Welcome To My Nightmare

"Mom and Dad are here."

It sounded so familiar, so natural: the favorite daughter-in-law talking about her favorite parents-in-law. It was like she was a sister he never had, how comfortable she was with his family. The kind of girl you bring home to the folks and they like her so much they warn you that if you two break up, she's staying. And he loved that about her.

A brief flash of panic stopped him on the stairs. That wasn't right. Mom and Dad were dead--weren't they? Had that, too, just been a part of his horribly vivid comatose dreams?

He pushed past her and hurtled down the rest of the stairs to make certain.

And, sure enough, there she stood by the window, looking out sadly, until she saw him and turned towards him, opening her arms wide: "Mom," Rome whispered, whimpered, even, and actually fell into her arms, like he was a giant six-year-old. She wrapped her arms around him and he felt safer there than he had in...he couldn't remember how long. Mariane Remington had never been big on the doting thing, or overt displays of affection. So this was a welcome change:

"My boy, my boy," she whispered, pulling him away to look at him. She seemed about to say something as she searched his face, but only pulled him back into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here, Mom," Rome said, slurred slightly by his face pressing against her shoulder.

"Why wouldn't we be here, Rome?"

"I...dunno." Rome sniffed. "Where's Dad?"

"Outside, by the pool," Adara said.

"We have a pool?!" he blurted out before he could stop himself. The two women looked immediately uncomfortable, so he spoke again, quickly. Rome hated awkwardness: "Uh, I mean, yeah, of course we do, you know. I just...crack on the old dome. I'm forgetting weird things, like--"

"It's all right, son, we know," Mariane said, brushing the longish hair back from his face to reveal a stitching scar along his brow. "You don't have to apologize." She kissed the spot and then told him, "Go see your father."

Roger Remington indeed stood outside, contemplating the pool. Dad had an athletic body, even now: he had always loved swimming, and tennis, and polo, hunting, golf and other rich guy sports--and he still loved them, apparently. He looked like he was half-contemplating diving into the pool in his his suit until he heard the screen door open, at which he turned and gave Rome a soft smile.

"C'mere, son," he said, opening his arms wide. Roger had never been shy about displays of affection. So it was no surprise to Rome that when he got up close, tears were glistening on his father's cheeks: he had always been closest to Rawson.

"Thanks for coming, Dad," Rome said, embracing his father.

"We've been here since the accident, though of course you probably don't remember that," Roger explained. "I'm glad you're up today, though. Glad you'll be able to see him, you know, one last time." This was awkward, so he quickly continued on another track, finally breaking the hug but still leaving an arm around his son's shoulder. "Adara is just divine, she's been so good to us while we've been staying here, and of course on top of looking after you..."

Rome nodded. "Yeah, I know." He forced a laugh. "I know how to pick 'em."

"Boys?" came his mother's voice from inside the house. "It's time to go."

Hunters

In front of the B&B, a long black limo awaits flying funeral flags. It will take you to the grave site.

The Funeral

It's a beautiful, clear morning. The sun is still low in the sky, but it is rising slowly, drying the glinting dew off the grass.

The cemetery is a pretty spot. A lake shimmers not far away and trees offer shade and a bit of privacy for mourners.

The casket is beautiful dark wood, the top is open. Rawson lays inside dressed in his formal dress uniform. He looks quiet and peaceful.

