Part VI: The Link

  "Ahh, Ireland!" Gepard stretched, being the first one off the plane, and feeling much more at home just standing on Irish dirt. The four of them had taken a private jet to get there, since you couldn't sneak weapons past an airport so easily these days. It cost a little more than a bundle, but he figured what had to be done, had to be done. Especially when Israel was paying.

  At that moment, Israel trudged up next to him dragging two large suitcases, three hat boxes, and the shoulder bag of he own. He grunted. "Why must woman bring so many clothes?" 

Gepard glanced at him and laughed. "I take it Raven and Kallista got you to be their bell boy?"

He groaned, "You weren't supposed to disappear so quickly, you know. You left me back there with the two of them." He sighed, said, "here," and thrust one of the suitcases into Gep's hands. "They said- and I quote-" Israel began mimicking a sarcastic female's voice, "'What? Do you expect us to carry our bags? You're the gentleman! Now go be gentlemanly and carry them for us!' Then the two of them ran off giggling." He sighed. "I think they said something about meeting us in the gift shop, but there is no gift shop. We took a private jet for goodness' sake!" He sighed whole-heartedly, "Honestly, they could be anywhere."

  "Actually!" Kallista chirped from behind Israel, "we're right behind you." Israel's eyes closed for a second before he turned around to see Kal's grinning face.

"What ever happened to the meeting in the gift shop idea?" he inquired innocently.

"Well," replied Raven, walking up from the other side, "we found out there isn't an actual gift shop, no thanks from you! There's just a little store that sells tamales. Don't get me wrong, they're delicious, but what I really wanted was one of those little keychains that says 'I went to Dublin!' so that I could pretend to be a tourist." She frowned.

"But you are a tourist," Gepard said quizzically. "You're from America... Aren't you?"

"Yes, but I'm still not a tourist. Everybody knows tourists wear flowery shirts and shorts. This way, I could be a tourist without having to wear those things..."

  "But the good news is," Kallista spoke up, "we came across your contact in there and thought we ought to introduce you to her."

"Wait, Israel's contact?" Gepard asked hastily, "Which one?" he glanced around, slightly nervous. Kallista's eyes narrowed.

"Ok, not your contact." Raven informed, "She's technically my contact, but now she's our contact. Speaking of contacts," Raven tilted her head, "do you think I would look good with contacts?"

"Your contact? You have a contact?"

"Well, yeah, of course. Doesn't everybody these days?" Raven grinned. "Her name is NJ Marverick. I called her up before we came here, thinking she might be able to help us locate Skyril. She's waiting over there, by the way."

  Gepard sighed, realieved that is wasn't one of Israel's contacts- the one who liked machetes- whom he had once gotten on the bad side of. He glanced over where Raven was pointing and saw a tall, slim woman with brown hair to her shoulders. She was wearing a knee-length black jacket, white shirt, vest, jeans and boots, and she was leaning against a small building called, "Tommy's Tamales". There was a sleek, black car parked beside her.

  "Hmm," Israel muttered, "NJ Maverick, you say? I've heard of her. She's a sigil user, isn't she? Student to China. Yes, she ought to be helpful."

Raven grinned, "I thought so too. Now let's go!"

  "So, let's get the obvious stuff out of the way first." Israel began their miniature conference at the hotel, having done introductions at the airport and driven here, where they checked in and rested for an hour, "Skyril Oblivion was hunting Ominous Ebony, a thief and con artist here in Dublin, Ireland. Skyril then went missing, captured by the Nightmare itself. Whether this was Ominous's doing remains unknown. Skyril, having been hurt and possibly tortured by this Nightmare, was able to send a message to Kallista in her dream to inform her of what had happened. How she sent this message is unknown." Israel started pacing as he recited the facts. "The Nightmare was locked away years ago in a bracelet, and as such, kept from further harming the world but for the ripple affect caused by past happenings. How, exactly it was trapped and kept sealed in the bracelet remains unknown. However, if the Nightmare was so released as we think, it will run around causing general havoc and horrors upon its victims until there's no one left. The Nightmare is said to be able to transform into or navigate through anything, such as air. Therefore, how to- if it's even possible- track it remains unknown.... I think that covers all the bases."

  Raven stood up, "Yes," she said, "almost, anyway. You see, I had been thinking about how we were going to track it down, and that's when I thought of NJ here," she gestured to where Miss Maverick sat. "She's uses sigils as China does, and she can also track someone very well. Unfortunately, she needs something extremely important as a link to the person she's tracking, and I'm not sure if we have anything good enough. I looked through the room Skyril occasionally uses at Elysium Asylum, but there wasn't anything good enough." She shrugged slightly, "So I'm not sure if we can take that route after all or not."

  "Wait a second," Kallista commented "I know where she lives. We can go there. I mean, we'll have to get through the loads of security, but surely we bunch of friendly, magical thieves can figure something out." She grinned.

"2015 Misty Ave. Dublin, Ireland. This is it," Gepard said. The house they were looking at was two stories high with a white picket fence and a doghouse off to the side. There was a big oak tree and clusters of purple and emerald flowers around the house, and on the fence was a sign that read, "Beware of dog." But someone had scribbled in 'invisible' before 'dog'. All the other houses on the road were set back from this one, like they were giving it a wide berth. Gepard didn't have a clue as to why, though. It looked downright quaint in his opinion.

  They got out and walked up to the fence. There was a mailbox by the picket gate that had extra mail about to spill out, and Kallista explained, "Skyril sometimes doesn't visit home much when she's on a case. I'd say she's been gone for... a week?" Israel opened the gate, and began walking up the small path to the door, looking over at the doghouse cautiously. A bark suddenly sounded from it, followed by another with growls and angry mutterings. Israel retreated a few steps, and it stopped. Kallista laughed, "I love watching people do that! " and walked right up to the door, ignoring the sound affects coming from the doghouse.

"A fake dog?" NJ asked, skeptical. Gepard pointed at the "Beware of Dog" sign.

"I guess that's what they meant by 'invisible.'"

"Yeah," Kallista grinned, "come here and see." She pointed to the front door, and everyone walked over to her and saw a sign on the door. It read: I'm actually a cat person. Got'cha!

Raven laughed "That is so like Skyril!"

