Doctor Laura Cortez peered around the room from behind her dirty glasses, confused as to where she was and how she got here. As far as she could tell, the room had been designed to look as if gravity had been reversed. Unfortunately for the designer, the illusion was shattered by the presence of a round, black table with five matching chairs.
As Laura examined the room she became aware of four other, equally confused and, in some cases, scared individuals. The first was what appeared to be a six foot porcelain doll with a damaged leg. She at first assumed it was a part of the room's furnishings, until it too began looking around, a bewildered look contorting it's porcelain features. Her next logical assumption was that it must be some sort of twisted animatronic, but as she studied it from across the room, she could see a lack of any internal structure through the hole in it's leg, thick globs of dried glue holding it in place.
Ok, so it's not an illusion, it's a dream. Laura thought, slowly forming a hypothesis in an attempt to explain what she was seeing. The next person she noticed was a beautiful woman in what looked as though it was once regal attire. She wore some kind of crown that was obscured by her patchy, white hair. Turning from her left to her right, she saw two normal looking teenagers, one with curly blonde hair.
The devil's hair. She thought wryly. The corner of her mouth almost curled upward. Almost. The other teenager had black hair, the bangs just long enough to hide his eyes. It wasn't until after a few seconds that she realized he was semi-transparent, like some kind of ghost. The ghost-boy opened an umbrella and put it over his shoulder, causing Laura to take a step back in order to make room.
As Laura examined the strange people in her dream, a set of white doors at the opposite end of the room began rattling, as if something was attempting to break in. A few moments later, the doors erupted open, slamming loudly against the walls as they did. A cartoonish looking specter entered the room, seeming to possess the table.
"Take... Your... Seat..." it commanded. The teenage ghost was the first to sit down, his leg bouncing nervously.
Restless leg syndrome. Wonder what he has. If he has anything. She thought, taking note of his tic. Under normal circumstances she would demand to know where she was, who these people were, and what was going on. However, seeing as this was a dream, she instead chose to simply follow the ghost-boy to the table, choosing the chair to his left, leaving an empty one between the two of them. As everyone else sat down, she couldn't help notice him staring. Laura met his eyes challengingly, resisting the urge to blink until he looked away. As soon as he had, she pulled her lab coat closed, suddenly more self conscious than she had been in years. She allowed her idle and fidgety hands to tighten the green tie she always wore. It was tighter than most would find comfortable, but it brought her an odd kind of comfort, reminding her that, above all else, she was a scientist. A simple dream had no power over a mind such as hers. As if to reinforce this idea, Laura pulled her notebook out of her coat pocket. She took a moment to study the photograph on the inside, a sad smile twisting it's way onto her tired face. Flipping over to the first empty page, Laura began taking notes on the dream people, figuring it would help her remember the details when she woke up.
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