Introduction

Have you ever wondered how dreams work? Have you ever thought about it? Have you ever thought of them like a sixth sense? What about a different dimension? Well, dreams for me were never happy. They weren't sad either. For I have never experienced a dream. For I can't. I can't dream. Sounds impossible right? You are wrong.

I would close my eyes at night, waiting and hoping for that other dimension to take me away as I slip into unconsciencness. Waiting for that other world to take hold of me, to another place where I didn't have to worry about anything. But never would they welcome me, never would they come. I would wake up every morning with an empty mind, with nothing interesting to think about.

I would often ask people what it's like to dream. And they would always reply the same: "Why do you want to know? Don't you dream?" I wouldn't reply for they wouldn't believe me.

Would I ever get a dream? Would I ever experience its pleasure? Was there something wrong with me? Was it magic? I mean, what kind of freak doesn't dream, right? I'll answer that for you. Me.

Chapter 1

The Beginning of the End

I awake. Once again...nothing. I sighed. Today felt... different. And no. It was not the fact that I didn't dream again. Oh yeah! That's right...today...is my birthday. Another year has gone by. Another dreamless one. I quickly got up to get dressed to go to school, tripping over my feet as I walked to the bathroom to brush my hair. I quickly brushed the knots out and pulled it back in a ponytail.

Then all of a sudden my mom jumped out of nowhere and hugged me.

"Happy Birthday kiddo!" she said smiling widely.

"So? Feel any older?" she asked.

"No, not really," I said.

"What's wrong" she asked, "Are you tired?"

"Yeah I guess..." I said.

"Okay, let me know if you need anything," she said with a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah, sure," I said and nodded.

She smiled one last smile at me and then walked away.

Today felt very different though. But I couldn't put my finger on it. I put my hands in my face. My fingers were cold, numb from the cold water I used to splash in my face to wake me up. I walked back to my room to lie down until I had to leave for school. But what happened next I could not explain. What happened next was the beginning of an adventure that I did not even expect.

It started off as a little pang. Thinking it was just a little headache and that it was no big deal. I sat on my bed, and looked out the window, watching the rain fall, peacefully and quiet. It was just a drizzle. The headache was starting to subside when all of a sudden pain erupted through my head like a headache that was increased a million times over. I tried to scream but I couldn't. My throat was dry. My hands quickly went flying to my head clutching it, not that that would of stopped it. I didn't know what was happening, what was this pain? My head felt fit to burst. It felt like someone had whacked my head with a hammer and shoved a knife through my temple. I started to break out in a cold sweat, and my heart rate was increasing by the second. I tried to stand but I couldn't keep up straight, so I sat back on my bed. Then my eyesight blurred, the real world slipped by, and then I lost all consciencness.

I woke up in a hallway. Not in my house I was sure. Either I was going insane or I died and this was heaven. But I'm sure that heaven isn't some random hallway out of nowhere. I sat up, and looked around. At the end of the hallway was a black door. And it was open, but just a crack. Just enough for a little light to shine through.

I stood up and looked at the door curiously. I took a step forward and stopped still confused at what just happened. It was silent, the only sounds I heard was my own breathing, and my heart pounding in my chest. Then I heard footsteps. I jerked around. There was nothing there besides a dark, deserted hallway. I turned to look back at the door, and I started to walk toward it. But then I heard the footsteps again, but the rate had increased and it turned into a running pace. There was nothing I could do except turn around to look. But even before I could do that, I collided with something hard and I hit the floor. My head hit the hard, stone-cold ground. I yelled a bit, for my head had received enough damage for the day. A heavy weight was on top of me and I could not see what it was. All of the sudden it was lifted and whatever was on top of me backed away like it was a scared puppy. I sat up, but it was hard to see straight because I was dizzy. Finally I could see a little more clearly. I looked up at whoever was next to me. I saw a boy in the shadows peering at me through round bookworm glasses with confuse, green eyes. He had a tangled mess of black hair on top of his head and did not look much older than me. He was breathing heavily.

"Who...?" the boy started to say.

But before he could finish, a strange sensation overcame me. I felt like I was disintegrating. It didn't hurt, but it felt strange. I peered at my hands as they slowly became transparent, like I was turning into a ghost of some sort.

"Wait!" the boy yelled, "Who are…?"

But I couldn't hear his voice any longer. I slowly faded until everything went black again.

The world was black, and I felt cold. My eyes were closed, and I felt my heart rate go back to normal. My eyes fluttered slightly and I awoke again. Where would I be this time? I opened my eyes and saw that I was back in my room. I was on my bed. I sat up, my head aching. I heard a voice from downstairs yell my name, how long was I asleep? I looked at the clock. It had only been five minutes. But it seemed like an eternity.

Could it have possibly been a dream? I, my whole life, haven't even dreamed once, and why suddenly now? I just shook my head and told my self that I was just imagining things. Or was it really my first dream? But it felt so real, if dreams were supposed to be just another world while you sleep, they couldn't possibly supposed to feel real.

I grabbed my bag and headed out, trying to forget about things, but as I left I reached up to fix my hair when I felt a bump on the side of my head. I cringed. I touched it and to my shock I felt a warm, gooey liquid running down my face. My head was bleeding.