  "I know, right?" Kallista grinned. "Oh, and by the way? There aren't really any security measures. I was just joking." She stepped back. "There's actually a key under this mat." She nodded towards it, and Gepard lift up the mat, revealing a key laying underneath. His eyebrows raised slightly, thinking this was going to be too easy, but shrugged. He went to the door, stuck the key in and fiddled with it a moment before it turned. Kallista was now several paces back and watching, giggling every now and then. Raven noticed and joined her, "What's going to happen?" She whispered.  Kallista chuckled again.

"Just watch. This is going to be brilliant."

  Gepard placed his hand on the doorknob. He almost didn't open it, his better judgement shouting at him to be more cautious, but he shrugged again and did. With a wild, angry howl, a black creature flew out at him, and he yelped, leaping back, as NJ already pressed her palms together, and Israel took his shotgun in hand. He almost shot it, but stopped seconds before as he looked down at the stuffed kitten on the ground. Gepard put one hand on the wall, and one on his chest, trying to calm his sudden, quick breathing. Israel sighed, looking at Kallista and Raven bent over with laughter three yards back.

"Securety precautions, huh?"

  Skyril's house was -more than anything- comfortable. There was a couch and armchair in the living room with a tv on the wall. There was a stand with pictures on it, and a little cat figurine, and in the kitchen, there were cookbooks and pots and pans and ingredients in the cupboard all organized accordingly. Israel, Kallista, Raven, Gepard, and NJ walked around, looking for something important.  Gepard went from the kitchen, to the garage, to the dining room, before coming into the living room. He looked around, appreciating the fact that the house wasn't for show or luxury, but just simple comfort. He saw Kallista to one side looking at pictures, and walked over to her.

  "Have you found anything yet?" he asked. She was looking down at one particular picture, and Gepard recognized Kallista and the girl he assumed was Skyril smiling up at them, and they were both soaking wet. Kallista's hand ran across her face before she turned around, "No," she said, "Not yet." Her voice was grim, Gepard could tell she had been crying.

"That's a nice photo," he said gently and put his arm around her. She nodded quietly.

"It was taken just a few months ago. Skyril was stuck on this one case, unable to locate somebody, and she was chatting with me absently when I said something that gave her an idea. Together, we tracked him down and arrested him. Right afterwords, it was raining, and we were celebrating. We ran outside, danced in the rain and bought a dozen cupcakes that we ate right then. It was... It was really-" her voice choked up, "fun..."

  Gepard nodded and hugged her. "She sounds really great. I can't wait to meet her. You know we'll find her, right? We'll find something to help NJ track her down, and we'll find her."

Kallista nodded, staring at the carpet at her feet.

"Come on," he said, trying to get her mind off of Skyril, "why don't we check upstairs, see if we see something?"

"Ok..," she muttered. Then she looked up, suddenly having an idea, "I think I know what we can use! In her room there's a photo of someone really important to her- he was basically a father to her. You think that will be good enough for NJ to use?

Gepard grinned, "It might be! Come on, let's go check!"

  They ran upstairs, Kallista leading the way to Skyril's bedroom. Gepard paused outside the door, hesitating "I feel like I'm about to look in someone else's fridge..."

Kallista rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on, it's not like you have to tell Skyril you went in her bedroom when you meet her, you know!" She smiled, back to her old self again.

Gepard nodded, "True, true... It still feels awkward, though... going into some girl's bedroom."  He turned slightly pink.

Kallista laughed, "Besides," she explained, "Even if she does find out, the worst that will happen is a smack in the head with a mallet."

Gepard looked at her, "A... a mallet?"

"Mm-hm. She's quite fond of them." Gepard swallowed hard, and Kallista grabbed his arm and yanked him after her into the bedroom.

  The carpet was lush and soft, and the walls were painted a deep purple. Skyril's bed lay on one side of the room, and on the rest of the walls, aside from windows, there were rows of bookcases stacked with all kinds of books and photographs. Gepard walked around, admiring the collection. "Hey, she has And the Darkness Rained upon Them!" he said. "I've been meaning to read that too... Kal ignored him, and walked straight over to a picture on one of the shelves. It was faded, and somewhat old. It was a picture of an older man with white hair, the greenest eyes Gepard had ever seen, and a smile.

  "Who is it?" he asked.

"This is Vivacious Fog. He was a father to Skyril a long time ago."

"Whatever happened to him?"

"He was murdered."

"... Oh."

She picked up the picture and turned, "We should take this back to NJ."

Gepard nodded, his hand on the spine of And the Darkness Rained upon Them. "Let me just look at this real quick." He pulled the book, and it stuck half way. Suddenly, a rumbling sound came, and one of the bookcase slid over to reveal a rack of knives and few guns with a special stand where a silver mallet was placed. Kallista chuckled, saying "Yeah, Skyril has secret little levers all over the place with things like this. She keeps them hidden for those times when she has to pretend to be a normal person and invite her neighbors over or something.

".. Wow," Gep mumbled, looking over the weapons. Kallista pushed the book back in, and the book shelf slid over once more.

  The two of them walked downstairs, gathering the others as they went. When they reached the living room, Kallista informed them, "Ok, I think we found what we need." Israel, NJ, and Raven watched as Kallista held up the picture frame. "This person was really important to Skyril. She always spoke of him fondly."

Israel glanced at NJ Maverick "Want to give it a shot?"
She nodded, and placed her fingertips on it as she closed her eyes.. Little designs appeared on the backs of her fingers, glowing a gentle blue. After a moment, she opened her eyes and sighed.

"It's not going to work. I can tell that it's really important to her, but it doesn't link to her the way I need it to."

  They all frowned, and Israel sat down on the couch, thinking. "Hmm," he muttered, "we need a link to Skyril, and yet there seems to be nothing here that is extremely valuable to her. Could you describe again what exactly we need, NJ?"

"Well," she said, "it could be anything really, but it has to be some... Oh, how do I describe it? Something that... connects.. Skyril's mind to what matters to her most."

"What matters to her most..." muttered Israel, his hand absently stroking his stubble. Kallista sat beside him, disappointed the picture hadn't work. Israel's head turned slightly towards her. He looked up then, stood, and grinned. "I think I have the answer, NJ. What matters to Skyril the most? Her friends. Not only that, but she formed some kind of... mental or magical bond of some sort when she contacted Kallista in her dream. I'm not sure how she did it, but she did. Can you use Kallista as the link?"

NJ blinked, "Well, yes, people can link to other people too. Let me try it out."

"Wait," Kallista looked up , surprise showing on her face, "you think I'm the link? How could I be the link?"

