InsaneJournal

Kate was stressed out over the dream. On the one hand, it could have all just been a dream. But it felt like so much more. She had dreamed of the worst day of her life, at least so far. And she didn't want to be the one to tell Richie about it, so maybe Seth would. It wasn't really her business. She hardly knew them here.

In her dreams, she knew them too well. They had only met that same day, or she guessed the day before since it was morning in the dream by the time it ended. But after what they'd experienced, it felt like longer. She and her family had been kidnapped by the Geckos. And now Scott was a culebra. And Jacob was dead. By Kate's hand. He'd made her do it, and she couldn't get that image out of her head.

Ben seemed like a nice guy though Kate did not know him too well yet. She needed to talk to someone about what happened and it wasn't going to be Richie. She had mentioned a little of it to Seth but she guessed she was feeling too raw and angry at him in the dreams. And she'd decided to leave with him in the dreams too. What else did she have with Scott turned and Jacob gone? And of course, Richie was also a culebra so it wasn't like Seth didn't also suffer some loss.

When she had woken up though, she didn't really feel like bonding with the Seth that was here. She didn't even know how far he'd dreamed. And she didn't know how far Richie had dreamed either. But it wasn't nearly as far as she had since he hadn't even met her yet. She'd leave Seth to handle if or when he was going to fill Richie in. But she did need to talk about things, and Ben had offered.

He was easy to spot in the coffee shop and so she ordered and made her way right over to his table, sliding into the booth across from him. "Hey, thanks for meeting me. I hope you weren't waiting long." She offered a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. It was obvious the girl was haunted.

"It's nice to meet you too, Ben." Kate said, and then feeling like meeting in person was different than talking over a network, she offered her hand for him to shake. That was usually what people did and all. Honestly, any distraction she could get right now was really a good thing. And Ben seemed very nice. She was new here, and she hadn't made a lot of friends yet but she was hoping that would change now. She could definitely see Ben and her becoming friends.

"I'm sure you've heard some of the things people dream about can be...jarring." And for Kate's dream that was an understatement. "I don't know if I mentioned to you that my mom died not that long before I moved here." She felt maybe she had but she wasn't sure so she thought she would just tell him again.

"In my dreams...my mom died too. Recently." She paused for a minute, as her name was called and she went to the counter to grab her coffee before rejoining him at the table. "Sorry about that, anyway...in the dream. Dad decides we're all going on a trip to Mexico." That in itself of course was not weird, but the series of events that happened after they'd left Bethel were.

"He bought an RV and insisted on us driving there. I don't know that he ever intended for us to go back home at all." Kate said. "We had some trouble with the RV and stopped at a motel called the Dew Drop Inn, and then these two bank robbers who were on the run from the law for a robbery they'd pulled off in Abilene kidnapped us," Kate said. And that was only the beginning of the nightmare that unfolded.

"They needed to be able to cross into Mexico, you know. So what better way to do that than looking like they're on a family trip with a preacher, no less." It had been a smart plan on the part of the Geckos. And things probably would have gone better for all of them had they not ever gone to the Twister.

"So anyway we get to Mexico and we go to this bar called the Titty Twister. Dad doesn't want me or Scott to go inside but Seth and Richie insisted. None of us have any idea what's going to happen there. We never could have guessed. But I tried to get us out of there before anything happened. Everything seems...normal enough given the circumstances until the sun goes down." Kate paused again, taking a sip of her coffee.

"There's a stage and dancers who are wearing next to nothing. I'm sure you can picture it." Kate said. "Well one of these dancers called Santanico Pandemonium comes out and somehow she knows Richie. And that's when things get really weird. Next thing you know we find out vampires are real and we're fighting for our lives in this bar. Only it's not a bar, it's a temple for these creatures...called culebras. Basically snake vampires. And we're meant to be their meal. And I was led there to be sacrificed as an innocent to sate these...9 lords. Scott ends up getting dragged down into the lower levels. And we go after him. And by this point, a Texas Ranger has already shot Richie and Santanico disappears with him. So we go down into the temple and fight more creatures, not just culebras. It doesn't seem like any of us are gonna make it out alive. I'm tied to an altar and almost stabbed to death, but Seth and my dad rescue me.

We find Scott again, but it's bad. He's a culebra now too. He wants me and my dad to join him. He bites my dad. We kind of reject Scott and he runs off. And then...my dad knows he's too old, he can't live as a culebra now and learn not to hurt people. So he makes me kill him. I drive a stake through his heart. We make it out of the temple, only now it's just me and Seth. I've lost my entire family in there...and I have nowhere else to go. So I ask if he wants company and we take one of the cars. Then I woke up."

She was sure that would be a lot for Ben to process. She was still trying to process it all herself. "And Richie here, he hasn't even dreamed to the part where he meets me. I'm not gonna be the one to tell him all that, you know?"

"I'm sorry," Kate said. Ben probably felt like he'd bitten off more than he could chew right now. She didn't blame him. She kind of felt that way too and it had been her dream. A day of hell. Of the most unimaginable things.

More and more, Kate was realizing that they couldn't just be dreams. It felt too real. And people got injuries from the dreams. It was more like another life or something. She'd already lost so much, both outside of the dreams and in them. And being made to kill her father, well that had been pretty horrific. But there was no one else to do it. It had to be her. And now Seth knew too. Because she'd told him. Richie though; He had no idea of the horrors awaiting them. She hoped Richie didn't have to dream it for a while, that he'd have a little break.

"I bet you're wishing you hadn't agreed to meet up now, huh?" Kate laughed lightly. But honestly, she wouldn't blame him if he did feel that way. They barely knew one another and here she was telling him all about a deeply personal and terrifying dream. Then again, people posted about their dreams on the network all the time so maybe it wasn't as big a deal as she thought it was.

He hadn't run screaming yet. She was sure his dream about being eight was preferred to the horror show she'd just shared. And something told her that her dreams were going to get a lot worse before they got better. She couldn't say why she felt that way, but she did.

Kate breathed a sigh of relief, glad she hadn't managed to scare Ben off just when they were getting to know one another. She had just shared some pretty freaky stuff with him, she wouldn't have blamed him if he noped out of there. She probably would have if she heard something like that.

Ben was unbiased though. She didn't want to talk about this with Seth, and she certainly wasn't about to discuss any of it with Richie. Ben wasn't in her dreams. So he was probably the best person she could have talked to about all of it. She was glad he didn't seem too freaked out.

"No, that's...you being here is enough," Kate said with a nod. "And I appreciate you indulging this particular brand of crazy."