White chairs surround the site and flowers are everywhere.

~~~~~~~~~

Adara tucked herself under Rome's arm when he came back inside.

"Ready to go?" She said quietly.

"Not really...but I don't think I'll ever be."

She nodded and leaned her head against his chest as they walked to the limo waiting outside.

The drive was quiet and quick.

The driver moved around and opened the door for them. Adara linked her arm through Rome's as they walked across the grass to where the casket was surrounded by white chairs.

Rome's knees were trembling.

He couldn't really feel anything else.

He didn't want to look inside the casket. But he couldn't really see anything else. He was aware of other people, other things around him. But he couldn't see them. Couldn't focus. His vision tunneled and focused on the dark wood and what he knew lay inside.

"Oh, God, Raws," Rome said, and looked inside, and immediately burst into tears.

Rawson looked more peaceful than Rome had ever seen him. Horrible, distorted, not-Raws, and very much not alive. But recognizable as his brother.

Dead.

This was his first real chance to grieve. Up until now, it could have been a hoax, a lie, for whatever reason. Now here was Rawson's body. His dead body.

"Raws I--I'm sorry..." he said. He wasn't sure why. And then two things happened:

Rawson's eyes opened.

And the casket moved.

"Whoa, sh*t!" Rome said, and fell back, before he realized what had just actually freaking happened. One, Rawson definitely opened his eyes. Blinked. Looked at him, confused. Like he couldn't believe he was dead, either.

And then Rome had moved the casket. Shoved it. Not more than a few inches to the side, but, yeah, he had just moved a casket that took six people to carry. Problem was, he wasn't touching the casket at the time.

Adara rushed to his side, as did his mother and a few others. "Rome! Rome, are you all right? What happened?"

"I--" Rome stammered for a minute before deciding to do what he did best: lie. "Uh...I don't know, I just--I can't--I can't look at him..."

Rome let himself be guided back to a chair, and there deposited, shaking and sobbing with a distress that was only partially faked, to figure out what the hell had just happened.

I know how you feel Rome. I know how it feels to lose a brother.

Lenna heard Rome say "Raws I--I'm sorry..." before he jumped back as if Raws had punched him, which was impossible. Raws was dead. But the horror on Rome’s face realised a new memory in her mind.

The stranger broke into their apartment and told the ridiculous story that her brother is a werewolf the police got him and the poor guy is looked up in a nuthouse forever. But something was odd about this memory she couldn’t help but she felt she knew the stranger, and she never stopped think that she opened the door for him.

I’m still feeling guilty for Nick’s death. But Raws died of a different reason, it was a car crash nothing more. It wasn’t Rome's fault. He wasn’t even driving.

But the horror in Rome’s eyes weird, it was as if she had seen it before. In another live or just in a dream. When suddenly a name in her head appeared. Andre.

She didn’t know any Andres why did she think of that name? And why did she feel angry when she saw Adara close to Rome? And this weird warm tickling in her left hand. This all makes no sense.

Is it just me or is the air thicker? But that can’t be, the air can’t change its density. That would be border on witchcraft and there is no such thing as witchcraft.

Lenna tried to stop thinking about all those weird things and thought of all the memories of Raws she had. Lenna took a deap breath and went over to Rome. She didn't feel like talking to Adara, but she wanted to be there for Rome.

"Hey Rome. Are you okay. I mean... no you are not, but..."

Stupid question of course he is not okay, what am I thinking?

"I mean is there anything I can do for you?"

Lenna was standing shy next to Rome, she wanted to hug him, but she wasn't sure if it was appropriate.

...

((Same scene, same moment, added to by Maeglin!))

Rome managed to look up at hearing a familiar voice. A voice that was familiar, and strangely comforting, though he couldn't remember exactly why. Adara hadn't moved away from where she hovered protectively over him, nor did his mom or dad, so Elenna nudged herself in and rested a cautious hand on his knee.

"Um..." Rome looked around at all the faces: friendly, helpful, trustworthy faces, all of them, but he focused on Elenna: "I...no, I'm okay. I'm...you know, as okay as--as expected, right?" He locked eyes with her, pleading, somehow, for her to fix this.

He had just moved a funeral casket with his brain. That wasn't something you could tell your wife. It certainly wasn't something you told your parents.

It was, however, something you told your brother.

Or, you know, little sister.

Now where the hell had that thought come from? Elenna was an acquaintance at best. He'd hooked up with Georgie a few years ago, and they had remained decent enough friends as they moved on to other relationships. Now whenever they called a friend reunion, Georgie always brought Elenna along. A nice enough girl, but totally not his type. Into books and things.

So why did he want so badly to trust her?

"Um." Rome managed to stand up, pushing away from the gaggle of concerned friends and relatives. "I think I need to take a walk. Um. Alone."

----

Lenna looked where Rome went, so was Adara.

I don’t like her; it is weird how much she is around. I know they are married, but still she doesn’t know him.

Lenna stood up and walked back to Georgie. She was talking to someone, Lenna didn’t know. She walked around them and went to the trees where Rome went. She was standing nearly next to Rome when she realized how good she was sneaking. She didn’t make a sound and it felt weirdly familiar to move soundless. She didn’t want to scare Rome and she didn’t want him to think that she followed him. She said in a calm and sad voice to him.

“Oh sorry, I thought I would be alone here. I just needed a moment for myself. I had to attend to too many funerals in my life. Too many people around me are dying. I feel as I am cursed, maybe it would be better if I really hide behind all my books and don’t meet people at all.”

Lenna looked with tears in her eyes at Rome.

Why the hell am I telling him this? I barely know him and here I am talking him as if he is my best friend.

“Raws called me once a witch, because of all the weird books I read. Sorry I guess you don’t wanna talk about him. Hey Rome do you know someone called Andre? I have the weird feeling that we know him, but I can’t remember that I ever met a guy called Andre.”

...

((Back to Maeglin again))

Elenna sure did like talking a lot. About weird things. Rawson called her a witch? Rome swallowed a chuckle: was she sure she hadn't just mis-heard?

Wait. Hadn't Rawson said to him not to trust her? That everyone was getting weird around them? Sneaking up on him when he wanted to be alone certainly qualified as "weird."

And then she had said Andre.

Rome didn't know how or when or why or where, but that was a bad word. That was a naughty, disgusting, horrible, evil word. His instinctive reaction of aversion and pain was staggering: he felt as if he had been punched in the stomach.

"What?" he snapped, raising his voice. "What did you just say?" He advanced on her, raising himself up to his full height and bulk, and she shrank back. This partially horrified him, that he was bullying poor innocent Elenna, and he felt as if he wasn't doing this: like he was watching himself do this, like it was a dream.

"I only...it just came to me..."

"Yeah, well you know what just came to me? My f*cking brother's dead! And he..." Rome trailed off. "I've been in a coma for God knows how long, and now--now I'm, like, seeing...things." A headache that felt unfortunately familiar began to spike in the middle of his forehead, though he didn't remember ever getting migraines. He grabbed the bridge of his nose and turned away from her. "Just go away!"

---

Lenna looked at Rome.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m not good in small talk or any talk. I never know what to say, and I never stop talking when I am nervous... I am really sorry.”

She didn’t know why, but it felt wring to leave him alone. Even when he said that he wants her to go away.

“I know you said you want me to leave, but do you wanna have some water? Maybe it helps against your headache.”

Seriously why the hell am I still here? He said he wants me to go away, and here I am; trying so hard to be friends with him. Wait he said he is seeing things?

Lenna looked alarmed at Rome, maybe he wasn’t well enough to up and running around.

“Or maybe you need to sit down a moment. Oh no wait you were sitting for a while. I know I should just go but, did you ever had the feeling something is not the way it is supposed to be, like something is wrong? I feel like that at the moment. And I have no idea why I am telling you this.”

Lenna had the bottle of water still in her hand, but she was unsure what to do. Rome was scary when he was furious but at the same time did she feel safe when he was around.

I have to find out who Andre is. But I better not ask Rome again.

Adara panicked for a minute as she looked around. Where was Rome? Too many people. Too many minds.

A brief scan of the area though, and she located by a tree. And not alone. She moved in quickly.

