Another Chapter! Should have a new post up in Twenty Dollars tonight. Enjoy this new one. It's kinda freaky.
R&R
That night, Brennan sat in her apartment with a glass of wine in hand. She slowly took a sip and sat contemplating the things that Angela had said to her. She was content in her life, and that was more that most people could ask for. Being happy all the time was irrational. No one is happy all the time, and there weren't any variables in her life at the moment to make happiness any more or less a reality. Bewildered by her friend's remarks, Brennan shrugged and walked into the kitchen, disposing of her wine down the drain and placing the glass next to the sink to wash the next day.
She padded down the hallway to her bathroom and washed her face. Despite the irrationality of it, she was a little apprehensive about going to bed. The last thing she needed right now was her dreams hounding her to celebrate Christmas considering everyone in real life was already hounding her about it.
Entering her room, she turned on the light and pulled her shirt over her head on the way to the bed when her foot hit a soft rustling object. She tossed her shirt toward her hamper and bent down to pick up the object that was half concealed by the footboard of her bed. It was a trash bag. For a moment, a single moment without rational thought she considered the fact that perhaps her dream had been a reality. She shook her head, effectively shaking the thought away and placed it on her dresser to put away in the morning.
Crawling into bed, she draped the plush sheets over her body and closed her eyes, willing her subconscious mind not to bring up the holidays again.
* * *
Temperance felt like she was tossing and turning for hours. Finally, aggravated by the lack of sleep that was occurring during her sleep time, she rolled over and turned on the light next to her bed. Falling back down onto the mattress and yawning, she roughly kicked the sheets off of her legs and sighed.
"You should be asleep." A voice said.
Temperance sat up in her bed and looked out the door of her bedroom to find herself leaning up against the doorframe. Her eyebrow quirked and then she realized that she was obviously dreaming again and laughed.
"What is so funny?" Her doppelganger asked her.
"This is a dream." Temperance said, "A strange dream, but a dream nonetheless." She said throwing her feet over the side of the bed and standing up. She brushed passed herself and made her way to the kitchen and pulled a beer out of the bottom drawer of her fridge. She had followed herself.
"Do you want a beer as well?" She asked herself.
Her doppelganger shook her head, "No thanks, I'm okay."
"So are you here to tell me about how I should celebrate the Christmas Holiday or else my life is going to end up in an abysmal pit of self pity and dread as well?" She asked popping the top of the beer off and chucking it in the garbage can.
The doppelganger shrugged, "Essentially."
Temperance hummed in understanding, "Well, you can skip it. I had enough Holiday spirit lectured at me over the past few days; I don't need myself telling me that as well."
The doppelganger leaned forward and rested her forearms on the island counter, "We've been alone for a long time." She says, and Temperance quirks her eyebrow at herself.
"I have been alone for a long time; you are a hallucination and have only existed for about five minutes."
"That is a fair assessment of the situation." The doppelganger said quirking a smile at her.
Temperance laughed, "I don't understand why celebrating Christmas has anything to do with my future happiness. It's a holiday that I don't agree with celebrating. I'm not religious in anyway."
The doppelganger laughed and stood up straight, "You're being too literal." She said walking around the counter to where Temperance stood, "That is one of your fatal flaws. It's not about Christmas, Temperance." She said, placing a hand on her twin's shoulder.
Temperance stepped away and took a swig of her beer, "Then what is this all about?"
The doppelganger crossed her arms and laughed, "I can't tell you that."
Temperance gave her doppelganger a once over, "Whatever part of my subconscious made you up did a very poor job. You look like me, but you don't sound like me at all." She said, draining the bottle and tossing it into the recycling can. She brushed past herself and made her way back to her bedroom, to find herself already tucked into the bed.
She stopped short at the threshold of the door and looked back toward the kitchen and at the bed again, "Get out of my bed." She said coldly.
"You need to listen to me." The doppelganger demanded.
Temperance walked to her bed and threw back the covers angrily and pointed toward the door, "I don't need to listen to anyone. Now get out."
Reluctantly the doppelganger exited the bed and watched Temperance crawl under the covers. Temperance stared at her before she raised her hand into the air, "Hopefully you'll listen tomorrow night." She said, snapping her fingers and effectively turning out the light without touching it.
Temperance turned over in her bed and drifted off to sleep.
