Chapter 2: Lucid Dreaming

“Lady Catherine, are you alright?” an unfamiliar voice asked worriedly.

Straining to open my eyes, a hazy figure dressed in a plain brown dress straight out of those period dramas my sister Abby and I used to watch hovered over me.

“Where am I?” I croaked.

My throat was unexpectedly hoarse but even so, my voice didn’t sound like it usually did when I was sick.

“You’re in your bedroom, my lady.”

My bedroom? I blinked a few times before looking around. This looked nothing like my apartment. Again, it looked like something out of a period drama.

Was someone playing an elaborate joke on me? I wouldn’t put it past Abby but she was attending college across the country.

So…was this just a dream then? Alright, I’d bite. My best friend in high school was really into lucid dreaming for a while and told me all about it—if you’re aware you’re in a dream, you can control it.

“Uh…this may be a dumb question, but where exactly is my bedroom? This house I mean…where is it?”

The woman appeared startled. It must’ve been a dumb question even in Dreamland.

“Why, the earldom of du Pont of course! Don’t tell me the fever caused you to have amnesia?”

I latched onto that explanation in the hopes the dream lady would give me more information.

“It must have,” I said feebly, acting sick as I could even though I felt great. Better than I could remember feeling since before college, actually. Must be dream power at work.

“Please do tell me more about the earldom and my family.”

The woman looked less uneasy than before. I guess that explanation worked pretty well.

“Your father, the Earl of du Pont, is in charge of all the land from the forest at the edge of the property up to the lake on the other side. It covers about one hundred acres in total.

“Your mother, Countess du Pont, was the daughter of a viscount. You have two older brothers, Percival and Edmund, and a younger sister named Adele. Does this help, my lady?”

Not one bit, but thanks for trying. “It does a little. Thank you…um…what’s your name again?”

“Marie, my lady. I’ve been the nanny for this house since Percival was born.”

“Thank you, Marie. I’m actually feeling much better now so could I go outside?”

Being stuck in bed, even a fancy bed with a canopy, during a dream was too boring. I spent more than enough time in bed for real. I wanted to see if I could fly or something since I could control the outcome of this dream.

“Oh no, my lady, you only just woke up!” Marie fretted. “You’ve been asleep for three days. I must tell the Countess you’re awake, she’ll be so pleased.”

I wanted to protest but let her go. If she was gone, I could leave the room after she did. Once Marie left, I tiptoed towards the door, passing a mirror on the way out.

Dream Me looked a lot different than Real Me. Katie Pullman’s eyes were a boring shade of hazel concealed behind thick glasses and her hair was limp mouse brown. Lady Catherine looked like a blonde blue-eyed china doll with curls down to her waist wearing an overly frilly nightgown.

Interesting. I’d always been jealous of Abby’s blue eyes and my dream character’s were even bluer than hers.

Creeping down the hall, I drank in the sight of the manor. After getting into those period dramas, I read up as much as I could about things like family crests, nobility lineage, and 19th century European architecture and decoration styles.

The nerdy part of me was curious how accurate the costume and set departments actually were. This house looked like the real deal. My imagination was quite impressive.

I could explore the inside of the house a bit longer before making it outside to try flying, right?

I continued wandering from hall to hall, occasionally spotting a maid or two working in the rooms I passed. The rooms here were so large and ornate. Better than any movie setting I’d ever seen.

I began to grow uneasy. My imagination definitely wasn’t this good. I couldn’t come up with something this elaborate on my own.

“Catherine! What are you doing out of bed?!” a male voice sounded from behind, making me flinch.

“It was boring in there,” I stammered, still jumpy from the scare.

The man in front of me looked to be around twenty and had the same blue eyes I did though his hair was light brown. He must be one of the brothers Marie mentioned.

He moved closer to examine me. “Well, you do look alright…but still, Marie is going to burst a blood vessel if she finds you here. Come on, let’s go to the library.”

I took care to follow his lead since I had no idea where the library was. Which one was this…Percival or Edmund? I didn’t want to gamble because my suspicion that this wasn’t a dream was growing.

Vague recollections of what happened were flashing through my head. I got into a car accident on the freeway while going 75 miles per hour.

Either this was a crazy dream I was having in the hospital or…I didn’t want to think about the alternative.

My heart sunk when we reached the library even though it was the most beautiful room I’d ever seen in my life.

I recognized that flag hanging above a mounted shield with what appeared to be the du Pont family crest. It was the flag for the fictional nation of Annalaias from this fantasy novel I’d once read. Impossible.

My unidentified brother caught me staring and smiled.

“Admiring the flag? Our great-great-great grandfather was given that flag by King Alpheus II in gratitude for his service in the war. He was given that flag and the earldom as a reward.”