~~~~~~

"Rome? Hey, are you okay baby?"

His head drooped, and he kept rubbing his eyes. Adara gently lifted his face, her own contorted with concern.

Just as Rome was beginning to feel there was something very familiar about this--about Elenna offering him water when he had a headache, as if it would help, but it being a very sweet motion nevertheless--Adara appeared.

He had never been more glad to see her.

"Adara, I'm fine. Just a headache."

"You wanna talk to me, babe? Maybe we should go sit back down..."

"I saw...I think I saw..." Rome massaged the middle of his forehead. "I thought I saw Rawson open his eyes. I think I'm just seeing things, though. I don't know. Maybe it's like, some residual brain damage." He looked up at Adara, and took her hand for stability. "Don't let me go crazy, huh?" he grinned at her, then glanced at Elenna. "You, too," he said, somewhat halted, remembering Rawson's last words:

Trust no one.

---

((Same moment, added to by Ariel))

Lenna starred blank at Adara.

You stupid cow, he said he wants to take a walk alone. And you ask him if he wants to talk? But okay sometimes it is the best tatic not to attack. I'll have some research to do. I need to find out who Andre is, why I hate you so much Adara and why I feel safe as soon Rome is around me.

Lenna turned around, before she spoke.

"I would never let you go crazy, just because you say you are seeing things. I am there for you always, that is why I have to go now. Call me if you need anything Rome, no matter what it is."

Lenna left Rome and Adara, her mind working on full speed and for the first time since she woke up from her so real nightmare she felt as if she did the right thing. She had work to do.

Lenna walked quickly back to her friends. Even though wasn’t sure how to ask them for help. They knew she was weird, which normal person really studies Folklore. So she didn’t need to worry that her friends would send her into a nuthouse.

I need a plan. I need to find out everything that there is about Adara and in this context about the accident. Maybe Aly and Caleb can help me with that. Rome said he saw Raws opening his eyes, which is even in my eyes weird. But there are cases where going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive premonitions, psychic tendencies. Someone needs to keep an eye on Rome, and we need to find out about the psychic thing. And I have to find out who Andre is, which will be the hardest job.

Lenna reached her friends and pulled Georgie rather ruggedly away from the others.

“Hey Lenna what the hell got into you?”

“Georgie listen, something is wrong here...”

“Lenna I know you are sad about Raws death, but that is normal to feel on a...”

“No that is not what I mean. Look around you and tell me that you not feel as something isn’t the way it is supposed to be.”

“I think it is the fact that Raws...”

“Never mind.” Lenna walked impatiently back to her friends. “Hey I have a question.”

Okay have a plan and for this lie.

“I need your help. I had a huge crush on Raws and, well I need to know what exactly happened at the accident. It would help me so much to move on when I could see the police report of the accident. Caleb, Aly do you think you could help me with this? I miss Raws so much.” Lenna started crying and hoped her little show looked real enough that the others around her wanted to help.

Weird that feels nearly normal to lie to get information about an accident.

To emphasis her words and tears she trembled and fell on one of the chairs nearby, crying and sobbing.

Adara slid her arms around Rome, stretching on tippy-toe to brush her lips against his.

"You're gonna be okay baby. Don't worry."

She linked her arm through his and lead him back over to the funeral just as the pastor straightened his black suit jacket and cleared his throat to get the attention of the small babbling woman.

