(The premise of this dream will show up in probably 2 of my fiction pieces I'm working on. Anyway, here we go. Because of how epic it was, I've given it a title and will be writing it in story form... first person narrative, which is not my normal thing. The main characters are me, my boyfriend, and a friend of mine from school, who I'll call "Anna.")
And there we were, standing before a large, palatial building. In large brass letters, we found the building was christened Conformity Estate. Neither me nor my boyfriend were aware why were called to this place, but we were instructed to come. And so we stood outside, looking at the strangely creepy beauty that stood ahead.
"Are we at the right place?" He asked of me.
I looked at a piece of paper. "Indeed we are."
"It looks like a..."
"School?"
He nodded.
I looked over my shoulder. Behind us, the sky was bright and sunny, not a cloud to be seen. There were no buildings on the other side of the horizon. It was as if Conformity Estate was the only place for miles. And so we walked in.
It was an enormous facility of glass walls and brightly polished metals. The place almost gave off its own light, everything glittered and shined. We both put our hands in our pockets and looked around. In the center of the place was, of all things, a very large swimming pool. It was occupied by a lot of swimmers, all peacefully going on about their routine.
Finally, a woman in business-like attire walked over. Her hair was pulled up and she wore glasses, the epitome of pomp and circumstance. "You must be the ones we sent for."
"We are," my boyfriend answered, sounding suspicious.
I stepped forward. "What do you want, exactly?"
The woman smiled with a strange look. "There's rumors going around about this place being unsafe, and we wanted you two to check it out for us."
"We're not professionals," we both replied in an odd unison.
She narrowed her eyes and smiled almost wickedly. "You know more than you think. Enjoy your stay at Conformity Estate."
My eyes went towards the swimming pool, where I caught the glimpse of somebody that seemed to stand out. Only then did I notice all the others, both male and female, looked exactly alike. Almost like beautiful, perfect little clones. But the girl I saw wasn't a blonde-haired reflection.
"Who are you?" I asked her.
"Anna," she replied. "You know it's not safe for you two to be here, right?"
I looked; suddenly I realized my boyfriend had wandered off. I looked down at Anna. "So we've heard. But why?"
"They say this place is cursed. Everybody here must be the same in all aspects. 'Originals' aren't tolerated." Anna explained.
"What's an 'original?'" I asked.
"Somebody who doesn't look like the rest. Originals are known to meet horrible fates."
"Can't you just leave?"
Anna shook her head. "Once you enter here, you're trapped. You'll never leave."
I knelt down to be at Anna's face level. "That's about to change." Suddenly, I was shoved from behind, falling into the water. The depth was immense, and I flailed until I pulled my head above the water. But two of the conformed females grabbed my throat and drug me under the waves. A foot smashed into my throat and held my writhing body beneath the waters. I clawed and scratched at the foot on my neck, the water around my eyes turning red. Suddenly, the water moved violently around me, and I saw Anna pounce upon one of the copies. The other clone pulled a switch, and the water began to drain. My hair became entangled in one of the drains, and I desperately reached a hand up, my eyes rolling back.
"Are you okay?" My boyfriend had pulled me out of the water, staring at me as I hyperventilated and choked wildly.
"I warned you," Anna said, climbing out onto the side. "The only reason that's not happened to me is because I oblige and do what they say."
"What is this place?" He asked of our new friend as I regained my breath. She explained again, and the three of us decided it was time to find our way out of Conformity Estate.
I looked up at the staircase. "What's up there?"
"There's no second floor," Anna said with a shrug. "Those stairs are just there."
"That's strange." My love and I said together.
Anna turned and looked horrified. "The curse of Conformity Estate is upon us!"
We turned around and saw a large tornado falling out of the sky and barreling towards the facility.
"Quick, you got a basement?" I asked, my eyes plastered to the monster spiraling towards the estate.
"Yeah... deep underground," Anna said, voice trembling.
"Then go. Take my boyfriend with you, and go."
He glared at me and snapped, "Forget it. You're coming with me or I'm staying with you."
By now, people were dashing around like crazy, in a wild panic. Windows began getting blown out. I wanted to stay and witness the storm, but I felt my sleeve being tugged on.
"We have to go!" He was insisting, now tugging on my arm. We were having to shout to be heard over the monster twister.
I turned and looked at it, seeing houses from beyond the horizon being sucked away. I then turned to Anna. "Take us there! Now!"
