Chapter 1

The Dreams

I woke to the buzzing of my alarm clock at 6am. It was a Monday. I really hate Mondays. I slowly separated my body from the warm shield of covers that protected me from the chills of the night. I turned off my alarm clock then sat up, stretching.

I padded down the stairs to go hunting for some breakfast; the cold wooden floor chilled my bones. I popped some bread in the toaster. As I waited for the bread to get crispy, I started packing my lunch, PB&J, Cheese-its, an apple, and Gatorade. I haven't been eating a lot these days and I haven't been able to sleep either.

My dreams feel so real and horrifying. I always dream about the same thing over and over again, the same creatures leaning over my body, talking in some foreign language, they looked so strange. They were at least 7 and half feet tall with sharp, razor like teeth, and they had strange tattoos covering their bodies. Every time I am lying on a cool, white table. Tubes with a clear liquid were in my arms and legs. I felt like some test subject with my arms and legs strapped down.

I jumped as my toast popped up from the toaster, my heart racing from the memory of my dream. I got the peanut butter and a knife out and started to smother my two slices of toast with it. I then drizzled just the right amount of honey over it all, and got a glass of Meadow Gold chocolate milk. I sat down and read the newspaper as I ate my breakfast. I hated the paper but liked to read it. There was always something bad going on in the world. Our world will never be at peace. Mankind is always arguing or fighting over something. It is good to know what's going on in the world though.

I drank the last bit of my milk and headed upstairs to straighten my hair. I felt the warm heat coming from my straightener as I finished the last little bit of hair. I turned on my radio as Pompeii by Bastille started playing. I pulled out my tooth brush and very minty toothpaste. I wetted my toothbrush and squirted a glob of toothpaste on. I listened to the music as I brushed, using it to time how long I have been brushing.

Two minutes later I spit out the toothpaste-saliva formula into the sink and rinsed out my mouth. I applied my makeup and put on my school uniform. I got in the car at 7am and drove to school.

I was driving down Eagle road when a splitting pain came crashing through my head. I closed my eyes willing it to stop. It felt as if someone was banging on my head with a hammer. Then it just stopped. I opened my eyes. That was the fifth time this month that that has happened. Shaking, I pulled into the school parking lot and parked my car.

The day seemed to pass in a blur. At lunch time my friend, Savannah, and I decided to go to my house since we had two hours till our next class began. I pulled into my driveway and parked. I walked to the front door and unlocked it.

"You can go on in Savannah, I just need to grab something from the car," I told Savannah.

As I was walking back to my car I heard a rough, deep voice say, "Emily." I turned around, looking for whoever could have said my name. The chilly autumn air picked up a breeze. The wind whispered my name. Over and over I heard it. It came in ten second intervals. I looked frantically for whatever it was that kept saying my name.

"Who's there," I yelled. I was starting to get really freaked out.

And that was when it hit me. The pain in my head came back, more intense than all the other episodes. I fell to the ground screaming, trying to cover my ears and block out the ringing all around me. The ground started cracking and a fire erupted in my neighbor's house. I saw the monsters from my dreams staring at me. They were everywhere, down the street, in the doorway of my house. The sun seemed to get brighter, causing my head to hurt even more. The light started blinding me, filling my vision with white. My throat hurt from my cries of pain and horror. I looked up at the sky and saw a faint outline of a boy's face. Tears started filling my eyes, blurring the face of the stranger.

The world started to disappear from my vision, replaced by the lab from my dreams. "It's not real" I repeated in my head. But the little voice in my head kept telling me that it was. I closed my eyes and kept repeating the phrase in my head. Then someone screamed my name and shook me. Their hands felt strong with a firm grip. The voice sounded handsome and worried. I opened my eyes to reveal the horrible image from my dream, my headache slowing down to a dull throb, the ringing was gone. I looked up at the ceiling and met the blue eyes of young boy who looked about 16, two years older than me. He had dark blonde hair, he was tall with a muscular figure, and he looked fit and athletic. I was only in ninth grade and I had never seen anyone who looked as strong as he was at that age.

"Thank goodness you woke up," he said, his eyes sparkled with what looked like tears. "We have to hurry they'll be here any minute."

They? Who could he be talking about? Who was this boy? Where am I? All these questions filled my mind all at once. But the most concerning was, where were the monsters from my dream? Is this real?