"If we could begin. Lance Corporal Rawson Roger Remington was a simple man. He was honest, brave...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adara sulked quietly behind her sad faced facade. So many minds to keep track of. The world they were in threatened on verge of collapse as it was. This feeding was going to leave her almost as drained as she had already been, and to add to her problems the small witch just couldn't be happy could she? How could real life be better than this? I mean, she'd broken all her own rules letting them have bits and pieces of happiness, but could they just accept it and then die? No, dammit. Fine, if they wouldn't play nice, then neither would she.

~~~~~~~~~~

In his casket, Rawson sat up, fixing the mourners with dead eyes. ((Haha! Pun! *ahem* Moving on...)) He made a deep, guttural, growling noise.

The putty and make-up from the coroners began to slide and drip off his face revealing the horrific head wound that had been his demise.

All around the grave yard, dirt went flying as the dead rose to extract revenge on the living.

Lenna stared at Raws, no at the thing rising from his casket.

What the hell is going on? That must be a dream or a very sick joke. I knew why I don’t like to wear a dress and shoes with heels. How am I supposed to protect myself against zombies in that outfit?

That was a weird thought and mostly because she wasn’t afraid. She just accepted that there are zombies around them and one of them is a friend of her. Maybe she lost her mind, maybe at some point when she had to study a thick heavy book fell on her head and she is completely insane.

There are no such things as zombies, I mean what other myth would be real? I know them all and they are just myth, stories not real facts.

But Lenna mind started working and she wasn’t sure from where the images came from, but certainly not from any books for any course work. So she got back to believing that she lost her sanity.

Aly got off the phone with the local PD about the accident report and returned to Caleb. He sat at the edge of the crowd. Both of them had a feeling that they just didn't belong, her especially. She slipped her hand in his and settled down. She had just leaned her head on his shoulder as the pastor began his speech when Rawson sat up in his casket.

Aly sat there frozen. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be real. This was normal real life and all of that nonsense about hunting things was just a dream.

She barely felt Caleb yank her to his side.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. They hadn't yet regained their memories, but that would come soon enough:

The fact of the matter was she couldn't change who they were. The psychics were still psychic, the witch was still a witch, the cops were still investigators--they were finding her out without knowing it.

Zombies were a sloppy move, but she needed fear. It was possible that this might trigger real memories, if any of these worthless humans had been in the profession long enough or were deeply embedded in the culture. But she was desperate.

Adara fed on fear. So she channeled all the fear she could muster, ripping it from their helpless skulls and showing it to them, but magnified. Spiders, the dark, snakes and rats and sharks and heights and killer clowns. Hopefully, this would kill them--stop their hearts with fear--before they remembered themselves and woke up.

Because the last thing she wanted to have to do was run.

Lenna turned around to her friends, but something was wrong with them.

“Guys what happened to you?”

Her friends had eyes like dogs, claws instead of fingernails, and fangs. But there was more her friends not just looked like wild animals, they acted like them. They acted like werewolves, like her brother did.

No that can’t be true, it was a nightmare. There are no such things as werewolves.

Lenna trembled backwards away from her friends.

Silver bullet in the heart.

“No, I can’t do it again. Not all of you. Please wake up from it. Please don’t make me do this.”

Scared and terrified Lenna run away from her friends. She was hiding behind some guys in uniforms, trying to catch her breath which seemed to be impossible. When the guys turned around and they still wore uniforms but more colourful and they were jumping around her, telling jokes and making faces at her. Well they were not really that funny, more a terrifying version of clowns.

“No, no, that can’t be true. I am told clowns are not scary, they are supposed to be funny.”

Lenna cried and were hiding behind one of the gravestones. Her hair was messy, she wasn’t wearing her shoes anymore and she was pale. Cold sweat was on her forehead. She felt as she couldn’t breathe, this must be a bad dream. If she would just have her car, in the trunk would be something she could protect herself. Hell she even wished she would have her gun here.

“Gun? My gun? I own a gun?”

The nightmares, maybe they aren’t nightmares?

“No they are not! The jinni, Rome, this is dream. It is not real. The clowns and everything...”

Lenna peeked around the gravestone.

“No they are defiantly still there.”

Lenna went back hiding when she saw the clowns still waiting for her.

“Okay the monsters just scare me as much as I allow them to. I don’t let the fear imprison me. I still not sure what is real and what a part of this world, but I am sure that I never went to college hell I never even finished High School. Maybe the others have forgotten why we are but I have not. I need to remind the others.”

But Lenna kept hiding behind the gravestone.

This can’t be a good idea. We need to remember who we really are, right?

Lenna couldn’t see Adara, but she was sure the jinni was around. But she was too scared to come out of her hiding and try to face the monsters.

Okay, so there were zombies, and there were zombies.

There were Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland zombies, or the shambling hordes that you head-shotted in Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil. That was fun.

This was--his own brother--rather, his brother's body. Reanimated. Not him.

But still, head-shotting him wasn't going to be fun.