The three of us started for a large staircase as large pieces of the building began raining down from the ceiling. We found the doorway, but found it refusing to budge. The winds were penetrating into the building, and the lights were shattered. The three of us pulled on the door with all our might until it flung open. We nearly jumped down the fifteen steps, only to find the twister's base coming into the basement with us.
"There's a shelter somewhere in here," Anna said quickly. "We have to go fast!"
I stepped towards the storm. "What about the headmaster of this place?"
"There's no time for that," my love insisted, almost growling at me.
A large blast of lightning shot inbetween the three of us, sending us sprinting down a corridor that seemed to never end. Finally, the shelter showed up. My boyfriend and I turned to a large glass window and watched in horror as a group of girls were sucked into the swirling winds. We threw ourselves into the shelter, where twenty others were shivering and hiding. I threw my weight against the door, which was vibrating with the force of the storm.
"Oh God," somebody cried. "We're not gonna live through this!"
"We will!" I insisted, shoving my shoulder hard into the door. My boyfriend pushed his against the door also and interlaced his fingers into mine. We both closed our eyes and held our weight against the door and it bucked and rattled wildly. Anna shrieked from behind us as the door threw itself forward. We quickly shoved ourselves against it harder, almost injuring ourselves in the process.
"Let it go!" She cried. "You'll get killed!"
The anger of the storm gained its height, and the door exploded into splinters. The force of the explosion was so much that it knocked the both of us back several feet, the wall of the bunker the only thing catching us. We were surrounded by clones and copies, all murmuring their distress. The storm's rage seemed to calm, but everybody was afraid to move.
"Are you two okay?" Anna asked, almost panicking.
"We can't stay here," I said, growling with pain. "This place will kill all of us if we don't get out..."
"Don't say that," my love snapped at me.
"It will!" I insisted. "I bet you there is a second floor, and I bet that 'headmaster' has something to do with this."
"How are you going to prove that?" Anna asked.
I got up and walked out into what was supposed to be utter devastation. Instead, everything was just as immaculate as when we had arrived. A door had seemed to appear out of nowhere, and a class of sorts was in session.
"Look at the person next to you," the teacher said calmly, robotically. "Odds are, the person next to you will probably not pass this test. They probably won't make it."
"Does he mean simply failing?" My boyfriend asked, eyebrow raised in distress.
"I doubt it," I responded, then started for the ground floor.
"Where are you going?" He shouted after me.
"To prove my point!"
I ran outside, looking up at the stain-glass mural that was above the place. There was a strange light coming from behind it, and I jumped as if it would give me a better view. Oddly, I levitated instead, and found with each successful hop, I'd float higher. If I kicked my feet gently, my descent would be slow. Jumping wildly, I "flew" to the window.
"Get down from there!" I heard my friends yelling at me. I ignored them; I was being pulled towards the strange light.
I kicked at the glass of the mural, finding it very sturdy. Focusing, I channeled my pain from earlier and, growling loudly, proceeded to thrash the window until it shattered. Inside I found several computers. One was processing names; one showed a list of changes that needed to be made to certain people; the last had a panel of buttons that controlled various weather affects as well as the inhabitants of the place.
"I knew it!" I cried excitedly down to my friends. The joy was short-lived, as I was snatched into the strange room. The glass was immediately repaired, and I found myself face to face with the same woman.
"I won't have an original jeopardizing the standards of Conformity Estate," she said. "I brought the two of you here to conform!"
"You only have me," I replied. "And you won't be getting him... and you won't be keeping me for long."
"This is an elaborate and intricate process," she explained. "You rebel now, but you, your boyfriend, and your friend... you'll all conform. You'll all be happy residents of Conformity Estate. Everybody conforms... this is life."
"Not for me... not for us." I threw my battered body at the machines in an effort to destroy them. They shattered, pelting me with glass and shocking me as their circuits shorted out.
"You'll die!" She threatened as I stood, unsteady but tall. "You are trying to ruin the conformity!"
"To the end of Conformity Estate," I whispered, running at the window and tossing myself out of it. I fell into the grip of my two allies, and the three of us watched Conformity Estate begin to decay and fall to pieces.
"A successful escape from Conformity Estate," Anna breathed in surprise. "They said it could never be done."
I inhaled deeply as if to say something, but instead my eyes went back in my head. I felt myself lifted from the ground and carried to a cold but soft mattress of sorts. And with the escape from Conformity Estate, I let myself lapse into unconsciousness.
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