My dreams aren't a safe getaway Who: Kristen and Nikita When: Right after school Where: Nikita's house
It wasn't going to happen.
Kristen rubbed at her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day, the skin around them burning. It was nearly rubbed raw and if she'd looked in a mirror then she'd have known that she looked like she'd been crying all day. Which was fine because that was what she'd been doing. She'd woken up very early, before the sun even rose, screaming. Missy had been there to stroke her hair, tuck her back into bed and sing her to sleep. She hadn't even complained when Kristen had woken up again and crawled into her bed this time, clinging tightly to her like she was afraid that she'd vanish if she closed her eyes. And really, that was true, she was terrified that was going to happen. The little girl hadn't wanted to go to school because that meant being away from her sister, but she'd had to go and Missy had needed to go to work.
But it wasn't going to happen just because they were apart from each other. It wasn't. Kristen was telling herself that over and over throughout the day, paying no attention and getting talked to no fewer than ten times. The girl who sat a few rows over didn't help any. Whenever Kristen got close to her she felt something like scared and she was scared enough today without any help. That meant that she should've gone to daycare like she was supposed to, it was safe there with Mrs. Fable, but she couldn't. Kristen couldn't go and tell Fable what it was that she'd seen in her dreams -- last night and then the snippets that she'd had when she fell asleep in class today. The young clairvoyant couldn't even tell Missy about it because her sister wouldn't believe her. Or worse, she would and she wouldn't listen. She'd still go out and do it and get hurt... Kristen needed to tell someone who would know what to do about it.
And, despite the fact that she shouldn't have done it because she knew how Missy felt about vampires, Kristen had decided that she was going to go home with Silvia and tell Nikita. Nikita would know what to do. She was smart and she was safe. Hadn't it been her house that Missy had taken her to when the world had been opened up to the demons and the one had nearly killed her? That meant that Missy knew Nikita was safe. And someone who was safe against demons had to know what to do... and she was a vampire, that meant that she'd know what could be done to keep it from happening, right? The logic of a ten-year-old said that yes, yes she could.
Silvia had gone off with Annie to do her homework and Kristen had tip-toed down the hall, hardly breathing, to knock on the door she knew led into Nikita's office. I should've asked first... She didn't even realize that she was shaking. "Nikita?" she called, voice coming out squeaky and higher-pitched than normal. "It's Kristen... I... I need your help." Any minute now she was going to start crying again.