The Unicorn's Forest

"It's not even picture day," the nurse said to Charlie, as she took her vitals. "What are you doing here already?"

Charlie smiled a little in response. When picture day came around, Charlie always hoped to be sick that day and avoid getting her picture taken. Even to the point she'd always try some illness to get sent home. Otherwise she tended to avoid the nurse's office because she generally didn't get sick. She also suspected that somewhere in her file, there was a note about that, aside from her attempt the previous year when she tried getting out of having her picture taken on picture day, despite everyone else she knew trying to look their best for when they'd get their picture taken.

"Had a really bad dream last night," Charlie said, closing her eyes against the light from the light fixtures on the ceiling.

"What was it about?" the nurse asked, opening Charlie's eyes to look at them briefly before letting them close again.

"I saw Beth die," Charlie replied, seeing the entire dream play again.

She was with a group of people she somehow knew, but didn't recognize. She stopped as they entered an open area in a city, heading towards what looked like a large gate, at least forty feet high and thirty feet wide.

As they approached the gate, Charlie saw Beth and her other friends come from another direction. Then as they got close enough where Charlie could make Beth out, a shadow appeared behind Beth and Charlie saw a blade come out from Beth's chest. The expression Beth had was one more of surprise than anything else before her eyes glazed over as the blade was withdrawn from her chest and she fell to the ground.

As Charlie stared at Beth's lifeless body, she couldn't help but think that it was because of that choice she made. If she had made a different choice, Beth would still be alive.

What that choice was, Charlie couldn't even begin to imagine. Let alone what had led up to them being there in the first place or what purpose they had in heading towards that gate.

As it is, Charlie couldn't remember a lot of the details that had seemed so clear to her when she had the dream, but that was the nature of dreams. So often when she woke up from a dream, she would often forget details of the dream, if not the entire dream itself, shortly after. So, while she wasn't surprised at forgetting some details, the details she could remember were so vivid that it was like she was really there and saw her best friend get killed in front of her eyes and somehow it was her fault.

Charlie related most of that to the nurse as she recalled it, leaving out the parts of that it was her fault and that she couldn't remember all the details. After all, no need to give them a reason to decide she was losing it or something. Although, as she pictured the blade coming out of Beth's chest again, she began to hurl again. Most of it getting on her clothing before the nurse was able to get the wastebasket in front of her mouth.

After a minute as she wiped Charlie's face, the nurse merely told her, "Just rest here. I'll call your parents about picking you up. I think it might be good for you to take a sick day."

Charlie wanted to say that she'd be fine going back to class, but couldn't bring herself to do so. After all, she wasn't sure she could convince herself that she wouldn't throw up if she saw Beth again at school.

The nurse left and Charlie put her arm over her eyes. While the lights in the nurse's office weren't that bad, she still wished they could be dimmer. Maybe then she could sleep and hopefully not have a dream like that again.

That would be so nice, she thought to herself as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep that welcomed her like a soft warm blanket.

_

Charlie woke up with a start. She looked around and saw herself in her room. Her mother had picked her up from school and didn't say anything, but her eyes told Charlie how worried she was.

When they arrived at the house, Charlie took a bath rather than a shower, given she just wanted to not stand or walk around right then. Her mother would knock on the door periodically, which Charlie was grateful for. It kept her from falling asleep in the bath, which would have necessitated her mother coming in to help get her to bed.

After her bath, Charlie actually started to feel a little better, but still went to her bed and went to sleep before she could even think of getting dressed after dropping her robe on the floor.

Charlie couldn't say what caused her to be startled awake, but she felt her heart pounding as if there was something that was either wrong or a danger or something. Nothing in her room seemed out of place, the door to her room was closed, her robe was still on the floor next to her bed, and her backpack had been put on her desk. While she wouldn't have put her backpack there, her mother probably had while she was taking her bath.

The only thing that was out of the ordinary that she could tell immediately was that she was naked under her covers, but she did recall how she fell asleep before she even thought about getting even some underwear on.

Charlie sighed and began to draw on her magic, trying to see if it would tell her if there was something in her surrounding area that might cause her to feel this way. She probably spent longer using her magic to try and detect anything that felt like it was out of place, but couldn't find anything.

So, reluctantly, she slid out of her bed and started getting dressed. As she slid a comfortable dress on, she couldn't help but think about how she'd thrown up on her shirt she'd worn to school that day, which would have been awful to have to continue wearing. At least that's not the case, she thought to herself as she opened the door to her room and went to look for something to eat.

As she entered the kitchen, she saw her mother pacing back and forth while on her phone "Yes, I understand I was scheduled at this time," she said to whoever was on the other end of the line. Then after a pause, she added, "Yes, I understand that I'm almost out of paid time off." Her mother sighed as Charlie tried to quietly move to the fridge, so as not to disturb her mother's call. "If that's what you have to do, then do it. I already explained that this was a family emergency. If you want to go that route, then I'll do what I have to do." Her mother paused again, then sighed. "Yes, I'm aware this isn't over yet."

Then it seemed like whoever was talking with her mother hung up, as the phone was set on the counter as her mother sighed, looking much more tired than Charlie could remember seeing her.

Then as Charlie pulled out some leftover mashed potatoes, her mother noticed Charlie. "Are you feeling better?" she asked, walking over to Charlie, putting the back of her hand on Charlie's forehead, while taking the container holding the mashed potatoes from Charlie and putting them back in the fridge then closing it.

"I'm feeling a little better," Charlie said.

