Chapter 4

When I got home, I decided it was going to be one of the rare days I take a nap because I really had had enough with the day already. I fell into a deep sleep and started dreaming, but this dream felt so…familiar. So real, even though I was positive I have never been there before. I stood barefoot and alone in a field of dandelions. I looked down at the plain white sundress I was wearing as I felt the slight breeze blow the fabric away from my legs. The bright yellow was so vibrant in the sunlight and stretched on for what looked like miles, then suddenly stopped and I could see vivid blue sky beyond it. Probably a cliff or something.

"Hey Vero! Wake up, sister. We have some major work to do, and you're looking off into space. If you don't get your act together before Nikos gets here, I swear to Satan, I will hurt you."

I turned swiftly and saw Claudia standing behind me, a field of dandelions stretching out behind her as well in a dress identical to mine. Unlike in all our real-life encounters, she had a warm smile on her face and a genuinely happy look in her eyes. She actually looked happy to see me. And for some reason, I was happy to see her too. I felt a large smile form on my face. I had no control over this dream-body of mine. I felt like a prisoner in my own mind, chained to watch and feel what my dream-self did with no input whatsoever.

"Whatever, Callie. Just because it means the world to you to impress Nikos doesn't mean I have anything to do with it. Don't you feel any shame? You scared off our last mentor like this too." My dream-self tsked, but remained smiling at Claudia. Callie? What was I doing? For some reason, I felt like Claudia was my friend in this dream and yet I couldn't think of anyone I hated more than her right now. What is going on in this dream!

Claudia laughed. "Well, whatever. You know me. Anyway, do you have any idea why they put us in these horrid dresses? I can almost feel my skin burning, it's so bad. And even worse, why would they bring us to such a bright setting? It's giving me a headache. All these bright colors remind me of everything I hate about this stupid world." Claudia had an expression of pure disgust as she looked around at the field. "I feel for vampires so much right now. I would actually take it as a blessing if this sunlight would burn me up into dust right now."

My dream-self laughed at that, but it wasn't my laugh. It dripped with venom and malice. I would've shuddered if I had a body at the moment. It sounded so…maleficent. "I know what you mean. Nikos clearly wants to make us suffer before he gives us our objective today. Maybe it's a teaching technique?" Claudia shrugged. "Ugh, can he just let us get out of these stupid dresses? We aren't angels, and they would probably kick our butts for even remotely looking like them, minus the fluffy wings and halos." I liked that dress! It was like this dream-self was a completely different person but I knew it wasn't. I knew it was supposed to be me, only it wasn't really me. My brain hurt from all the confusion.

"Unfortunately for you two, you won't be getting out of anything." I turned to my right where a young man had suddenly manifested a few meters away in the deserted field. He walked over to me and Claudia, a sly grin on his face, but his expression screamed cruel amusement. He had short, spiky jet black hair and a pale skin tone that made his pink lips stand out as if they were blood red. He was wearing a black leather jacket over a plain dark red shirt and baggy black cargo pants. Needless to say, he stood out like a sore thumb in the bright scenery we were in. As he got closer, I noticed he had a very sharp jawline, which I have to say, made him a little more attractive, but what really interested me was the fact that this guy had blood red irises. From afar, they had looked like a dark brown or something, but seeing they were red…I was suddenly more on edge than I had been before, but I wasn't scared of him. I felt a sense of comfort around him, even though I was pretty sure he could kill me without a thought if he wanted to. My dream-self recognized that this man was Nikos, the 'mentor'.

I woke with a start. "Veronica! Wake up, silly!" My mom yelled from downstairs. "C'mon. Dinner time."

I felt wide awake, cold, and very nervous. The dream had felt so real, yet it wasn't the setting or the people that felt real. It was the entire experience felt so real and familiar…could that have possibly been one of my missing memories? Was that dream-self a past me? The thought made me shiver as I got out of bed and rushed downstairs. I had to stop thinking about it.

