The apartment was small, and out of the way, but compared to what she was used to it was a palace. As the woman made her way into the kitchenette she kept up a stream of chatter and the sounds of cooking could be heard. Lexa talked, answering questions and commenting on the apartment before Sitting on the bed. She could feel the lure of sleep, far too strong and the stims had run out. Sleep was coming, no matter if she wanted it or not.
Sitting on the end of the bed she unzipped her long boots and took off her jacket then reached into her pocket and pulled out the small object and looked at it, then closed her hand tightly around it and laid down. The bed and the pillow was soft, almost a softness unheard of in the gutters she was from. With tears in her eyes she fell asleep.
The woman walked out of the kitchenette and looked down at her, realising how small and fragile she looked, and pulled the blanket over her. Curling up on the couch she looked over and then flicked on the screen and turned down the lights.
"Poor kid."
"You are just a dream."
Silence.
"There is nothing here that can hurt me. This is just a dream."
The sebiestor stood up and walked towards the mirror and placed her hands on the glass. She looked at it for a moment then pushed. The glass bowed inwards like plastic, the womans fingers turned to talons and tried to pierce the glass. Her mouth opened and howled and she pushed harder, screaming in silence, punching, clawing, scratching at the glass, and all the time her eyes fixed on Lexa.
Lexa, her hands covering her ears trying to stop the sounds she couldn't hear closed her eyes and started screaming.
"It's not real! It's not real! It's not real!"
She opened them and saw her reflection in the mirror, the sebiestor had gone, the mirror was unscratched. Reaching out she touched it and found it firm and let out the breath she didn't know she had held then turned around to go back to the bed.
The Sebiestor woman reached foward as Lexa turned and her strong right hand grabbed her by the neck. Lexa tried to scream and both her hands went to the matari's but couldn't stop her physically lifting her up off her feet.
"Give me back my mind!"
Lexa's scream as she awoke was loud and piercing. The other woman rolled off the couch, a knife in her hand, the lights on and scanning the apartment. She looked over to the bed and found it empty and ran over to it, looking down the side and found Lexa by it, huddled in the corner, pressed as far back into it as she could, rocking slightly. She looked at the little caldari woman and saw the fear in her eyes, saw the marks on her neck, a hand had gripped her there, tightly and fiercly enough to leave marks. She was chanting, like a mantra, tears streaming down her face.
"It's not real... it's not real... it's not real...."
The woman checked the door, checked all the seals, and checked the logs. No one had entered, no one had left. Only two people were in the room. And yet, the computer recorded three distinctive voices during the time. Hers, Lexa's and an unknown voice, most likely, female sebiestor.
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