Rome felt inclined to try to protect these people. Which made sense. He was a Marine, after all. But he couldn't help standing frozen, in shock, until something grabbed his leg. He was reminded of his nightmare--Luke Skywalker saying "Something just went past my leg!"--and the open ocean and the fear that he'd felt.

This was worse.

He shrieked--yes, shrieked--as the hand shot out from the ground to grab his ankle, and kicked at it. He had just dislodged it when Adara grabbed his wrist and was pulling him through the mob of people, which seemed to part magically before them, until they were at a black Mercedes: Adara's car. She shoved him into the passenger side, protectively, before leaping over him to get in the driver's seat.

"Wait, I have to--Elenna!" Rome cried. "We have to help them!"

"Rome, there's no time! Don't you see, they started this! She's a witch!"

"What? You're kidding me!"

Squealing tires drowned out whatever she said next. There were a few bumps as she drove over bodies and tables to get out of the cematary, before she peeled out onto the pavement and raced down a strangely unfamiliar street.

"Your brother knew this would happen. That's why they killed him, Rome!"

"What are you talking about? Raws died in a car crash!"

"It's this satanic mumbo jumbo crap they've gotten into, and not just Elenna. Lily's bad into it, and Aly and Caleb, too. We've got to get out of here before they--ahh!"

Then they weren't driving: they were flying. Through the air. Into the water.

SPLASH!

It was amazing they weren't killed on impact. But they began to sink, quickly.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here!" Adara screamed, unbuckling her seatbelt and going for the door."

Rome didn't remember buckling his seatbelt, but it was on now. And pushing the button did nothing. "It's stuck!"

Thoughts of drowning in the ocean trapped inside a car flashed through Rome's mind. And he began to panic. And Rome didn't function well when he panicked.

Caleb stood, rising back to back with Aly. He reached into his jacket for his gun, his hand clasping around thin air. He could've sworn he'd brought it. His eyes darted around as broken hands clawed their way out of graves. An arm missing most of its muscle, fat and skin grabbed him. He caught the hand and rotated it, dragging the corpse by the arm and throwing it over his hip. His reflex was to bring his steel-reinforced shoe heel down on the base of its skull, breaking its neck. He winced.

Glancing around frantically, he put a hand on his chest, expecting his heart to be racing. But despite his mind asking what the hell was going on, his gut instincts seemed at home. Something in him was used to the fighting. He turned on his heel and backed away from ... nothing. He was alone. The temperature dropped. There were still gravestones everywhere and corpses ripping their way up through the earth. The gravestones stretched suddenly, changing texture and appearance as they became ... trees?

He looked himself over. He was covered in cuts and drenched in ice-cold sweat. His knuckles and palms were swollen. He had an empty holster on his hip and an empty rifle sling hanging slack around his shoulders. Hs feet stuck in thick, sucking mud as he turned around. Something dark and indistinct moved through the fog. It came at him from behind. He whpped around, his fist passing clean through it.

Its claws didn't pass through him. His chest was sliced with four shallow cuts, followed by another four. He swiped at it again, getting a good look at it this time. Vaguely man-shaped. Clawed. Fanged. Cat-like eyes. The Hell was this thing? Something in his head told him he knew it. He drew a knife, turning as the smoky shape disappeared. A carcass came out of the fog at him this time. It went down in short order as he delivered an icepick lobotomy with his knife.

He case the carcass aside and spun again, lashing out at the smoky shadow that came at him from the flank. His arm passed through it again. It dissipated, but reformed, striking down on his back and opening four shallow cuts. He felt like he was bleeding too much from such shallow injuries as the shape came at him again.

"Caleb!" She shouted to him as he hit the ground, breaking one of the plastic chairs apart.

This isn't real. Aly repeated it to herself until there was calm around her. She shook him hard, begging him to wake up. This was a terrorist attack using some kind of hallucinogenic gas. She held her jacket to her face.

"Caleb, wake up! Whatever it is, it isn't real!" He convulsed as if fighting with some unseen foe. She looked around for the zombies, but they had gone. The earth was unbroken. Chairs were scattered across the lawn as people ran from their own minds.

Aly's heart beat faster as the stones stretched themselves out and walked upright as men hooded and cloaked.

"Caleb..." she whimpered. The hooded figures came closer with hands outstretched to grab her. She reached for her gun but it wasn't there anymore. She shook him harder, pleading, begging, desperate for him to wake up. "Caleb, don't let them take me again!"

The nearest of the men stopped and took down his hood.

Rome?!

"No! You're not real!"

Another hood came off, this one had Caleb's face. She started crying. He grabbed her off the ground like a child. She whispered his name, desperate for him to wake up and save her from himself.

Her long white dress swished around her legs as he led her to a tree, crimson rope in his hand. She struggled, but he was too strong, digging deep canyons in her flesh with his hands.

The long shining dagger glinted in the moonlight as the cloaked Caleb tied her to the tree. Four other women in white hung limp around her, each with a silver hilt sticking out of their chests--Rawson stood by Elenna, Rome by Lilly, Danila by Georgie, and a still hooded man by her sister. All four of the men smiled at her, blood splatter on their faces. The throats of the women were slashed, congealing crimson stained their dresses. The knife in their hearts was simply ceremonial.

The cloaked Caleb raised his blade and set the tip of it at her neck drawing a pinprick of blood.

