A Lovely Nightmare

The darkness faded away as he opened his eyes. Tall grass swayed across Griff's face from a cool breeze. But the breeze didn't help much, it was hot outside, the sun was beating down on him like a piece of meat in the oven at 450 degrees. There was gunfire and yelling somewhere behind him, he didn't care. All he really wanted was to lay there and die from heat exhaustion. A hand grabbed at the back of his shirt and lifted Griff to his feet. It was Caldwell, the Sergeant of "The Black Hearts". Caldwell looked over to him with those beady little eyes of his, "Gun Bunny! What the hell do you think your doing soldier!? Get yer ass moving, we got reconnaissance to do!". Picking up his rifle, he followed Caldwell through the grass and onto the dirt road. Glancing over at the signals his leader was making, Griff ran across the street and entered a battered house.

Pottery, glass, and wood all scattered onto the floor. He couldn't seem to find any holes or secret passages, this house must of been clean. Caldwell pushed his way to the front of him, walking right to the edge of a carpet. The carpet was spread out in the middle of the floor, Caldwell flipped it up revealing a small hole with a ladder. That's why he was the leader Griff thought. Barely fitting into the hole, he followed his leader down the seemingly never ending passageway. They reached the bottom, but only to crawl through another damn hole. They reached the end, Caldwell entered the hidden room first. A boy, who seemed old enough to be fighting in this so called war, yelled and grabbed onto his little sister. The Sergeant wasn't having it, ripping the boy away he said something in their native tongue. Quickly running over to a table the boy grabbed a few documents and handed them to Caldwell. The mission was complete, or so Griff thought. The boy started yelling at his leader waving his hands frantically and then yelling at the Serge, Griff though couldn't tell what he was saying. But Caldwell didn't like it, reaching out with his 9mm the boy was shot right through the head. Griff stood there shaking nervously, "Serge! What are you doing that was...", he was interrupted by Caldwell who was now speaking in English. "Shut up, maggot! Finish the girl off, we can't leave witnesses." Was he serious? Griff looked over to the little girl who was now trembling and crying over her brothers body, she was barely old enough to speak. "Now soldier...", rang through his ears. The M60 started to shake as it was held up to the girl. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. This was the first time an innocent died by his hands.

Opening his eyes he felt the cold cement on his face. He slightly looked up to see blood against the wall. Griff was still in that same awful room. Slowly pushing his way up off of the ground he let out a sigh. Why was he tormented with those awful memories? Breathing, he heard breathing. Turning around he saw a girl about the same age he was. This was another illusion, right? Of course she didn't look like anybody he's ever seen. As every victims face haunted him, glued into his mind. Grabbing at his gun, he pointed to her, "Who..who are you?".

Lillia looked up, startled by the sudden noise. But she heard was a voice, and a voice meant life. "You're....alive?" Lillia practically shouted, half in disbelief and half in joy of finding another person in this God-forsaken place. Her happiness quickly turned to fear when she noticed a gun pointing at her, and she began to shrink against the wall, huddling herself away. She didn't know how to answer his question, however, did he want her name, her side, whether she was friendly or not? The boy seemed confused and disorientated, meaning bad news for the person he was aiming at with a military-grade assault weapon. Lillia quickly ran her fingers through her hair, freeing the strands from her face, "I'm....uh I'm Lillia? Please don't kill me! I know what I did was wrong but I swear I didn't mean to!" Her face grew hot, she felt the tears coming back as she buried her face in her knees.

At this point, Lillia was thoroughly convinced that this all was some kind of hideous revenge against her. Like if karma suddenly whip lashed her back for killing Emily. But she had never meant to! The voices came back, screaming inside her head, You killed her, you killed her and now they're gonna get YOU! You see what you've done, you stupid stupid girl, it's what you get for losing control. The voice practically sang their screaming accusations, causing Lillia to press her hands over her ears, trying in vain to shut them out. Why was she being tortured like this? It was Emily's fault after all! It wasn't her's, it couldn't be..... The voices grew louder, taunting her anguish, refusing to let her think clearly, repeating the same statements over and over again. Her head throbbed, and she buried it amongst her knees. She began whimpering softly in pain, begging the voices to stop. In her sudden attack, she had completely forgotten about the boy with the gun.

