A Shift Between Dimensions

The darkness swirled as a cold wind whipped past Sarah as she ran.  Something was chasing her, gaining distance on her.  She could hear it's breath as it gained on her, her heart was beating hard in her chest.  In the distance, she could hear Strider crying.  No.... 

She bolted up in bed, a cold sweat going down her face and neck.  Her breathing was rapid, as if she had in fact just been running for her life.  Something slithered up alongside her leg and she gasped, throwing the blanket back.  A white snake slithered alongside her leg before mounting it and moving towards her.  The eyes were yellow and a forked tongue came out of the mouth as it moved up her body.  She opened her mouth to scream but was silenced as the snake opened it's mouth in warning.

Sarah was stunned.  This was no ordinary snake, of that she was certain.  From the connecting room, she could hear Strider making a fuss and Kakashi's voice speaking to him low.  Strider must have woke up, which would account for his crying she heard in the dream.  Kakashi must have got up to soothe him so she could sleep longer.  Now she was staring down a yellow eyed snake and a foreboding chill went through her.

Abruptly the snake rose up, it's eyes now at eye level with her.  She then almost did scream as it opened it's mouth but instead of striking, a parchment came out of it's mouth.  She stilled then hesitantly took the parchment.  The snake instantly retreated and she watched in amazement as it slithered down the adjoining hallway and out of sight.  What the hell?

Sarah stared at the scroll, casting a glance down the hallway to where Kakashi was currently at.  The snake had made it clear, it did not want Kakashi knowing of its presence or what was in that scroll.  She bit her lower lip for a moment then broke the seal on the parchment.

You and I must talk.  Come to me.  Don't tell Kakashi. Orochimaru

Sarah almost threw the scroll across the room.  In her mind, she could actually hear his voice speaking the words as well as a flash of an image as to where he was at.  What. The. Fuck.  The hell if she was going anywhere near him!  Of all the villains on the show, he was the one that had scared her.  For all she knew, he was wanting to take her body or worse.  Experiment on her.  There was no way in hell she was going to-

She almost jumped when the snake appeared once more at the corner of her bed.  She pulled her legs up to her chest as it narrowed it's eyes on her, as if warning her that disobeying it's master was not an option.  It then lowered back down out of sight and slithered away.

"Good Lord..." she whispered.

Sarah couldn't deny the curiosity that swelled in her as she stared at the parchment.  Orochimaru wanted to talk to her?  Why?  The possibilities were endless and none of them set well with her.  There was no way she wanted anything to do with that and yet... she found herself hiding the scroll before Kakashi came back to the room.

She knew well enough that anything involving Orochimaru could not have any good connotations.  She bit her lower lip as she considered what she should do.  The last thing she wanted was for that snake to come back.  How far would Orochimaru push for her to come to him?

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Kakashi said as he came back into the room.

She gave him a nervous smile while shaking her head, "No, I had a nightmare and woke up."

He gave her a concerned look as he set Strider back into his crib.  "About?"

Sarah gave a long sigh before crawling back into the bed with him.  She rested her head on his chest as she processed the summons and the dream that preceded it.  "I don't remember the details, I just remember running."