darker_london | Peter the Vampire Slayer? (Peter, Dreams, Lydia, Lauren) (Reply)

Peter had been sitting in the nursery, keeping an eye on Lauren until she fell asleep. And then, as he was quite exhausted, Peter fell asleep soon after the little girl drifted off. He was still sitting upright in the chair, slightly hunched forward, as the dream took him.

"Vampires." The group of people hunched over the fire were whispering. "The vampires are coming again." Peter recognised that they were not speaking English. But he could understand them this time. He would not need Alex to translate. He just knew what the people were saying, even if they were saying it in Romanian.

Peter approached the group of people, leaves and sticks crunching under his feet as he walked. He appeared to be in a small village, the likes of which didn't exist much anymore. But he knew, deep in the Carpathian forests, there were still enclaves like this. Groups of people who lived by the old ways. Growing and raising their own food, villages that still had a shoe-maker and a tailor and a clock-maker. And while the means of producing such wares had advanced over the years, these self-sufficient communities hadn't always progressed along with them. Peter could hear mumbling and whispering about God and renouncing the Devil. He could hear that the people warming themselves by the blaze believed that the 'vampires' were sent to rid them of their sin. And then they talked about a pious girl who had been taken. Mirela.

Peter watched them for a moment more, but he didn't believe he was going to get more information out of them. Not until he found this village in person. He memorised the look of it. The feel of it. The landmarks in the background. And then he turned towards the mountains. That was where the caves were. That was where he would find the cave he'd been dreaming of so often. Was Mirela the red headed girl who needed his help?

His journey towards the mountains had barely begun when he heard a collective scream behind him. "They're coming!" The villagers yelled, and Peter turned as he heard the frantic movements of people desperately running for their lives. Peter froze and then he cast his eyes slowly towards the sky. He could hear something there. And eerie screeching. Something terrible was converging on them. Peter's heart leapt into his throat and he prepared to run too-

"DAD!" Lydia poked Peter again, this time right in the stomach. And as Peter was quite ticklish, he jerked awake with a sound that was half a shriek and half a giggle. Lydia jumped back, eyes wide. The sound woke little Lauren up as well, and she immediately started crying. "Er....hi?" Lydia raised her eyebrows. "Were you dreaming?"

Peter glanced at her warily and then he looked towards the crib where poor Lauren was screaming her head off. "Something like that." Peter stood, muscles stiff from sleeping in the chair, and he kissed Lydia's head so she would know he wasn't mad. "Do you need something, Sweetheart?" He asked as he reached for his tiny baby daughter. "Hey there, Lauren. Shhh, it's okay. Daddy's here. Daddy's here, beautiful girl." Peter picked her up and he held her close, though that only quieted her a little.

"Uhm...can you make lunch? Mum's at Uncle David's and we want toasted sandwiches and you won't let us use the heaty thing." Lydia looked guilty now, but thankfully Peter smiled at her and he let out a chuckle.

"Of course I can make lunch, Lydia." He was glad she'd woken him instead of using the sandwich toaster herself and burning her fingers off or the house down. And as such, he was hardly going to be grumpy about it, thus ensuring that next time she would use the toaster herself. "I love you, Sweetheart. Come on, lead the way." The dream would return. It always did. He would find out what he was up against in due course. For now, he needed to be Daddy instead of Peter the crusader. He liked being Daddy more anyway.