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Dream Invasion
By fickitten

 

"Oh my god!" Roxanne shrieks, yanking her bedcovers up under her chin, and staring in horror at the girl sitting on the end of her bed. Thelma leans back, smirking, and rolls her eyes at Roxanne's overreaction. She knew a quick side-trip into Roxanne's dreams could provide her with some amusement, and she loves scaring her former classmates.

"Do you think you could manage not to scream," she asks. "Even in your dreams you're incredibly high-pitched and it's giving me a headache. "

"What the hell is going on," Roxanne demands, sitting up to peer at Thelma through narrowed eyes. "You're dead, Thelma."

"Tell me something I don't know!" Thelma says, throwing up her hands in frustration. "Why is it that that's the only thing anyone can ever seem to think of to say to me?"

"Well--"

"They're all 'You're dead, Thelma!' and 'Oh no, I'm being haunted!' like I'm not aware that I've passed on--"

"It's just--"

"As if I weren't there when I died -- which hurt like a bitch, by the way. Damn, stupid fallen angels and their stupid centuries old mad quests for power -- and as if--"

"Thelma!" Roxanne's voice is practically a squeak and her comically-widened eyes, peeking over the edge of the bedcovers, break Thelma from her rant to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Roxanne demands, which only makes Thelma laugh harder. After a few minutes she calms down, her laughs becoming giggles until they fade away entirely.

"You are, um, well, definitely, you know…"

"Dead?" Thelma finishes for her. "Yes, I definitely am. I'm a ghost now."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Roxanne says, sighing and shaking her head in amusement. She glances at Thelma and asks, "Are you haunting me?"

"I'm visiting you," Thelma corrects her. "Not everything has to be about 'haunting' you know. I just thought I'd drop by, say hello--"

"Disturb my sleep…"

"You're still sleeping," Thelma says. "Still getting your precious beauty sleep, don't you worry. I'm in your dreams, stupid, you can't see me when you're awake."

"But sometimes you're there?" Roxanne says in horror. "Do you spy on us?"

"Not on you. God. Roxanne… you're just not that interesting."

"Watch it," Roxanne growls, pushing the covers away from her face. She seems convinced Thelma isn't here to do her harm, now that they're talking and they've established she isn't imagining things.

"Or you'll do what?" Thelma challenges. "Haven't you been paying attention, Rox? I'm a ghost… what exactly do you think you can do to me."

Roxanne pauses at that, thrown by the reminder. There's actually very little she can do to Thelma now, which is far different to the way things were when Thelma was still alive and breathing, and she's a little unsure of how this will go, given the different rules they're now playing by.

"Yeah, lost for words now, aren't you?" Thelma's smile is bright and mischievous, she knows she has the edge in this conversation and she plans on using it to its full advantage.

"Maybe I am," Roxanne confesses. "Maybe I'm just confused as to why you'd choose to visit me. Surely there's someone else you'd rather talk to."

"Well, Cassie, obviously," Thelma says. "But she's dead now too and unlike me, she isn't a ghost. She's actually gone. And Ella's out with Leon for the night, so you sort of won by default."

"Well," Roxanne says sarcastically, "That's nice to know."

"Isn't it just?" Thelma agrees sweetly. "I could have terrorised Alex for a while of course, but I doubt there's anything interesting in her dreams. She's vapid enough when she's awake, I doubt that improves when she's unconscious."

Roxanne fights to control the smile that threatens at Thelma's words, but Thelma sees it anyway, leaning across the bed to poke Roxanne through the covers.

"I knew you couldn't be that fond of her," she says triumphantly. "Even if she did spend most of last year following you round like a puppy."

"She didn't 'follow me around like a puppy'," Roxanne protests. "She was my friend."

"If that's true then you have a strange perspective on friendship, let me tell you," Thelma says. "What I observed was more like hero-worship."

"She wanted to be popular," Roxanne shrugs. "She's certainly gotten her wish now, thanks to Malachi."

"Yeah, well, we're working on that," Thelma says, waving off Roxanne's questions. "Don't ask, I don't want to talk about it."

"What is it about this school?" Roxanne says. "Why do so many strange things keep happening here. People die, they go crazy--"

"Get pregnant, get possessed," Thelma continues. "I know, it's just a regular, fun-filled party every day here at Medenham Hall."

