[WaM] 005. Help me out here.

[deep_red_bells]

"I'm telling you, something isn't right, Ethan."

Her Watcher heaves yet another sigh that so clearly tells her he would rather be doing anything right now--and that includes chewing tin foil and sticking a 9-volt battery on his tongue--than listening to her rant at him over the phone as she packs. "These dreams are part of being a slayer, Baileigh, you know this."

"Ugh, why won't you listen to me, why won't anyone listen? This is different. It's not like I haven't gone through this for years now. These are not your typical nightmares. These are...they're intense, they're too real, they're not--they're just not the same!"

"They're memories. They aren't just dreams, they're events that actually happened--"

"Oh my God, does everyone in the world think I'm stupid?!" She throws the shoe in her hand in frustration, winces as it skitters across the floor and hits the wall. She covers her cell phone with her hand and mouths a sheepish 'sorry' to Julian before deciding it might be best to finish this conversation without any potential projectiles in her hand. Especially stiletto heels. Someone could lose an eye. "I know they happened, Ethan," she continues, abandoning her packing for the moment and rising to pace around the room. "I know they're memories. I would like to repeat that this is not exactly my first time at the rodeo, m'kay? These are different, everything about them feels different. I wake up and I don't, I don't even know who I am. Are any of the other girls experiencing anything close to same thing?"

"If they are, they haven't spoken to me about them."

"Well, I can't imagine why not, cause you're so goddamned helpful and all!" She makes a face, realizing she just crossed a line, taps the edge of the phone against her forehead a few times in quick succession while hissing 'stupid stupid stupid' and attempts to apologize. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, lack of sleep makes the temper short. Just, could you at least try to find out who this girl is? It might not do any good, but please. Help me out here. Give me something. I can't keep taking this tea, eventually I gotta get some real sleep. Now I freely admit, hey, I don't need much, so maybe this isn't priority, and that's fine! You know, there's apocalypses to be prevented, demons to be eviscerated, but AM I GOING INSANE. Nobody wants a crazy slayer wandering around L.A., now do they? Huh? Huh?"

"I am doing the best that I can, Baileigh. I am. I promise."

Do better. She doesn't say it out loud, as it's too immature even for her, but his icy tone is no great encouragement. "Fine. Thanks so much for that." She snaps the phone closed and glares at it for a moment, as though the whole thing were it's fault, and briefly entertains the notion of throwing it in the same direction as her poor mistreated shoe.

She's not wrong about this. Something isn't right, and nobody's listening.


word count: 505