Her déjà vu is drawn to him, she thinks, telling her that he's important in some way that's opposite and same at once. He's there even when she's not asleep, a low hum behind her eyes that she can mostly forget about, so much more consistent than any of the other things she sees. There was only one thing she wouldn't be willing to lie about: the Lonely Man.Ĭlaire dreams about him too much, too strongly, and too surely for him to not be. It would only be fair for Claire to do this one thing for them to make their lives easier and better. After all, Dad always made sure she had lunch, and got to school, and would always make her smile when she was feeling down, while Mom was always working so hard and making sure everything was exactly the way it should be. All she'd have to do is stop talking about her dreams, her déjà vu. That was-that was alright Claire could be normal for them. I don't think I'd be able to handle the stress.Ĭlaire had sneaked away to her room after that, slipping under covers that felt too cold and alone. Mom had looked up at him, smiling in a laughing way. It's not like we're going to send her to stop robberies either way. As long as she's doing alright, it shouldn't matter too much. We'll keep an eye on it, but I don't think it's anything besides an active imagination. I want her to be safe, and happy, and absolutely ordinary. Mom had leaned into Dad then, as if he were the only thing keeping her standing. Then she wouldn't be dreaming about the Lonely Man, right? We can pretty safely say that he's not real, yeah? If that's the case, it would be an automatic power, right? She hasn't said anything about activating her dreams, she just says they're like normal dreams and she can't control them. Sure, but I don't see where you're going with this. Well, your powers are all fairly consistent, right? Klaus always sees ghosts, Luther is always strong, and the rest of you can activate them on command? Dad didn't know what Klaus' power was for a while after he figured the rest of us out. We would have figured it out by now, even if it's just dreams. I know you're worried, honey, but you said your powers showed up when you were, what, a toddler? Dad had said, and pulled Mom into a hug. She looked at me like I was being slow, and God, Patrick, what if she's right? What if they're not normal? What if she's like me? You didn't see the look on her face when I told her that her dreams weren't actually real. They had been talking about special, about how Mom was special, about what if Claire was special too? They had these kinds of talks sometimes, but that night had been different. Mom knew a lot of languages, so Claire believed her, even if she also thought Mom hadn't quite understood what kind of already seen she was talking about.Įven Mom wasn't entirely sure either, because that night she had talked to Dad in quiet voices in the living room, and Claire had listened in from the top of the stairs, careful not to creak the floorboards or breathe too loud. Mom had smiled down at her, said that the feeling of recognizing something like that was called déjà vu, which meant already seen in French.
That was fine, because Mom loved her, always made sure she knew that, and she was just busy making sure things were just right, absolutely perfect for all of them. And Mom-well, Mom was late a lot of nights, but Claire knew when one of them had matched, like a puzzle piece fitting into place. The car ran into the sign the next day, and Claire saw through the window how the pole was bent in exactly the same shape, how the car's owner stepped out with the same embarrassed expression, how Dad rushed over to make sure he was okay. When the power went out, a week after her dream, she had felt it approaching in her bones, buzzing in the back of her skull until the moment the house went dark. Her dreams have always made sense, and Dad sometimes ruffles her hair and laughs at how ordinary they are. They're not weird dreams in the way other people's dreams are weird. Sometimes she dreams of other things, like a rainstorm so strong it knocks out the power, or a car running into the stop sign near their house, or Mom calling to let her and Dad know that shooting is taking a while and that she'll be home late. Claire has seen the Lonely Man in her dreams for as long as she can remember.