She’d been tossing and turning so much during the night that the dog who normally was sprawled out across the foot of Octavia’s bed, had gone to sleep on top of his actual dog bed. The dreams were getting more frequent, more intense, and not to mention more graphic. As if the cannibalism wasn’t enough to bring about actual nightmares, now she was seeing something that looked like it came out of war movie or an old episode of Xena. And she was Xena.
That wasn’t the weirdest part of it though. The weirdest and disturbing part was that she was pretty damn sure she’d had some kind of dream about her sister’s boyfriend. She didn’t remember the details, but waking up suddenly with him on her mind and having those kind of thoughts? It was enough to make her forgo a extra couple hours of restless sleep, put on a pair of running shoes, and heading out the door for an early morning run.
Was she subconsciously freaking out about this new thing with Cappie? Inappropriate feelings for her sister’s boyfriend was an incredibly strange way of dealing with nerves, but that was the thing. She wasn’t nervous - at least not in the way that made her question herself or him. They were the good kind of nerves that sent excitement through her when she saw a new text come in during class. Sure, Ash Beckon was hot, but she’d never even thought about him in that way. Then there were the other dreams. The dark, twisted, bloody dreams that seemed so way out there yet, at the same time, felt like they meant something important. If she’d been the only one having the weird dreams, she might have just figured something was wrong with her or she’d been too busy with school and work, but she wasn’t the only one. Others in town had expressed having them too, though, and none of it made any sense.
She was around halfway through her running playlist when The Who’s Baba O’Riley came on. Octavia had picked one of the harder trails this time in order to try to keep her mind occupied and focused on the run and not… other reasons. So far, after she’d gotten a good start, it was working. She went up and down hills, around corners, and cut off to the side to even jump a fallen tree like a hurdle. As the song started to end, she slowed down her pace and kept up a steady walk, taking a long sip of water.
Hot and sweaty, she glanced at her watch and noticed the time. She had a morning class, but it wasn’t for another couple of hours. So, instead of heading back, she turned down a path that would take her the longer way back to the start and picked her pace back up again.
Vanessa enjoyed the outdoors, but today just seemed like a really good day for a hike. There was something about the woods that she just liked and lately, with feeling like there’s something missing, she felt that draw even more. She had always enjoyed going camping and walks, it reminded her of different stories that she liked. However the older she grew, the more she sort of pulled away from reading. Gaming and streaming had taken up a lot of her time, as well as her school work. Today it was just nice to get away from all of that.
As she walked, she breathed in the crisp air. Something about the smell was really relaxing and felt that she made the right choice in going out this morning. She wouldn’t be able to go far, she would still have school but thankfully her senior year, and her schedule was easier. Her first class wouldn’t be until 9am anyway. Smiling she picked up a log stick and playfully used it to help her walk, though she really didn’t need it. Dead leaves and twigs crunched beneath her feet with every step. Birds flew overhead and Vanessa felt relaxed.
At least until she looked ahead and saw something strange on one of the trees. What was that? Stepping closer, she thought someone had drew on it but instead it looked like a projector image. She turned around but didn’t see anyone nearby. She frowned before turning back and noticed she was looking at herself. It wasn’t just her though, Vanessa was sitting with friends she recognized but she was in a room she had never been before. Charlie was there, Steve, her younger brother and others. It looked like they were watching a movie. None of this had made any sense. They had never been in that room before, and she was certain they all hadn’t been together, not like this.
The image changed to something completely different. Vanessa was in a room, it looked more like gym? She wasn’t quite sure, but there was equipment and a mat. Vanessa looked like she had been sweating, and there was someone with her, she didn’t recognize. Her mouth gaped open when she saw an object being thrown at Vanessa’s direction and dropped even more when she saw herself using some kind of power to block it.
“What the hell?” Vanessa said loudly. There was something...different but familiar and that alone kind of freaked her out. Did Vanessa really have powers?
Octavia had been running a little while longer before she finally knew that she needed to make her way back towards the apartment. With the way she’d been feeling lately, she would have rather stayed out here for the rest of the day and kept to herself, but her class was coming up and she’d made plans to meet up with Cappie for a late lunch later on campus between classes. She didn’t want to bail out on him.
Rounding a corner, she saw a person up ahead who looked like they were just standing in front of a tree. At first she thought maybe the girl was taking a break, but she didn’t move from the spot for a good minute or so. Octavia slowed her pace to a walk and took her headphones out of her ears.
“Hey,” she called out. “Are you alright?” For all she knew, the girl was lost and needed help getting back to the main road. Worst case scenario, she was striking up a conversation with the tree.
The voice caught Vanessa off guard, she quickly turned to see a young woman but then turned back to the tree. Unfortunately the images she had seen had disappeared.
“You-” She paused for a second before turning back. “Did you see anyone else around here? Something weird was on this tree but it’s gone now.” Her voice faltered. “Sorry. I must sound really crazy right now, but I’m certain I saw something.”
Octavia frowned and looked around them but didn’t see anyone other than the two of them. “No, I don’t think so.” There had been pictures on the tree? She wasn’t sure how that was even possible, especially since when she looked at it, the only thing there was the normal tree bark.
She shook her head. “No, it’s alright. I haven’t really been feeling totally sane lately either,” Octavia said with a small smile. The dreams were only part of it. “What did you see?” She asked, nodding to the tree. For all she knew, it could have been some sort of vision that felt as real as the dreams she’d been having.
Vanessa did her best not to look too concerned but it was difficult. This didn’t make any sense, she couldn’t see or really hear anything else other than typical sounds you’d hear, but how could someone project something like that onto a tree? More important how could they do it with images of Vanessa doing something she had no memory of?
“It was just-” She paused for a moment. “I saw myself with my friends but we were in a room I had never been before, and we were all watching a movie together. I mean it’s not that strange but I just get the sense that something was off. The second one I was in some kind of gym working out but not like a regular work out. It looked like I was training and I had super powers.” Vanessa sighed. “I know it doesn’t really make any sense. It was just something familiar about it. I can’t explain it.”
The description of training and the gym sounded all too familiar to Octavia. She paused and looked between the girl and the tree where she said some sort of movie of her life - a weird version of her life - had been playing only moments ago.
"It makes more sense than it probably should," Octavia said, looking back to Vanessa. "I don't know anything about tree movies, but I've been having these weird dreams of the same things. Not exactly the same, but of a life that's not really my life. None of it makes any sense, and a lot of what I've seen is really freaky, but it seems so real. The gym thing, though that you mentioned? That does sound familiar."
What in the hell was going on? "This whole town seems to be going a little crazy lately, doesn't it? Weird things keep happening that have nothing to do with visions or dreams."
Vanessa nodded. “I’ve been having dreams too. I guess I never thought twice about them until now.” She stared back at the tree then looked back to Octavia and sighed. “I honestly don’t know. It’s starting to feel like we’re out of some weird science fiction show. I mean if it’s aliens, I hope they’re the good kind and not the ones that want to destroy us.” She gave a small laugh trying to make the mood a bit lighter.
“Not that I’m scared or anything, but do you think you can walk me back to the edge of the path? I can make my way back home from there but now being in the woods, it feels kinda creepy.”
“Yeah, I mean, I have dreams all the time, but the ones I’ve been having have been so… real.” And graphic, but Octavia didn’t go into that. She’d probably freak out the other girl by telling her the types of images she’d seen in her subconscious. Hell, it freaked her out sometimes. She smiled a little. “Do you think we’ll get to meet E.T.?” she said, returning the light joke. “I’ll have to stock up on my Reese’s Pieces.”
Octavia gave Vanessa a nod. “Yeah, sure. I was actually making my way back out to the road, so I don’t mind at all. It’ll be nice to have a some company because, you’re right. It can be kind of weird in here alone sometimes.” She nodded to the tree. “Especially when things like that happen.” How weird was it that she actually believed Vanessa had been looking at a mini memory movie on a tree? Really weird.
Vanessa smiled. “Great. Thanks.” She felt a little better but her mood still hadn’t improved that much. The images were still weighing heavily on her mind and she was trying to decide whether or not she should even bring it up to her friends.