This is going to be a weird chapter, I warn you ahead of time. The next one will make more sense. ^^

Oh, and instead of "-TS-" it is now just a line. I can't believe I didn't do that earlier. *facepalm*

Chapter 10:

POV Kari

"You guys awake?"

Dusk moaned. "Am now," he replied, glaring at his twin sister in annoyance.

She sighed, ignoring him. "Well, that was an interesting day."

Kaita giggled and bounced on her cot, making the entire bunk (I was on the top) shake violently.

"What the hell are you doing?" I squealed, almost falling off.

She giggled again. "Making sure you're awake, duh."

"Why am I on the top bunk, anyway? I'm the one who's scared of heights," I whined, clinging to the bar on the edge of my bed. "Don't do that anymore!"

She peered up at me from the bottom bunk. "Not my fault this thing is so unsturdy," she said innocently.

"Unsturdy isn't even a word," I replied dryly.

"Is now!" she retorted.

Dawn interrupted from the twins' bunk. "You guys are acting like Natsu and Gray again..."

"We don't even begin to compare with those two freak jobs!" I sputtered indignantly, while Kaita howled with laughter.

Dusk rolled his eyes. "Right. And I'm a flying, talking cat."

"Watch it, buddy." Llana growled, awakening from her slumber on Kaita's pillow.

Annoyed, I attempted to change the subject. "I can't sleep."

"Neither can I," Dawn agreed.

Kaita bounced again, up on all fours, hair sticking out everywhere. "I know! We can play a game!"

"Please, no," I moaned, falling back against the bed. "I'm not playing."

Of course, they ignored me. "How about Truth or Dare?" Dawn suggested.

"I'll go first," Kaita said. "Dusk. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Okay. Do you think Sasquatch is real?"

He turned, looking weirded out. "What kind of question is that?"

"One you didn't answer," she replied.

He sighed. "Uh, sure, I guess. I mean, if wizards and shit are real, then why not Sasquatch? Dawn. Truth or dare?"

"I pass."

"Buzzkill," he snorted, turning to Kaita again. "Truth or dare?"

She grinned boldly. "Dare."

"Alright." He smirked. "I dare you to replace all of Cana's booze with water."

"Challenge accepted!"

I snorted. "That's a wonderful plan. You guys are idiots."

"Your point?" Dusk asked.

"Uh, she's going to kill your ass?"

Kaita giggled. "Kari. Truth or dare?"

I considered. "Truth." Truth is safe, right?

"Okay," she said slowly. After a few seconds, "What scares you the most?"

I paused in thought. "If I answer this, then everyone else has to answer, too."

Dawn and Dusk nodded. "Fair," they said simultaneously.

Kaita tensed.

"Well..." I thought about it. "There's a lot of things that scare me."

Everyone waited. I squirmed uncomfortably.

"Heights." I finally said, knowing that wasn't what scared me the most, but whatever.

"I hate spiders," Llana said with a shiver. "Nasty little things."

"Those dogs that chased us off the dock. Those things were dead scary," Dawn added.

"Pain." Dusk's voice drifted from the twins' bottom bunk. "Pain is very scary."

We all thought about that for a while.

"I think we're all afraid of pain," I said, turning towards the wall. "And death."

Silence.

"But what scares me even more than my own," I whispered. " is the death of those around me, the ones I care about. That's what scares me the most."

The silence continued. The room's atmosphere had gone from playful to grim in less than a minute.

Dawn's voice sounded in the darkness. "Kaita? What about you? What are you afraid of?"

I suddenly realized that Kaita had said nothing this whole time.

"I don't want to talk about it," she snarled, sounding like a totally different person. "Goodnight."

Kaita went cold again. I curled up under the blankets, trying to sleep. Yet another thing that scares the living shit outta me.

POV Kaita

I had that dream again.

The one that isn't really a dream, but comes to me in my sleep. I can't remember if it's completely real or not. It's definitely based on reality.

The past is very real, after all. In my case, much too real.

I probably shouldn't have brought up that question, worst fears.

Because to me, simply answering the question is fear itself.

Fire.

Fire, fucking everywhere.

I glanced around, wide-eyed and scared. My lungs were burning. No way out.

The flames danced around me, playful and mocking. I have to get out! Escape!

RUN!

I tried to run, tripping on air, breathing heavily in the smoke. The flames had faces, ones I knew all too well.

They were angry at me, they would kill me, they were coming to get me. No way out.

Somewhere in my mind, I knew it was just a dream. It already happened. I'm not dying, technically.

I would survive, escape the flames. I would find a way out.

And yet, in a way, I never would.

I'd always be lost in the endless, mocking flames. I'd always see the hateful faces.

Maybe this is what hell's like?

They hated me, all right, those faces. I know exactly how they feel.

We both hate me for the same reason.

Kind of ironic, really.

Kari loves running. I shouldn't have run.

Stay or go, either way, I'd be trapped forever.

There's no way out.

