I overlooked the floral garden. Rain drizzled from the silver sky, tinting the willow trees around me teal. Even in overcast, the trimmed grass was a vibrant green. So unnaturally vibrant, like an edited photo. Creepy. I shivered. A giant shadow fell over me from the side of a building, but when I turned around, there was nothing but more open field. Just like that, the shadow disappeared.

Someone ran past me. A tall guy in black and gold dashed down some steps and towards a fountain in the center of the garden. The water was a harsh marine, iridescent with dust. He sat on the ledge, wading his graceful hand through. After a few seconds, he yanked it away, with sparks of electricity stringing from his fingers.

I meandered down. The floral fragrance dissipated into the strong rain, like it was only there to attract me.

The guy didn’t move. He didn’t regard me at all. He had oak skin and big square glasses sitting on his sullen face that aged him a few years. It reminded me of someone, but my brain came up cold before I could think of a name.

“Were you able to get out of bed this morning?” he asked, staring into the water. His voice was soft but crisp, like a fireplace.

“I…” My breathing spiked. “I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything before I got here.”

“You have to try.”

I took a deep breath, feeling the misty air. Rain drizzled on my skin. I sat down on the ledge beside him, and ran my hand through the water. It was hotter than I expected, warming me up like a nice blanket. It didn’t shock me like it did him.

I’m dreaming… I thought. For some reason, the thought didn’t escape my lips, no matter how much I tried. It seems he understood.

“It’s beautiful here,” I said. “Where is this?”

“I thought you remembered,” he mused.

“Am I supposed to? What's your name?”

“The name you gave me.”

I took in the environment: the darkening sky out west, the void fields in the distance, and the strangely clear air.

He pulled off a bookbag I didn’t realize he had, setting it in his lap. After some empty rummaging, he pulled out a brown paper bag. Inside, a foam restaurant container.

“Is this for us?” my mouth watered. It smelled so good.

“Just for you,” he said, “You didn’t eat in, what, two days?”

“Two days?”

“That's the last time I saw you.”

“I never saw you before in my life.”

Thunder roared in the distance. The clouds deepened, turning the horizon black, like the world ended in just a mile. The green grass turned blue.

“What’s going on?” I whispered to myself.

Before I could step from the fountain, the guy grabbed my shoulder.

“I’ll go,” he groaned. “Just stay here. Wait. No. Go back to the manor.”

“What manor?”

“Your manor.”

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“Why can’t I go with you?”

He pulled me into an embrace and looked back to the sky. Throwing his bookbag over his shoulder, he bolted across the garden. As he got closer to the horizon, he put his hand on his chest. In a flash of light, a golden dagger appeared in his hand. He halted, raised the blade into the air, and cut through the sky. The slash glowed gold.

My vision glazed. It looked so surreal, but deep in my body, it felt so normal. Like I’d seen it before. I wasn't confused in the slightest.

A green vine flew out of the glowing wound, curling at the guy’s feet. It tied his ankles together and dragged him into the air. The dagger fell to the ground.

I raced into the field. In a minute, the shadow of him fell over me. He struggled against the plant right above me. I grabbed the dagger off the ground and ran to the sky wound. It wasn’t in the sky. It was in midair. I waved my hand behind it to make sure. It was like a portal!

The stem was thicker than I thought it’d be. I secured my arm around it and set the blade against the skin. Weirdly, it didn’t move. I tried sawing through the first layer, but it barely made a dent.

“Jackson, stop!” he screamed. “You’re going to fall!”

Fall?

I looked to my right and saw it…

Just a foot ahead of me, the ground feathered to black, with twinkling stars like space. Ocean mist rose from the abyss. The edge of the world.

Now nothing wasn’t making sense.

“What’s going on?” I shouted.

“Just go!” His voice bubbled in stress. The plant slithered around his waist and up to his neck, cuffing his arms to his side. His glasses cracked from some type of pressure. “Leave the dagger! You’ll find the manor!”

I pressed my eyes shut, trying to imagine the plants going away. But nothing happened.

Something coursed inside me. I dropped the weapon and rushed away from the distress, past the fountain, and out the garden. My nose burned cold and my breathing dried. My stomach ached, like I had the diet of a skeleton. I fell to my knees.

Tears pooled in my eyes. I touched my head to the wet grass and curled up.

Lightning struck the sky again. And whoever that guy was, his scream echoed in the Earth itself. I couldn’t even imagine what the plant did to him.

“No…” I whispered.

A beep rang in my ears. Something vibrated next to my head. I sat up and observed, but I saw nothing in the grass. The vibrating continued in a rhythm. I patted and combed the grass. Nothing.

What is that noise?

Finally, my fingers caught something. A smartphone. Though hard to see, the screen read: 5:30 a.m.

5:30… Wait.

The grass flattened into a black void. My vision flashed a blinding white, stinging my eyes. The ground vanished beneath me. My legs ached. Like they shouldn’t be in that position. Then my back, my arms, everything. The beeping grew louder, deafeningly loud.

My body seized and my eyes opened to a pitch-black room. My head spun as I felt the warm sheets against my back, and the sweat wetting my skin.

“Jackson!” My sister, Variana, yelled from the hall. She swung the door open and crossed her arms. The shadow herself.

“Jackie, get dressed. Mom said to get up!”

I panted. I imagined myself turning on my lamp, but my hand wouldn’t move. Nothing did.

“Come on! Get up!”

For a few seconds, she went silent. She slowly stepped back and closed the door. I guess she understood. Some seconds later, my fingers twitched. Back to business as usual.

I struggled to my knees and reached over to turn on the lamp. My alarm subsided and read as “missed”. But that weird whispering and the sound of metal on stone… it lingered around me but dissolved as quickly as I noticed them.

I rushed to type out every detail I could remember from the dream. But as I recalled the boy—the dagger-wielding stranger—his face became fuzzy. Everything about him became fuzzy. I remembered the fear as he was attacked by the plant; even the warmth of when he offered me a meal and wondered if I got out of bed okay.

But I had to get ready for school. I definitely needed a hard shower. I got dressed and attempted to fix my lion’s mane of hair.

Variana dressed in her usual vampire chic and hurried outside to take a call from her boyfriend.

The clock ticked a few minutes away from the bus’s arrival. I went into the bathroom to make sure I didn’t look like a zombie. As I got done brushing my teeth, I found myself lost in the mirror. My face…

Though my glasses were round and my face less than perfect, I was staring right into the eyes of the boy in my dream.

But it can’t be. The dream boy’s skin was silky smooth. His eyes twinkled with the protection of a pack of wolves. His voice sounded so melodic.

My hope faded, and my face looked the same as it always had. And the dream boy looked more unfamiliar than before.

But no time for that. Yes, even on a half day before summer break, I would definitely get a referral waiting for me next year if I was a second late.