"Well, let's talk at the table before we do anything else, okay?" she asked.

Charlie gave her mother a small smile. "Okay."

Charlie walked with her mother over to the table and sat down next to her as they both took the closest chairs.'

"What happened?" her mother asked. "When I got the call from your school, I didn't know what to think. I mean, it isn't picture day, so I knew that couldn't have been what was going on. Then when I got there, your entire front was covered in puke."

"It wasn't my entire front, mom," Charlie protested. "I only threw up twice." Charlie stopped the line she was going down after she noticed the look her mother was giving her. "Fine, I had a really bad dream. I thought I'd be okay, but when I saw Beth at school today, the dream came back fully and I threw up. Then when I told the nurse about the dream, I threw up again."

"If you told me what the dream was, do you think you might throw up again?" Charlie's mother asked.

Charlie did think about it for a minute before replying. "No, I think I'm good. Maybe it was that the dream was just too fresh or something, but I think I can tell it to you without throwing up," she said, hoping she was right in her assessment of herself.

"Alright, tell me about your dream. Don't leave out any details, alright?"

"Alright, mom," Charlie replied before describing the dream to her mother. When she finished, Charlie was starting to feel a little nauseous, but not enough to throw up again.

"That's a horrible dream," Charlie's mother said, pulling Charlie in for a hug, which Charlie happily returned the hug. "Were you having any fights with any of your friends? Or did anything happen on your trip that might have led to this?"

Charlie shook her head. "I'm good with my friends, mom, and nothing happened during the trip that would have inspired this," Charlie replied. Although, part of her started to wonder if whatever happened of what she couldn't remember involved the choice she'd made that ultimately led to Beth being killed. Though, she doubted it would be that simple.

"Would you want to talk with a therapist about it?" her mother asked, the concern shining bright in her eyes.

Charlie shook her head. "I'll be alright, mom," Charlie said. "Maybe what I needed was a slow day."

"Well, I'll make you some soup. Even if it wasn't because you got sick, I think you should eat like you are. Maybe that will help stop this here," her mother said.

"Alright, mom," Charlie said. No matter what she said, Charlie was sure her mother would push this issue and it would be easier to go with what she decided than try to argue it. Especially with this situation.

So, she sat patiently while her mother began making her some soup. Charlie saw the can of soup her mother used and wasn't surprised to see the soup would be chicken noodle soup. While she was waiting, a thought occurred to her and wracking her brain, she couldn't think if she saw her purse since she got home.

"Mom?" she called out to her mother.

"Yes?"

"Have you seen my purse?" she asked, not sure if her mother did something with it or not.

"That cute bag you had with you?" her mother asked. "I put it with the laundry. It had a bit of puke on the strap and I didn't think you'd care to have that smell on it tomorrow."

Charlie couldn't help but smile. "You're probably right, but mom. We both know it's an ugly green. Don't say it's cute."

Her mother chuckled. "Alright, it's ugly," her mother allowed. "Oh, by the way, where'd you get that purse? If you think it's ugly, then I have to assume it was a present."

Charlie suddenly realized she hadn't told her family anything about Alex, aside from the offhand remark she made to Cherie when she first learned of Alex liking her, back when she didn't know which Alex. "A friend," Charlie hedged.

"Do I know this friend?" her mother asked, and Charlie was getting nervous about how much her mother was learn about this from Charlie's answers. She'd dug her own grave a few times in the past because of that on a few different subjects.

"I-" Charlie started to say, but stopped when she realized she really didn't know. "I don't know."

"I see," her mother replied, her tone cheerful, and Charlie felt her stomach dropping. She couldn't say if her mother learned more than Charlie had thought or if it was something else, but she was certain she was not going to like how this turned out. "Is there any particular reason I haven't met this friend?"

"Not that I can think of," Charlie replied, unsure where this was going, the trepidation making her rather nervous.

"Well, why not invite this friend over for dinner tomorrow," her mother suggested. "That way I'll have met all of your friends," Charlie's mother said, then paused, and Charlie was sure it was a deliberate pause. "That is, if there aren't any other friends you have that I'm not aware of."

"Only if you count the ones I made when I was at the math camp, this last summer," Charlie replied. After all, she sort of considered Emily a friend, despite how she didn't trust Emily. Then there were some of the other counselors that Charlie considered herself on friendly terms with. Though, she wasn't sure if that counted or not.

"Well, let your friend know and we'll set a place for them tomorrow," Charlie's mother said, her attention looking like it was on the soup when Charlie was sure she was waiting for something from Charlie to give her more information.

Charlie tried to be as casual about it as she could, but couldn't help but feel lie she was sweating bullets. Was she just friends with Alex or was there more to that? Did Alex think of Charlie as a friend or something else?

There were so many unanswered questions that she wasn't sure herself and now she had to invite Alex to dinner. While she might get some answers to those questions, she was at least certain she really didn't want to have those questions answered in front of her family.

At the very least, she might be able to squeeze out a walk with Beth the day after that without her parents questioning it. Not that there was a reason for them to do so, but at least now she'd have an excuse as to why it might take so long if the discussion with Heathcliff took longer than she had planned. Although, the dream issue could also play in her favor with that as well, but she did want to talk with Beth about it.

Charlie sighed, certain her mother was watching her closely, even if she wasn't looking at her. It was almost like the week in which she first met Petals all over again. So many things happening all at the same time that she was struggling to keep up with each event, while feeling like she was drowning the entire time.