Perfect Pet

Ch. 34: Dreaming of Reality

The note on my bed was the only thing I had left of Claire.

Picking up the crunched piece of paper, probably found at the bottom of her bag, I studied the sharp slashes that were uniquely hers. Not messy but not something a teacher would encourage either. Fitting for the girl herself.

I'm sure you already know that I'm leaving. They've got more questions to ask me about the group I was with but I don't think I'm being arrested. Madam Moreau convinced them it wasn't necessary. After that, I don't know. Guess I'll start from scratch again. Even though I didn't find anything useful, I can't make myself think I wasted time here. It was a fun ride. Thanks for being a friend. Maybe we can see each other again out there in the real world. If you want.

Underneath that was an email address and for the first time since that night, it sank in that she was gone. Eli hadn't hidden the fact that I'd gotten off easy and that Claire probably wasn't going to get the same treatment. Good intentions or not, she'd broken a lot of rules and vampire laws. Tears prickled my eyes, my heart heavy as I dropped onto the mattress. Sure, she could be a pain in the ass, but I would still miss her. She'd been a good friend in her way.

I didn't let myself think about when the note was dropped off. I'd been out all day with Eli, more than happy to take up his offer of training if it meant a distraction from the things going on in my head, so it could have been any time. It probably wasn't even her that brought it. I didn't doubt that she was under lock and key.

But it's not all bad, I told myself as I traced the email address with a finger. At least you have a way to get in contact. Call it intuition or whatever, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we weren't done with each other. Our lives were still twined together somewhere down the line. "And maybe next time you'll accept my help," I muttered to the empty room, halfway tempted to throw the letter as far as I could in remembered annoyance. Stupid, stubborn Claire.

Carefully placing the note in the nightstand drawer where I could easily find it later, I got up to grab a change of clothes to take with me to the bathroom. A hot shower sounded heavenly. Eli was soft and sweet but I was beginning to notice that when he set his mind to something, there wasn't much you could do to change it. Which sucked for me because it meant half of my Saturdays and Sundays were getting lost to continuously being knocked down in the name of "training". Athletic I was not and there was only so much progress one could make.

At least now I was finally able to get up on Sundays without feeling like I was hit by a train. Small victories were still victories.

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I was sitting on a plush, worn-out sofa and when I glanced up, the room eerily reminded me of my old therapist's waiting room, down to the bowl of hard candies on the coffee table and the two-year-old magazines flung about. Those stupid inspirational posters in their frames were even hung in the right spots. A harder look showed that the entry door was missing though, smooth wall in its place. Strange, considering the last thing I remembered was laying down after my shower utterly exhausted. Taking a quick peek down at my outfit, I saw that I was still wearing the airy tank top and capris I normally slept in.

I'd never been the type to have vivid dreams or the type I could mess around with. More often than not, I'd forget what they'd even been about a few hours after waking up and only be left with a vague impression. Kind of a blessing in disguise after Dad had died and they started taking a darker turn. My subconscious had had a field day with that. Poking at the bowl, frowning at the cool sensation of glass against my finger, I had to admit that this didn't feel like a dream. It was too bright, too clear.