~…~
Rachel sat in the middle of a field. The wind was blowing through her hair. She looked around the field. The grass was golden and the sun was shining directly above. It was a perfect and cloudless day. She recognized this place… somehow it felt familiar to her. She couldn't place it though, like this ancient memory long ago forgotten. Rachel heard laughter. The voice was high pitched and she knew it well. She started running aimlessly around the field, searching for the little girl who the laugh belonged to. She finally found her. Playing in the field with her dark hair whipping around her smile angelic face. The girl looked to be around ten years old and was smiling from ear to ear, playing in the field. The girl was wearing a yellow summer dress and looked up at Rachel. Rachel tried reaching out for the girl but she started moving away. Her face was tearing up and she looked frantically around the field. Searching for something or someone to help her. Rachel tried to move closer to comfort the small girl but once again the child moved away from her.
"Shhh… don't cry. There's no reason to cry." Another voice said. A girl with blond curly hair emerged and walked calmly towards the crying child.
"Claire!" Rachel screamed but the girl took no notice. She leaned down next to the child and comforted her, "Claire! Please!" Rachel tried again. This time her best friend looked up. She cocked her head to one side and gave her a sad smile.
"Was it really worth it Rachel?" She asked. Her voice was soft and just as she remembered it. She was stroking the little girl's hair softly.
"What?" Rachel asked desperately. Her feet seemed to be glued in place and she looked up to see that the sun was setting and shadows were overtaking the beautiful field.
"You abandoned me Rachel, you left me to die and you don't even care do you?" Claire laughed. The sound was eerie.
"No… no I didn't. I don't know what you're talking about." She yelled. Claire just shook her head sadly and looked up at the sky, which was being plunged into darkness. Tears streamed down Rachel's face as she stared at her forsaken friend, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen." She said.
"And what about her?" Claire indicated towards the little girl, "Have you completely forgotten her existence or are you simply in denial that you even had a life before… him." She said the last word with such distain. Rachel wanted to ask whom she was speaking of, but before she could Claire let out an ear-shattering scream. Something was upon her, sucking the life out of her. Rachel starting screaming to and the little girl was crying. The last thing she saw was Claire's body going completely limp. The field faded away to black and suddenly she was standing in a cold room that she knew as Eric's office in Fangtasia. She looked around helplessly and realized she was sitting on the black couch. Eric was staring at her from across the room. He smiled and showed off his fangs. Her vision was blurry. Eric was coming in and out of focus.
"What happened to them?" She asked Eric and he just threw his head back and howled with laughter. She sat there in a daze, not comprehending what was going on, "What happened to Claire?" She asked again.
"You act as if you care." She hadn't noticed until he started speaking but Eric's lips were dripping with blood, "They don't matter to you anymore, you don't need them now that you have me." He was suddenly in front of her. He leaned in for a bloody kiss and she realized that she liked the taste. She held him closer to indulge herself in more and licked the red liquid off his chin. He pushed her back and grinned, "See? You've completely forgotten the people who were so important to you merely months ago. You are already losing your humanity. Nothing much will change when I turn you. You'll see." Rachel screamed as Eric sunk his teeth deeply into her neck.
~Rachel~
I shot up in bed. I must have been asleep for a long time because Eric was lying beside me, watching me. I must have slept through the entire day again. I took deep and heavy breaths, trying to calm myself down after the horrible nightmare I had just awoken from. Eric soothingly rubbed my back.
"What is it my little lover?" Eric pressed his lips right bellow my ear as he whispered words of endearment to me. I was still shaking a little and couldn't respond to his question. What was it? I couldn't remember it that clearly anymore. The dream was quickly fading from my memory. All I could really see clearly were the two girls. The little girl and…
"Claire! I need to call Claire!" I announced and started searching for my phone in between the blankets covering. Damn it, where had I put it?
"Rachel, calm down." Eric took my arms in his hands to stop my search. Everything was so vivid and real in the dream. I knew what it was trying to tell me, it was telling me that I had to find Claire. That I had forgotten her and played her not answering my constant attempts at communication as her being mad at me but it wasn't that. She was missing and I hadn't done a thing to try and find her! What kind of friend was I? A wave of guilt passed over me and I started struggling against Eric's grip. Of course it was pointless because he was much stronger than me and I didn't stand a chance to begin with, "Calm down and we'll talk about this okay?" Eric tried to reason with this. I dropped my arms and lay back down on the pillow. Resuming the breathing process to calm myself. Deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth. It was a bit comforting and made me feel reasonably better.
"I had a dream that she died." I explained and he stroked my cheek lightly.