The two vampires walked through the halls of the home, until they heard voices. They opened the door to the room the two humans were in and listened and watched what was going on. At one point, the female vampire laughed at what she was seeing and hearing. She wasn't sure if the humans would notice it or not, but she'd find out. Whether they did or not, she wasn't necessarily worried. In fact, she wanted them to know she was there. And hey, if they got even more scared then they already seemed to be then that was definately a bonus.

Logan woke his a shock, feeling his shoulder being pushed, he rose to his feet and drew his gun. Looking down to the woman he noticed she looked pretty normal, no cuts or broken bones, but he couldn't be sure. Sweat dripped from his brow as he aimed the gun at her, "Who are you? Do you know me? Where you in this house?"

Logan was shaking nervously and felt like he was in a river of his own sweat. What had just happened up there... his father looked like he was already dead. He didn't believe in zombies or nothing like that, but what had just happened? Logan took a chance to look back up to the window, perfect as though nothing had ever happened. A shiver ran up his spine as he looked back to the woman in front of him, "What the fuck is going on here!"

Cassandra jumped back in shock as the man jumped up when she touched him. She had thought he had been knocked unconcious. It had made her jump nearly out of her skin and she backed up shocked when he pointed a gun in her direction. She took another slow scoot backwards before she slowly stood up to face him. She set her face into a hard mask and she glared at him. "Do you honestly think if I was going to hurt you or kill you? IF that were my intention I would have done that already idiot" She said and rolled her eyes, avoiding his question. She was already in hell, she wasn't afraid of this guy. Even though he was pointing a gun at her.

"And for your information I don't know what the fuck is going on. If I did, do you honestly think I would be here?" She asked, eyebrows raised at the guy in front of her. "And no I didn't come from the house" she said, nodding her head towards the house beside them. "I was in a hospital before this happened. And then I somehow ended up here. I don't know why, but it seems we both ended up here for some reason. So...what the he'lls your excuse huh?" She asked, eyebrows raised. SHe wasn't going to give this guy her name. No way in hell was that going to happen.

Name: Cordelia Redell

Age: Seventeen.

Discription/pic: She's short, about 5'4", and she's a soft girl, a little on the doughy side, but still pretty behind her frizzy black hair and glasses. She never cared to dress in the latest fashions, and she never wears makeup more than a little mascara. Most people write her off as a geek, but she has a lot more going for her than that, and is very strong.

Bio: She was the typical science geek, who never had a date in high school, but she was more comfortable with her nose buried in a book than anywhere else. She lives with her parents and her sister, and is a very family oriented girl; her little sister, age fourteen, is her world. She comes from a wealthy family.

Crime: Unjustified murder.


Cordelia frowned, having walked into her sister's bedroom to find her crying. She rushed to the bed, arms suddenly full of a girl who had ceased to be smaller than her on self. "Jaqui, darling, please don't cry. Tell me what's wrong, baby, I'll go fix it." To Cordelia, seeing her younger sister in such a sad state was the worst thing in the world.

Anger flooded her vision, tinting the world red. The blonde haired bitch in front of her smiled, taunting. Cordelia was furious. How dare she hurt her family, she would pay.

The face of the younger girl was bruised, swollen, and streaked with a mixture of tears and blood. There were deep scratches running down one side. Cordelia gasped, causing a fresh wave of sobs from the younger child. "Baby girl, tell me who did this to you! I wont let them get away with it."

The blonde girl was standing there, towering over her, but Cordelia would not back down. She stepped closer, pushing the girl, hard. "You hurt my sister. What gives you the right?"

