Work Text:
Lately all my dreams have been the same, well I say dreams but really they are nightmares. There not your standard nightmares either. I’m not running from anything or even watching someone I love die. No, in my nightmares everything is going on as normal. My friends and I are hanging out, laughing and joking. Then something weird happens they call me Lizzie. I try to say that I’m Josie, but the words never come out. My body starts moving without me telling it too. I’m flirting with Rafael and M.G. looks jealous. Penelope won’t look at me. And every time I see Hope I say horrible things to her. And she just asks how I can live with what I did to her. Who is talking about?
The dream continues Dad calls me Lizzie too and Mom does as well. They keep saying they are happy I won. Won what? Then I get to mine and Lizzie’s room and everything is different. There is just one bed and all my stuff is gone, there isn’t even a picture of me anywhere. And when I look in the mirror it’s Lizzie’s face I see. Then I wake up. I have had that dream every night this week. I don’t think I am the only one have bad dreams. Most of the student body seems like they haven’t been sleeping. I have heard mummers of others saying they are afraid to sleep.
I decide I need to find someone to talk. I have notice that Hope seems tired too. So before nightfall I go to Hope’s room and knock on the door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me.” I hope she will let me in. Our friendship is new and honestly I am never sure what to do. This isn’t like my other friendships. Those are easy and were formed almost instantly, but this one took time and so many miss steps. And it has been worth it. Our friendship feels more real, maybe because Hope wants to be my friend and not Lizzie’s.
“Come in.” As I enter I see that Hope is getting ready for bed. I notice that above her bed there are multiple dream catchers. I guess I was right she has been having the nightmares too.
“So you have been having the dreams too.”
“So it’s not just me. We should probably compare dreams to see if there are any similarities.” It’s not a bad idea, but I really don’t want to share my nightmares with anyone. And from the look on Hope’s face neither does she. But, she’s right we need to figure this out.
So I tell her my dreams of being Lizzie and of not existing. And she tells me her dreams about killing everyone she loves. Of ripping their hearts out. Of see her parents and having them tell her they are ashamed of her and they should have let her die. It sounds horrible so I do the only thing I can do. I take Hope in my arms and tell her she would never hurt anyone she loves. That she isn’t capable of doing that and that her parents love her and are proud of her. I expect her to recoil from the affection but instead she hugs me back and says thank you.
Hugging Hope isn’t something I ever thought would happen. Not that I thought about hugging Hope often or about physical contact with Hope in general. But it is warm and comforting and everything I need right now. I thought the hug was unexpected, but what she suggests next shocks me.
“So my plan was to use these dream catchers to stop the nightmares and find out who is doing this. Or at least get a good night sleep.” She pauses like she is afraid to say what she is about to say. “So…would you…would you like to sleep with me…so maybe we can both get some sleep.” Her head is down and I think there is a bit of a blush on her cheeks. I decide not bring it up. If I did she might retreat back into herself and kick me out. Or it might start a conversation neither of us are ready for.
“Yes I would love to sleep with you Hope.” The double entendre causing us both break out into a fit of laughter. I tell her I will be right back I just need to get my pajamas. When I return I have my pajamas on and the necklace Hope gave on. Hope is pacing the room. Probably as nervous about this as I am. Not that there is any reason to nervous, at least no reason either of us will admit out louder or to ourselves.
“Been awhile since I had a sleepover and my first one without Lizzie.” My words seem to cut the tension and Hope relaxes a bit. It occurs to me that this is probably the first sleepover Hope’s ever had. My heartbreaks for her. I know she distanced herself from everybody, even before her parents died, but I can’t imagine she wanted to do it. What would have been to point to get close to anyone if she couldn’t really be her. Having to hide that she is a Mikaelson and a tribrid. How lonely that must have felt even when she did have friends.
“We should go to sleep. If this works a few extra hours would probably do us some good.” It is weird sharing a bed with Hope. A good kind of weird though. Hope has her back to me so I do the same. It isn’t long before I fall asleep. And for once this week I have no nightmares, just sleep. When I awake in the morning I am not in the same position I was in before.