  NJ ignored her question and placed her fingertips on Kallista's head. Raven laughed, looking at it. "It looks like she's about to read your mind or something."

"In a way, I am," NJ responded, her eyes closed. "I'm searching for the connection between the two of you, two friends connected closely to one another..., but don't worry," she said with a half-smile, "I don't actually hear your thoughts."

Kallista sighed, "Good, because that would be awkwar- Wait! I was just thinking 'Oh no, can she see what I'm thinking?' You are reading my thought, aren't you?"

NJ grinned, opening her eyes. She ignored Kallista's question again, saying "I've got it. The link is there, just like Israel said."

He fist-pumped. "Yes! Admit it, I'm brilliant."

Part V: Preparation

  I heard screaming. What's going on?" Dragona walked in on Kal, Raven, and Israel in the library. He looked down at Kallista and Raven who were still laughing on the floor, then looked at Israel. Israel wondered what screaming Dragona was talking about, then realized he was referring to Kallista outside his door... about an hour ago.

"Oh," he said, not in the mood for explaining things. "Various things, actually. I was about to go get you as a matter of fact. Kal and Raven have decided on having a library party. Want to join?" Israel's expression was serious, looking at Dragona. Kallista had finally stopped giggling and helped Raven to her feet to stare at Dragona. Her expression was slightly quizzical, trying to remember when she and Raven had decided on a library party. Raven's grin got a bit wider, but she didn't say anything.

"A... library party?"

"Yes," Israel replied calmly, "With little hats and silent reading sessions of romance novels."

Kallista cheered, "That's sounds fun!"

Israel went on, "They thought it would be a very enjoyable event for everyone of Elysium Asylum. They were actually especially ardent in making sure you got an invite. They tell me that romance novels are your favorite."

Dragona's eyes grew wide, "Romance novels?" He coughed, "No, uh, of course not... romance novels are for girls.... of course... Anyway, um, uh, I unfortunately have some business in, um... Bhutan... wherever that is...." he nodded slightly.

"Hey!" Kallista said, "Why are you blushing?" Dragona turned and walked off without saying goodbye. "Hm, rude," she said.

  Israel finally grinned, "Well, now that we got rid of him, I think we should get ready to go. We're heading to Ireland, girls." Raven nodded. Kallista saluted. Israel smiled, "I think I might actually enjoy kicking the Nightmare itself in the backside." and turned, heading for one of his big boxes of grenades.

  Kallista sat on her bed, anxious all of a sudden now that she had a moment to think about everything. Several kimonos were spread out on her bed, and she was supposed to be packing. But she was too lost in thought to figure out which one to bring. A man in elegant purple robes passed by her door and saw her. He realized she was worried about something, and his green eyes softened. He knocked on her doorframe, and Kallista looked up, surprised. "Oh!" she said, seeing the highly respected Octaboona Ambrosius in her doorway. His face was lined with the years and his silver hair was tied up in a ponytail, but his eyes sparkled when she looked at them. "Hello," she said hesitantly, not knowing what he was there for.

He smiled slightly, "May I come in?"

"Yes, of course... Can I... help you with something?"

"No, thank you, Kallista." he replied, stepping in. "I was just wondering if you were alright is all."

"I'm ok." she lied before looking into his eyes again and sighing. "I'm worried about a friend of mine."

"Ah..., friends are wonderful, aren't they? Is he a close friend of yours?"

"It's a she, and yes. She's in danger, though, and I really don't know how I can help or even if it's possible." Octaboona looked down for a minute, thinking. When he looked back up, he placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "I know it's hard to believe, but just the fact that you're thinking about her- worrying about her- that helps her more than you might think. Somewhere, your friend knows there's someone who worries for her and hopes she's alright. That encourages her, gives her strength to go on. You're helping her more than you can imagine just by being her friend. If you did nothing else, you would have helped already immeasurably."

  He let a moment pass silently and took a step back, about to leave. Kallista glanced up at him, "Thank you," she said. He smiled, "You're welcome." He turned, leaving, but looked back "By the way?"

"Yes?" Kallista asked, looking up. Octaboona nodded towards her kimonos

"I like the purple one."

  Raven drew her arm back, an arrow between her fingertips. She took a breath, looking at the target thirty feet away. Her blond hair was braided to keep any loose strands from getting in her way, and her dark brown eyes narrowed. She had shot a thousand arrows before, and knew she would shoot a thousand more. Generally, she would practice at lightening fast speeds, drawing, releasing, and leaping or rolling to one side or the other in twenty seconds or less, but sometimes, she liked to go through the fundamentals of it a few times, loosen up her joints and take her time to make it perfect. She exhaled and released at the same time. The arrow flew deftly through the air and struck half-way up the shaft in the very center of the target. She smiled, always loving those perfect shots. She retrieved her arrow and returned it to the canvas hung over her shoulder.

  Now she just had to sharpen her knives, and she'd be ready.

  Gepard Valk, having taken a vacation from Ireland to Australia and decided to board with a bunch of friends and mages, strolled down one of the many hallways in Elysium Asylum, utterly bored. How did he ever think up this whole "take a break from saving the world" thing. There was nothing to do otherwise. He had already caught up on Doctor Who and House, and then he decided he would read a book. That probably would have been entertaining if it was something besides The Mating Habits of the Reptile World. Yeah, didn't turn out too well. So he had now decided to take a walk and mutter to himself slightly about the dumb villains taking too long to try to destroy something.

  Passing a door, he heard a distinct thwack. He paused for a moment outside, shrugged and opened it. A young girl with blond, braided hair turned around, smiling, and put an arrow away. Gepard grimaced. Arrows were not his forte, especially when they chose to stab through his leg.

  He closed the door, starting to turn, when Israel Elysium, the owner of this mansion, ran past him at top speed yelling, "Ruuuuuuuuuuun!" Gepard grinned, and did just that.

A minute ago

  Israel laughed and grinned just a little madly as he pulled a metal box from under his bed, which was actually a surprisingly good hiding spot. He opened it, revealing several grenades inside. His gold-flecked green eyes seems to sparkle, just a bit more. He picked up some and started attaching them to his belt, under his trenchcoat, when his phone vibrated, alerting him of a text. His hands were unfortunately full of grenades so he gripped one between his teeth and picked up his phone with the other. At that very second, Dragona burst into the room, surprising Israel, as he half leaped and half turned around, the grenade slipping from his teeth and falling to the ground. "You lied!" Dragona shouted as Israel eyes grew wide, realizing he still had the pins in his teeth. "You moron!" shouted Israel back, "Run!"

