Wolf and Wishes

-7- Dreams Are Overrated

Through all my pathetic moping, I'd forgotten one thing- that Gossamer is dangerous.

"I know she totally stole Hunter from you," Raven says, her voice sounding pitchy through the phone. I nod in agreement, even though she can't see me. "But I still think she's not as dangerous as you think she is, let alone a wolf," she concludes reasonably. I groan.

"Listen, Rae, I know a wolf when I see one," I repeat for the fiftieth time in our conversation over the phone. After Hunter and Gossamer's date finished with all it's bravado- Hunter kissing Gossamer of the cheek whilst they stood outside the Ever After High gates- I'd gone sulking towards my home, expecting consolation from my parents. Instead, I got a merciless lecture grilled into my brain that at my age, I'm too young to like anybody from my Dad. I did not point out that Dad met Mom when she was just a little girl strolling through the woods. They didn't call her 'Little' Red Riding Hood for nothing, you know.

"And who's to say she's so dangerous?" Raven asks. "Like I said, I didn't judge you when I found out you were a wolf, did I? So why should I judge her?"

Annoyed, I mutter something along the lines of 'goodbye' and hang up. I attempt to tame the pile of assignments and homework on my desk that have only grown over the past week, but I give up when I read the same paragraph seven times, and call it a night.

I crawl into my bed and turn off the lamp, hoping to fall asleep. Something tells me it'll be a long night.

I wake, expecting to be blinded by the morning sunlight spilling through the curtains and the sudden realization that I'm late to school to hit me.

But instead, it's pitch black.

"Curses," I mutter, and the dream washes over me.

I'd been standing in the courtyard, the same day Hunter was asked out. But instead of Gossamer bounding towards Hunter, who is standing, seemingly loss, she turns slowly to me. She smiles a sickly sweet, wicked smile, baring sharp teeth, and she dashes towards me. She takes a leap and transforms into a thrashing, rabid wolf. I spin on my heel, attempting to sprint, but instead she charges and tackles me, pinning me down. As she lowered her teeth to bite, her ears pricked, and she backed away immediately. Behind her was Hunter, who enveloped her in a defensive hug and Gossamer whimpered, feigning hurt.

"How could you?" Hunter spat at me. Then my vision warped... and I woke up, supposedly around the time of midnight.

I shiver. How could you? The words echo in my mind. Suddenly my phone beeps, and it's screen illuminates the entire room.

Picking it up in my hand, I see a message... from Raven?

Hey, C. Can you call?

Confused, I dial Raven's number in my Mirror Phone and she answers on the first ring.

"Cerise," she says in a hushed whisper, sounding worried. "I-I had this... this dream," she says before I can reply."

I think back to my dream, but shake my head, attempting to clear it. "What do you mean, Rae? Do you mean a nightmare or something?" I ask, rubbing a weary hand over my face.

"Y-yeah," she stutters. "I had a dream that- that, G-Gossamer..."

"Gossamer?" I ask hesitantly.

Raven takes a shuddering breath. "Mmm... I had a dream that she was standing over me with... with gold eyes and the sharpest teeth I'd ever seen..." she says, and continues. "And when I woke up..."

She trails off, and I prod her questioningly. "What?"

"And when I woke up... she wasn't there."

"There?" I snap.

"Well, she'd come to my room and asked me about Hunter. She wanted to know stuff about him," she says and I snarl at the phone. "I- I know, C, I'm s-sorry, re-really, but she crashed, fell asleep I mean; in... your bed," she adds hesitantly. I sneer and punch my pillow, hatred filling me, then realization.

"She slept in the same room as you?" I ask, worried.

"Well, she was," Raven says. "And, now she's not here..."

I shiver. "She probably woke up and went back to her room," I assure her, trying to contain my anger.

"Okay," Raven says shakily. "I've got to go, but I'll see you tomorrow," she breathes, and hangs up. I stare at my phone, and turn it off placing it on my bedside table. I realize that there is rain pattering softly against the window. I'd forgotten to close the curtains and I can see from my bed out the window, into the black abyss of night. I shudder.

"It's nothing," I whisper to myself in the darkness. "Just a little rain."

At that, lighting flashes, briefly illuminating the world outside, and thunder immediately follows. I groan and stuff my head under my pillow, and listen to the storm raging outside my window. It seems to only grow more and more over the minutes. Finally, I give up trying to go to sleep and check my phone to check the time. It's almost five. A chill creeps through me as I realize how long I'd been waiting to fall asleep. The sun would be rising soon. I glance out the window, expecting to see streaks of orange and pink throughout the sky, but instead the storm has darkened the world and it's just as black as it was when I called Raven.

Lightning sparks again, and lights up the yard, and I fall backwards in shock. A scream rises in my throat as I dive towards my light switch. I hit it with all my force and the light flickers on. I stare out the window, into the darkness, waiting to see any sign of what I'd seen before. But instead, I see the same darkness. Not the figure. Not the golden eyes flashing, locked on mine, or the teeth bared, growling through the glass.

Sleep deprivation. That's all. There's no way I saw Gossamer outside my window. I'm just tired...

I slump against the door and slide to the floor, putting my head in my hands.

"You're overreacting, C, get a grip," I tell myself. But I can't stop thinking, what if? What if Gossamer is dangerous, and is planning to hurt someone? Or my friends? What if she tricks them into believing she's nice, and couldn't possibly harm them, and then strikes?

I sigh and try to put thoughts of Gossamer aside, and it's then, sitting in the most uncomfortable position on the floor, with the lights on and the thunder and lightning and rain outside, that sleep finds me. And thank god, that this time, it's a dreamless sleep.

After all, dreams are overrated.