Dreaming.

She is looking through a window.

She stands on her tip-toes, looking through it. There’s a parlor, and a little girl and a woman sitting at a fireplace. She squints. The little girl has bandages on her hand. The woman is crying. “Again,” the woman says.

“Outside are the dogs and the sorcerors and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolators, and everyone who loves and practices lying,” the little girl answers.

“Again.”

“Outside are the dogs and the sorcerors and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolators, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”

“The -what-?” the woman snaps.

“The sorcerors,” the girl answers. There are tears in her eyes now.

“The who, Therese?”

“The sorcerors,” Corrine finds herself answering.

The woman is now throwing books into the fire. Alice in Wonderland. The Hobbit. The Wizard of Oz. The Silver Chair. The Secret Garden. The fire licks around their pages, consuming them. Corrine is mesmerized.

A noise stirs her from her sleep. She sits up, looking around. The room is dark, then she suddenly remembers. She was at home, after the mess with the Al Koyet-- finally. Upon arrival, she'd collected all the darker-shaded curtains she could find, and almost every blanket got unfolded and was now covering the windows. She'd unplugged all the clocks as well as her home phone and cell phone. Any TV station that covered news got temporarily blocked from the set, and even her JSA communicator was turned off. If it was really tragic and important, they could come drag her back kicking and screaming. But right now, her plan was to just make the entire world go away for a few days.

She hears the familiar sound of Caleb's footfalls approaching the bedroom, and despite the lack of light, she turns towards the door. "Hey, baby." A long, long yawn. "What time is it?" Waving a hand frantically, she cuts him off before he can completely answer. "No, nevermind! Forget I asked. Don't wanna know."

Caleb chuckles, and she can feel him sit down next to her. He leans down and gives her a quick kiss, and then there's a warm mug in her hands. "Drink this. You need the strength."

Sniffing it quizzically, she hesitates to drink. "What is it?" It's not that she doesn't trust him, but, well... she had brothers growing up. You never drink or eat anything asked of you before testing it first.

"Tomato soup," he says simply, and she hears him taking a sip of his own.

Satisfied, Corrine takes a tenative sip. She didn't even know she had tomato soup in her cabinets. "Needs milk," she says tiredly, then sets the mug aside and hugs him around the waist. "So, how long do you think we've been here?"

There's silence for a few moments, then Caleb leans over to set his own mug on the nightstand. "Twenty four hours, at least. I know you slept for about twelve."

"You didn't sleep?" Corrine remarks curiously, snuggling back into her pillows and blankets. She'd noticed him stirring shortly after she'd fallen asleep, but she didn't think much of it. She'd been too tired to think much of anything. Unconsciously, she'd reached over and patted his back reassuringly, but that was the last thing she could remember before sleep overcame her.

"There's a lot on my mind," he says, and he sounds tired. Her brow creases as he continues. "The past few days have been... harrowing. I just need time to wind down, that's all." A kiss on her forehead, and then Caleb's next to her, his head against her shoulder. "Nothing to worry about, I'm sure."

There's a little giggle from her in the darkness, and then the feel of her hand running down his side. "You seemed to take your mind off it all for a couple hours there, at least."

Corrine can see the smile on his face as he looks up at her, a hand slowly trailing down her jaw. "You have that effect on me. Besides, I'm enjoying that I was, uh... pleasantly surprised at you not being dead." Then, in a slightly sadder tone, "And myself, if not for the... state of affairs which established that."

She doesn't really much want to think of that right now, so instead she shifts on the bed to face him. "How long do you think it'll be before someone comes looking for us?"

Another chuckle from Caleb. There could be worse things than this. "Let's just hope it's not angels this time. I, uh... I don't think I'll be happy to be seeing that shrew again anytime soon."

"Haha. You called an angel a shrew," she mocks, beeping his nose. "Guess you're gonna have to go to confession now and everything."

"Or you," he says quietly.

She sits up on an elbow, creasing her brow at him. "What?"

He turns to her, smiling-- crazed, not quite there. "I'm not the one sleeping with demons."

Corrine startles up, finding herself wrapped in sheets and blankets on the floor. She's next to her bed in the JSA Brownstone, staring wildly around. Light is coming through the windows. She rubs her head, feeling the hangover already.

She pulls herself to her feet shakily, looking about the room. In seconds she's running around the suite, gathering the alcohol and pouring it down the drain in the bathroom sink. For several minutes she stands at the sink, empty bottles on all sides, staring blearily into the mirror.

The tears start again, and she sinks to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest.