Dreamers Dream Until They Don't

4

Bosco's dreams were so different. This time it was as if she could feel the touches she craved, the comfort she was desperate for, and the closeness that made her feel safe. She stirred a bit before her eyes opened, being greeted by a very unfamiliar room. The light that filtered in from the window was soft, filtering in through the one opened curtain that surrounded the bed.

She knew the normal thing to do would be to be scared. But Bosco just rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking around at her surroundings. Little pairs of eyes stared down at her. She had never seen bats up close before. When she looked to the side, the crows from yesterday watched her closely from the chair she had once been sat in. But she couldn't see the girl who had brought her there.

Bosco pulled the back the dark blankets, stepping out of the bed. The old floor creaked underneath her, and as she walked to the door, all those little animal eyes followed her.

Behind the door, Bosco found a long corridor with fancy framed portraits on the walls and detailed designs that covered any empty space. For a moment, she thought she may have been still dreaming, but the dull ache in her muscles were a reminder of yesterday's events. Her sister's anger felt as if it had been a tipping point for her sanity, making her retreat completely into the only safe world she knew.

Except this wasn't a dream world. Bosco was really here, and had made a discovery that could change her life forever.

Now fully awake, it really began to settle in. Bosco had encountered a vampire. A real vampire. A creature she had only heard about in fiction and in stories told about the history of her town. She walked down the corridor, her nerves starting to grow a little more now as she studied the portraits. Some had been completely slashed, some had faces that had been blacked out, and others were peeling and falling apart.

There was one that caught most of Bosco's attention. And that was something that was hard to do. At the end of the corridor just at the top of the stairs was a portrait of a family. She stepped closer to it with a tilted head. The mother's head had been slashed out with a knife. Same as the father's. Two of the sisters had their faces blurred, making Bosco unable to identify their features. As if rain had destroyed them. But the one who stood between them was still perfectly intact. Even though she was smaller and younger, Bosco immediately recognized her.

"Curious, aren't you?"

Bosco jumped, quickly turning to face Daya. The taller girl walked up the rest of the stairs, gazing down at Bosco fondly. "That's an old family portrait. I don't look at it much."

The smaller girl slowly backed away, her body starting to shake. "A-Are you really...?"

Daya sighed, not meaning to scare her but knowing it was inevitable. She knew the girl was probably too out of it to fully realize what was happening the night before. "Why do you think nobody who's wandered this far has ever left?" She said quietly.

Bosco's eyes widened a little. "I-I..." She stuttered, unsure of what to say. "You...Why didn't you?-"

"I'm a vampire. Not a monster." She gazed down at Bosco with a hint of admiration in her eyes. She was brave, she had to give her that. It was a shock that she hadn't run off yet. "It wouldn't have been a fair fight anyways."

Bosco could've been offended, but she was too fixated on the taller girl's sharp teeth. Her heart was rapidly starting to speed up as she backed up a little more. Many of her dreams included someone who could take her away from the real world, but she wasn't exactly sure if this is what she expected. "...I've only ever heard of vampires in stories."

Stories Bosco hadn't ever really paid attention to. The history of her town went way back, she knew that much. There were many buildings from back then that hadn't been kept up, resulting in them being frozen in time much like this castle while the rest of the world moved on. She knew the history was a little twisted and dark. Vampires, witches, dark magic, things like that. But much like most of the town residents, she never really believed in those things. Those were just legends. Even with the disappearances that couldn't be explained, these legends were never taken as fact.