And neither is Hope. In our sleep we had turned toward each other. And now we are cuddling. Hope’s head is on my chest and my arms are around her. Our legs are intertwined. How we got like this without waking up I will never know, but that is not the main problem right now. Hope is still asleep. How do I get out of this without waking her up? If she wakes up, Hope will most definitely freak out and go back to avoiding me. That is the last thing I want. Before I can figure out what to do Hope wakes up.
“Huh? What’s going…” Her eyes widen and she quickly detangles herself from me. She has her back turned to me. “Uh…so did you sleep well?” She is trying to act like it didn’t happen. I want to tell her it is no big deal or make a joke about how we woke up. But, I know it would only make it worst and there is a part of me that knows I would be lying.
“No nightmares. You?” She shakes her head. Good at least we both got a good night’s sleep out of this. “Should we check the dream catchers?” She nods again. We get up and start taking down the dream catchers. Hope tells me the spell to trace the dreams. We spend the next hour checking every catcher, but they all say the same thing. That the dreams came from us. But, that doesn’t make since. Having the same nightmare everyday isn’t normal and two or more people having the same problem definitely isn’t.
“We could try again tonight?” Again Hope is full of surprises. I had been wondering how to ask the same thing. I guess Hope likes to be blunt.
“That sounds like a good plan.” Neither of us are sure what to say next, but it doesn’t matter we have classes to get to. So I tell Hope I will see her tonight and head for the door. When I get back to my room Lizzie is still asleep. I doubt she even notice I was gone. I love my sister, but sometimes it feels like I’m not as important to her as she is to me.
The day drags on. It seems like more students have been affected by whatever is causing this. Even some of the teachers look like they didn’t get any sleep either. When night falls I go up to Hope’s room. Things are still tense from this morning, but less tense than before. We quietly get in bed this time we decide to face each other. I want to say something but I can’t think of anything. Instead I study Hope’s face. I’m not blind I have always known that Hope is beautiful, it is just I never noticed how blue her eyes are or how soft her smile is. Maybe I have noticed, but I pushed those thoughts away, because what was the point in see her that way if nothing was going to happen. If I couldn’t even be her friend, let alone someone who could look at her and it not be weird.
It isn’t long before we are asleep. And once again we are cuddling in morning. I am awake before her again as well and this time I decide to really look at her. I have never seen her so a peace before. I thought she looked beautiful before, but now seeing her relaxed without a trouble in the world. I can’t think of anything more beautiful. She stirs a little burring her head into my chest. I can’t help but to tighten my grip on her. I don’t want this moment to end. I have to admit to myself what this is. This isn’t friendship. That is not what I want with Hope. I want more. I want her. But, I know she doesn’t want me, she has Landon, so I will just be her friend. Her best friend even. Because, having Hope in my life in any capacity is better than not having her at all.
“Morning. Did you sleep well?” I didn’t notice she had woken up. This time she didn’t jump out of my arms. She slowly got up and started to check the dream catchers again. I did the same. And once again we got nothing. “I’m going to work on the spell. And then we can try again.” The way she said that so causal as if it is a given that we will sleep together again makes my heart skip a beat. “If you want to I mean.”
“Of course I want to.” What the fuck did I just say. ‘Of course I want to’ what am I think I am going to scare her off. Lucky for me Hope says nothing but I’ll see you tonight then. I leave before I can say anything else stupid. Upon returning to my room Lizzie is still asleep. Not noticing I have been gone two nights in a row. I wonder how long till she notices. Part of me says she will never notice that I would have to tell her. The other part says maybe she noticed last night and is going to question me about it this morning. She doesn’t. She just starts talking about how she plans to get Rafael back.
We continue sleeping together for the rest of the week. Every night we go to sleep, each time a little bit closer, and every morning we wake up entwined. And every day we pretend like it means nothing or at least I pretend. The dream catchers never tell us anything no matter what we do to the spell. We decide to tell my father about the nightmares. Apparently we aren’t the only ones to go to him. More secrets from my father. He could have told us.
“Josie, sweetheart, what were your nightmares about?” I almost don’t want to tell him, but I want to tell him. To have my father comfort me. So I tell him. His face goes pale.
“We are going to find whatever is behind this and you will never have to worry about that again.” I get the feeling that he is hiding something from me. But, that doesn’t matter right now. We decide to get everyone and gather in the library.
