'

'Well, nineteenth, then,' Jen huffed, pouting and I laughed again.

XoooooX

'I can't believe you made me wear this,' I told Jen as we walked through the completely crowded shops. Holly snickered and I glared at her, sipping my juice.

'Well, you've got to turn at least thirty heads today,' Jen said sarcastically.

'And how many have I got, at least two who wanted to question my gender?' I replied, making sure my hair fell in my eyes. My hair is one of the few things I like about myself; it's chopped short at the back, in what the stylish called concave, so when it's straightened it looks like a model haircut and when it's curly it has an untidy look to it (mostly because I just wake up with it). One of the best compliments ever received in my life was 'You have the perfect grunge hair!'

But honestly, I'm not one to care; I just have way too much fun with my friends.

Holly and Jen are my best friends; I mean, Sarah and Sammy are definitely great friends, but Holly and Jen I can just tell anything to – and they can tell me anything, I know. We're a little crazy pack, there's the gothic nymph, the blonde supermodel and the girl that should have lived in the nineties.

'Excuse me?' Holly said, looking pointedly at my chest. 'I think anyone could tell you're a girl.'

'Not creepy at all,' I said lightly.

'She's turning red,' Jen whispered audibly.

'I know,' Holly whispered back.

'Going into the CD store!' I said loudly and while my best friends giggled, I slipped into the shop, waving to the employees that took a stand on the world with piercings, tattoos and odd hair dye, making it to the Cure (Robert Smith!) and thinking about what I could find to spend the voucher on, like a Juno soundtrack or 12 Monkeys.

I heard a polite cough behind me and whipped around. A guy with grey eyes and a Coldplay shirt on smiled at me. 'Hi, sorry, just came to get the new album,' he shrugged, moving up next to me so he could shuffle through the CDs and I could see through a dreamy haze that he had forgotten to shave this morning.

The new Coldplay album! Definitely getting that!

I made to grab one too and our hands touched. It was like one of those sappy romance novels, where we both pulled our hands back and went 'Sorry.'

The guy then smiled at me and offered an album. 'I like that movie, by the way,' he added, nodding at my shirt as I took the CD, feeling myself blush.

I stared at him warily. 'Are you gay?' I asked Coldplay God, while in my head it was Your powers of flirting will not work on me!

He laughed and I felt relieved. 'No, but I'm sorry to disappoint you.'

'Well, I guess it's all right,' I sighed, and Coldplay God smiled back at me, casually leaning on the stacks and pushing his dark hair out of his face. 'So, are you doing anything now? I mean, I was just going to grab a bite to eat, so...?'

'I'm – in a relationship,' I said, feeling terribly guilty again; his bright smile disappeared and instead he offered me a weaker, yet still totally dazzling smile. 'Right. Sorry to bother you,' he shrugged, grabbing an album and walking away.

'No, uh, it's fine,' I called, standing there like a total doofus as I looked after him. I tried to think of something to say but it was too late; Coldplay God was gone.

'Just dump the asshole, that guy was perfect for you!' Jen complained from right behind me; I jumped, whirling around again. 'Mitch is not an asshole.'

'Yes, he is,' Holly sighed, shaking her head. 'He's a complete dick, too, come to think of it, also shithead, bastard, son of a bitch, you name it.'

I remembered my phone had signalled earlier I had a message and pulled it out of my pocket. Coldplay God had been perfect too...

No, don't think like that. I opened the message on my phone while Jen and Holly complained wildly, making me smile.

Hey baby :) happy 18! See you tonight? Mitch

'So, what was the dream about?' Holly asked, breaking into my reverie.

'Huh?' I looked up at her. 'OH, right – I told you. The guy puts me in a coffin.' I went back to flicking through CDs while Jen and Holly made puppy dog faces, which they are extremely good at. 'Oh, come to think of it, you're in luck: there was something a little strange...'

'Oooh,' Jen said, waving her hands spookily.

'Don't do that,' Holly and I said in unison and Jen's hands dropped to her sides.

'But yeah, what happened?' Holly asked, watching me intently.

'I heard myself speak,' I remarked grandly, moving down from the D's to the F's, listening to their squeals of mock amazement. 'No, really, and here's the kicker; I told a Mister Van Helsing that he couldn't conceal me in the box forever.'

'Van Helsing?' giggled Jen. 'Like, Hugh Jackman?'

'Nah, I don't know,' I shrugged. 'Everything was black... it was just –'

'And who needs Hugh Jackman when there's some hot guy invading her head anyway?' Holly teased. I snorted. Needless to say, I've had these dreams for ages, since I could remember; there's a different assortment of them, most of them nightmares, some disappearing as soon as I wake up, but they have their own main character, who though looks unbelievably gorgeous, which is a word I will never use outside my head, he also looks somewhat –

'He looks evil,' I told Holl and she smirked. 'He's got that evil smirk about him which just tells you "I'm the Wrong Choice but I can make you pick me anyway".'

