Black Blood

Something immediately felt off. I knew this was a dream, but it still felt- undeniably wrong. There was a grating sensation against my mind, a dark fuzziness at the corners, making me feel like clawing at my scalp. But I knew that wouldn't do any good.

There were voices whispering. There were so many of them, the urge to tear at my hair built up again. Immense pressure began to weigh me down and I sank to the ground instead.

The scenery around me shifted. I was no longer inside a bar, with happy, upbeat music blaring incessantly over the speakers. Now I was inside the dark fortress of trees that made up this forest at night. Mists swirled about me, leaving cool wet droplets over whatever bare skin they found.

"You certainly are quite different," a deep voice rumbled up ahead. I looked up, allowing my hands to fall from my head. I couldn't see anyone though.

"Show yourself," I said. Silence was my response. "Who are you? What are you doing in my dream?"

Whatever they were, they gave a deep chuckle that turned into a full blown laugh. I stood, feeling my blood boil at the response I was given. My hands balled into fists at my sides.

"Your mother went to great lengths to hide you. But now that you have been... tasted," he said, the last word coming out a hiss. "I can smell you- everywhere. The chaos we could cause... together. We can get my revenge on the humans for what they have done to me."

I stumbled backward. This was Edward Blackblood; there was no mistaking that now. But what did he mean by that? The story goes that he chose his fate...

"What- what do you mean? What did they do to you?" I asked. My hands relaxed again.

"Someone is still interfering," he said, instead of answering my question. "No matter. I will find you. Just you wait, Chloe Andrews. And then you and I will put an end to the human families that wronged me."

All of the pressure in my head faded. The voices were gone as well. Steadily the forest faded back into the bar, with the loud music that was grating on my ears. I had to sit in a stool at the bar to process everything. Even though this was just a dream...

I heard my name in the distance, being called over and over. The bar steadily faded, and my eyes flew open. Claude was at my side and shaking me. I shoved him off.

"What? What the hell are you doing?" I said. I flinched and ducked away, remembering that I was with vampires. But then I recalled that this was Claude- when had he ever hit me? I relaxed again.

"You were screaming," Claude said. He straightened up and brushed himself off. "I know you're not supposed to wake someone experiencing a night terror, but you were screaming and thrashing about, trying to get up. It was honestly terrifying. I thought you were about ready to go and kill everyone."

I burst into laughter, clutching at my sides. It still felt strange, having vampires that were afraid of me. Sure, I could kill them if I wanted, but I would never get used to them being afraid.

Claude sighed and sat on the floor. He ran a hand through his hair and watched me as my laughter died down. He placed his hands behind him, on the floor, and leaned back.

"Good to see you're okay," he said. I nodded at him and sat up. "Must have been quite some nightmare. Want to talk about it?" I stared at him for a while, and then crossed my legs and put my hands in my lap.

"Actually, yes," I said. Our gazed were locked, with his unblinking, and I knew I had his undivided attention. "Where are the others?"

"They're i the meeting room, waiting for me to bring you back with me," he said. "Your screaming was quite concerning. I told them I could handle it. Adrian almost refused to let me go alone; you've truly shaken that one. Now please, elaborate."

"Yes," I nodded.

I turned my gaze to the ceiling and thought. He wouldn't care about the contents of the original dream, but I felt it was best to start by saying I had been experiencing a normal dream. Before everything had gone to hell. The pressure and whispering had probably been why I was screaming.

"Okay," I said. "The dream started out normal. As normal as they can be, for my dreams, anyway. I was at a bar, dancing, but also looking for the exit. The music they were playing was awful."

Claude chuckled at that. I shot him a glare.

"Shut up," I said.

"Sorry," he nodded and waved his hand. "Continue."

"That's where things started to get weird," I said.

"Weirder than you dancing to music you don't like?" he asked. He had an eyebrow raised. I threw my pillow at him.

"Shut up!" I urged him again. "Yes, things got even weirder. A pressure had filled my head, there were so many whispering voices. I got really scared, and it hurt so bad. To top it off I was no longer in the bar, I was in a forest."

Claude was serious now, no more amused smiles on his face or raised eyebrows. He was frowning, and his eyebrows were knitted together, as he processed this.

"And then-" I paused. Would he believe me? I bit my lip before I continued. "Edward Blackblood spoke to me."

Claude straightened, no longer leaning back on his hands. His jaw was tightly set. Apparently I'd have no trouble getting him to believe me, though I knew to any other person I would have sounded like a lunatic. Then again Claude was a vampire, not a human, and he would be used to things like this happening. Wouldn't he?

"He said some strange things," I continued on. I looked down at my lap and picked at my nails; a habit I thought was gross, but the anxiety was too great for me to not fidget. "But... The important part is, I don't think we're going to have to go looking for him. He's going to come looking for me."