  Dragona, taken off guard, faltered, "What?" But Israel ignored him, fell to the ground, grabbed the grenade, and ran out the door. "Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!" he yelled at Gepard Valk as he passed him. He turned around a corner, saw the door he was looking for- the explosion experiment room- threw the grenade inside and fell on the door, shutting it right before it exploded. Thank goodness he had that room built close to his own. Israel sighed, and muttered, "Yeah..., I'm awesome," as Gepard appeared around the corner with a grin on his face.

  "So what was that all about?" he asked.

"Oh, well, the pins in a grenade were pulled out..."

"Great!" Gepard grinned, "By whom?"

Israel coughed. "It's not important. The point is, no one exploded, and that's always a good thing." He nodded, starting to walk back towards his room. “By the way, you were supposed to run in the other direction, you know?”

“Oh, was I? Well, if I had done that then I wouldn’t have had this opportunity to ask you two very important things, would I?”

“What? What are you going to ask me?”

“First of all, I need some world saving business, and I want to talk with you about that, so conference?”

Israel grinned, “Sure.”

“And secondly, may I hit that guy?”

Israel glanced sideways at Gepard, realized he was serious, then looked in the direction he was indicating.  “You mean Dragona?”

“Is that his name? Yes, then, Dragona. Something about his face… bothers me. It may be the hair… I’m not sure.”

Israel grinned, remembering how Dragona had burst into his room, so very unwelcome. “Go ahead.”

“Really?” Gep said, somewhat surprised. Then he smiled too, “I knew it was a good idea to be friends with you.” He walked in front of Israel, and up to Dragona who was leaning against the door to Israel’s room, wearing a scowl and a vague, confused expression.

“Hey,” Gepard said, “What’s up?” Then he punched him, right in the nose, and walked past into Israel’s room as Dragona stumbled back, yelling, “What’s that for?”

  Israel laughed and followed Gepard Valk into his room. Dragona appeared in the doorway, finger raised, and about to shout something, but he didn’t get a chance as Israel muttered, “Not right now.” And slammed the door in his face.

***

  Skyril sat in the room she had confiscated, nervous. The howls had vanished, like the werewolves had just disappeared. What had happened? Were they just being really, really quiet or were they actually gone? She couldn’t really see either of those options happening normally, but on the other hand, she wasn’t exactly in a normal world at the moment.

  She stood from where she had sat on the bed, and shifted the curtain slightly, peering out into the darkness. There was nothing, nobody that she could see. The moon was way over head, and she figured it was about midnight.

  With a sigh, she sat back down, not yet ready to face the Nightmare’s games. She felt her broken arm throbbing again, and unwrapped it as gently as possible. At first she wished there was more light to see by, but grimaced at what she could see and counted her blessings instead. There was blood and dirt and grime, she could tell that much. “Ok,” she muttered to herself, “I need water. That’s what I need. And yes, I know the first step to insanity is talking to myself, thank you very much.”

  She stood shakily, and walked to the door. Cracking it open a touch, she glanced out and listened for a full minute. Nothing. She slipped out and walked down the hall, her boots quietly tapping on hardwood floors. When she came to a door, she peered inside until she found the bathroom. When she did, she parted the curtains a tiny bit to let in some moonlight and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Hair all a mess, face tear-streaked and smeared with dirt and blood, teeth marks on one side of her neck and tears all in her clothes, not to mention the broken arm she held next to her carefully. Skyril sighed, turned on the faucets, and got to work.

 After she had washed her face and gently soaked her arm, she went back to the room she had been in and rifled through the drawers, hoping what she got wouldn’t count as stealing. She found a long sash and pulling that out, making a new makeshift sling for her arm. She pulled back her black hair into a ponytail, and threw on a black t-shirt and pants. Then she curled up on the bed, ignoring the blankets, and fell fast asleep.

***

  "So." Gepard said, "I'm basically bored out of my mind. Do you happen to know of any world threats going on right now? Or perhaps just a minor annoying ax murderer? Or possibly some nice goblins to track down? A unicorn sighting? An assassin? A piece of kelp that has come to life and is now terrorizing the world with its green, slimy-"

"Gepard!"

"Yes?"

  Israel laughed, "I'm afraid there have been no terrible kelp attacks at the moment, but there is something going on. And I woudn't mind if you accompanied us either. As a matter of fact, I think that's a good idea. Of course, you're a guest here, and I shouldn't be asking you to fly off on a brash, rash, and possibly suicidal mission to stop a monster that is actually the reason for all bad dreams in the world, that can't be tracked as far as I know, and happens to have kidnapped a good friend of mine, tortured her, and might have already killed her or worse, and soon will either destroy the world, or make everybody in it insane. And yet I seem to be asking anyway. Want to come?"

Gepard paused for only five seconds before replying with a smile, "Absolutely."

Israel nodded cheerfully, "Good. Now get packed. You have about ten minutes before we leave to Ireland."

Ten minutes later

  Kallista, Raven, Gepard, and Israel stood in the grand entrance of Elysium Asylum., "Well," Israel said, "Everybody ready? Got your guns, swords, daggers, bows, grenades, and anything else you might need?"

Octaboona entered the room. "Ah, Kallista, I see you're leaving." She turned, and smiled,

"Yes, I am." 

He nodded. "Well, I hope you find the friend you were looking for."
"Thanks, I inten-"

Dragona stormed in yelling, "You're all a bunch of liars!" He glared at Octaboona, who frowned. Kallista bored holes in Dragona, and Israel sighed. Dragona stomped up to Israel, saying, "You're all going on some top-secret mission, aren't you? Well, then, I'm going to go too!"

  Raven's eyebrows rose, "Yeah, not likely." Dragona spun on her, but then Octaboona spoke up, "Dragona, perhaps they are, but it seems that if they didn't want us to know, it was for a reason. Perhaps it's even to protect us, who knows. So lets just stay here, alright?" Dragona walked towards Octaboona, his eye narrowed.

"You know what? I don't think so, and if you're so weak as to want to stay here while they," he gestured at the four of them, "are going, then I think you ought to man up and come along as well."

Kallista tapped Dragona's shoulder, and he turned around. She grabbed him by his collar and shoved him against the wall, "Hey!" She shouted, "There is no way you're getting Octa involved in this! So if you don't want to be on my bad side then you apologize to him." She glared into his startled eyes, "Now!"

