Twisted Returns

Unfortunately, I find myself awake the next day.

The warm sunlight falls on my face, making me almost happy, for once. And then I remember.

People running, people screaming, people dying. I can't stop thinking about it, can't push the images out of my head. I get that bitter taste in my mouth.

The nightmares didn't come, and I fear the day they do. Just like Aaron's. Only a thousand times worse.

Maybe this body can't have nightmares. Maybe unconsciousness is my only path into safety. I know I can't spend the rest of my life sleeping. But maybe that's the way it has to be.

I check the clock. Eight in the morning. I've slept for well over fourteen hours, but i can't stand to be awake.

I pull the covers over my head once more.

----

There comes a time when you just can't sleep anymore, when your body refuses to slip into oblivion.

I've slept for twenty-two hours (and find it strange that Crystallaria has the same time system as Earth). It's time to wake up.

I decide to block it all out. I put up a wall in my mind. But it's not that easy. The blood on the ground... The arrow, probably still deep in an innocent woman's heart. Don't think about it...

But it doesn't work that way. I can't block it out any more than I can block out memories of Connor.

So I'll find something to distract me. My stomach growls. I can't remember the last time I ate something.

Well, there's something to do.

----

"Dana!" I turn my head to see Lorraine rushing to the table.

"Hi," I say, putting my spoon down.

She sits down next to me. "I heard about what happened."

"Yeah." I pick a strawberry off the top of my ice cream. Its juice leaves a red stain, like the ground yesterday.

"Are you okay?" she asks, her eyes widening with concern.

"Yeah," I lie. If I tell her the truth, she'll ask about it. And then I'll have to talk about it, bringing those memories to the front of my mind.

"That's good. I'm glad you didn't get hurt or anything," she says. "I was so worried when I heard the announcement of attack."

"Well, I'm here now, and I'm fine," I say. "But all those people..."

"There's nothing you can do about it," she says, repeating herself. And I know she's right.

"I guess."

The announcement bell rings, a much more pleasant sound than the emergency bell. It sounds like wind chimes, almost.

"This place is like a school, with their intercoms," Lorraine mutters.

"Dana, Dean, Cody, and Katalina of the Terran group, please report to my study," Marigold says. The bell rings again.

"I wonder what she needs you for," Lorraine says.

"I guess I'll find out then." I eat one last strawberry and pass the rest of my ice cream to Lorraine. I get up and head for the stairs. Too bad the elevators are disabled.

Along the way, I meet Dean. I don't see much of him these days. I have no idea what he does, as he's not fighting, or in training like Ashlee and Andrew.

"Hey," he says, looking down at me. I look into his navy eyes and my heart speeds up. He's just as I remember him in my dreams - the type of fairytale handsome you'd expect a prince to be.

I never felt like this before the transformation. Which means it's just left over feelings from the past. And I don't want them. Every time I feel this way, it reminds me of Connor. Dean isn't him.

"Hi," I say, looking down and avoiding eye contact. Which is stupid, because I shouldn't be afraid of this. I don't like him that way. Maybe I used to, but we agreed on it, all those months ago - we're just friends.

"I think I know what this is about," he says. "I've been studying for these past few days."

"Sounds... boring," I say honestly.

"It's interesting, really, he says. "Magic works in illogical ways. I just wish I could do it."

"Me too," I say.

"So... what have you been up to?" he asks as we climb a spiral staircase. Of course he heard about what happened yesterday. But unlike everyone else, he doesn't ask.

"Nothing really," I say. "Just looking around the castle, trying to remember things."

We reach the door to Marigold's study. The door automatically swings open. Marigold is not at her desk, or anywhere to be seen. Big floating letters in the air spell out "Please sit down and wait."

So Dean and I obey, sitting in two of the four chairs facing the desk. And we wait in an awkward silence. Things were never awkward before, why are they now?

"Terran network," Dean says, tapping his necklace. I do the same. "Cody, Katalina, are you coming?" I hear his voice both out loud and in my head. He feels so close to me.

Coming, Cody says. Had to put away our weapons. Can't have them in the castle.

"Okay."

I wonder why it's us, out of everyone. I mean, what do we all have in common?

"No idea," I say.

Okay, well, we'll be there in a minute.

Dean closes the communication and so do I. A minute later, Cody and Katalina walk in, taking their seats beside me.

"What's this for?" Cody asks again.

"I don't know," I say. "I think Dean does, though."

"I have a guess," Dean says. "But just wait and see."

"That's cool," Cody says, pointing at the letters in the air. But then it disappears.

It couldn't have been any of us, because none of us have magical ability. So either the spell had a time limit, or Marigold deactivated it.

"Hello," Marigold says from behind us. She walks over to her desk and sits facing us. "The Rainbow Bridge has been temporarily unsealed."

"Just what I thought," Dean says.

Marigold nods. "We're going to Glitteria."