Unconscious Fears
By: Alyson Tierney
Disclaimer: I do not own Lorelai or Rory Gilmore, or any other character associated with Gilmore Girls the way it is seen on television. Those characters and other related things and ideas belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB Network. However, Alicia and Arielle's characters are figments of my own imagination, so I do own them. Please do not use them without my permission. Thank you.
Author's Note: This story is the sequel to my story "Arielle." If you don't read it first, you will be quite lost as far as the Alicia and Arielle storyline. Everything that has happened up to the Gilmore Girls episode "Not as Cute as Pushkin" is consistent with this story, but after that, it takes its own path, so relationships and other facts may be different than on the show. I am not a dream doctor, nor do I know anything about dreams, so if the dream interpreter is way off, please don't shout at me. Enjoy and please R&R!
CHAPTER ONE
Rory Gilmore tossed in her sleep, trying to escape the images going through her head. There was blood everywhere, on everything in the familiar living room turned butcher shop. Blood streaked the walls, the windows, and the carpet. Rory's heart clenched as she looked down at her mother's pale body. Lorelai looked dead. There were no apparent signs of injury, but the paleness and coldness of her mother made Rory absolutely sure she was dead. Where was the blood coming from? It was everywhere, the coppery smell tingling Rory's nostrils. She wanted to move, call 911 and have the doctors save her mother, but she couldn't. She just stood there and stared, as the prone figure on the floor began to decompose rapidly. Rory cried out, and struggled to wake up. She knew she had to be dreaming, but she just couldn't shake it. Lorelai was a skeleton now, the bones white and pristine. Rory choked back a sob, urging her mind to wake her up. Come on, wake up. Wake up, Rory.
Rory let out a strangled cry, as she sat straight up in bed and opened her eyes wide in terror. Her breath was coming in small gasps as she tried to choke back the fear. Pushing her hair back from her eyes, Rory breathed deeply, trying to get her breathing under control. She looked around and sure enough, she was safely in bed in her dorm room. Outside was dark and still, clearly it was still the middle of the night. She took a breath, trying to calm her hammering heart, leaned over to the bedside table, and flipped on the lamp. Reaching for her cell phone, she saw that it was almost four. Not really caring, Rory dialed the familiar number, holding the phone to her ear, she let it ring. Once. Twice. Three times.
Finally, someone picked up, "Hello?" the voice mumbled.
"Hi, Mom." Rory said, letting her sleepy and timid voice tell her mom exactly why she was calling.
"Hey, babe." Lorelai said, sleepily, "Did it come back?"
"Yeah." Rory kept her answer short, because Lorelai already knew what she was talking about. They'd had this conversation for the past five nights now.
"Oh, honey. It's just a dream. Nothing's going to happen to me." Lorelai assured her daughter, "I still think you're just stressing because of midterms, but they'll be over tomorrow, and you'll come home and you and I will have over a week to hang out."
"I guess so…" Rory said, uncertainly.
"Honey, they started on the night before you started midterms. They'll probably be gone tomorrow night, and you'll be home and you can hang out with Lane and Alicia and your wonderful mother." Lorelai's voice sounded so certain and sure of herself that Rory had to giggle.
"How is Alicia, anyway? Is Arielle crawling yet?" Rory asked, her voice perking up at the mention of her friend and her friend's daughter.
"They're both great. Alicia is doing such a great job; you did a really good job training her over your winter break. Arielle's great, too, but no crawling as of yet. She's probably waiting for Auntie Rory to come and see her crawl on all fours for the first time, so in the meantime, she's decided to just stick with the safer belly-crawl. You know, being nine inches off the ground is a lot for a 7-month-old." Lorelai said, and Rory could just tell she was smiling.
"Of course." Rory grinned. She was still worried that her dream was something worse than just stress, but maybe her mom was right. She'd be home tomorrow, and everything would be good.
"So, when can I expect you back in the Hollow?" Lorelai asked, jolting Rory out of her thoughts.
Rory thought for a moment, "Well, I have one midterm in the morning, and then Logan and I are meeting for coffee, and then I'll get my stuff together and drive back. So, maybe mid-afternoon?"
"Okay, babe. I'm at the Inn in the morning, and then Luke and I are having lunch, and then I'm going home to see if I can figure out the problem with our roof." Lorelai said.
"There's a problem with our roof?" Rory asked, concerned, "You are not climbing on it so you can cut yourself again."
Lorelai sighed, "I'll be careful, I promise, Mom."
Rory giggled, "Thank you. What's the problem?"
"We have a waterfall of water gushing over the top of the rain gutter. Some of it is getting on the ceiling over the patio and it's getting grungy looking." Lorelai explained.
"That's the rain gutter, not the roof. Why don't you get your boyfriend to clean it?" Rory asked.
Lorelai chuckled, "He said he would get to it eventually…and he said that like five weeks ago."
"Well, at least it's less than six months. That's how long it took Max to clean ours." Rory pointed out, and then yawned.
"Tired, babe?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah, a bit." Rory turned off the light and lay back down, "Will you sing me to sleep like you did last night?" she asked.
"Of course." Lorelai answered. She dropped her voice to a soft, soothing whisper, and began to sing. Rory closed her eyes and listened, feeling safe and comforted. She let herself be lulled to sleep, knowing that once her mom disconnected the line, her phone would shut off.
