Alright, here is the second chapter of Sleepless Shadows! Hopefully you'll understand all the time lapses... To put simply, time is halved in the dimension she isn't in. Yes, she'll return to the Hunter X Hunter world. Just give it time, you'll understand soon enough how it works. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask!

Maro-Lei - Thank you so much! Your support is appreciated! Cookie for you, reviewer number 1!

Sirenightsorrow - I agree. Unfortunately, that wasn't her wish, and the world likes to be cruel. But you know... There is a certain person in a certain world that has the ability to make wises come true... ;3

"If you don't think your anxiety, depression, sadness, and stress impact your physical health, think again. All of these emotions trigger chemical reactions in your body, which can lead to inflammation and a weakened immune system. Learn how to cope, sweet friend. There will always be dark days." - Kris Carr

Re-cap:

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-

I slammed my fist into the alarm clock beside me, causing it to fall off the desk and onto the floor. I shifted my feet off the bed, then yawned and looked around the grey room. I blinked, then a tear somehow found its way down my face. So... It was just a dream then? I sighed as I cleaned up the mess I had made from the alarm clock and quickly got dressed in a matter of seconds, then went downstairs to make breakfast for my parents. What a long day this'll be...

End Re-cap

"Baise! You idiot! Why can't you do anything correctly?!" I hesitated to dodge a lamp being thrown in my direction, letting the glass shards cut up my face.

"It won't happen again," I replied, not bothering to say sorry. 'Sorry' just infuriated them more.

"Like hell it won't!" My mother yelled. "Now clean up this goddamn mess and get to f**king work! Then, replace that lamp!"

"Yes, Mom." I replied, bending down to clean up the shards of broken ceramics. My mom left the room, but I knew better than to say something to her. I'd clean up my face later. I was able to dodge the attacks, but I knew it would make them even more angry, so I just let them land. Sure it hurt like heck, but I couldn't really do anything about it. At least my skin was toughening up. I was able to withstand a lot of force, I was able to take it. It didn't cause me as much pain as it used to.

I tossed the shards into a bag, then took it, as well as other garbage items, out and to a large can. I walked back in, then, glancing around to make sure my parents weren't watching, hurried up to my room. I ran into my bathroom and started to tend to my face. I stared at the pale skinned, dark brown haired girl in the mirror, matching my dull brown eyed gaze to hers. My face was just as pale as the white cloth that covered it. I sighed, then went back downstairs to clean up, once again, a mess that had been left by my father. I made sure not to touch anything of importance to him, then started to get lunch ready. I had no time to eat breakfast. I was so hungry, but like I could do anything about that... I never had much time to care for myself. When I did, it was caring for wounds or sleeping. They worked me non-stop...

I started to fix a stew, letting it sit and broil, then left to the hallway. I stared at my parent's room in disdain. I needed to go out to get the new lamp, but I would get a beating if I left now, and I would get a beating if I knocked to tell them I was leaving to do it. And If I didn't get it, I would also get a beating. The only way for me to get the lamp was somehow buying it without leaving the house. And before you say, oh, that's easy, let me tell you. I can't get on the computer. Period. Now tell me, what do I do?

I sighed, then went over to the room. I hesitantly sat there, then slowly reached out a hand to knock. The door flung open, revealing my mother, a portly old lady, jewelry encasing the majority of her half naked body, died red hair slicked back and curled.

"What do you want, B***h?" She said. I looked straight at her face.

"I'm leaving for-"

"Leaving?!" My mother screeched. She grasped my shirt, dragging me into the room and throwing me onto the floor. "Bob, our b***h says she's leaving!"

"What?!" A man, my father, entered the room, shaving cream on half his face, a knife in the other. God, I knew what was coming, and I couldn't do anything about it. If I tried to correct them, it would still happen, and there was nothing I could do. These people were idiots, you know?