"It was a just a dream lover, that doesn't mean that she's dead." Eric told me. He seemed slightly amused. I didn't take any comfort in his words at all. I knew that something was wrong and I had to find her immediately.
"I need to find her Eric." I stated. I didn't know why I felt so determined. I looked at Eric in a pleading way and he nodded.
"We will, but first why don't you tell me about the rest of your dream." Eric smiled, "I have not dreamt in a millennium." I felt bad for him. I usually enjoy my dreams and I felt that they could work out a lot of my problems. They tell us what has been bothering us subconsciously.
"I don't remember very much of it." I admitted, "Only that Claire was dead and I think we were in some kind of field." I strained to remember the rest, "And there was this little girl… she was crying. I knew her." I tried to picture the girl in my mind. After a moment of reflection I could see the cute face in my mind and I knew who it was, "My sister… when she was ten. She's a lot older now but that was the year my father left. I guess it's imprinted in my mind somehow." I said. I didn't like thinking about my sister too much. It made me feel too guilty and I was already feeling guilty enough as it is. I should probably call her too, just to check up on her, but I know that I won't. We haven't spoken in so long. Nothing I could say to her now could make up for that.
"How old it she?" Eric asked. He wrapped his arms around me and looked me straight in the eyes. Watching every movement like it fascinated him. I continued to stare up at the ceiling and twist a lock of my hair around my finger.
"Two years younger than me so 16 now I guess…" I thought about that for a little while before I realized that I had missed her sweet sixteenth birthday last month. I wondered if David had given her a card or something, there's another person I haven't been in a contact with since I met Eric. Somehow that call seemed to be the most important one to make right now, "Can I borrow your phone, I need to call my brother. I haven't talked to him in two months and he might have been worried." Eric pulled out his phone. I don't know why I felt like I had to talk to David right at this moment but how else could I find out about my little sister without actually calling her. The dream had given me a sense of urgency. I dialed a number that was so familiar I did it without even thinking about it. I waited for what seemed like a million rings before someone picked up.
"Hello?" I was definitely my brother's voice.
"David? It's me. It's umm… Rachel." I was a bit unsure about how he would handle hearing from me after two months of silence.
"Jesus Rachel, where the fuck have you been and who the hell is Northman?" David asked. I guess that answers that question.
"How did you know about Eric?" I asked. Had he been checking up on me? Maybe he had talked to Claire! Or Jason… I thought with a lot less enthusiasm.
"Eric huh? I have caller id that's how genius." David said in an annoyed tone. David was 4 years older than me and I would always be his kid sister. He could never think of me as an adult who might actually have a brain. He was always frustrated with me and always talked down to me. Even after our mother died but he was my brother and I loved him. I had missed talking to him more than I realized, "Don't dodge the subject!" He continued angrily. I wasn't aware that I had been.
"Well, it's been a busy few months and I don't know I just lost track of time I guess… I haven't been anywhere special. It's not as if you tried to call me either." I pointed out a bit testily.
"Think again Rache, I called your house and guess what? You don't live there anymore and then I called Jason… who I thought was your boyfriend only to find out that he isn't anymore and that you had run off with some guy. So I thought that when you decided you wanted to explain any of that to me then you would give me a call and here you are, calling me." I rolled my eyes and looked over to see Eric smiling, "Let me tell you though, I didn't think it would take you 2 whole months to fucking call me—"
"Anyways!" I interjected, "I wanted to talk to you about something rather someone. Have you talked to Cassidy recently?" I asked. There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. I couldn't even hear David's steady breathing on the other end. It was total silence, almost as if the line had gone dead. I was beginning to think that he had hung up on me when I heard David sigh deeply.
"Cassidy…" He played with the name on his tongue, almost as if it were foreign and unfamiliar to him. There was another silence but this one didn't have as long a duration, "No Rachel. I haven't talked to Cassidy recently. Sometimes I even forget that she's our sister at all. Have you?" It was sad the way we had drifted apart from out sister. I didn't want to think about how she felt about it.
"No." I answered curtly. I glanced at Eric again and he held my gaze steadily. His face showed no emotion at all.
"God, how old is she now?" David mused. I could hear him moving things around on his end of the phone. He was probably sitting down. Starting to reminisce about the last time he saw his youngest sister, "I think the last time I spoke to her was when she left for the school. Was that really two and a half years ago?"
"Yeah… she would have just turned sixteen years old. Can you believe that? She left right after my sixteenth birthday and now I completely forgot about hers."