"Y-yes, Ma'am!" he stuttered, "Sorry, Octaboona, sir." Israel's eyebrows rose, and Raven's mouth formed a small 'O' shape. Gepard, on the other hand, just grinned.

"Well, alright then," she said, letting him fall in a heap. "Here," she turned slightly, having produced a pink cupcake from seemingly no where, "have a cupcake." She handed it to him as he stared up in shock. "Now," Kallista turned back to everyone, "are you guys ready, or what?"

***

  Skyril was with her father. She was eight years old and playing in the park. She laughed as she slid down the slide, jumping up right away and wanting to slide again. "Now," Her father said, "we have to go back home, sweetheart." She looked up at him unhappily. He was tall with hair as black as hers. His eyes, though, were brown, so she must have gotten her green ones from her mother. "But, Daddy! Can't I slide some more?"

"I'm sorry," he frowned, glancing at his watch, "but we need to get you back home so I can get back to work." Skyril pouted, then had an idea.

  "Daddy! I could stay here, and walk back later!"

"No, hon, your mother would kill me, honestly!" He put his big hand on her shoulder and started to guide her towards the car. She struggled, pouting, and wanting to stay at the park longer. She imagined his eyes in her mind. They were always so determined. She wished she could just stop them from staring like that. "AH!" Her father yelled all of a sudden, falling on his knees. Skyril cried out, "What's wrong? Daddy! What's wrong, Daddy?"

  He clutched his face, yelling, "I can't see! I can't see! I'm blind! What's happening to me? What did you do? What’s happened to me?"

   Skyril screamed as she sat up in bed, shaking and shivering. At first she thought she was home, but realized too soon that she was still trapped. Remembering she was alone. Remembering she was terrified.

Part IV: Nightmares

Author's note

Hey guys! Yeah, took forever again, but it was fuuuuuuuuuunn :D

It might be a little confusing, though, so I thought I better tell y'all that it keeps jumping back and forth in time. Pay attention to what it says because that helps :P

I hope you like it! I'll try to be working on more soon xD

"Kallista! KAL! Listen to me! Listen to your dreams!"

Kallista shook, and she was soaked in sweat. She turned over in her bed, moaning. Her eyes were closed, but her brow furrowed and her eyes moved beneath the lids.

"I know it's hard, I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to use it like this, but just see me! You're my last chance." Kallista shook her head, growled in her sleep and focused. In her dreams, an image appeared, blurry, like she was looking through milky glass.

  It was Skyril, and she was looking back and forth like she was worried she would be discovered. There was blood on one side of her head, and strings of purple and black hair stuck to it. One of her arms was held in a makeshift sling made from some kind of sash. There was something clutched in the other, something at the end of a chain around her neck, but Kallista couldn't see what it was.

 "KAL! Thank you! Listen, you have to prepare!" Her green eyes were wide, serious and afraid. "Call everyone! Let them know someone- no something is coming! I can't say its name. Now that it knows it, everything here knows it, and they'll  find me if I utter it. But tell Israel that the legend of the silver bracelet is true! He has something about it in his library! I read it once, and that's how I know. And Kal, tell Israel first, ok? Find the book, read it, figure out what to do! You guys can do it, I know it!

  "Kal, I have to go. I don't know if I'll see you again." Tears appeared in her eyes. "Just make sure the world is safe, ok. You and everybody were always really good at that. Don't tell anyone, but you guys are much better at saving all of humanity than I am."

Kallista shook her head, barely finding the strength to speak in this dream state, "No..., Sky."

 "It's ok, Kal... Just, save the world once more, ok? Save it for me! I really have to go." She looked behind her quickly like she'd heard something. "I'll be fine, ok, just stay strong and be ready! ...Goodbye."

  Kallista sat up in bed, breathing hard. Her eyes were wide.

***

  "You're name," said she, "is Nightmare."

"Nightmare..." The little girl rolled the name around. She nodded slightly, "Fitting, I think." Her voice was sweet, childlike, and innocent again. Still, Skyril could detect a coldness in that voice that chilled her to the bones.

  "Yes, your name is Nightmare. How long have you been locked away, really? A thousand years, maybe? I read somewhere about you and your powers. Honestly, I wasn't so certain about the truth of what I was reading, but I think I believe it somewhat more now."

  The little girl's head turned to the side. "I don't know how long I was in the Purple World, but I was not 'locked'. Nothing can keep me trapped."

Skyril's eyebrow rose, but she decided against getting into an argument with the Nightmare him--her---itself.

"Well," she said, "I don't suppose since you've gotten the information you wanted, that you'd be willing to release me, huh?"

"Release? Nay, I wouldn't dream of it! I've so many little horrible adventures planned for you, you know. It's going to be so much fun!"

The child clapped her hands together, a grin playing at the sides of her mouth.

"Oh, yes," Skyril said under her breath, "I can only imagine how fun that will be..."

***

  There was a scream and suddenly a pounding on his door. Israel blinked, waking up. "What on earth?" His hand reached for his shotgun before he recognized Kallista's voice yelling on the other side of the door. He stood up, still picking up a knife out of precaution. Who knew why Kal was yelling. It might be a spider or it might be a pack of vampires trying to get in.

  He slid back the locks on his door, attempting to only crack it open a fraction to peak out at Kal. That didn't work out. She, rather determined, shoved it open, grabbed Israel's shirt, and yelled, "We have to read some books or the world will be destroyed! We have to go to your library now!" She started pulling him behind her while up and down the hall, lights started coming on as people awoke and poked their heads out of their doors.

  "Kal, Kal, Kal! What is going on?" Israel shouted, stopping in his tracks and making her stumble slightly. "Israel we have to go now! Come on!" She grabbed his arm, trying to pull him along again, but she didn't get more than a few feet.

"First, you have to tell me what's going on," he said.

  Kallista looked back and forth down the hallway as the viewers continued watching. "What?" Some of them blinked and went back into their rooms, but most stayed where they were. Kallista let go of Israel and looked around at everyone. Skyril had said to tell Israel first. She smiled and her eyelids dropped halfway as she looked back at him again. "Come on, my sweet! I was trying to get us in private without.. making it seem like we were... up to anything." Her eyebrows went up and down in quick succession, and she giggled.