Only I couldn't stop. I sat at dinner like a zombie, grunting answers rather than using words. I saw my parents exchange worried glances, but I really didn't care. My mind was preoccupied running in circles around the same questions with no visible connections. Well, except for the fact that Claudia seemed to know me well both in real life and the dream. After dinner, I went straight back to me room and paced. I figured the only one who could give me any answers was Claudia, and she did say I could summon her if I didn't ask questions I knew she wouldn't answer so…

I plopped down on my bed, crossed my legs and focused. I almost pulled up the image of the dog again, but I decided against it. How childish was I that I needed to imagine a dog to use an amazing power? Instead, I stared at the digital clock on my bedside table. STOP, I told the clock in my head. Funny enough, the last digit was in the process of changing from a 4 to a 5, but it looked like a faded 8 instead. I giggled to myself until I realized I had no way of actually finding Claudia. Yes, I had all the time I needed technically, but where would I even begin to look?

I started freaking out in my head. Am I going to have to walk around the whole neighbourhood looking for her? What if she's not in the neighbourhood, or any neighbourhood around here? What if she just keeps moving looking for me? I'll never find her. Why didn't I think this through?!

"Oh, calm your whiskers already. I told you I would come find you, didn't I? Honestly, do you listen to anything I say?" I turned to my open doorway and saw Claudia leaning on the doorframe with crossed arms, looking bored as ever. Her black hair hung around her face in loose ringlets, a change from her normal straight ponytail. I had never seen her out of uniform before, but she dressed like someone who was about to paint a house. Her ratty t-shirt had small holes in it and was clearly 2 sizes too big for her small frame. She wore old skinny jeans that looked too big for her legs, which defeated the purpose entirely. Even her shoes looked like they should've been thrown out years ago because they were in such bad shape. She raised an eyebrow and looked amused. "Like what you see?"

"Not exactly. Do you always dress like this when you leave school?" I replied.

Her expression darkened. "At least I change out of my uniform, unlike Miss Preppy over here." I looked down and realized I hadn't changed before my nap. I blushed lightly and Claudia smiled. "That's what I thought. So what do you want this time? I hope you know stopping time twice in one day is going to make normal people feel like their day has gone on forever. Not that you should care about them, I'm just pointing that out."

"I…I have a question."

"And have you done anything to earn it between now and your last question? Because if not, you are wasting my time." Her smile fell again. "And I do not like people wasting my time."

"I think I remembered something important."

"You think? How do you not know?"

"Because it was a dream."

She pondered that for a moment. "What makes you think it was a memory?"

"Because even though I'd never been there or experienced it or even met one of the people there, everything felt familiar to me, yet I wasn't in control of myself. It's hard to explain."

Claudia straightened up and paced slowly through my room, noticing my things in the process. She stopped pacing after a few minutes, her back to me. "Alright, it probably was a memory. What was it?"

"I'm not telling you that. You keep your many secrets; I get to keep some of mine."

She turned her head slowly and I could only see half her face, but what I saw was an expression of pure evil. It even seemed like her eyes had gotten darker. I backed up a little on my bed and tensed my muscles in case I had to run. Fast. "Do not mess with me, Vero. I am not in the mood."

"I only wanted to ask you a question so I can see if it is a memory or really just a dream."

Her expression lightened slightly and she turned her body towards me. I relaxed my muscles, the flight instinct subsiding. "Fine. I'll allow it, but the next time you want something, you better not defy me like this." Her eyes darkened again. "You'll regret it."

"Alright, I get it. Did we ever…have a mentor together?"

Claudia's face turned white as a sheet and all the darkness seeped out of her face. She looked…scared. "I-I-I…" Her hand shook as she tried to speak. She didn't say anything for a minute, but colour slowly came back into her face. She cleared her throat once her face had half its original colour, but the dark emotion crawled back into her eyes. "I'm not answering that. Now, if you don't mind, I have things to do in real time. Good day." She turned her back to me and vanished. I sat there, speechless, but when I looked over at my clock, the last digit had turned to 5.

How dare she just…disappear on me? It hadn't been one of her restricted questions, it had nothing to do with the general picture, and it was a very harmless question. Yet she freaked out and teleported away from me. What was up with that?

She teleported away from me. Teleportation. How had I suddenly become at ease with the supernatural? I had never been a believer in powers or anything out of the ordinary, and yet, in less than a week, I was totally cool with the fact that I could stop time and who knows what else. I wasn't freaking out over the fact that Claudia could probably read my mind, stop time, and teleport. No, I was freaking out over the fact that she couldn't answer a simple question. Forget what was wrong with her. What was wrong with me?