Kill The Innocent

Chapter Seventeen

So baby can we dance, oh through an avalanche

Taylor Swift

***

I wake up in a room I'm unfamiliar with. It's dark and cold and I'm chained to the chair. Fuck, not this again. It's a dream, I can feel it.

It's an odd sensation to know that it's a dream you're in but you still can't help but feel a slight amount of worry. To know it's fake, but still be scared that maybe something will happen and this will kill you. That somehow you might be able to die in your sleep because of this wicked idea that is completely made up in your head.

"Valerie," The voice of a woman says from around the corner, I couldn't quite place the familiarity of it. "Are you awake yet, doll?"

I don't respond, it's not that I can't. I'm perfectly capable. I just can't let this dream become even more terrifying than I feel it already will be.

Lore walks around the corner, a kitchen knife in her hands and a smile on her face. Fucking fantastic. It's a new one this time? How crazy.

"I'm dreaming." I say, her smile growing at the words. "You're not real."

"I'm real, darling. You just don't want to believe it." She takes a step closer, and in one jolt, shoves the knife into my gut. I don't feel it though, it's like I'm invincible to this nightmare this time.

When she removes the knife, my blood spills down my shirt and covers her hand. "I'm gonna wake up, soon."

"That's correct," She coos. "Very smart girl."

"So this isn't real," I tell her, not even bothering to worry about how fast the red liquid is spilling out of my stomach.

"No. It's real, you just don't know it yet."

The ceiling stares back at me when I open my eyes. My heart is beating fast but I feel strangely calm. I don't like that dream. I don't like the things Lore said and I don't like the way it felt so real. The way that I knew it was a dream and was able to express that. I didn't like it at all. It gave me a gross feeling like I should be listening to it.

Lore can't be the traitor can she?

That's fucking ridiculous, Valerie. It's fucking Lore! She loves you like her own sister.

"You had another dream?" Declan says. I sit up and look at him leaning against the wall by the bathroom.

I nod. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight." He tells me, I look over and see the light pouring into the room from behind the curtains.

"How long have you been up?"

"Not long."

"You've just been standing around watching me sleep?"

Declan smiles and walks to the edge of the bed and crawls on top of me, laying his head on my chest the same way we laid together after sex last night. "What are your dreams about, usually?"

"Someone killing me," I tell him. "Usually someone close to me, like you, or--this time it was Lore. I've had a couple where I've killed you or someone else completely innocent. Usually, Nolan is in them too, but he wasn't this time."

"Are you getting used to them?" He asks me, a tint of sadness coats his tone.

"I don't know if that's the word I'd use. I guess I just expect them now." I explain, tangling my fingers in his roots.