My father stomped over, slamming his foot against my side. I rolled over, hitting the leg of the bed. He spat down at me, his spit encasing my face. I flinched slightly.

"For the lamp," I said.

"What?!" My mother screamed.

"I'm going to buy a new lamp for you. A fancy one, just like you asked."

"Don't be smart with me, or your father, you hear?!" I stayed down, not moving.

"OK."

"OK?" My father bent down, his large shadow falling over me. "Baise, are you talking back?" I knew it. "Huh?!"

"No." I had to answer. Unfortunately, this was one of the times, every answer was wrong. Yes would get me a beating. No would get me a beating. Maybe would get me a beating. Silence would get me a beating.

"No?! I think you are!" A sharp pain flared in my shoulder as my father dug his knife into my skin, twisting it. I flinched in pain as the sharp metal dug through my muscle and against my bone. I said nothing, taking it. It was all I could do. I was powerless against it.

I cried. I sat there, at the fountain, crying. My shoulder was healed. The blood had stopped long ago, but the pain in my heart could not stop. I just wished... I wished someone would help. Say a friendly, 'hello, are you OK?' But no one stopped. Everyone left the poor little girl alone. I laid on my back, letting my arm dangle in the cool water of the fountain. I stared up at the sky, then flinched as I remembered the enraged face of my father while he cut through my arm.

I had finally escaped. Finally, outside. I was in town, trying to find a lamp. At least I had told them. I would get another beating when I got home for leaving without permission, but at least I told them. It was worth a shot.

I needed to be home before lunchtime in order to feed my parents. I was starving, so I might be able to get something to eat in town. I closed my eyes. But first, I needed to rest. I was exhausted, I was sure. Exhausted from my parents, exhausted from my life, exhausted from the world... I let my mind wander as I sniffled in tears.

I felt swaying. I felt like I was swaying... Back and forth, back and forth. I groaned, then sat up. I looked around, then recognized the boat. It was the same boat as before... I was covered in cloth, and the captain's coat was hung over me. I looked around for the captain, but he was nowhere to be seen. I stood, a little wobbly on my legs, then started towards the cabin to look for my friend. I found him, steering the boat. He looked dismayed.

"Sir?" I said. He flinched, then turned, shock on his face.

"Basil?!" He let go of the wheel, then ran over, embracing me in a hug and twirling me around.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow..." I said. He quickly let me down.

"Sorry. What happened? Are you OK? You were out for two hours!" Two hours...? It had been four back in my own world. "You're skin! It's covered in scars!" I flinched. The captain suddenly got a stern look on his face and straightened up, crossing his arms. "Tell me. Now. The truth. What happened to you?"

"You wouldn't believe me."

"Try me."

"That's what the doctor said..." I sighed, then sat down. "I don't know what to say..."

"Everything. Start from the beginning. We have time."

"Well, I might not." The captain raised an eyebrow.

"Well then, continue." I sighed once more.

"Well, my parents are abusive..."

"Yes, you said that. But how can your parents get to you while you're here?"

"Because I... I'm not really... Here." The man raised an eyebrow again.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm from a different dimension. It seems whenever I sleep I come here. I thought this was just a dream, but it's too real. It feels too real. But yeah, it seems like whenever I'm in one, the other I'm sleeping or in a coma." The man stroked his beard, then shrugged.

"Guess it's as good an explanation I'm going to get. Ah, guess I say I believe you. How can you prove it?" I paused, then remembered my shoulder. I started to take off my shirt. The man's face flushed, then he saw the wound and his eyes widened.

"My father. He did it two hours ago, or in this world, one hour ago." The man turned to me, then nodded.

"Fine. However, if what you say is true, I cannot protect you from them. And this might cause you trouble in the hunter exams. You'll have to make close friends who you can tell this to. If you don't, I'd say you will most likely not pass. Imagine, you get called back to your world on the side of a cliff? Or while running from an angry animal? It can be deadly, and if you don't have someone who can carry you and protect you for at least 12 hours, it will be deadly." I nodded.

