Prologue

3-year-old Cecelia Mason thought of all the possible weird dreams that could possibly spring up in her head, and found that she drifted off to sleep quite quickly. Even today she doesn't remember the odd dreams that must've stirred her, but she woke up and fell off her bed. She hit the floor with a thud.

What was that noise? Argh! I'm trying to sleep!

Did Cecelia just fall out of bed again? We need to get her a bed fence.

Dang it! That was the best part of that dream!

All the voices were piled on top of each other. They sounded like her family's voices. First her brother, then her mom, then her dad. But why would they repeat these thoughts out loud? They never had before.

Suddenly, she picked up her neighbor's dreams. I don't want to go to mars. I want to stay here on Earth. I don't like your spaceship. Leave me alone! Arrrrrrgh!

Why was she hearing dreams? And did her parents speak out loud, or was that just their thinking?

Was she… hearing thoughts?

Cecelia stood up with the help of her bed and stumbled out of her room. She didn't know where she was going, but she dressed and played with her hair till it was perfect. Then she went outside early.

A hundred voices filled her head, and a headache took place. Cecelia thought desperately, help!

Chapter 1

12-year-old Cecelia climbed out of bed at 8:00 in the morning, while her brother stomped down the stairs going crazy and her parents prepared him breakfast. When I finally got down the stairs, I spread some jelly on some toast, and skipped out the door, with seemingly not a care in the world.

Once she was out, she swerved around. A girl about 17 years old with brown hair and an eye color Cecelia had never seen before—a radiant teal—stood right before her. "Whoa," she commented. She was somehow really pretty, making Cecelia feel like a monkey.

"Sorry," Cecelia apologized. With her chocolate brown eyes, Cecelia didn't think she was much of a look-match for the girl's teal eyes. What was with the color, anyway? Did anyone have that kind of color?

"No, I'm the one who should apologize," the girl said. "By the way, my name's Bi…Bian…Bianca." She looked like she had been deciding on a name.

"I'm Cecelia. Is Bianca your real name?" Cecelia asked.

"No, it's not," Bianca admitted. "But my name doesn't sound hu… doesn't sound normal."

"Come on, it sounds human," Cecelia said. Bianca had been afraid to say human—why?

"It's Biana," she finally sighed.

"That's not bad," Cecelia encouraged her. She wondered how many people Biana had told her name was Bianca.

"Glad you think so—oh, I like… like your eyes," Biana said. She looked like she was hiding disappointment. "They're a really pretty color. So… brown."

"I like your teal," Cecelia replied. Why was Biana disappointed that she had brown eyes?
Suddenly, for a moment it looked like Biana must've turned invisible. "Whoa!" Cecelia cried in shock.

"What?" Biana asked.

"You… disappeared," Cecelia said.

All the color drained from Biana's face. She turned a real bad white. Even the rest of her body became a bit a bit pale.

"It's fine if you're not normal," Cecelia said cheerfully. "I never tell anyone this, but ever since I was three, I've been hearing people's thoughts."

Relief seemed to take Biana over, until she paled again. "You were three? That's younger than Sophie. The Black Swan made another Moonlark. That explains the brown eyes. Three years old! What in the Lost Cities?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," Cecelia said. "Who's Sophie? What's the Black Swan? What's a Moonlark? Why does it matter that I have brown eyes? Why does it matter that I was three? Are the Lost Cities… real?"

"Look, Cecelia," Biana said. "You're not human. You're an elf. All of us have brown eyes… except you and Sophie. The Black Swan created Sophie, which is why she had brown eyes. It was called Project Moonlark. She was their first Moonlark, and usually you manifest a special ability around fourteen. She manifested at five, and you at three. Now that I think about, you guys even look similar. Oh, and the Lost Cities are real. Elves live there."

Too much to take in at once. Cecelia stepped back. Slowly she backed away. "It was… nice meeting you," she said slowly as she backed up. "And I recommend seeing a mental doctor." Then she turned around and ran.