Ahhhh.... FREAK OUT!

No, but really. I just had this full-blown awesome dream that scared the CRAP out of me.
...And being smart, for once, I wrote it down. Well, the crap-scaring part, anyways. The other was about a prince who was going through all of this and came out better afterwords.

The people coming down the hill looked so familiar, and I panicked as I realized that I’d been here before; I’d done this all before. How was this key to what I was doing? What was going on? Why was I here?!
The people were dressed in black and crimson, the colors of the lost, the ones no one would ever see again. All of them had sticky tear trails down their faces, with new ones on the way. Moans of agony and pain refused to be stifled. Nausea hit me like a wall.
As the hundreds of black-and-red clad people proceeded down the hill, each one picked up a shovel and began digging. Digging body-sized holes to rest in underneath the old oaks at the bottom of the hill.
I kept running, but the sight wouldn’t vanish. They wouldn’t stop digging. It wasn’t a dream, it was a true-to-life nightmare.
They finished the holes, and as they did, someone shouted with… joy. Coming down the hill, the same way the others, the dead, had come down, there were children dressed in sky blue, laughing and running towards the others. Boys, girls; they were all making their way towards the doomed.
I tried to shout out and warn them, but it was like no one could hear me. I was muted among the outbursts of joy and the bubbling laughter.
When the children reached the grave-diggers, there wasn’t any yells or cries out to be saved from their soft mouths. Instead, the light blue children hugged the ones who were destined to live no more… And then vanished into thin air.
After all of the children were gone, the fated ones were smiling, their cries already forgotten, and gently, being done digging the holes, laid themselves down one final time.
I carefully picked my way to the scene, underneath the giant oaks, where a figure in a black cloak and crimson dress was sitting in her hole among all the others who lay still. She did not lie down, unlike the others, but watched me with invisible eyes as I walked around the burial site.
When I was no less than ten feet away, she took off her hood, revealing long, light blonde hair and a gentle smile. Her eyes were invisible no more, but a light, happy blue. And, stunning me the most, was that she looked no older than eighteen.
“Hello,” She said in a musical voice. “You seem quite upset.”
“Well, yes,” I stuttered. “I’ve just seen people die that were once alive. I knew those people.”
She nodded. “But you’ve also seen the people you’re to live with in the future. Those children you saw are the children that haven’t tasted life yet; they are the ones going to experience it very soon.”
She yawned, and began to lie down.
“Wait,” I cried. “Don’t you know what you’re doing? You’re too young!”
“Of course,” She said easily. “And it’s relief. The children who hugged us took away everything that has ever haunted us, pained us, or upset us. They took away the burdens of life, so we could rest without being haunted.
“As for dying, there is nothing to be afraid of. It comes as a great release, even for the younger.”
I gaped open-mouthed at her in horror. “But… You can’t go!”
“I must,” She said, laying all the way down. “It’s expected of me.”
I began to cry. “What about me, then? You’re leaving me!”
She leaned up again, and with an outstretched hand, brushed my tears away. “I’m happier here. Everyone is. I promise you with the deepest parts of my heart.”
With that, she lay back down and closed her eyes. With one final, gentle sigh, she was still.

Popping the Pills.

Talon looked hard at me, a hard smile on his face. “You’re not making this easy, are you?”
I groaned and let myself fall back onto the cot. “And you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
He laughed dryly. “Not purposely, but yes, probably so. This life is... Well, it must be...”
“It’s harder than my old one, yeah.” I admitted for him. “But I think it’s harder for you to teach me how to live than it is to actually try.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Was that somewhat of a compliment?”
“Possibly. I wouldn’t push it.”
He chuckled, surprising me, and came over, sitting on the bed. “Look, I realize that we didn’t get off to the best start, and I do know what it feels like to be new to a place like this.” I tried to ignore the close proximity between us, and from the looks of it, so was he. “Truly, you’re not repulsive or completely undesirable, but...” He smiled regretfully. “You’re just not my kind of choice.”
Surprisingly, I felt a little twinge of hurt at his fair-enough statement, and looked over at the opposite wall. “I didn’t ask to be saddled with this kind of situation either.” I said, a little more gruffly than I meant.
“And I know that,” he countered lightly. “But clearly, we’ve got to make do. Erick and Vitali know what they’re doing,” He sighed. “Even if I don’t. But they’re honorable, and you’re in good hands. No one will question your identity too much if you’re my fiancée.”
I looked over at him incredulously. He’d said the “fiancée” word, for once, without spitting it, and even had a look on his face that resembled genuine kindness – the kindness you show friends of friends; distant but benevolent.
“Um, well, okay,” I babbled, “but people already are.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” I struggled not to panick. His average, normal, everyday good mood was throwing me off. The Talon I’d dealt with for the last few days wasn’t anything like this. “there was a whole group of people, well, actually just a woman and her twelve kids, protesting that I wasn’t really engaged to you because I didn’t have…”
A fatal blush creeped up in my cheeks as I stopped in my tracks.
“You didn’t have what?” He looked slightly annoyed. “There’s nothing that people in Jericho have that you shouldn’t, and whoever says differently is a liar.”
“…A wedding ring.” I finished lamely, closing my eyes. “It’s kind of stupid.”
There was a pause, and then I heard Talon laugh. “Actually… no, that’s not stupid.” he laughed again, and I opened my eyes. “I apparently don’t give people the credit they deserve; that was very observant, though on any other grounds, I would have probably had them confined until the wedding was over.”
“’On any other grounds?’”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing, really. Basically, we’re not having a wedding. On any other occasion, when two people are actually making the commitment, the bride usually doesn’t take well to people saying she isn’t legitimate. But that doesn’t matter now.” He closed his eyes and was still for a moment. When he reopened them, they were bright and mischevious. “Wait here,” He told me.

---

It's so freakishly awesome to be back home, let me just say. Oklahoma has NEVER looked so good. I mean, yeah, it's pretty in Europe, but when you're not with your family, it kind of kills the beauty a little bit.
So, as seen above, Talon is going through character PMS - Panicky Mood Swings - that are driving me crazy. I CAN'T MAKE HIM BE BAD-ish. At this point in the story, both Adele and Talon are supposed to be getting closer. I mean, he leaves in a WEEK, and it's the last day to go soft on her before he goes all mysteriously mean again.
Dangit. I don't know. Maybe he needs ANOTHER day.
Whatever. I've got him popping pills in the corner of my mind, while Adele's sitting there, laughing at him hysterically.
Maybe I can get this worked out. :E