"Please, Caleb...please wake up...please wake up...please save me...you're not one of them. You'd never hurt me. Please, don't do this. Caleb, please!"

Georgina was hot in her black dress, and grabbed a little fan out of her pocket. She turned around and touched Elenna's shoulder who's been very quiet for a while. "Lenna, do you..." Georgina gasped in shock when she looked into Elenna's pitchblack demon eyes.
No! She can't be... Georgina took a few steps backwards, still in horror.

"What's wrong, Georgie?", Elenna asked.

Georgina couldn't stop looking into her demon eyes. She's possessed!
Quickly, Georgina turned around to check if the others have noticed it as well, and she froze at the sight of their faces. They all looked in her direction, eyes as black as the night. Georgina felt her fast heart beat. When did this happen? They are all possessed!

"Are you okay?" Aly asked her. "You look terrified." There was a bit of a dangerous spark in her black eyes.
Georgina saw Elenna walking towards her.
"Don't you dare come close to me!"

"What's your problem, Georgie?"

"Spare me with your damn questions, monster!" Despite the heat Georgina was shivering. All eyes were focusing on her, black and vicious.

But wait...how could I possibly believe in demons. There is no such thing as a demon, is there...?

((OOC Aly and Elenna are just imaginary and not real. I can change what the imaginary Aly says if neccessary))

Apparently, Adara was a fainter. Way to pick 'em, Rome, he heard, in Rawson's chiding voice.

"Adara?!" Rome hollered. "Not a good time, Adara, stay with me!" He grabbed her shoulder, all he could reach, and shook her roughly, but got no response. Sh*t.

He knew--maybe he'd seen it on TV or something--or experienced it, hell, he had apparently experienced a lot of things he didn't remember--that the deeper you sank, the more pressure built up on the doors and the harder it was to open them. Not that he wanted to open them until his damn seatbelt was off--

And there went the panic again.

He had been distracted by Adara, somehow: as if saving helpless hot chicks was his day job, or something, and he felt confident just by being put in that situation, but the seatbelt reminded him, again, of how horribly terrifying this was.

You know, coupled with the zombie shark that just swam by.

Okay, panic mode again. Seriously, he really couldn't take much more of this. You know how when you were scared your heart skipped a beat? When it got to, like, seven skips, it was seriously starting to worry him.

"Oh my God, Rome, the water's coming in!"

Now she was awake?

Sure enough, though, the water was rushing in, and fast. And still the damn seatbelt wasn't coming undone. Adara looked just as scared as him, unhelpful. Pretty soon the water was all around him, writhing, cold, rushing, suffocating, and he was trapped, and drowning, and going to get eaten by a shark. Sorry, a zombie shark.

Suddenly, he was free. He had Adara's body under his arm. So he swam. Hard. And he kept swimming, pumping his arms and legs, without enough air, heading for the surface before he exploded. He certainly felt like he was going to explode. With fear, with exertion, with lack of oxygen. Mainly with fear.

Somehow, he made it to the beach, paused briefly to make sure Adara was breathing and to hoist her over his shoulder. He made the mistake of looking back.

The ocean was alive, seething. And it was after him.

There was a lighthouse, about a hundred yards away. Rome had always been a sprinter. Granted, he didn't do it often on beaches, and certainly not while wearing a soaking wet suit and carrying 115 lbs. of dead weight. But he normally didn't have zombified sea creatures crawling up on land to chase after him, either.

The lighthouse was dark and cold, as he slammed the door shut behind him, bolted it, and leaned against it. He turned Adara over in his arms and held her as he slid down to the floor, gasping for breath.

"Rome?" he heard, from somewhere in the darkness of the building. "Rome, thank God you're all right!"

"Mom!" Rome bolted upright, setting Adara gently down and standing to embrace his mother. "Mom, you--where's Dad?" A sudden guilt for forgetting them in his fear stung him, but part of him didn't blame himself too harshly, as if there was some reason why he shouldn't even be worried about his parents.

"Here, son," came his father's voice from a little further in. He was tying a bloody bandage around his arm.

"Dad! What the hell happened? You okay?"

"I'm fine, Rome. One of them bit me, is all."

Lenna cowered with closed eyes behind the gravestone wait to get killed, but none of the monsters came. She opened slowly her eyes while she wondered what she should do now, that was the moment that she discovered that she was not wearing the black dress anymore.

“That the f*ck? No that can’t be real; I wouldn’t go out like this. Gee the last time someone – Georgie – saw me like this I thought I die.”

Lenna starred unbelieving at herself, she had forgotten for a moment that there are monsters to worry about. She was wearing the PJs her mom loved the most one her, she even had her hair braided as her mom taught her to do before she went to bed. Where was the dress gone, how could it just disappear and why was she wearing this pajama?

It was the last time when I had a nightmare and I woke up mom to tell her about it and… Nightmare!

Lenna stared at her at her arms, and realized that there were still 4 symbols drawn it her left arm. The one for water was the most visible. She shook her head in shock.

“How can we all be so retarded? These crappy lives aren’t real. We aren’t college students or anything like normal. How could I forget that we are hunting a jinni, or more looking for Rome to wake him up and then kill the damn jinni that trapped him in the first place? And as soon all this is done, I gonna kick Rome for being in trouble again because of a girl.”

Lenna took one last breath - still dressed in the Eskimo PJs – and stood up. The zombies, clowns and even her friends as were wolves were still there but knowing they weren’t real gave her the courage to walk pass all of them to her friends.