I couldn't explain why I was injured, for I was just laying on my bed the whole time. I quickly ran downstairs and ran out the door, fast enough to avoid my mom and the questions she would hurl at me. I was running down the street when I heard a voice calling me.

"Have a good day, Anna!" she yelled after me.

"Bye mom!" I yelled back as I waved over my shoulder not daring to look back.

And then I disappeared around the block.

I slowed a little for my head was throbbing in pain. Blood was running down my cheek. How did I receive such an injury in less than five minutes? Why did my first dream have to be so weird and unexplainable?

I lifted my sleeve to stop the bleeding. I felt it quickly soak up the liquid. When I looked back at my sleeve I just realized that that wasn't a very smart idea. I was wearing a white blouse.

"Dammit," I cursed under my breath. People are going to think that I committed murder.

But dreams aren't real, so why was I bleeding? In ways I was excited about my first dream, but in others I wasn't. I couldn't think of any logical answer. I have known all my life that I wasn't normal, and there was something special about me, but I had never expected anything like this. I couldn't convince myself it wasn't a dream, but I couldn't convince myself it wasn't real either.

I approached the school ready for whatever people were going to through at me today. I was planning to visit the school nurse so she could fix my head, but I was sure that there was no one alive who could fix my problems.

"It's just a minor injury, no need to worry, it's nothing serious. You won't require stitches," she said as she gently blotted it with disinfectant.

I sighed in relief. I wasn't prepared to have my mother freak out about this. I don't have the time of day.

"How did you hurt yourself dear?" she asked kindly. She was wearing a white coat, and underneath she was wearing a carnation pink shirt. She was a lady in about her late fifty's, with wrinkles that creased the sides of her warm smile.

"I…uh…ran into a pole…um, on the way to school this morning. I wasn't watching where I was going," I said thinking fast. I wasn't normally good at lying, but it looked like she bought it. The nurse placed a cloth on my injury, and taped it down.

" Well, you need to make sure you stay out of the pole's way," she said humorously.

"Yeah, I think I should go apologize," I said I said smiling back.

The nurse pulled out a clipboard and and a pen.

"What is your name dear?" she asked prepared to write.

"Anna Stewart," I said. For some reason I didn't like my name. I never have.

"Age?" she asked.

"Fifteen…today," I said back.

"Well, Happy Birthday, dear," she said smiling. I'm not sure the word happy applies today.

Then the nurse opened up a jar of suckers. She took one out and handed it to me. Even though this was a high school she still managed to hand them out to everyone who came in to see her.

"Here you go and be careful out there, okay?" she said with kind compassion in her voice.

"Thank you ma'am," I said and I headed out the door to my next class.

School that day was tough. I really felt sick all day. I could barely stay awake in third period. When the bell finally rang for seventh period I sighed in relief. The day was almost done. I was so sick of everyone asking about my head.

When I finally reached home my mom was waiting for me at the door. I braced myself.

"Hi honey! Let's open presents now! I could hardly stand…"she stopped and her eyes flew to the bandage.

"Anna! What happened dear! Are you all right? What did you do to…"?

"Mom! Chill. I ran into a pole on the way to school today," I said innocently.

"Are you alright?" she asked worried.

"I'm fine mom," I said.

"Well, do you want to open presents now?" she asked.

"Yeah I guess," I said.

I opened my presents. I received a pair of earrings, a pair of designer jeans, and a gift card to my favorite bookstore, and a wristwatch. I didn't get many presents because it was just my mom and I. My dad wasn't around anymore. He was murdered when I was only two years old.

"Thank you for everything mom, but I think I'm gonna hit the hay early," I said gathering up my items.

"You do look tired, Anna. You need to sleep," she said.

"Thanks for everything, mom," I said as I hugged her.

"Good night, Anna. Sweet dreams," she said as I walked away.

Those last words hung in the air for the longest time. As I walked up the stairs, it felt like I had to bricks of lead strapped to my legs and it felt like I was walking through syrup. When I reached my room, I dropped all of my things on my bed. I looked at the clock. It was on a quarter past eight. I strapped the watch to my wrist and set it for the right time. I looked at the blue jeans my mom had given me. They were really nice pants, but I really didn't care what kind of jeans I wore, just as long as they looked okay. I quietly took of the jeans I was wearing and tried them on. They were really nice, and comfortable. I glanced at the mirror in front of me. The bump on my head started to throb again, and I cringed. There were dark circles under my eyes, and I looked like I was about to collapse. I walked over to my bed and sat down. I felt like I was supposed to be doing something, but I knew that there was nothing that needed to be done. I pulled out my Ipod and plugged the ear buds into my ears. I turned it on and gently laid my head onto the pillow. I closed my eyes, and thought. Everything will go back to normal tomorrow. Maybe today was just a fluke.

I jerked upward, finally realizing something. I jerked up so hard that my iPod fell out of he jack and went flying of the bed and onto the floor. I got it! This morning I was so delirious that I must of collapsed and sleep walked! And somehow I hit my head somewhere. That's it! It was the only logical thing I could think of. And that so called "dream". I don't think it will happen again anytime soon. I smiled reluctantly, and lay back on my pillow. I giggled again. How could I have been so naive?

But as I was staring up at the ceiling, a heavy sensation swept over me. My eyelids grew heavy, and the atmosphere was comforting. I was slipping fast, and the last think I heard when I drifted into unconsciencness was my watch ticking.