the old stone castle, running from someone or something, she couldn’t make out what or who it was, but it was scary. The scariest thing she’d ever seen in her life. She was panicked and almost in tears.
Her legs were going faster and faster as she tried to get away from this monster.
Then, all of sudden, it was gone.
She lost the monster and found herself in a field. A large open field surrounded by tall oak trees that were so tall the tops of them were in the clouds.
Then, she spotted it. A large elk with giant antlers. She ran over it to and pounced, knocking it to the ground, its hoofs kicking up in the air. Out of her fingers emerged long, sharp claws, almost like talons that would come out of an eagle or a giant fowl, and then she started attacking it, slicing its body with her sharp claws and watching the blood ooze out of the large gaping wounds. Her long, white fangs descended from her gums as she sank her teeth down into the neck of this animal. The taste of this elk was the best thing she’d tasted in a long time and she knew she wanted more. She looked around to see if there was another elk in sight, but there wasn’t. She lapped up all the blood from its lacerations and then she sat down next to it, leaning against its lifeless body. She cried. Large tears streamed down her face as she saw the blood all over her body and on the ground. She couldn’t believe what she’d done to this helpless animal.
“Why? Oh Why God? What has come over me?” Rachel asked.
She then felt her body fall down to the ground and when she looked back the elk’s body was gone. She looked around here; it was nowhere to be found.
Her body shook and she started to cough, and then she sat straight up, sweating, breathing heavy in her bed. It felt so real to her. Did that really just happen? She looked down at her hands, searching for her talons, but they had disappeared. She tried to taste the blood still in her mouth but all she could taste was the left over toothpaste that remained on her lips from the night before. It was the most real dream she’d ever dreamt.
She looked over at the clock and it read 4:45am. It was still early: Too early to get up for school. She lay there, wide-awake, staring at the ceiling, as the minutes ticked by slowly thinking about her dream. Thinking about what it all meant. I felt so real to her. It felt natural. She didn’t know what the meaning of it was, but she knew that it was more than just a dream. It was almost as if a past life was creeping into her brain. She couldn’t get it out of her head. As much as she tried to change her focus she couldn’t. Her mind kept racing back to her fangs, her talons, and the scary monster that was chasing her. It was all such a nightmare, yet all felt so real.
BEEP BEEP BEEP.
The sound of her alarm clock rang in her ear. She quickly reached over to her nightstand and pushed the snooze button. She wasn’t ready to get up. She wasn’t feeling quite like herself this morning. Maybe because she’d been up for hours already or maybe it was her dream. Somehow she felt the urge to feed. What was she even thinking? What did that all mean? It was all too confusing to her and she knew she had to get up and get ready for school.
BEEP BEEP BEEP.
The alarm went off again, this time she rose out of bed and hit the alarm off button. She knew she had to let the bad dream out of her head before she got to school. She couldn’t let it cloud her Monday morning. She had a fun week ahead of her with her friends and her afterschool activities and she didn’t want anything to spoil it.
Rachel felt excited to go to school in the morning. She’d felt like it had been a while since she was at school, even thought it had only been three days since school let out on Friday. She couldn’t wait to see her friends to talk about what had happened over the weekend. She knew they’d have some insight on what went on Saturday night that left her in a field with a strange guy.
She went downstairs to have breakfast and saw Mark and her dad already sitting there. Her dad was reading the local paper and Mark was texting on his cell phone. It was hard to talk to Mark these days since he was always on his cell. He barely lifted his eyes up from the screen.
“Morning!” Rachel said with a smile.
“Good Morning, Rachel,” her dad said.
“Good Morning, Mark!” Rachel reiterated.
“Oh..yo,” Mark said.
“Hurry up and eat, we’re going to be late,” her dad said looking at the clock on the microwave.
Rachel scarfed down a bowl of cereal and headed out to their station wagon, which sat in the driveway.
“Shot gun!” Mark yelled as he made his way to the front seat.
“Ugh! I get it next time,” Rachel said.
“At least we don’t have to fight Sarah for it!” Mark said.
“Ha. True!” Rachel agreed.
As the three of them drove to school, she couldn’t help but think about this past weekend and how strange it all felt. She kept playing back her time in the field with Benji but for some reason the pieces didn’t fit together. She couldn’t make sense of it all.
BUZZ BUZZ
Her cell phone went off and she opened it and saw a text from Dana.
Dana: Hey! You on your way?
Rachel: Yup! Coming now!
Dana: We are all here! WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU!
Rachel: Ditto!
Rachel didn’t know what the whole fanfare was all about or why Dana would be texting her so early. Especially since she knew she’d see her in a few minutes at school. It seemed odd to her, but she didn’t question it.
As the car pulled into the semi circular driveway of her high school, she felt at ease. She couldn’t wait to catch up with her friends and she couldn’t wait to see what she got on her math test from last week. It was going to be an exciting day.
“Rachel, I want you to go visit your mother this afternoon,” her dad said.
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked.
“I think it’s time you two got together,” her dad answered.
“But…” Rachel said.
“There are no buts. You will go today after school,” her dad demanded.
“Fine!” Rachel said.
“I will pick you up at three and we will drive there together. Mark you will come, too,” her dad said.
“I can’t go today, Dad. I have practice. Don’t you remember?” Mark said.
“Ok, fine. You will go later in the week then.”
Rachel got out of the back seat of the car, slammed the door shut and walked towards the front entrance of the school. She was immediately taken back by all the stares and whispers from upper and lower classmen. Even kids she didn’t recognize were turning their heads and staring at her as if she were some alien from outer space. She touched her face and her hair to make sure she didn’t have a booger coming out of her nose or her hair wasn’t standing straight up. She looked down at her clothes, too, but there was nothing out of place. The stares and whispers grew louder as she walked in through the front doors.
She stood there for a moment, taking it all in. For a moment she had a flashback of a different school and a different time. She quickly snapped out of it when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Hey there!” Dana said.
“Dana! Hi!” Rachel said.
“Didn’t think you were serious, but here you are! In the flesh!” Dana said.
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked.
“Well, I’m just surprised to see you,” Dana said.