"I know. I wished for this, and this is what I got. I can't complain." There was silence, then the man turned back to the wheel.

"Put your shirt on," he mumbled. I smiled, then complied.

"Have any food? I'm starving!" The man chuckled, then motioned to a basket of fish. He turned and winked at me.

"Was saving them in case you woke back up." I chuckled, then grabbed the fish and started to cook them.

"Though, I need to get back to my world at some point. My mother slammed a lamp in my face, so I had to go buy a new one. I need to get it and make it back home before they start to get angry I stayed out too long." The man nodded. "I don't know when though. Anything happening here soon?"

"Well, I'm currently headed to a couple ports to pick up some applicants. At this rate, it'll take me two and a half days to get to the first, than a bit over one more day to get to the next." I nodded.

"That'll be over a week in my world..." It struck me though. Time was half as long here when I was in my world, but when I had first gotten here, it was the other way around. Did it mean that the world I was not in time went by half as fast? It made sense... "Or if I stay here, two days." The captain turned to me in confusion, and I explained my hypothesis about the time lapses. He brought a hand to his chin and stroked his beard, then smiled and shrugged.

"Well, gives you more time here without being away from there for too long. You said you come here when you sleep? And when you wake up, you immediately go back to the other - your - world. What happens when you sleep here?" I blinked.

"Huh, good question... I mean, thinking about it in terms, I haven't gotten any sleep since the sleep I got before making the wish... But I don't feel tired at all, just exhausted. In the other world, when I wake up, I feel like I had been sleeping, but here, I feel no need to sleep at all. And when I first met you, I couldn't fall asleep."

"Couldn't, or just didn't feel like it?" The captain asked. "Because you didn't know this before... So it's possible you just didn't feel like sleeping, but if you tried now, you might be able to."

"True... Well, if my theory is correct, I need to head back to my world real soon, or my parents will get mad. I'll see you later." I turned, waving a sad smile to the captain, then started away.

"Wait!" I turned back to the man. "Look, I know I can't help you in your world, but maybe you can help yourself. Have you ever heard of Nen?" I shook my head. The man smiled. "Well then, this might help you then. When you get back, I might just teach you a little about it." I grinned, then thanked the man and ran out to my little bundle of cloth to see if I could actually fall asleep in this world. I laid down, then closed my eyes. I wasn't tired, like always, but I would see. I let my mind drift, feeling my body rock with the boat. I focused on my breathing. Minutes later, I found myself asleep.

I opened my eyes, then sat up, moaning. My body was stiff from laying on the fountain edge, and I stretched my arms to crack my back. My eyes blinked back the bright sunlight and I looked down at my watch. I was correct. Time was halved in the dimension I wasn't in. However, it could still be a dream. It was just too unreal. Maybe a reoccurring dream or something. But if it was real...

I shook my head. It was impossible. But at the same time...

I didn't know. I didn't know what to think. I decided to put it in the back of my mind as I stood up and headed over to a general store to look for a lamp. If it was real, I had a week. I could try and run away, though I had tried that, and people found me. Maybe I could learn that Nen, and if it worked in this world, use it to escape. Whatever it was.

I quickly bought the lamp, then started home. On my way I passed a library, and quickly paused in there to look up Nen on the internet. Nen... A technique that allows a living being to use and manipulate their own life energy (known as aura). I gasped, earning a 'shush' from the librarian, than quickly read more.

I looked at the time, then closed the page and logged out, racing out and to my house. If this was real... Maybe the captain would help me come up with a way to run away. For good. And this time, no one, not the cops, not her parents, no one... No one could stop her.

Sorry for the short chapter. Well, this was actually long, for me, but I had a goal to try to make each chapter at least 3,000 words... Couldn't think of anything else to add here. Well, now to get onto the next chapter, where she'll learn Nen!