We are in the library now with everyone. Lizzie, Landon, Rafael, M.G., and even Penelope. Most of them have been having the nightmares too. We tell them what me and Hope had been doing to ward off the nightmares and try and find the source. No one says anything, but there are few raised eyebrows in the room. And Penelope and Landon look jealous. Not that Landon has anything to worry about and as for Penelope she lost the right to be jealous along time ago. Suddenly the doors blow open and we turn to face them ready to fight.
“What are y’all looking at?” A voice from behind says. We turn around to find a tall well dressed man. He looks like he is covered in dust or something. “Sorry, how rude of me let me introduce myself. I am the Sandman. Or the Boogeyman. Either works.”
“Sandman? Well that explains the dreams. What are you doing here? The knife is gone.” My father says taking command of the situation.
“Well I have been freed with instructions to keep you lot busy. So I have been having my fun using your fears and insecurities to make wonderful nightmares. In a school full of supernaturals I have had plenty to play with. I craft only the best nightmares the ones that tell a truth. About who you are or what you will be. But, for the last week I haven’t been able to play with my favorite new toys. Those stupid dream catchers taking all my wonderful nightmares away.” As he is talking is wondering around the room. Sometimes walking other time just appearing somewhere else. It is hard to keep track of him.
“So I thought if I can’t give them nightmares then daymares will have to do.” He disappears again this he pops up in front of Hope. Before any of us can do anything he blows sand in her face. Hope’s drops to floor. I rush over to her. She is still breathing, but my relief doesn’t last long. She starts tossing and turning her face is distorted in agony.
“What have you done to her?”
“Oh I just put her to sleep. A sleep that she will never wake up from.”
“You wake her up right now or I will kill you.” I have never been so angry and afraid in my life. If he doesn’t wake Hope up I don’t know what I will do.
“If you kill me she will never wake up. This is my special sand. There are only two ways to wake someone up from it. The first is I wake them up. Which I can’t do if you kill me. The second well the second almost never happens.”
“What is the second way?!”
“With true love’s kiss of course. Were do you think the story of sleeping beauty comes from. My sleep forever sleep sand started all of those fairy tales of true love’s kiss.” I turn back to Hope. Landon grabs her and kisses her. Something inside of me churns when I see it. It doesn’t work. And I don’t know if I should be happy or sad about that.
“You, boy thought you are her true love. Don’t make me laugh. I have been in her mind. You aren’t even on her list of loved ones. Y’all might want to find her true love soon though. Because the longer she is asleep the more damage it will do.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you wake her up now then everything will be fine. But, if you wake her up tomorrow then there will always be this voice in the back of her head questioning reality. If you wait a week. Then she will have flashes of her nightmares for the rest of her life. And should you wait a month or more she will think she is still in the dream.” The smile on his face is pure evil. But, I can’t focus on him. I have to wake Hope up. And I have to do it now. I know it is a long shot, but I have to try.
I start walking to back to Hope. The agony on her face is break my heart again and again every time it shifts. Everyone else is on guard ready to attack if the Sandman moves again. I drop to my knees by Hope. I lean down and take Hope’s head in my hands. I think she relaxes a little at my touch, but that is just wishful thinking. I touch my lips to hers. This isn’t how I wanted our first kiss to go. I wanted it to be just us. I wanted her to be awake. I wanted her to want it just as much as me. I pull away and for a terrible second it seemed like I hadn’t worked. Then Hope opened her eyes.
“Josie. What is happening? Did you just kiss me?”
“How! True Love’s kiss has only worked once before. How I have been in both of your minds. The feelings were barely there. How?”
“You underestimated us. Just because they were new doesn’t mean they weren’t real.” Before he can say or do anything else I grab M.G.’s shoulder and siphon magic from him. I preform the same spell that Hope and I used on the gargoyle. The sandman isn’t a living statue like the gargoyle so he explodes in one hit. We are going to be cleaning the library for awhile.
“Josie. Did he say true love’s kiss?” Hope is on her feet now. She looks so hopeful when she asks. I decide to answer her with another kiss. This time we are both awake and she is kissing me back. I know what I will be dreaming about tonight.