She Dreamed of Paradise ❈ Suspian

Bang Bang

"Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, my baby shot me down."

- Bang Bang (Cher cover) by Sky Ferreira.

Susan was fully aware of the stares she was given as she arrived in the grand ballroom, but she ignored them and tried to look for Caspian amongst the sea of people. Somewhere along the way to the ballroom, the end of Susan's trail on her dress had been caught in a door and ripped off since Susan had refused to stop to get it out properly. Her hair was stuck to her face in some places while in other places her curls were spiked up as if her whole head had been electrocuted then dragged through a hedge backwards.

Faces of noblemen and duchesses surrounded her as she tried to push her way through the groups to get to Caspian; she needed to get to Caspian as soon as possible. She felt as if her feet weren't moving fast enough, she needed to go faster but it wasn't happening. It was like she was stuck in a dream – one where you couldn't run at all or you couldn't run fast enough.

After what seemed like forever, Susan's eyes finally fell upon Caspian's face. Her fast beating heart seemed to skip a beat as she slowly walked over towards him, her mind going over various ways to tell him what was going to happen. She couldn't just come right out and say; "I hope you're enjoying yourself this fine evening and you're alright, oh and just as a heads up; in three days we're all going to die. Like I said, I hope you enjoy your evening and if you'll excuse me, I'm going to run like hell for the hills." Everyone would think she was crazy – even though Susan was sure they already thought that irregardless of what she'd say or do.

Clearing her throat, she slipped through a small gap between a lord to get to Caspian, trying to make it look as normal as possible – but failing. It looked more like she was trying to get into a hole much too small for a woman of her height to get into and thus, Susan tripped on both the train of her dress and one of the boots belonging to a nobleman.

Thankfully for her, Caspian held her arms to stop her fall. As soon as Susan moved her gaze upwards to face Caspian, her cheeks turned darker than a blushing beetroot. After a few moments of just staring at Caspian's face, the power of speech finally returned to her, "May I speak with you in private? It's very important."

Caspian simply nodded in Susan's direction before addressing the noblemen that surrounded them, "leave us, gentlemen." The noblemen each took a slight bow and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Susan and Caspian alone to talk. "What did you need to tell me so urgently, my lady?"

Susan's mouth went dry, trying to think of the kindest way to tell Caspian about the danger they were all in but nothing came to mind. It seemed that she'd have to tell him exactly how it was. "In three days, everyone in this castle will be dead."

Caspian couldn't say anything for a few seconds after Susan had told him – a part of his brain told him that it couldn't be possible, Susan must be pulling some form of joke on him but the way Susan looked, he knew that someone telling a joke wouldn't have gone through all this trouble just to trick others into believing the impossible. "Susan, this is ridiculous. No army could wipe out Cair Paravel in that short space of time and not expect to be attacked."

Susan shook her head, her hand grabbing Caspian's, feeling the panic growing once more. "No, Caspian. You don't understand. There is something in the woods, Caspian. And it's coming and it's going to kill us. Everyone in the castle will be dead within a week if we don't do something now." Tears slowly started to fall down her cheeks as she tried to make Caspian listen to her. "You have to get everyone out of here, please! I'm not making this up! You have to believe me!"

But it was to be in vain, Caspian released her hand to walk away from her – shaking his head as he walked away. Susan was frozen, her heart beating faster than a hummingbird's wings as she watched Caspian walk over towards a small group of important looking people.

Susan wanted to scream, to make Caspian understand the danger they were all in but it was useless. They'd call her insane then she'd be disgraced in front of the entire court – not something she wanted to happen. Rolling her eyes to herself, she stormed out of the hall, towards her chambers to change out of the ruined dress she was in and into something more suitable for walking around.

After changing into loose fitting clothing – she guessed were riding attire but Susan was far too angry to even care – along with leather boots, she stormed out of the castle and into the woods that surrounded the castle. She wasn't running away, she just needed to get away from the castle for a while.

Fifteen minutes later, Susan's anger had gone and she was completely lost. But she recognized the trees – they were the same ones she saw in her dream. The fog was slowly settling in but she felt as though something was wrong and that she was being watched but she looked in all directions and there was absolutely nobody around her.

Then out of nowhere, she heard the lion's roar that came from in front of her. Screaming at the top of her lungs, Susan turned around to run in the opposite direction, away from the lion but something stopped her dead in her tracks. Another roar but this time, it was coming from in front of her. She was surrounded with no way of escape.

Just as she thought all hope was lost, a voice she knew spoke her name. It was Aslan's.

"Please don't tell me you're the lion," she almost sighed, leaning against a tree as she caught her breath.

"I can transform into any person or anything you require me to be." Aslan replied simply, stepping out of the fog towards her, transforming into a perfect copy of Susan.

Susan's eyes almost popped out of her skull, Aslan had well and truly turned into Susan. "Okay, but could you change into someone who isn't me? It's creeping me out."

Nodding, Aslan turned into Peter within a blink of an eye. "Is this any better, young one?"

"Much. But I need your help; Caspian didn't believe me once I told him about my dream. Please, I need you to tell him that it's real." She begged, taking Aslan's hands as tightly as she could as she forced back her tears.

Aslan sighed, pressing a gentle kiss to Susan's forehead. "Soon enough, he will see that you were right. We just need to wait – and to keep our eyes open. The fog that surrounds us will fall upon the kingdom, and will bring the kingdom into an eternal dusk. But you have to make him see that you will be able to put a stop to it. And only you can do that, Susan; it's all up to you."