  Israel's eyes widened, "What the-"

"I know it was a little extreme, but... I couldn't wait any longer, my little boo-goo-doobie-doo!" She reached up and pinched his cheeks.

  Snickers went up and down the hallway, and someone yelled, "How sweet, Israel! Or should we call you, 'boo-goo' now?"

More laughter ensued. Israel turned on them, his startling green eyes narrowed to slits.

  The doors shut immediately.

***

  Skyril was running. She was still in the city, but this was a different part. She wasn't really sure how she got here, for she had been talking to the Nightmare child a moment ago. She wasn't actually thinking about that much, though. For some reason, running seemed to make perfect sense to her at that moment. She leaped, landing on the next rooftop and kept going. She heard something behind her, jumped again over an alley twenty feet below, and craned her neck.

  There was something chasing her, but she couldn't see what it was. She knew it was catching up, though. She could feel it behind her. She screamed as something with claws grabbed her left arm and yanked, breaking the bone and tearing it backwards. She turned, tears in her eyes, to see some kind of enormous bird with a serrated beak and giant talons. She tried to use magic to take the monster's sight- at least to confuse it, but it didn't work.

  This was one of those creatures that fed on magic. The bird's crimson wings flapped harder, pulling Skyril from the ground by her broken arm. She screamed in agony, using her good arm to snatch a small dagger from her belt. It whipped back and forth, and sent the missile into the birds chest. The creature screeched, letting go, as purple blood dyed its feathers black.

***

  "Wait, what? You had a dream about Skyril?"

Israel and Kallista were in the library, having gotten there after Kal told Israel she would explain once they got there. The library was usually empty at this hour so they weren't particularly careful about being hushed.

"No! Skyril sent a message to me in my sleep! She's in danger! There's something... I don't know what- a villain of some sort- trapping her and hurting her. Her arm Isreal! It was broken! And there was blood and I couldn't talk and I couldn't do anything! But she told me to tell you that there was some myth about a bracelet with purple amethysts, and it's real! And there's a book somewhere in this library about it! She couldn't say what it was because there was something after her, but I don't know what that was either. So we need to read these books! Now! The fate of the world- and more importantly, Skyril- depend on it! She said to gather everyone! Where are those secret ninjas I heard you were hiding in the basement?"

  Israel spoke dryly as his hand went to his forehead in aggravation, "There are no secret ninjas. This is seventh time someone has asked about them! Who keeps spreading these rumors? When I get my hands around his neck, I'm just gonna shake it until he feels so discombobulated, he can't even stand without collapsing!"

In the corner, Nights Raven slid down in her seat, hiding behind her book.

"Wait," Kal said, "you mean the ninjas aren't real?" Her eyes were wide, shocked.

Raven coughed, drawing their attention to her for the first time. "Hey, so, book about purple amethysts? I know that one, and if Sky wasn't mistaken, than we're in big trouble."

***

  Skyril was standing in a dark forest. The trees were gnarled and dingy, reaching out with claws to catch and devour strays. It was night, and the sky could only be seen above due the enormous full moon glowing brightly, friendly. Skyril was breathing heavily, again, not knowing how she came to be here but not thinking strange of it. She was afraid. She could feel the terror worming around inside her, making her body shake and her bones brittle. Her left arm was hanging limply by her side, and the pain was fresh and pulsing. When adrenaline had been pouring through her, she didn't feel it as much. Now, it was terrible.

  She groaned, beads of sweat on her forehead. She reach down with her good hand as gently as she could and untied the knot of the purple sash around her waist. No matter how careful she was, every movement throbbed and sent another wave of pain through her. She looped the sash around her neck, turning it into a makeshift sling to keep her broken arm out of the way. She'd always hated having broken bones.

  She leaned for a moment against the nearest tree, trying to catch her breath. Her eyes fluttered for a moment, and she realized she was tired, really tired.

  But then she heard something that woke her up again. There was a howl, not like a cat or a bird, but much more like a dog. She looked up, the enormous moon stared down at her, and it wasn't so very friendly now. There were werewolves in this forest. Another howl, definitely closer. Skyril stared running, having no idea where she was going besides away. More howls, more than one monster was in this dreadful forest. They must smell the blood, and sweat.

And fear.

  She saw a stream through the trees and ran for it, splashing into the waters in hopes of covering her scent. She trudged through it, having a tough time trudging through waist-deep, murky water. Something nipped at her leg, but she ignored it, probably a fish. Then she saw something big in the waters ahead of her. It looked like a log, but she knew better. The crocodile was just waiting for his midnight snack to walk into his jaws. She froze, looking back, hearing tree limbs cracking and more howls. Still, she'd rather face that on land rather than the monster of the bog. She splashed out of the water, avoiding the snap of those terrible jaws and, dripping wet started running again.

  How was she going to escape werewolves in their own territory? She heard them behind her, galloping towards her. She screamed, jumping to the side as she sensed one leap and kept running. Skyril was out of breath, and tiring quickly. Then she saw an opening in the forest and a building rising above it in the distance.

  The city! She was close. She could make it. She prayed she could make it.

***

Israel and Kallista read from the middle of the book- Legends of Your Darkest Dreams- Raven had brought to them.

  "According to myth, the Nightmare could change forms with a thought. Sometimes the beast would be a male, female, a child, or the elderly, but that's not all. The Nightmare's adept magic included changing form to anything, even the wind, although it's favorite form was taken from the appearances of its victims, particularly children."

They turned the page, skimming down until they found something useful.

 

  "The Nightmare was trapped approximately A.D. 1100 by exactly as many mages. The legend says that its prison was made special and in secret over about one hundred years. The prison was in the form of something beautiful- a silver bracelet in-hewed with purple amethysts and powerful, yet unknown, magic to keep the bracelet from ever being destroyed or releasing the beast. They made this bracelet in this form because the Nightmare, especially fond of personal charms and trinkets, would keep them to taunt any remaining relations or friends of the victims.

  With this in mind, the mages asked for a volunteer to be the Nightmare's final adversary. Someone who would wear the bracelet until it became so important to her that the Nightmare would savor in taking it; however, no one stepped forward for three years until a young girl, who finally understood what the sorcerers were planning, agreed to be their sacrifice.

  The mages assembled and trapped the Nightmare and the child, according to plan. The Nightmare took her, devoured her humanity, stole the bracelet, and was trapped because of it. There are many myths that this child had done what she did out of love for the mages around her. She couldn't bare to see them suffer any longer by its torments, and with her last breath, she thanked the Nightmare for what it had done to her because she was so happy she could save her friends and family."

