Renee's Nightmare

It's dark in this room. She's a little disoriented, time wise, and her blinds are closed, so she can't see what the sky looks like, can't tell if it's stormy or just still night. She gets out of bed, not quite sure what woke her. A sound, one that she faintly recalls, like a half remembered dream, but she can't recall what it was.
There it comes again. Giggling, the quiet chattering of children. Right outside her door. What are children doing here? This site is no place for children. She pulls on a pair of slippers and opens the door, stepping out into a hall with cinnamon walls and a navy carpet. She's standing in the hall of the house she grew up in. She walks down to the left, towards her mother’s room, but the hall is endless. She wonders if she’ll ever get there or if it will grow away from her.
The door is open, and her mother is in the room. There’re only a couple grey hairs on her head, not even enough to notice.  She’s wearing her funeral blacks. She doesn’t understand why. She’s never been to a funeral before, and doesn’t like that her mother came back crying. And on top of that, her father is gone, nowhere to be found. The words she's been overhearing aren't the kind that let her sleep at night.
Two children run past Renee as she stands in the hall, pulling her attention away from her mother.  Two blond, curly haired tots—Mike and Mel. Her kids with Don. Where are they running off to? They shouldn’t be running away from her like that. Something’s amiss, and she needs to keep them close.  She turns and the hall she looks down is one on site, but one she can’t quite place. She watches them run to Don, far down the hall. He’s not dead. But something’s off. Their father’s not good enough. Not safe enough. She needs to keep them by her side. She starts walking that way.
She looks to the left. There’s a coin lying on the floor. She hurries on. She has to get to Don and the kids before the site does. Before /he/ does. Before they break.
When she looks back, there’s a door between her and Don and the kids. There’s a key in the lock.  *Ting plink.* She can’t turn it unless she leaves something behind. Something for him. For him to smile at. That smile that makes her blood run cold. She leaves slippers. She can turn the key.
She’s standing outside her mother’s room again. Her mother is silver haired this time, at least the hair that she has left. The chemo is making it fall out. But Renee can’t do anything. Not any more. She should have been here sooner.
There’s another door. She hears giggling from the other side, then the patter of feet as they run away.  *Ting. Plink.* She tries the knob. When it won't turn, she rattles it. Hard. But it does no good. She is forced to leave her pajama pants to go through.
The big prison door slams shut behind her. The ground around her feet glows faintly where she steps. A tall wooly mass leers at her from the distance. “I gave you what you wanted, Renee. Now it’s /my/ turn.” She runs back to the door, slamming against it with all her weight, trying to get out. The voice changes. “You can’t just /leave,/ sugar. This is prison.” She hears the smile in that voice.
*Ting. Plink.* She feels Red standing behind her, his long fur brushing against her as he rips at her shirt. . . She scrambles desperately to get out. Her brain shuts off.
It turns on again as she runs through the door and is back on the site. The hall is endless. She looks to her right and sees a flash of curly blonde hair as Mike and Mel turn into a room down the hall to her right. She runs down that way. She has to get to them before something on site does, before something kills them. There are such bad things here. Things that would break them.
The wind starts to blow. It’s blowing so strongly. It’s cold and makes her shiver, despite the warm sun shining on her bare skin. It’s blowing so strongly it knocks her off her feet into the room to the right. She falls into the grass, grass as tall as she is. It scratches at her. She has to get out, get her children. She can’t stand up, the wind is too strong. She rolls over and crawls towards the door, getting all muddy as she fights to get out. She’ll be safe if she can get to her children, keep them safe.
She feels something wet on her shoulder. Wet and wrong. She turns to look, and suddenly she’s standing up, being buffeted by the wind. She sees it standing there in front of her, not something she can describe. But it’s something she knows, something horrible. She realizes that her shoulder is hurting her as her own laughter peals through the air. Her own laughter, but sick. Forced. She feels a tongue against her eye. She backs up, but feels the claw against her lower back and the door against her shoulder. A long tongue forces its way into her mouth, down her throat, and she gags, unable to protest. “A present~” it says, sliding its claw down her back, and her skin falls away like the peel off a potato. The image is so fitting that it makes Renee light headed and woozy. The door opens and she falls through it.
She’s in the med bay. There’s a bed that she can’t see clearly, but Mike and Mel are there, their backs turned to Ren. She needs to get to that bed. She hears Don’s voice behind her, saying her name. Don can get her there safely. He always protects her. She turns around, and Don slashes at her with a huge sword. She crawls back, desperate, scrambling to get away from him. He can’t do this. He'll break, she'll break, Mike and Mel will break. Everything will break. She scrambles to her feet to back away, but slips on something wet and slippery and falls hard on her ass.
It’s blood. Lots of blood. Is it too late? Is it hers? If it’s hers, things might still be okay. If it’s hers, it isn't someone else’s. Isn't from someone who needs to be safe. It looks like some of it is hers. But there’s more coming from behind her. She turns over onto her knees, getting all bloody in the process, and sees Don, knowing this is the real one, the one that counts, standing in front of her, a grin on his face.
And there's Mike and Mel standing behind him. ~Come here, sweet peas. Come over here to Mommy.~ But Mel is holding a gun and Don is grinning. And there's the coins on the floor, covered in blood. Don steps towards her, picking her up from the floor. She can't move.
Mel turns to Mike. There isn't any sound before his head blossoms out like a rose. Petals fall from him instead of blood.
Don kisses her eye and she feels Red's hand on her shoulder. Mel turns the gun to herself and suddenly she's a rose bush instead of a child. Ren begins to literally melt in Don's and Ren's hands.
That man stands out in front of her, smiling. *Ting. Plink.*  "Happy?" *Ting. Plink.*
*Ting. Plink.*