Imagine

18. Night

We left the deck smiling contentedly, or at least, I did. Raina was quieter than usual so I figured she was either feeling as satisfied as I was or she was lost in her own thoughts. Either way, we were both quiet as we descended the stairs. I noticed the hostel was a bit quieter than it was before I left earlier for the deck, everyone seemed to be busy preparing for what was left of the term before the commencement of exams. The majority was outside washing clothes and the rest were inside organizing whatever.

'About time people', I thought as I maneuvered my way towards my room trying to avoid the careless splashes of soapy water and dirty laundry on my path. The rest of the day dragged on as expected.

After night prep, I was exhausted so I eagerly skipped to the room, got ready for bed and laid in it waiting for sleep to take over my body which didn't take long at all. Problem was, I was up before I could even determine if the sleep was good or not. I was conscious but my eyes were still shut as I silently willed the sleep to return because I was certain I still had hours before I absolutely had to be up and about.

When I realized it wasn't going to happen, I sighed in disappointment as I opened my eyes and registered the sleeping bodies around me and the annoying loud silence except for the irregular patterns of snores from neigbouring rooms that interrupted it. I sat up, left my bed to check the time on the clock hanging in the passage and groaned when I saw that it was barely one in the morning.

'Ugh! What now?' I frowned as I trudged back to my room. I looked at everyone of my roommates and felt envious that they were completely lost in whatever dream land their brains created and I was here fully alert with no hope of a shut-eye anytime soon. I sat on the floor, cross-legged, face in my palm wondering how exactly I was going to kill time.

You're probably thinking I could pick one of the many books at my disposal and bury myself in it but I couldn't because as much as I loved reading, all I wanted to do at the moment is sleep and even if I wanted to read, I couldn't turn on the light since most of my roommates were so light-sensitive, they couldn't sleep it with it turned on and I was not close to being that selfish.

I sighed again as I left the floor and returned to my bed, the only other option I had left was to relax and see a movie in my head and that was exactly what I did. I laid facing the window and I could imagine how thick the night would have been if there was no reflection of light from all the electric bulbs in the neighbourhood. I sighed again.

'Come on brain, if you're not going to shut down, the least you can do is entertain me' I thought as I kept staring outside.

Almost immediately, I found myself standing right outside my window staring at the real me with red scary eyes. Since I wasn't completely lost in my head yet, I grinned and waved at red-eyed me, "What are you? Some kind of monster from hell?" I whispered.
She blinked and stretched her lips in what seemed like a snarl and I could make out some very pointed edges within her teeth. I gasped quietly feeling like it was real.

"Fangs. You got fangs!" I said excitedly, almost clapping in joy. She rolled her eyes at me and gave me a challenging look as she backed away, beckoning me to follow. 'Heck, yeah' I thought and finally let my brain take over.

I watched as she jumped almost as easily as taking one step down a flight of stairs.
"You're fast too. So, you're a vampire" I said with certainty.

"Congratulations Sherlock" She replied and I faltered.

'Okay brain. This is weird. There should be one Me in my imagination, not me talking to me' I thought as I looked at her, contemplating if I should terminate this movie or see how it goes.

"You do know you control the images you see in your head, right?" She asked with amusement.

"Do I really? I mean, most times I just let it take over, it's not like I have an actual plan or anything like that", I replied as I recovered from the initial shock.

"Oh well. It's still your mind and you only see what you want to see" she shrugged.

"Uh huh. So... What are you? Dracula? Or the Salvators?" I asked feeling more comfortable.

"Again, I'm whatever you want me to be".

I frowned, "You're no fun. I want to be surprised" I crossed my arms feeling a bit irritated that my brain was not functioning the way I wanted it to.

Then I jumped up excitedly, "Maybe I'm not functioning the way I usually do because I'm finally sleepy" I turned to her, silently seeking her opinion.

She looked at me with disinterest, "You do realize that I'm only going to say whatever you want to hear, right? I am You. And You would probably say You wouldn't be excited if You were sleepy" she said all the yous with exaggerated emphasis. I stopped and looked at her.

"You are really no fun. And you are super grumpy. Maybe I am sleepy".

I would have thought being a vampire would have been a lot more fun than this. I mean I could be biting and compelling people as I wanted or do whatever it is Dracula does to survive, I could be flying or running at super speed feeling the cool night air on every cell of my skin or I could be delibrately getting injured and watching myself heal just for the mere fun of it but no, I was stuck here with a grumpier version of me telling me things i already knew.
Who would have thought I was capable of annoying myself this much and this quickly? Because I didn't. I sighed and thought, 'Maybe I really am finally sleepy". I shook my head in an attempt to clear it and can face to face with red-eyed me. I jumped back in shock,

"God! What is wrong with you?" I growled at her.

"I asked what you wanted me to do now and got no response from you so I was checking to confirm that you're still here" she said matter-of-factly.

"What, by completely invading my vision?" I asked irritated, "How about just be a vampire, huh?" She stared at me waiting for specific instructions.

"Just go away" I grumbled and decided my sleepless reality was so much better than this particular fantasy.

I woke up to the sound of the call to prayer and it took me a while to realize that I was waking up, like I had actually slept. I smiled, got out of bed, woke my roommates and stretched.

'I guess I was sleepy then. Some other time vamp'.

**********************************
So... Stefan or Damon?🤔