Something to do with a boy Jaquelinn was friends with, the boyfriend of one of the girls Cordelia had classes with. Apparently, Jaqui had asked if the rumors were true, and the boyfriend got mad and jumped ship. Of course, this didn't warrant the beat down the younger girl had gotten.

"I can't believe you would hurt my sister because of some boy, she didn't do anything! Stop. Don't you walk away from me!"

Cordelia grabbed the hand of the girl as she tried to walk away, tugging on the back of the sweatshirt. The girl had whipped around, claws outstretched. That made Cordelia more angry than before.
She jumped on her, knocking the blonde girl into the grass and pinning her down. The red had completely engulfed Cordelia's vision by then and she hadn't even heard the soft crunch as blonde hair slid over a rock.
Later, police reports would say the girl had been murdered. The unborn baby was just a tragic casualty nobody had even bothered to mention.

Cordelia came to, unable to recognize her surroundings. She could have sworn she was at home, but this looked nothing like it. She was staring up at scene that made no sense to her, it was almost like she was outside, but hadn't she been in her sister's bedroom a few moments ago? She blinked; if she was still home, the ceiling was gone. And the walls. And where was the plush white carpet her mother loved so much? She felt grass underneath her bare arms. There was something she needed to remember, but she couldn't.
She rolled to her feet and groaned as blood accosted her sense of smell, her stomach suddenly upset as she looked around for the source. She noticed a girl nearby, kneeling on the ground. It sounded like she was sobbing, but the sound was soft. So, slowly, she inched closer, the girl partially hidden by some foliage. Cordelia took not of the curly black hair, the pale skin; she suddenly blanched as she called out, her arms reaching forward, closing the gap to her sister.
"Jaquelinn, Jaquelinn what's wrong?"
"You don't remember, do you? Well if you can't remember you obviously don't care!"
"Sweetie what happened. You know I'll help you, I always do. Tell me, okay?"
Cordelia was scared, her fingers now inches away from her sister's shoulder. Suddenly, the girl jumped up and away briefly turning her gorgeous, curly head towards the older girl.
"I can't!" she shouted, and Cordeilia stumbled; Where there had been a pretty face that morning at breakfast, Cordelia now saw a torn, bloody mess.
She shrieked and Jaquelinn ran, scrambling in the dirt as her sister shouted after her. Cordlia's face filled with tears as she ran after her, crying for her to wait.
If I could just get her to a doctor she thought, mind racing. They can fix it, it's not bad, she's young, she can heal just fine!
"Jaquelinn, wait!"
Cordelia's cry rang out across a nearly empty street as she turned a corner. Jaquelinn was no where to be seen.
She sank to the ground, out of breath and sobbing now, not caring about the two strangers in the grass nearby.

Was she another illusion, another fantasy of the dreaded psycho room apocalypse? This, Lillia, was definitely not a previous victim of his. Maybe she was another ghost sent to test him. But she seemed more real. So, if she was real, this couldn't of been some game he was stuck in. These questions and thoughts raced through his head, but only one stood out the most. This girl was real, which made this room a reality. The girl in front of him pleaded, just like the others. This was a chance to redeem himself at least a little. Sighing with relief as he let a great weight lift off his shoulders. Griff tossed the empty rifle out the window. Looking down to Lillia, he noticed she wasn't paying attention to him anymore. The girl seemed to be fighting over something else.

A flash of light filled Griff's vision, a bright light, then it seemed to move over to the side of him. A finger moved in front of his face slowly, the left to the right. He seemed to remember getting transported back to the city in a helicopter. But why, what happened to his squad? More importantly, what happened to him? The doctors were trying to get his attention, they couldn't. More of his memory came back, but it wasn't good. The slaughtering of children kept popping into his mind. Griff started to move, but he could't. He was tied down, restrained! Damn doctors and their precautions. Shouts of drugs and sleep entered the air, until a nurse walked slowly over to him. She stared at Griff and told him to stare into her eyes, concentrate on nothing else. Countdown from ten and to keep this concentration all the way to one. The cries and faces in his head started to vanish. Did it work? Griff wasn't sure, he only made it to five. He felt a pinch in his arm and then there was darkness, damn doctors.