"Right, shit. I can't believe that was missed that." David cursed, "Maybe I should call her." There was another pause, "Or you could…" I realized that he couldn't see me shaking my head but he took my silence as a 'no way', "Common you were always closer to her then I was." I thought about that for while before reluctantly agreeing. David and I tried to change the topic but our minds were both still caught on Cassidy. We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone.
"Are you more settled now?" Eric asked me and I shook my head. I couldn't put this off anymore. The guilt over Claire was bad enough I didn't want this weight on my shoulders as well. I had to call my sister.
"I'll be a lot more settled in 20 minutes." I said 20 minutes because I didn't want the call to go any longer than that but it might be 30 seconds for all I know. I might only have time to say my name before she slams the phone down. I fumbled around to find my cell phone since I didn't know the number off by heart (it was programmed in my phone). I finally located it, wedged between two pillows. I maneuvered around Eric and grabbed it. Eric looked bored but I just ignored him and looked through my contacts till I found her. I pressed the talk button and put the phone to my ear. Holding my breathe in anticipation.
"Hello?" I was surprised to hear that it wasn't Cassidy who answered the phone. It was a husky male voice. One that I recognized… Jason? I was speechless for a moment, "Umm… Hello?" Jason asked again.
"Hi, Jason? It's Rachel. I think I pressed the wrong number, I'm looking for Cassidy." I said and bit my lip. How could I have dialed his number by accident? I heard rustling from the other end of the line.
"Hey Rache. No, you don't have to wrong number. This is her phone. Wait a minute, I'll go find her." He responded coolly and I heard him calling her name out. I waited as patiently as I could until I heard a distinctive what? And then who is it? Followed by more rustling noise, "Don't know just answer it." There was no reply, I just heard Jason handing the phone over to the girl who I assumed was Cassidy.
"Hello?" It was definitely her. Sure the voice had matured a lot since the last time I heard it. I didn't know if I wanted to answer her but I had gotten this far, there was no backing out now.
"Hey… it's umm… me." I said. That was a stupid thing to say but it was the only thing I could come up with. There was a long silence as Cassidy tried to figure out who I was.
"Rachel?" She asked at last. Well at least she hadn't completely forgotten me.
"Yeah." I answered, "How are you?" She laughed. There was no hatred or resentment in her voice at all. Maybe I was blowing this whole thing out of proportion. I shouldn't have been nervous to call her in the first place. I was very curious about why she was with my ex-boyfriend though.
"I'm good. This is perfect timing. I just got off the plane from L.A like an hour ago. I was going to surprise you by showing up at your house but Jason tells me you don't live in Bon Temps anymore. I saw him at Merlotte's when I had no where else to go… I would have called you but I lost your number. Convenient right? Anyways, Jason said I could stay with him until I figured out what was going on and where you were and all that. Wow Rachel, I missed you, it's been a long time." Wait? She was back in town. I looked over at Eric with an alarmed expression.
"Yeah, it has been." I replied awkwardly, "Why are you back Cass?" I asked her and there was a bit of a pause.
"Maybe we could talk about that when I see you. Can we meet up tonight? Unless you've got plans or something…"
"No. That sounds great we could meet up at Merlotte's…" Eric squeezing me tightly interrupted my train of thought and I looked at him to see him shaking his head at me, "Actually you know, there's this club in Shreveport that we could meet at. I know you're under aged and all but I'll tell them to let you in." Eric nodded once in approval. Cassidy agreed quickly and we said our goodbyes.
"I'll inform Pam of…" He struggled to remember my sister's name.
"Cassidy." I answered.
"Right, I'll inform Pam of Cassidy's arrival immediately." Eric said and picked up his phone. I sighed and fell back on the bed. I couldn't believe this was all happening so fast. Maybe the dream did mean something. Or maybe I just had impeccable timing… but my sister being in town again after two years of nothing but silence between the two of us. That couldn't be good.
Happy New Year everybody! It's a whole new year of Rachel, Eric, Godric, Jason and a whole new addition to the story… Cassidy. Cassidy is back in town for a still unknown reason… as in I haven't thought of anything yet and Rachel is going to meet up with her in the next chapter. We are also going to get a little bit of her point of view and what happens when she meets Rachel's new "friends".
Please leave suggestions, votes and comments in the review section bellow. The next chapter is already almost done but I might not post it until I get to my very ambitious goal of 40 reviews. Just kidding I probably will BUT I'm real lazy so I promise that if I haven't already the moment I get my 40th review I will post the next chapter within the next 10 minutes of the time I realize I got it (and I check my e-mail compulsively). So make it fast cause I'm real excited about the next few chapters and I hope that you are too!
X0X0
Summer Jane
