Fate In Hand

As I lay there, in a deep sleep, my dreams pulled me away from reality and dropped me in fantasy to let me roam freely. I was walking along a worn nature path with large trees on either side of me. Wrapped around the trunk of each tree were rose vines, each one either holding a black or red rose. As I walked down the path, I came to a vast clearing, there were rose petals strewn everywhere. This is so beautiful, I thought, nothing like my usual nightmares. Maybe he was the cause, maybe not. When I came to the center of the clearing, I found out he was.
There he was, standing in the center of the clearing in a large, black trenchcoat with the hood pulled over his face.

"Hello, Marie...It's good to see you again."
"A-Antoine?..Is that you?" I craned my neck so that I could look closer without closing the distance between us, all I could see was the faint gleam in his mouth.
"Marie, come here. I want to show you something."
"N-no..it's fine, really." I relpied then started to back away, bumping against something that I had not notice before.

I quickly spun around, almost losing my balance and hitting the forest floor. I looked up and saw the stone cold glare of an unfamiliar woman. She stood at least at the same height as Antoine, three inches taller than me, and had jet black hair that reached down to her mid thigh; she, too, was clad in the exact same trenchcoat as Antoine, with the exception of a red diamond on the center of her hood.

"So..Antoine, is she the one you were telling me about?"

In a flash, I could see him standing beside her. I couldn't even believe he'd moved that fast.. But how though?

"Marie, this is Vernadette. Vernadette, this is the human I was telling you about."
"Mm..Her scent, it's stronger than the others."
"Vernadette, please restrain yourself."

She gave him a sharp glance as he said this,pulling her hood back to show her blood-red tipped bangs and crimson eyes;looking closer I saw that her eyes had bright red edges.

"Don't tell me what to do, brother! You have no idea how long I've gone without blood." As she moved closer to me I tiptoed backward, keeping a quick pace and tripping over the above-ground root of a tree as I turned to sprint away.

As I fell, Vernadette was pushed aside by Antoine, her attempts to claw herself away from his grip had me worried.

"Marie! Get out of here, now!" He rolled over and pinned Vernadette to the ground as she struggled to get free.

I nodded and stumbled to my feet, sprinting off in a different spot from where I'd entered. Even though I had to dart my way through the trees, I didn't trip even once. But I did have the feeling I was just running around in circles, nothing had changed. I took a left and went forward, somehow I found myself in the clearing again but facing it in a different direction. I heard some kind of hissing sound and saw Vernadette charging at me like a cheetah after a helpless zebra.

"Come here, weakling!"

Before I knew it she sank her fangs deep into my neck. As she pierced my skin, I woke up screaming in my bed. Taking a deep breath, and checking both sides of my neck, I realized it was just a horrible nightmare as always. I turned on my side, resting on my right elbow, and looked at the clock. 5:03 AM;Sunday October 7th. It would be a while until everyone else woke up, so I laid back down and try to get some rest. But was Vernadette really Antoine's sister? I couldn't shake the thought off long enough to even sleep for five minutes. Just then I heard a buzzing sound as my phone vibrated on the nightstand. Who would be insane enough to call me this late? Or early, whatever. I grabbed my phone and flipped it open, it automatically picked up when I did so.

"Ugh, hello?" I answered, still a little drowsy.
"Marie? It's me, Antoine, sorry I called you so early."
"Wait..Antoine? How did you get my number? No one even has it yet."
"I have my sources..Anyway, I need to talk to you about something. Could you put a jacket and a pair of shoes on and meet me outside?"

It took me a second to realize there was a red tint on the wall, obviously from a car.

"Fine, but there better be a good reason for this."
"There is, trust me. Just hurry up and get out here." Before I could ask him why, he had already hung up. I snapped my phone closed, got dressed and put it in my pocket just in case I'd need it again.

I quietly descended the stairs, being sure to wake anyone. I had to open the door inch-by-inch just to make sure the hinges didn't creak. As I stood there, arms crossed and shivering slightly, I could see Antoine standing by the passenger side of his car and holding the door open.

"J-J-Jee..H-How nice of you.."
He sighed a little, taking off his jacket and throwing it to me. "Put this on unless you want to freeze to death."

I gave in and put it on, sliding in one arm at a time. I quickly strode over and sat in the passenger's side seat, slamming the door.

"Is she always this loud?" A feminine voice asked. I didn't want to look back to see who it was.
"Vern, shut up please." I did however take a glance at Antoine, laughing mentally at the slight annoyance in his voice.

Wait...Vern?..Could he mean Vernadette?..Maybe it wasn't a dream after all.