Think fast, they are trapped in nightmares as you are but they need to see the more real dream. The one we are all together in and they need to remember who they are.

Lenna looked at Aly and Caleb and couldn’t stop herself from giggling, but the two of them together and Caleb as some kind of police officer –or more someone who respects the law– that made her giggle.

“Okay guys, let’s see how I can wake you up. And just that you know, none of you looks cool as a werewolf.”

Lenna felt suddenly nervous, she remembered the power she felt in her nightmare, she also remembered how far that was from her true abilities, and she was worried what could happen to her friends. But she needed to try something.

“Wasser das in mir fliest. Ich rufe dich, höre meine Stimme und folge meinem Willen!”

Water cascades appeared from everywhere; it was freezing cold and hit Georgie to wake her up. It took a moment that Georgie really looked at Lenna.

“Hey Barbie, welcome back I guess. How much do you remember why we are here?”

“Stay away from me demon. You have no right in possesses my friends.” Georgie stumbled away from Lenna, but her face clearly spoke that it was the last thing wanted to do, leave her friends.

“Georgie, listen to me. I am not possessed. Come on you know how to fight demons.”

Georgie looked confused at Lenna but nodded slowly.

“Christus. ”

Lenna didn’t flinch; of course not she wasn’t possessed.

“Great. Now we have fixed that problem, and yes short and directly everything that you believe is a weird and strange dream is true, help me that the others also remember who they really are and why we are here in the jinni’s world. We have to safe Rome and convinced him that he doesn’t die when he kills himself. And I have the feeling we have to hurry up.”

“Lenna, why are you wearing a pajama?”

“Not right now Barbie.”

Lenna had blushed a little as she turned back and planned to repeat her spell to the others but this to she didn’t concentrate on one she wanted to hit all at once with cold water.




(( -"Water that flows within me. I call you, hear my voice and follow my will."-
OOC According to http://supernaturalwiki.com the name of God is Christo in Latin, but as it already says on the page this is wrong. Christo is Greek and not even the word for God. It means “in Christ”, Deus is the Latin word for God, but since they chose to use a word for Christ I followed their lead but used the real Latin word for it. I can change it if you all want me to use the Greek word for Christ, even when Sam says it is Latin.))

Hands shook him as another smoky creature attacked him. An aggressive shake made a graveyard flash before his eyes. Great. Shock. Life flashing before him. The smoky creature dissipated as a voice called out to him. The hands left him, but the voice continued to call to him. He ducked as the trees began to shrink, some even becoming stumps. The fog was still there, but the trees were stumps now. He looked around, noticing he was in a black suit now. No more BDUs.

"The f***?" Caleb grunted, ducking under the smoky creature's next attack.

The hazy arm dissipated before it would've made contact anyway. He turned around, feeling the sun on his back. By the time he'd completed his 360, he was in a graveyard again. Surrounded by God damned Zombies. He was unsure if this was an improvement. His eyes immediately searched for Aly, lying on the ground with a bead of blood trickling around the side of her neck.

"Aly!" Caleb barked, catching her under her arms and pulling her to her feet, "Aly, are you okay?"

He stopped himself as he went to kiss her. Why would he kiss her? He stood up straight, looking around.

"Allison ... where's the Djinn? For that matter, where the Hell are we?" Caleb asked, sidestepping a zombie's clumsy attack and cuffing it under the jaw.

The sun was bright on her adjusting eyes making them water and burn. There were arms around her, but the rough bark of the tree was gone. She held her hand to her neck, wiping a small amount of blood from under her collar. She wasn't wearing the white dress anymore.

Caleb was awake. He shook her while fending off some imaginary assailant. She remembered now--hallucinogen.

"Caleb, we have to get out of here. Someone released a gas--making people see things." She leaned into his embrace. He pulled away asking about Genies.

"No gas, Allison. Remember the Djinn? I dream of Genie? Rome?"

She sat there for a moment with the world swirling around her.

"We...we were in a warehouse...this is a dream? We're not..." She practically flew out of his arms seeing him for the stranger he was. "What the hell?!" The life she knew so well began to fade back into the nightmare of that morning. She bit her lip remembering his kisses, their life together in New York, the ring he'd given her a few weeks ago...none of it was real.

Aly shoved her hair out of her face and wiped her watering eyes.

"Let's get Rome." His hand went out to steady her. "Just...don't touch me."

Adara stirred, coughing up water.

"Rome." She said weakly, struggling to her feet. "Don't trust him. He was bitten."

Rome's father came into the light, his skin was already paling, and his eye color was rapidly turning cloudy.

"Don't be silly son. I would never har...."

Roger fell to the floor with a groan, his body convulsed a few times before it went completely still. Mariane gave a cry and flew to his side. She brushed the hair back on his forehead. In the blink of an eye, zombie-roger sunk his teeth into his wife.

Adara screamed and reached for Rome's hand, pulling him up the the lighthouse stairs, stumbling as she went.

Lenna stopped the water that was supposed to hit Aly and Caleb in midair.

“Hey Aly, Caleb are you back in the game? You know hunting things saving people? I hope so that would make four out of six hunters to be back. Where are Danila and Lily?”

Damn why did I had to dream of being in my PJ’s and stuck in them? That is not fair.

Next to Lenna was Georgie whining.

“Lenna, why couldn’t you just shake me to get me out of my nightmare? I am all wet and my hair is ruined.”

Lenna grinned.