"Who got pregnant?" Roxanne asks, ignoring her sarcasm, eyes gleaming at the thought of gossip she doesn't know. "And what do you mean possessed?"

Thelma rolls her eyes again, something Roxanne inspires in her a lot.

"Cassie got pregnant. By a fallen angel. Malachi's her son."

"What?"

"Are you having trouble understanding English?" Thelma asks. "Cassie. Got. Pregnant. Malachi. Is. Cassie's. Child."

"But… he's our age," Roxanne says dumbly. "Thelma, that isn't possible."

"God, you never listen to anything. His father's a fallen angel -- and Cassie was a witch -- so he grew supernaturally quickly. He's also the one doing the possessing," Thelma says, as more of an afterthought. "I guess I might as well throw that in now as well, huh?"

"I don't think I can deal with this," Roxanne says faintly, pulling the covers back up and burying her head in them; silky dark hair falling across her cheeks, hiding her from view.

"I don't even know why we're having this conversation!" Thelma says. "I came here to amuse myself, not to keep thinking about all this Malachi stuff. I do that every day!"

"Does this have something to do with why Ella's always acting so strangely?" Roxanne asks, recovering enough to be struck by the thought, but not enough to have caught that she's supposed to be providing amusement.

"Lots of things have to do with why Ella acts so strangely," Thelma says dismissively. "The girl has issues, and I don't just mean with her taste in men."

"Leon doesn't seem like her ideal match," Roxanne agrees. "I like Leon, you know? But he just… he and Ella don't seem like they'd be a very good fit."

"She seems to think they are," Thelma says, shrugging her shoulders. "And Leon's infatuated with her, so I guess that's all that counts."

"I suppose so. What do you think?"

"I think she should bat for the other team," Thelma snaps, tired of discussing Ella and Leon. This isn't working out at all how it's supposed to. She's supposed to be annoying Roxanne, not the other way around.

"Typical," Roxanne says, rolling her eyes.

"How would you know," Thelma says, challenging her with a glare. "You never took the time to get to know me what I was alive, how would you know what's 'typical' for me?"

"Please, Thelma," she sneers. "Everyone used to know about you and your crushes. Talk about people who follow others like puppies -- what about you and Cassie? You certainly worshipped her well enough."

"I think I already paid for that," Thelma says tiredly. "My love for Cassie got me killed."

"O--oh." Roxanne bites her lip, peeking at Thelma from under lowered lids. "I didn't know that."

"Well, now you do." Thelma shrugs. "Lets face it, 'killed by a fallen angel' was never exactly going to be the official explanation."

"I suppose not," Roxanne says slowly. "Still, I'm sorry."

"I think that might be the first time I've ever heard you say that to me," Thelma says, smiling to take the sting out of her words.

"I think it's the first time I've ever said it to you, that's why."

"And there you go, ruining an almost pleasant moment."

Roxanne makes a sound of exasperation and Thelma laughs, relaxing again. This is almost… fun, in a sort-of kind of way. Roxanne's much nicer in her dreams, caught off guard; it's a shame that doesn't translate when she's awake.

"I'd better get going, anyway," Thelma says, standing up. "You only have another hour or so left to sleep, and I've got things to do."

"What things?" Roxanne asks sceptically.

"Things," Thelma says stubbornly. "Things you don't need to know the details of. I'm not allowed to tell you anyway, and you really don't want to know -- trust me."

"When have I ever trusted you?" Roxanne says, crossing her arms.

"Maybe it's time you start," Thelma says, turning to leave. "Oh! Try and be nicer to Ella, won't you? She's got a lot on her plate and she doesn't need any extra stress."

"Yet she apparently has you as a friend."

"Piss off, Roxanne," Thelma calls over her shoulder.

Roxanne's answering laughter follows her out of Roxanne's dream, and she opens her eyes to find herself back in Roxanne's room watching her sleep. Thelma watches her for a long moment, noting the relaxation in her body and the slight smile curving her lips, and then leaves quietly, making sure she doesn't disturb her on the way out.

That went differently than she thought it would but it was still, surprisingly, a lot of fun. As she walks towards Ella's room she smiles a mischievous smile, and decides that one day soon, she might just go back again.

The End

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