NIGHTMARE
Disclainer: The Vampire Diaries does not belong to me.
A/N I thought I would write a short story about Damon and Elena, especially about his dream. Vampires in deep sleep usually do not dream. But often, while in light sleep, they do.
He was supposed to meet Elena at the big public library. He parked his old Chevy convertible in the paved lot in front of the building, locked the vehicle, and walked to the front door. Indoors, the air was cool, the lighting subdued and the air smelled of books old and new. He liked that smell.
His wife Elena was supposed to be in the non-fiction section doing some research. She was in medical school and often did searches in the library despite all the information she could get on the Internet. Damon knew she would be on the second floor, so he headed for the stairs, which were closer than the elevator.
As he trudged up the worn wooden steps, he became aware that the steps were becoming narrower from side to side. That was odd. He reached the second floor, but glimpsed Elena going on up to the third level. He called to her, but not too loudly. This was a library, after all. She didn't seem to hear him.
He lost track of her when she reached the landing, but he knew she had turned to the left. He continued upward, his left hand on the wooden railing, polished smooth by years of hands passing along it. A solid wall was on his right. The width of the steps decreased after the landing until they were only six inches wide. He looked for Elena ahead of him and spotted her quite a distance away. To get to her, he had to continue on the steps that were fast disappearing.
He looked down to the main floor three levels below him, and then he glanced over at Elena. He had no choice but to climb over the railing and use his hands to progress to the other side. His legs dangled in open space. He didn't look down again. Had Elena done this? She must have. Weird!
Worried that the railing might collapse under his weight, he moved carefully until he saw that the new steps were there again and increasing in size. With caution and relief, he eased over the railing to the steps that were leading downward. Elena hadn't stopped on the third level, but went on down the steps, way ahead of Damon. He called out to her, but she didn't hear him or she ignored him. Muttering a curse, he followed.
He was partway down the stairs when he looked ahead and saw that her stairway had turned into an escalator running down beside the stairs. He hurried downward, but suddenly came to a landing and had to turn right. He considered jumping over to the escalator, but Elena had already stepped off and was walking toward the front door.
In front of Damon now was an exit door. He opened it and stepped out into the wooded grounds. He followed the paved walkway around toward the front and found himself in the big parking lot. Where was his car? He was sure he had parked it beside one of the tall light poles, but he didn't see it now. Had it been stolen, or was he looking by the wrong pole.
A young man came from the library and Damon recognized him. "Randy, did you see my wife Elena?"
"Yeah. She said she was going to the stable."
"Stable? What stable?"
"You know. The one around back." Randy pointed toward the corner of the building and then walked away.
Frustrated, Damon turned around and retraced his step back around the building. Sure enough, he spotted low wooden buildings in the trees. He also smell the vague scent of horses. A bit confused, he headed that way. Why would Elena go there? Was she playing some kind of joke on him? He didn't think it was funny. It was strange and a bit scary. None of this made sense.
He arrived by the stables but saw no one about. He spotted Elena riding a white horse off into the trail in the woods. He yelled after her as loudly as he could, but she didn't hear him or she ignored him. There was one horse left, saddled and tied to a fence. Damon went to it and untied the rope. He noticed that the stirrups were adjusted way too short for his legs, so he grabbed the saddle horn to vault up onto the horse's back.
The cinch must have been loose, because the saddle turned sideways and dumped him on the ground. Thankfully, the horse did not bolt and run. Damon angrily adjusted the saddle and jumped up onto the horse's back. When he picked up the reins, he found that they were just light strings. When he used one to turn the horse from the fence, the string broke. With a groan, he dismounted and spent a minute retying the flimsy string. Before mounting, he turned the horse toward the trail.
Wanting to catch up with Elena, he kicked the animal's sides. It sprang forward at a dead run and galloped down the trail. If Damon had wanted to slow it, he could not have done so because pulling on the strings would have just broken them. He wanted the horse to catch up with Elena anyway. He soon spotted her up ahead, her white horse cantering leisurely along.
Then something caught his eye. Something in the tall grass beside the trail and following Elena. When it moved out onto the trail, he could see it was a tiger! A tiger? A huge cat following Elena at a long loping gait!
"Elena! Behind you! Watch out!" he screamed.
"Damon. Damon!" came her voice.
He opened his eyes and was confused for a moment. And then relieved. His wife was beside him there in their bed.
"You were dreaming. It must have been scary."
"It was. A tiger was chasing you," he said, sitting up.
"A tiger? That's weird." She got out of bed in the morning light.
"What is your schedule for today?" he asked, trying to hide a shudder as the fear from the dream persisted.
"I have to attend two lectures. Afterward, I think I'll go to the public library."
A/N I will likely write another short story under the "Nightmare" title, so this is not a one-shot. I'll have to think about it.