“Sorry but it was too tempting to use magic in here. It is so much simpler here. I’ve never been that good.”

"Nooo!!" Rome shouted as Adara dragged him up the stairs. "No, Dad! Mom!! No!"

"Rome, you have to come with me! We have to get out of here, can't you see what's happened?"

He grabbed Adara's arm and shoved her roughly against the wall. "Dammit, Adara, they're my parents. I have to--"

"What? Die with them? Rome, they--they'll--you'll have to--"

"Don't even say that," Rome snarled. He stood coiled in front of her, as conflicting emotions threatened to erupt into violence, and only with a great deal of effort did he pull himself away. "Keep running. I'll deal with this," he said coldly.

"Rome, I'm not leaving you alone!"

"The hell you are," he said. Rome smashed the glass shielding a handy fire axe, and tested the weight of it in his hands. This could do the trick.

To brain his parents. Who were zombies. Great.

Rome sighed deeply. "There are some things a man has to do on his own, Adara. They're my parents. Just go, I'll follow you, I promise."

"Rome, I--ahhhh!!" Adara shrieked, her scream drowned out by more glass breaking, and a decaying arm reaching through the window she stood by to grab her around the throat.

"No! Adara!" Rome shouted, and swung the axe. The zombie arm severed easily, though it still clung to her as, still screaming, she headed up the stairs, throwing it down after her. Rome looked up at the spiraling architecture above him: the very endless-looking stairs.

When he looked back, a head had followed through the broken window and, undeterred by having one less arm to work with, was entering the lighthouse.

It was Rawson.

Rome sobbed in frustration, lowering the axe. "Rawson, please. Mother and father, that's bad enough--I can't have to kill you, too."

His shambling kin did not reply, but the three of them only kept advancing, like sheep to the slaughter. They were grabby, and strong, but certainly not fast, and, God, cutting through that arm--which was also advancing on him--had been like cutting through warm butter.

Rome stumbled up a few steps, backwards, tears blinding him.

"I--I can't." He dropped the axe, which clanged down to the bottom of the stairs, took a few steps, a misstep, and just sat down on the stairs. He put his anguished head in his hands and seethed. This wasn't fair. This was horrible. This was scary. He couldn't.

A crack appeared in the stairs below him. He glanced at it with disinterest, only realizing it was growing as he stared at it. He blinked and stood up. He looked around. There had been no movement, like an earthquake or anything, and no one else was here.

Had he done that?

His zombie-father had reached the step in question, and thrust an arm out to grab him. Rome cried out and dodged out of the way, but a blast from an unseen force hurtled the zombie across the room to crash into the far wall.

An unseen force that came from his brain. And hurt his head, for that matter.

"What the hell is going on?" he wondered, as the force from the zombie hitting the wall shook the entire building. He covered his head and went into a crouch again, willing it all to go away.

And it did. The bottom stairs dropped out with a tremendous crack! and zombie-Rawson and zombie-mother stumbled and fell. But all three got up and came towards him again.

This was all getting too bewildering, and Rome wasn't sure whether he wanted to cry, puke, or break stuff. He hoped he didn't want to break stuff, though, because apparently there was no telling what he could break. Like he was a walking brain-death-ray-thing, and he couldn't control his trigger-finger.

Feeling he had enough of a head-start, Rome turned and pounded up the steps again, knowing only that the zombies were certainly behind him but having no clue exactly how far.

Georgie rolled her eyes and mumbled, over Lenna’s comment. “You gonna get so into trouble one day for this.”

Lenna hit Danila with the water and whatever nightmare he had he found out of it. Lenna grinned it was amazing how easy it was to use magic in here.

Maybe this is a reason to stay in here?

“Guys, we need to find Rome. Adara took him with her and I bet she tries him to die of fear as she tries with us. We have to find him tell him that this is a dream of a friggin jinni and we have to die to get out of it, to wake up.”

“When we need to die in this world can’t we just wait that Rome dies of fear?” asked the dripping Danila.

“What? No. When he dies of fear, Adara will get her way and he dies in the real word. We have to make sure that he does not get killed by the nightmares Adara lets him see and this includes us as well. She will have more for us, to keep us distracted and away from Rome. We have to commit suicide to wake up, and before that we have the complicated task to convince Rome that he has to kill himself because this is just a dream.”

“Lenna what if we shoot Rome, and he doesn’t know he is gonna be shot until he's dead? So he can’t be scared of it.” Suggested Georgie.

Lenna explained in her matter-of-fact voice. “Then we just killed Rome, in the dream and in the real world. To wake up everyone needs to commit suicide.”

Danila looked at Lenna when he said. “Oh fun.”

Lenna looked angry at him. “So I mean we can't just shoot Rome. We want him alive.”

“You are sure about the suicide?” Asked Danila.

“Dude we are not trying to shoot him to see if it might work. So yes I am sure it is suicide and no other way to wake up.”

Lenna looked and each of her friends, she wouldn’t let one of them try to shoot Rome. She was too sure that being killed in this dream would really kill them and too worried that one would still try to get them all out this way.

"Suicide. Charming. And this dream life started out so well," Caleb grunted, glancing at Allison, but quickly returning to the task at hand, "Anything in this dream world we can use to waste the Djinn or does that need to be out in the real world?"

Regardless of whether killing the Djinn was possible in the dream, Caleb picked up one of the decorative wrought iron candlesticks and assumed a grip like a batter.

"This should do nicely with the right lamb's blood," Caleb mused out loud.