Another few pages flipped over as Israel ran his finger down them, scanning for useful information. He paused again on one section.

 "There was one fatal error the mages didn't see, however, and that was that one of the mages had been turned by the Nightmare. Fortunately, the bracelet had been taken and hidden and soon lost to those few who knew the whereabouts when the grand mage of the time had them executed before killing himself.

  It is said that the sorcerer with the secret to the Nightmare's release passed it down through the generations to his children and their children's children, and that somewhere today, there are still those- those few- who know how to release this terrible monster.

 Fortunately, despite many attempts at discovering the whereabouts of the purple amethyst bracelet, no one has found it. Well, that is to say, no one has found it and had both the power, and the knowledge to release it.

  At least not yet."

***

  Why must there always be fields between cities and forests? Skyril huffed in irritation, running as fast as she could through that empty space. The werewolves were pounding behind her, growling and woofing and generally having enormous fun hunting their delightfully fretful prey. If only the situations were reversed, Skyril thought.

  Something heavy hit her in the back, and she went down, rolling and getting up again before the second fastest werewolf caught her. She was almost there. So many buildings and alleys to get lost in and to lose the monsters behind. 

  With her last burst of energy she ran with everything she had, but it wasn't fast enough. Nothing was faster than a werewolf on the hunt, and she'd only lasted this long because she was so far ahead of them in the beginning. Claws raked across her jacket, and she sent thanks above to Ghastly for making her clothes so strong.

 Buildings! She turned down the first alley, losing the closest werewolves with the sudden change of direction. She went left, heading deeper into the heart of the city, but just when she thought she might survive after all, something landed on her from above.

 The werewolves knew how to climb stairs. Or maybe they just went up the side of the building. Fangs gnawed down on her shoulder. They didn't pierce the clothing, but the pain was still awful. She screamed when the heavy man-dog hybrid leaned on her broken arm and bit the side of her neck. She grabbed at her belt and swung the first thing she found. A finger knife that didn't get past the werewolf's hide. 

  Skyril squirmed, tearing herself from its grip, but losing her jacket in the process. She grabbed a hefty dagger from her belt with her good hand and stabbed twice then ran, leaving the weapon behind. The howls were terrible, especially when the other werewolves smelled the blood and found their fallen comrade.

  Tears sprang into Skyril's eyes as she kept running. They were tears of pain, fright, and disgust, all mixed into one. She shook her head, trying to keep herself from losing it. She needed to focus. What was she going to do? What could she do? She needed to catch her breath. She couldn't run any longer. She slammed against a door and got in, running upstairs and collapsing in a mass in the corner of a bedroom. Then she heaved and fell on the bed, curling up and taking breaths. She felt hot blood on the side of her face and almost started crying again.

 She needed to do something. What could she do? She had to warn everyone, had to tell them what was coming. She sat up, pulling out her phone and turning it on. Typical, she thought, no service in the world of the Nightmare.

  The werewolves howled in the distance. Skyril had to tell her friends now, or she might never get the chance. She sprung up and reached into her shirt, pulling out the chain with the charm on the end. It was simple, nothing elegant. A circle with a purple orb in the middle. She realized the Nightmare would take this from her when it was done with her. Skyril didn't want that to happen. With new determination, she decided it was time she used it for better or worse. 

  She would warn them what was coming.

***

  Israel fell back in a chair, his hand on his head. He was thinking, trying to figure out how to proceed. There was an actual person, or rather thing, that was the reason for all nightmares? How was that even possible? He almost laughed at the ridiculous thought that everyone in the world might have the same nightmare and just not know it.

  Raven nudged Kallista and whispered, "What's he doing?" They were standing a few feet away from where Israel was sitting. He was sprawled in an armchair, with one hand propping up his head and the other slapped upon his forehead. Raven and Kallista stood beside each other, arms crossed, and expressions serious.

"He's.., well, he's... thinking." 

"Ah," Raven nodded slightly and went back to her serious stance. Then she leaned back a moment later, "Does he do this often?" Kallista shrugged.

"Actually, yes."

"So he gets in that position whenever he thinks?"

"...Yeah..."

"I wonder if it helps. I tend to just think all the time." Kallista stifled a giggle. 

"Maybe it helps to sit like that. We should save all our thinking for later." Raven nodded again, serious.

"Yeah, then we can save all our energy for when we sit the right way." Kal slapped her hand over her mouth, really trying not to laugh as Israel continued sitting their, not moving in the slightest.

 How could you defeat a nightmare? Israel wondered about that. He doubted the whole, "realize your dreaming and start doing whatever you want," thing. He'd tried that. It didn't work. 

  Wait, the book had said something about the Nightmare's "adept" magic, which must mean it was a person some time in the past. So if it was a person, that must mean it could be killed. 

  Kallista, disguising it as a slight shift in position, poked Raven in the side. Raven looked at Kal, her expression saying everything, "So you want to get into battle with me, huh?" Kallista wiggled her eyebrows, which was her version of, "Come and have a go if you think your hard enough."

  So if the nightmare could be killed, then all you had to do was have a lot of guns, and hopefully, grenades. The only problem was finding it. How could he find some monster that could change form into anything? Even the wind? 

  The best thing to do, Israel decided, was to find out where it was most recently. Skyril was chasing after Ominous Ebony. He'd discovered that last night due to his contacts getting the information for him. Ominous was most recently seen in Dublin. So that's where Skyril would go.

  Raven and Kallista were having a dreadfully hard time not falling into full out laughter. They were poking each others. Secretly. Like ninjas. They were ninjas pokers. Raven couldn't contain her giggle when she thought about that. 

  Then Israel stood up, and immediately, Kallista and Raven went back to their arm-crossed-side-by-side-serious-expression stance. They looked at him, their expressions totally focused, determined.

"Alright," he said, "I've thought about it and-"

  Kallista and Raven burst out laughing hysterically before falling onto the floor in giddyness.

Israel stared at them for a moment, "I finally understand how Skulduggery thought of his companions as four years olds."

Part III: Nicknames and Pooky Lips

Author's note
Hey, this is kind of a short chapter, sorry, but I'll be working on the next bit. Uh, I'm not going to say it will go faster than last time... seeing as last time I said that, it went slower instead............ But let's not be pessimistic, you know? 



