After I finished telling Emma of my adventure into Nowhere, she gave me a look of bewilderment. I felt if Rosary weren’t here that she may have thought that I had gone crazy. Rosary seemed to be eyeing Emma suspiciously, she was still perched on me but thankfully she had moved herself to my shoulder.

“So, let’s say that I believe you, I don’t remember anything that you explained that would have explained that scar on your chest. I can’t say I see you naked all the time but I at least know that something like THAT isn’t normal.” I didn’t even flush from the naked comment, she had just reminded me of that dream. The dream that felt so real, the one that had left its mark on me.

“Umm, I’m not entirely sure about that. I lied, I didn’t want to talk about it, the very idea of having to bring up that dream seemed to slowly crush my heart as if inky black tendrils had wrapped itself around it. I didn’t feel like it was even safe to mention the dream like by talking it I would be inviting what was there into reality.

God did I feel like a coward, but that woman … So beautiful but so terrifying. I just couldn’t…

Emma sighed, “So now what?”

“Huh?” She took that incredibly easy, honestly suspiciously. I was expecting her to try to push the issue. She seemed to be studying Rosary, who was studying her as well. Rosary perked up and whispered in my ear. “I don’t trust her, something feels wrong about her.”

She’d been my friend for years, ever since my father had left us, there is no way that I couldn’t trust her. I just ignored what Rosary had said, what could I do? What should I tell her?

“I want to go back to Nowhere, Emma.”

“Even with it being as dangerous as it sounded?”

“Yeah, something feels like it’s calling me there.” It was true, hell every once in a while, a voice literally would call for me. I could feel the itch in my head, but I had no idea how to control that urge.

“Fine, then I’m going with you.” Part of me had expected that she had always been a tomboy, that and she seemed to think that she still had to baby me, it used to be comforting, but now it was kind of embarrassing. Like I wanted to be the protective one kind of, show her that I’ve got a cool interesting side, but instead I just kind of let her coddle me.

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“I have an idea…” A tiny voice stated meekly

“I have no idea how to even get there Emma, I can’t promise that I’ll be able to bring you there with me next time.”

“I think I know of a way…” The tiny voice said again.

“Well, you better figure out a way,” Emma responded back to me.

“Hey listen to me already!” Rosary yelled angrily, shit, I didn’t realize that she had been talking. Craning my neck, I eyed Rosary.

“In the legends that my grandfather told me our God would call to humans and monsters alike to visit Nowhere, but it was always a one-way trip.”

“If that was true then why was Daniel able to come back?” Emma asked, in an irritated tone.

“Let me finish human,” snapped Rosary. Those two were not getting along, great.

Rosary continued; “Our God would bestow those that lived in the land a gift of sorts. Every human or Demi human would have an ability, outside of any abilities that they may have already had. I think that our God may have brought Daniel to Nowhere, but that Daniel left on his own. Through whatever ability it is that our God gave him.”

“You know this God kind of sounds half-assed,” Emma responded Rosary shrugged, or at least what looked like a shrug. “He’s a chaotic force who created Nowhere for his own amusement, or at least that was what my Grandfather said.”

This information was great and all but that didn’t seem to be helpful at all, it just answered what we already knew, that we could travel back and forth to Nowhere… Wait a sec? I remembered what exactly I had done, I had used the blood from my body as ink.

“Impose your will, Daniel,”

The voice was back, it sounded amused as if its favorite pet had just figured out a new trick. God that pissed me off. But I didn’t have time to stay pissed, nor did I care. “You’re a genius Rosary!” I replied to her excitedly grabbing a putty knife from my art stand.

Rosary beamed happily, Emma though seemed to be shocked, “What are you doing Daniel?” She asked as I cut open my hand. She freaked out and rushed to the kitchen to grab a towel. “Don’t worry Emma, I have a reason.” The itch in my head started to get worse, right after cutting my hand, the anticipation growing, I thought about that place where my dream had been, I wanted to go there. My hand touched the canvas and my blood moved on its own as if the canvas were sucking it in. The earlier painting warped and changed dramatically, sprawling streets filled out everywhere. This was very different from my dream but still, it felt right. The itch suddenly became a mind-numbing head-ache, pain bludgeoned me mercilessly in the top of my head like a merciless boxer.

Emma was shocked, her face frozen in it. But I didn’t really have enough time to think about how it must look as the canvas started to suck me in. I really hope that I’m not naked again. The scenery started to paint itself around me, the sound of crowds, the smell of smoke in the air, it all felt so overwhelming and in a moment Rosary and I stood in the center of a large stone roadway that led into a massive sprawling city. Emma falling in behind me.