Griff got down on one knee, becoming eye level with the girl. Since she helped him in overcoming the fear, it was only right to at least try and help her. Raising his hand to her chin he tilted Lillia's head up. Something seemed to be tormenting her from the inside, poor girl. He knew the feeling way too well. Thinking back he remembered a good technique, "Lillia, my names Griff, I want to help you. Concentrate on something, look into my eyes, and then start to count back from ten.". Grabbing onto her arms, he helped her to stand up. This better work. One because he needed at least some kind of good karma under his belt. Two, well, she came into that god forsaken room then she could probably lead him out of it. Griff was also staring back at her, making sure she didn't lose any concentration. He became free of all his surroundings. This going on, he didn't even realize the new comers that had entered the bloodbath of a room.

Logan put the gun down and grabbed his head, "I'm sorry, but last I checked this was nothing more than rubble behind me and that rust bucket was a beautiful green car. My excuse is that I just got pushed out of what is now an unbroken window by a man who should be in a million pieces! So if you want to fix my insanity please slap me and let me wake up in my damn car!" He was rubbing his temples wondering what the hell had happened to him. Suddenly above him a body fell down to the earth, it looked just like the broken man from before. The man began to stand with his broken bones, Logan did the only thing he could think of by placing his gun to the broken man's skull, "Fuck off old man!"

For once the results of the bullet showed as the broken man fell to the ground. Logan looked at the gun in his hands then to the woman next to him, "You ever seen a man with broken bones get shot several times and keep coming?" He looked back to the body, "The names Logan Vinchi of the Vinchi clan."

Cassandra flinched at the shouting. And she thought she was crazy. This guy obviously had more problems then she did. How very strange that this would happen. It was obvious that they both ended up in the same place for some reason. She wasn't exactly sure what that reason was, but she knew it was probably for something bad. When she heard the crash from the window above them she let out a gasp and covered her head with her arms as the glass rained down on them. She gasped out and backed away as she saw the broken man get up and move towards them. This was not possible! How could someone who should be dead continue to walk towards them?! it wasn't right, it wasn't real!

She let out a scream when the man raised the gun and shot the man in the head, watching as he fell back to the ground. She wasn't sure if he was dead. It looked like he could take a lot more if possible. Finally when he put the gun down and turned to her, she continued to shiver softly. "Well...Logan. I think it would be safe to say that we should get the hell out of here."

Logan nodded, "Yea, but you got any idea of where in this hell we can go?"

Logan kept his eyes on the body before him then heard a loud choir of groans come from within the house. Taking a few steps back Logan looked around, "What did I do! You should all be dead! I killed you! I watched you die!" Logan pulled another gun out of his jacket then began a run away from the building. Whether the woman was following him or not was not important, justing getting the hell out of dodge was. Jumping over his rust bucket of a car he reached down and grabbed a small booklet from the pile of dumbed papers. He looked back towards the woman, "Hurry up, unless you want to see more of those shells fall out of the windows I think we need to get the heck out of here. As fast as our stubs for legs will allow!"

She was about to answer him until she heard the groans coming up towards the house. THere was something extremely wrong here. WHy would he ask her a question like that? If she knew she wouldn't be here in the first place, and that was for sure. She jumped at his loud screaming rant towards the house and watched a little shocked as he ran away across the dead field of a yard and over a rusted car, hiding behind it. She didn't think twice after that to follow him. She ran head long across the barren yard and quickly behind the car. She saw the wierd looking box in his hands and then looked from him and then over to the house. "What are you going to do?" She asked curiously and also frightened.