Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or situations. I wish I did, but I don't. Please read and review, be nice, I'm new to the whole thing, I've heard about those people who do nothing but bash your story so if you're going to be one of those people, please refrain from reviewing, Constructive criticism is encouraged but say someting nice too. Thankyou.
Laurel walked up and down her hallway. Her insomnia getting the better of her yet again. She talked to herself as she walked. "Get away for a while, they said. You need somewhere quiet. Take a vacation. Bah! What do they know. If only they'd just given me the Ambien like I'd asked." Sighing heavily, she decided to go down to the kitchen to get a glass of milk. That always helped her to sleep when she was a child, why wouldn't it work for her at twenty eight? She was about halfway down trhe stairs when a lightning strike and thunder clap startled her, nearly out of her mind. She screamed. "Oh, yeah. That's all I need now... A storm to keep me up." She turned to the sky and asked "Are you happy?" Exhaling angrily she continued to the kitchen.
She flipped on the light, it's halogen bulb giving the room a blueish tint. Walking over to cupboard, Laurel retrieved a coffee cup and set it on the counter. She never drank coffee but the cups were good for cocoa in the winter. She opened the refridgerator and pulled out the milk gallon. Upon opening the plastic container she gasped. "Ugh!" and she promptly dropped it into the trash. "Well, so much for that idea." she said as she put the cup back.
Laurel decided to watch some t.v. to help tire her eyes out. That worked sometimes too. So she turned and exited the kitchen, flipping the switch as she past it. The room went dark behind her. As she turned the corner her long nightgown caught on the fireplace poker tearing it a little. "Son of a..." she began but stopped when she saw that her television was already on. "I didn't leave you on. Did I?" she asked. There was a movie playing so, having forgotten about the rip in her night dress, Laurel plopped down on her sofa and gazed into the flickering blue lights of the t.v.
At the bottom of the screen it said 'you are now watching King Arthur'. Hmm, thought Laurel and she settled in to watch one of her favorite movies. It was at a critical moment in the film. The ice battle. Laurel gritted her teeth and eeped every time a arrow was let fly by the enemy. Silly for her to be so concerned with the fates of fictional characters but hell, what else was there to do. She became so wrapped up in the movie that, after a hour and a half, she was still wide awake. The grandfather clock in the upper hallway chimed and Laurel looked up. Three in the morning. The movie was winding down so she decided to stay up til the end.
The storm still raged outside, causing the picture to get fuzzy every now and again. The film was almost to the very end. Lancelot and Cynric were nearing the end of their epic fight when the screen went to snow. "NO!" Laurel shouted in protest. She jumped up and went to the wire behind the t.v. Sometimes if you wiggled it, the picture would come back on, even in storms. So she reached behind the devise and took hold of the cable. As she jiggled it the windows lit up with another flash of lightning. A strange sensation came over he and she felt uneasy. She went to let go of the cable but it was too late. A surge of electricity coursed through her body. She fell backwards on the floor, unable to move. Darkness claimed her.
When Laurel opened her eyes she was in her own bed. The morning sun was just starting to shine in her windows. She groaned and held her head. It throbbed something terrible. Sitting up she wondered how she had gotten into her bed. She lived alone. The pain in her head only worsened when she thought about it. Slowly she rose from her bed and made her way down the hall to the stairs. At the top of the stairs she heard voices. Male voices. Laurel crept down the stairs and peeked around the corner. In her kitchen were six men, all of them were wearing body armor. One of them, with curly hair was busying himself flicking the light switch on and off. This was annoying the others to no end apparently because one of them, obviously the leader shouted "Lancelot stop that! Sit down." The curly haired man frowned and sat in one of the wooden diningroom chairs. He crossed his arms and pouted.
Laurel scratched her head. Clearing her throat she made her presence known. To her surprise all seven of them stood up. Her eyes grew wide. "Um, Who are you?" she asked warily.
The leader took a step rowards Laurel and bowed. "I, Lady am Lucius Artorius Castus and these men are my knights."
"Huh?" asked Laurel as she scratched her head in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Are you serious? Arthur Castus? For real?"
"I assure you my Lady, I am real. As real as you are." Arthur took a step towards the girl but she backed away.
Taking a step backward, Laurel nearly fell on her backside. One of the "knights" who was closest to her reached out and steadied her. "Are you ok?" he asked. His very light brown hair and blue eyes were startlingly handsome. Laurel blushed.
The one calling himself Arthur stood up and paced the room. He stopped momentarily to examine the variety of kitchen tools that littered the countertop and sink. Gingerly picking up a cheese grater he asked. "What sort of devilry has brought us here?" He handled the grater with trepidation and set it down as carefully as he had picked it up, as if he was unsure if it would explode or lash out and bite him at any second.
"Umm, that is a cheese grater." said Laurel. "And I don't know what brought you here. I was..." her voice trailed off. Then it hit her and she slapper her forehead. "I was hit by lightning! I'm dreaming!" She laughed aloud and retreated to the living room. There stood the burned and still smoking television. "crap." she said under her breath.
"You aren't dreaming." came a voice. Laurel turned her head to see the curly haired one, Lancelot, standing behind the couch. "That... whatever you call it, was the first thing that we saw when we came to. I don't know what has happened but it has to be put right. Do you agree?" He pointed to the broken t.v. as if it were a dead monster.
Groaning and holding her head Laurel nodded. "Yeah, I guess." She looked to Lancelot with a worry. "Got any ideas?"
His eyes grew wide and he shook his head. "No, I don't."
Another knight entered the room now, this one was eating a perfectly polished yellow apple. He was followed shortly thereafter by the rest of them.The handsome one that had kept her from falling coming in last. His eyes locked on her the minute he spotted her. He smiled.
"Perhaps if you tell us the events that led up to your being struck by lightning." suggested Arthur. "We may be able to assertain how we got here and how to get back." There was hope in his eyes, but his alone. The others were doubtful. Laurel could see it on their faces.
So, taking in a deep breath, Laurel went into how she couldn't sleep and decided to watch a movie. She had to detour a moment to explain what a movie was. They all thought it quite magical and odd. Arthur urged her to continue. She told of the screen going blank and how she had tried to fix it and the feeling of the electricity coursing through her. Again she had to stop to tell them about electricity. That, they all seemed facinated in, especially Lancelot. He was busying himself during the tale by inspecting all the gadgets around the livingroom. He had turned on the radio but couldn't remember how and was having difficulty in making it stop. Laurel had to rescue him.
"Lancelot, sit down and stop fiddling with stuff." said the large bald knight. So he did sit down, in one of the lavish looking easy chairs. Which to his great joy, as he soon discovered, was a recliner. The large one, called Bors, leaned foreward and slapped Lancelot in the back of the head. Laurel snickered. Lancelot of all of them was at least amusing her.
After she finished her story, Arthur sat back and scratched his chin. "I see. So we're not real to you. We came from this movie thing, then. Right?"
"As far as I can tell yes, but as I'm sitting here looking at you guys and talking to you, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're real. To me anyways."
"So how do we get back?" asked the littlest knight, this one called Galahad.
"If I knew, I'd tell you. I really would." said Laurel. She felt bad for him. He alone of the six looked terrified. "But I couldn't begin to explain it. I don't understand these kind of things. I'm just as much a victim here as you guys are." She really wanted to tell him something reassuring but she couldn't think of anything to say. she shifted uneasily in her seat.