   "... Greetings! This is Skyril! I'm probably either doing something really clever or really stupid, but either way, I obviously couldn't get to the phone! So leave a message! No, seriously, don't hang up! Why'd you call? I'd really like to know! Is this about some debt I forgot to pay because if it is, well I'm likel- Beeeep!"
"SKY! Where ARE you? I'm hanging out with Israel at his mansion, and it's BORING! I've been trying to reach you for... like... hold on, what's the clock say? TEN minutes! What can you possibly be doing? This is my FIFTH message! *gasp* Wait! Are you being held captive by someone or... or... or.... Are there pirates? OR WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS? What's going on! DON'T DIE, SKY! I'll come rescue you! But wait, where ARE YOU? You have to call me to let me know so that I can come rescue you! Oh, wait, knowing YOU I bet you're being held up by some cute guy *giggle* Hey, does he have a friend? Don't forget to tell him about your besty Kallie-wallie! But you would never do that! I mean, you would never-"
Kallista Pendragon didn't notice the electronic voice that said, "End of message." So she kept chattering for about five minutes before she hung up, thoroughly convinced she was going to a ball next week with a hunk of a guy.
   She grinned and skipped into into the common room, humming "Buh-Rum-Pum-Pum" from some old movie called The Happiest Millionaire. When she got there, she saw Israel Elysium reclining on one of the couches reading And the Darkness Rained Upon Them, this being one of the few times he didn't have to save the world or all of humanity or anything. "Hiya, Israel! I just got an idea! Mind if I call ya Is? Is-rael is so loooong!"
   He glanced up at Kallista. "Um, I would prefer it if you called me 'Israel,' Kal." Kallista frowned, "But everyone has nicknames except for you! You need a nickname too, I think. It could be like your code name for when we go on some secret mission, see!"
Israel, figuring he wasn't going to get a whole lot more reading done today, stuck a bookmark depicting Hellboy in the book and glanced back up at Kal. "Oh, really? Well, what do you suggest... Besides 'Is...' that is."
   Kallista grinned, having the perfect idea. "HELLBOY!" We should call you Hellboy or HB for short! I mean, you have a bookmark of him and everything! Hellboy is perfect."
"'Hellboy', hm? Well, I guess I'd be ok with that... Although, you DO know it's not a whole lot shorter than 'Israel.'"
"Don't ruin the moment," she said with a frown. "Your nickname is now Hellboy!" She did a little spin- her midnight black hair whacking Israel in the nose- and sat down beside him.  He blinked, about to say something, before a girl's voice from off to the side said, "Hellboy, huh? I like it." She nodded, and Israel and Kal looked to see who it was.
   A strawberry blond walked into view from a side room, her hair bouncing slightly. "Raveeeeeeeeeeen!" shouted Kal, jumping out of her seat and hugging her. Raven laughed, "Hiya, Kallie! What's up? Oh, by the way, have you guys heard from Skyril?"
"Well, no..," Kallista grinned, "But if you ask my opinion, I think she's being held up by some cutey!"
Israel frowned slightly, "Well, last I heard, she was going to try to catch some... Ominous something-or-other. Have you called her?"
 "Oo, oo," said Kal "I've called her! Ominous, huh? Funny name, what does he do for a living? OH, is he some kind of Halloween man?" Her eyes, a mix between blue and green, grew large. "I've heard about these creepy dudes who jump out from under your bed and use your screams to power themselves! Isn't that horrifying? Or, wait... Maybe I'm thinking of a cartoon I watched..."
Israel coughed, deciding to re-ask his question to Raven.
"Yeah," Raven said, sitting down opposite from him. "I've actually called her a few times the past two days, and she hasn't answered or called back. It's strange for her not to call back." She shrugged slightly. "Do you know where this Ominous person was?" Israel ran his hand through his slightly shaggy brown hair.
"Well, I'm thinking he was in Dublin, but I'll have to make some phone calls to know for certain.... It will be kind of tricky to find out."
   He looked up. Nights Raven's big, dark, brown eyes were wide and sparkly. Her bottom lip poked out slightly. Israel arched his eyebrow, and Kallista looked back and forth between the two of them, and jumped up suddenly, bouncing on the couch Israel was on. "Hey, what are you waiting on? I want to see a picture of the guy Sky's hanging out with! ON THE DOUBLE! MARCH! MARCH! MARCH! Or, rather.." She said as Israel laughed, sighed, and pulled out his cell, "CALL! CALL! CALL!"

... Urrrrm.... Yellow Llama Poka Dots O_O

Hey, guys, SORRY!
I know I'm taking forEVER!
I just got sort o'... bogged down :P
I'm working on it, though.
I kinda threw out what I had already written... I mean, I used a few of the same IDEAS, but I'm changing it up a bit.
And yes, I know, this part isn't getting out any quicker than the last part, is it?
Oh..., really? It's taking even longer than the last part??
Heh.... heh.... ~cough cough~
~mutters something about having to find an invisible plane and disappears into the shadows~
~hopes everyone doesn't know I'm just sitting there, staring at them~
~sneezes~
~tries to pretend is was the tree~

Rant

So, Kal and I were talking about rants the other day, but I'm not really good at ranting and laying it all out there... So I wrote a rather terrible and vague poem instead xD
Despite what any reads this may think, I'm ok. I was just feeling depressed. And this poem is actually about more than one thing and more than one person in case you thought I was specifically... specifying someone....
Again, don't worry! It was night right before I fell asleep that I wrote this, and I almost always get depressed around that time xD


A snarl and huff and a puff
She breathes, but it's tough
Her body aches, but her mind is lost
So this is what her choice has cost
What a cruel pitch of fate
What a way to come by hate
How could it be for things like these
She wouldn't have guessed she'd be tossed to the seas
Shaking, swaying, going with the waves
So this is life outside the caves
At least she knows now
She knows it's futile to bow
Forgive? Oh, please
Just listen to the seas
Rocking, pitching, tossing about
How could you not be full of doubt?
Shut up! I beg you!
Everything I said was true!
Why would you ask?
I never wore a mask!
You know! You all know it all!
I won't lie down and bawl
Not anymore...
What did I say that for?
I know it's a lie
For weak is the Sky
The Sky you know,
She quickly falls low
And weak is the Sky that none have seen
She needs such strength to merely lean
And she's tired
Burning faster than fire
She's falling
And no one's calling
She's reaching a hand
But no one pulls her to land
And she just doesn't understand.
She's lost
But that's what her choices have cost.