'In short terms, temptation?' Jen asked sarcastically and I stuck my tongue out at her.

'Oh, sure,' Holly replied lazily. 'Untidy dark hair, blue eyes... wanna know who else has those features?'

'It's not funny, Holl,' I told her, glaring firmly ahead at the Flogging Molly section.

'Maybe you've just turned yourself into some hot guy in your head,' joked Holly. Neither Jen nor I were laughing but it didn't really seem to matter, though Jen looked intrigued.

'Maybe that is what you've done, Trist,' she said easily. 'Maybe you've made a villain in your head that mirrors your decisions in life –'

'What? He's not me, he's someone else entirely,' I said heatedly, now getting thoroughly fed up with the conversation. 'I can tell. And his eyes are brown sometimes, or red.'

'Well, you always describe them as blue.'

'Anyway, he's way too hot to be me.'

'See, that – that's your problem,' Jen rolled her eyes. 'Zero self-esteem. It's a wonder you have a boyfriend.'

'Thanks, Jen. Really made me feel great.'

'She's right, we're sorry, Trist,' Holly apologised, hugging me. 'You know I'm just kidding. Jen, on the other hand –' she added quietly and I laughed.

'Can hear every word you're saying,' the blonde reminded us.

'Hey,' I said, suddenly realising something completely out of the blue, 'do you know that together we make one of those "a brunette, a blonde and a redhead walk into a bar" jokes?'

'Sometimes I wonder how we remained friends all these years,' Jen said.

XoooooX

'Any partying tonight?' Holly asked, swiftly parking the car outside our house. I shook my head. 'I doubt it.'

'Aw, come on! You only turn eighteen once,' Holly said encouragingly, punching me lightly on the shoulder. 'We should at least eat lots of chocolate...'

'That sounds great, but I feel kind of tired,' I shrugged, unclipping my seatbelt, one hand on the car door.

Holly sighed, turning the car off. 'Right. I'm fighting Dream Hottie, my mistake.'

'Oh, shut up, no one can compete with you,' I said honestly, smiling at her. She smiled back. 'What the hell, let's stay up and turn on Moulin Rouge.'

'Amen to that!' Holly laughed, opening her door. 'And we've still got to have your cake!'

'You hate cake,' I reminded her, amused.

'Ah, what the hell? I'll take a lot of icing!'

I laughed to myself as her small figure ran up the steps excitedly and I could hear her yell 'Guys! Moulin Rouge time, get the cake, get the cake, candles –!'

My breath was visible on the night air; it was freezing right now and I pulled my jacket tighter around me. Mist was creeping around and it was unbelievably freaky. I shivered, wondering why I was still standing out here, until I heard Sammy swear loudly then roar 'Why did you turn the lights off, Sarah? I just hit the bloody table, ow, ow –' and Jen's cry of 'Shut up, she'll be in any second!'

Silence. Then Sarah; 'Guys, I think she can hear us –'

'Shhh!'

'Shut up, she's coming!'

I ran towards the front steps, closing the gate behind me and eagerly standing on the front doorstep. I had replied to Mitch, told him it would be a quiet night and that I wouldn't see him. He replied with that he was pretty busy anyway.

With what? Watching old reruns of Eastenders?

The night was really starting to creep me out. Thankful for the light the streetlamp was giving, I looked around. Was someone watching me? It sure as hell felt like it. The wind began to whistle and the mist was getting a little thicker.

Not wanting to worry my friends, I opened the door, forgetting the scene before, leaving it outside with the rest of my troubles and walking into my dark house.

'Huh,' I said loudly, in an odd voice, 'strange. What-ever happened to the lights? I am confused. Hm. Well, I guess I will just go into the liv-ing room.'

There were snickers and giggles from the living room. I was practically expecting one of them to say 'She'll never find us here!'

I stretched my hands out in front of me blindly, even though I knew exactly where I was going. 'Hellooo? Anybody here?'

That was about when I tripped over a crouching body on the floor, swore, fell on the couch and Jen turned the light on, jumping up. The coffee table was moved to the other side of the room so we could set up cushions, blankets and doonas, and there were chip packets, juice bottles and chocolates waiting to be opened, not to mention the still amazingly awesome cake.

'Surprise!' screamed my friends as I lay awkwardly on the couch. Sam remained crouched on the ground, looking mortified when we both just burst out laughing.

XoooooX

Just some light craziness about the characters. :P hope you enjoyed