POV Kari

I didn't quite remember my dream from last night, but tonight, I did remember my dream, and somehow I knew it was the same one. It doesn't make much sense, but the dream definitely matches the theme of worst fears.

Did I say dream?

I'm sorry, I meant nightmare.

I'm with the twins. We're surrounded by an endless stone floor that disappears into blackness. It's cold.

We're afraid. I don't know why. I don't know where Kaita is, either.

The missing kids. This is where the missing kids are, I know that. I need to find-

For some reason, I start shouting for us to turn back. But before we can do anything, someone approaches us.

A girl. She looks maybe 12, with long violet hair and a ratty t-shirt over jeans. The logo on the tee says, "The Dancing Marionettes". A necklace gleams around her neck, a beautiful crescent moon.

Where I have seen that symbol before?

I realize she's watching me. There's something wrong with her. My heart starts to beat faster. The way she smiles, it's not looks like a ghost. A crazy, killer grudge-style ghost.

I need to get us of here.

But I can't leave. There's something I need. I don't know what it is. The missing kids? A way home?

The girl starts to laugh.

Her eyes are a deep, bloody red.

Suddenly, the scene changes. We're out in the air, though, and every breath turns my lungs to ice. It's dark.

I'm alone.

No, wait. There's someone... God, is that... Dawn...? No!

Dawn's limp body is pressed against the wall, someone's hands at her throat, choking the life out of her.

For all I know, she could be dead already. I struggle to reach her.

Dammit,I can't move!My heart skips a beat, fear paralyzing me, like being attacked in the alley. But this time, the fear was a million times worse. Who is that? I can't see their face!

STOP! Please... I'm screaming at the attacker, but the girl can't hear me.

Everyone's gone. I'm alone. Dawn is either dying, or already dead.

And I can't do anything but stand and watch.

The scene changes again.

Now it is truly dark, and I am truly alone. The floor is wet and sticky, and gleams feverishly in the light that isn't there. Everything seems dreamlike, unreal. Like a movie. A scary, rated R horror movie.

Unlike the previous scene, I can't sense my emotions.I could be happy, sad, angry. I don't know. I know I feel something.

And I'm pretty sure it's fear.

I realize I can hear something distantly, like a plea for help. I glance around, looking for the source of the voice.

It's asoft, tortured whisper. Three words ring with insanity, over and over, echoing in the blackness.

"I killed them. I killed them. I killed them."

And the telltale glint of a knife, right in front of me. Someone's there.

I flinch away, and almost slip.

What's on the floor? I look down quickly. And immediately wished I hadn't.

Blood.

My stomach lurched. Oh my God, it's everywhere. I couldn't feel any emotions, but I definitely felt sick to my stomach.

But that wasn't the worst thing about the nightmare. Not even close.

Bodies. Three of them.

One, I recognized.

A girl with silver-blue hair and golden eyes.

And a slit throat.

I screamed.

"-ari? Are you okay?"

I shot upwards out of my bunk and almost banged my head on the ceiling. "Ah! My God..."

Erza had climbed the ladder to the upper bunk. I could just see her face, watching me curiously. I was breathing heavily, and my choppy blue bangs were cemented to my forehead from sweat.

"You screamed," she said, annoyed. "Twice. Very loudly."

I flushed. "Uh, sorry, I had a bad dream. Did I wake anyone up?"

"Who would've been asleep? Besides you," she said dryly. "It's past noon."

"You're kidding! Where are the twins?" I jumped out of bed, too-big sweatshirt hanging lazily off one shoulder and nappy hair sticking out everywhere. "And Kaita?"Kaita. My stomach lurched as the dream came back to me.

Erza watched me for a second in that distant, judgmental way of hers. "You don't look too good. You sure you're okay?"

Just a dream. A really, really bad dream.

"Oh, come on. Who are you, my moth-?" I trailed off. Actually, she's the closest thing to a mother I've ever had. Well, her and Mira. I grinned. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good. Now, you still haven't taken a bath, or cleaned your clothes..."

Yeah. She's a "Mom" character, all right. I sighed. "Sure. Whatever you say."

As Erza left, I sat in the cot for a moment, thinking through the dream. Nightmare. Freaky demon vision from hell.

Whatever you want to call it, it felt different than a regular dream.

I remembered the violet haired girl; her freaky grin, her red eyes, her moon necklace. The Dancing Marionettes.

Glancing around, I shivered, suddenly getting that feeling that someone was watching me.

I didn't like the feel of that dream.

I don't like it at all.

Oh, boy. This is starting to get me confused...

Writing out Kari's "dream" actually gave me a nightmare. *facepalm* This is why I rarely ever write creepy stuff.

And poor Kai-chan has something going on. She wasn't in Kari's "dream"...? And then there's the missing kids, and the freaky red-eyed girl. *shudders* Marionettes. Blegh. I hate puppets, they're creepy. And giant, evil, shape-shifting spiders (but that's another story).

*koff koff* Aaaaaaaanywaaay, review please! :3