That night, the whole family watched a movie together to celebrate the start of Christmas vacation. We had hot spiced cider and gingerbread cookies and watched It’s a Wonderful Life, which I’d somehow never seen before. I fell asleep twenty minutes before the end and only woke up when Norah threw a gingerbread man’s foot at me. I ate it and announced I was going to bed.
Once I was upstairs, however, I realized that Adrian was going to appear at some point during the night. He’d said he’d come over after everyone was asleep and that I shouldn’t wait up for him, although how he’d know when everyone was asleep I wasn’t sure—another freaky vampire mind thing probably. My room wasn’t a total disaster, but I spent a good twenty minutes picking things up and spraying Febreze around the room. It didn’t smell bad in the first place, but I was paranoid. I also usually took a shower in the mornings, but I hopped in and washed my hair and double-brushed my teeth to be on the safe side. He probably wouldn’t be anywhere near me, but I had no desire to smell like anything but mint and sunshine, just in case.
I sent a text off to Adrian saying that I was going to bed, then crawled under my covers and immediately fell asleep.
And entered into one of the more horrendous dreams I’d had yet.
I was in the woods at dusk. I couldn’t see myself, but I knew I was naked and barefoot, since rocks and thorns were digging sharply into my feet. Someone was chasing me, but I didn’t know who. I didn’t know where I was going, or where I had come from, only that I had to get away, and I had to get away now.
There was a presence behind me, I could feel it, though I somehow knew—in that way you know certain things in dreams—that even if I turned around, I wouldn’t see anyone. The world strobed, like a glitching movie, information lagging. By the time my eyes caught up to my momentum, it was too late to avoid the gully that seemed to stutter into place out of nowhere. I flew out over the ledge, tumbling down the ravine. When I came to a stop at the bottom, I sat up slowly, even though my brain was urging me to run, run, for God’s sake, run! and pushed the hair out of my eyes with my hand—then screamed.
Half the flesh on my palm was gone.
I glanced down and discovered that huge rolls of skin were simply missing from various parts of my body. I looked back up the hill and saw little globs of flesh sticking to the rocks that I’d hit on my way down. As revolting as it was, I didn’t actually feel any pain, and I had to move. I scrambled up the opposite bank, the soles of my feet growing bloodier with each step, losing skin, as I fought a rising tide of panic. The light was fading. But if I could reach the top before the sun was gone, I’d somehow be okay.
Of course, I didn’t.
With mere feet to go, the light abruptly shrunk back into total darkness, and the monster was upon me.
I woke up to find a hand covering my mouth, so I reacted pretty naturally—I punched the owner of the hand in the face.
There was a soft “ow,” and then, “Caitlin, it’s me.”
I stopped struggling and sat up. Adrian let go of me, perched on the edge of my bed.
“Sorry about the face thing,” he whispered. “You were starting to scream, and I didn’t want you to wake up your family.”
My racing heart didn’t seem like it was going to calm down anytime soon, so I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes, trying to breathe.
“Was it bad?”
I nodded.
It was too dark in the room for me to make out anything more than his vague silhouette, but I knew it was him—it sounded like him, like what he would say. Part of me remembered the Green Thing nightmare and urged me to verify his identity, but the rest of me was too tired. Adrian settled onto a pile of throw pillows on the floor by my fireplace and waited. Knowing he was right there, I immediately dozed off.
And woke a half hour later from a second nightmare, shaking uncontrollably.
“Sh-shit,” I gasped, looking wildly around the room. “Shit.”
Adrian was instantly at my side. “What happened?”
“Another n-nightmare,” I said, teeth chattering. “What do you t-think happened?”
I was being short with him, but I was scared out of my mind. Adrian was there—I wasn’t supposed to have another nightmare if he was there. Right?
“Why didn’t it work?” I asked, clutching my arms to my chest. It was so cold. I couldn’t remember the dream at all, but I think it had something to do with hypothermia.
Adrian’s eyes bloomed light in the darkness. “Hey,” he said, cupping his hand to my cheek. I looked at him, and his eyes pulsed, swirling. Tears leaked down my cheeks as he did his vampire thing, and suddenly, I wasn’t afraid anymore. Cold, still, and shaking, but no longer afraid.
“How do you feel?” he asked, searching my eyes. His were still silver, but they were motionless.
“Tired,” I said, taking stock. “But fine.”
We were whispering pretty quietly, but I thought I heard a creak from somewhere in the house. Adrian instantly tensed, turning to listen. We stayed frozen like that for a few moments, before he relaxed.
“House settling,” he concluded. His hearing was better than mine by a ridiculous margin, so I trusted his conclusion.