"A broken mirror
A bleeding fist
A silver blade against a wrist
Tears falling down to lips unkissed
She's not the kind you'll come to miss."

Fabian

I latched my pinkie finger onto Nina's, watching the tears fall down her face. I stared at our fingers, now connected. We had just made an everlasting promise, that if I broke, would be the death of Nina.

No, I did not just ask her to marry me. I'm only sixteen, for God's sake. This promise was something much worse.

It was one of those promises, where if you break it, pretty much everyone you know and love will instantly go from loving you, to hating you in two seconds. It's not one of those promises that you'll eventually forget. It's one of those kind, where your friends, that are no longer your friends, will hold it against you until the day you die. Maybe it would even be the reason of your death. It was a horrible promise, but I had to make it. If I hadn't made the promise, my friends would only despise me more.

Nina sniffled, hiccupped, and then breathed, "Thank you." she leaned her head against my shoulder. She moved her arm across my sight, and I caught sight of the fresh cut on her wrist, the one she had just made with a broken piece of glass, trying to cut a vain, ultimately killing herself.

You're probably confused. Let's back-forward a couple of minutes, when I first received the dream that turned my world upside down.

\XxX/

I leaned many things during the time when Nina was giving me dreams. One of the things she taught me was that some people hide their pain better than others. Nina was definitely one of those people.

She had told me before that I didn't need the locket, but I took it anyway. I always held it before I went to sleep. I said "goodnight" to Mick and I slipped into unconsciousness.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Shadowland; the place where Nina was trapped. Amber and I had found out earlier that morning that the place was called "Shadowland".

There was no "poof", or no "abracadabra". Just some weird kind of magic that brought me here. I craned my neck, searching for Nina, for I knew she was going to be somewhere here, in Shadowland.

But this time, something was different about the place. The sky wasn't the beautiful shade of blue it usually was, with a light splatter of clouds. No, now it was covered with dark grey clouds that blocked out the sun, forbidding any light to enter into this horrible, drab place. Thunder rumbled, and lightning streaked across the sky.

I glanced around Shadowland once more, trying to gain even the slightest sight of Nina. Unfortunately, I couldn't even see two feet in front of me because of the thick fog in front of me, a thin veil trying to block my sight. It tried to seep into my eyes, but I quickly snapped them shut before the fog could mess up my eyesight.

I coughed twice, trying my hardest to think of how to find Nina. She had obviously called me for a dream; so where was she? I figured I couldn't get anywhere with this fog in front of me, so I blinked fiercely, clearing my eyesight. I waved some of the thick fog out of my face, and I could see only a little bit farther into the distance. I knew my hearing wasn't as sharpened as Patricia's, but I could faintly hear a soft sob in the distance. A cold feeling of fear washed over me. Could that be . . .?

I started to walk towards the sound, following the echo. I only took four steps before something sharp went into my foot. I screamed out in pain.

I winced, closing my eyes tightly, bracing my foot in my hand. I slowly opened my eyes, preparing to see something horrible. Instead, all I saw was a small piece of glass wedged in the palm of my foot. I shuddered when I came to the realization that I'd have to take this piece of glass out myself.

So, I sat down, trying desperately to ignore the shooting pain up my foot, and hopped over to a spot where I couldn't see the trail of glass anymore. I winced and groaned as I lowered my body onto the freezing cold ground. I exhaled, and then took in a deep breath as I held up my bleeding foot to my face. The piece of glass that was wedged in my foot wasn't huge - it must've only been about five or six inches - but a trail of blood was seeping down the ball of my foot and onto my ankle. A sharp pain shot up my foot, and I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't do anything except ignore it.

My hands were freezing. I already felt them loosing feeling, the circulation being cut off, getting that tingly feeling all over. You know, when you feel like there are little dots dancing all around your palm, but when you actually touch it, they feel fat, huge, and bulky, as if you had grown or gained weight. I absolutely hated the feeling, because it happened to me so often. I shook my hands, trying to dismiss the feeling. I eyed the blood pouring down my foot, the glass wedged inside, and I took another deep breath before grabbing the glass and yanking it out with all of my might.

It happened so fast that I barely felt anything. Of course, the blood was now gushing down the ball of my foot, and the gash where the glass had once been now hurt like bloody hell, but like always, I tried to ignore it. I attempted to push myself off of the ground without putting pressure on my left foot, the foot where the glass had been wedged in. After trying for about ten minutes, probably more, I finally pushed myself off of the ground and tried to listen for Nina.

I sighed, and closed my eyes. Mr. Sweet had told us in science class about the five senses a few weeks ago. He told us that sight dominates the senses, so the other four aren't as strong. He told us that if we closed our eyes, we'd be able to hear more clearly, taste a food or an object, locate or name a smell more accurately, and the same goes for touch - we'd feel the item and be able to name it quicker and more accurately. Right now I was trying to hear Nina, because obviously I couldn't see her with this solid, deep, and chunky fog in the way, so I closed my eyes.

In the distance, I heard groaning, mumbling, moaning, and muttering. I released a small smile from my lips and murmured, "bingo," to myself. I hopped on one foot towards the sound, hoping with every fiber of my being that the sound would belong to Nina.

Only a few seconds later, I learned that the sound did belong to Nina. But something terrible was happening, I could tell. Her hair, the natural dirty blonde it usually was, had red streaks in it. Another inference I made was that Nina might have been painting - her fingers and hands were completely drenched in red paint, with a touch of purple mixed in with the red. In Nina's right hand she held a paintbrush, trying to paint her arm as well. Some of the red paint was dripping vertically down her left arm, and Nina sat there, in her white dress that was now also covered in red paint. But where could have Nina gotten a hold of this red paint in Shadowland?

My eyes widened as I took in the scene one more time. The red coloring wasn't paint. It was blood. The "paint" on her hands, fingers, and arms was blood, and her "paintbrush" was a sharp piece of glass. She wasn't painting her wrist.

Nina was cutting her wrist.

"SHIT, NINA!" I screamed. I completely ignored the factor of my foot, which was now screaming in pain as I ran on the freezing cold ground toward my girlfriend. Nina could hurt herself in the two worst ways possible; she could sink into depression and hate herself; or worse, kill herself. If Nina did kill herself, I wouldn't be able to take it. It would be my fault that she was dead, my fault that she cut her wrist; and not even horizontal, like the others. No, I'd seen how other people did that. They cut vertical, because doctors couldn't stitch it up. If they cut a major vein, and allowed it to bleed, bleeding themselves out, and killing themselves.

And now, judging by the amount of blood pouring out of her wrist and onto her arm, she might've cut a vein. And nothing on Earth could be worse if she had.

Nina flung her head around to face me, after hearing my voice. She revealed her tear-streaked face. Her cheeks were completely drenched, almost as if she had dunked her head in a bucket of water, but this time her cheeks were drenched in tears. Her eyes, which were normally full of curiosity and excitement, were now full of terror, anger, and hatred.

I couldn't detect where the hatred was aimed at. There were multiple possibilities: at Shadowland, at the Man In Red, at herself, or even possibly at me. She could hate me right now because I was interrupting her attempt. Normally, I would've been offended and embarrassed that she hated me; but now wasn't the time to be embarrassed or offended. I had to stop Nina.

Ignoring the shooting, ghastly pain in my foot, I finally arrived at Nina's side. I skidded to a stop, and only only one millisecond later, I slammed my hand against her wrist.

Nina shut her eyes tightly and winced. I could do nothing but stare at her, while finally taking in one last breath, collecting all of my breath back from when I lost it while sprinting toward my girlfriend who was dragging a piece of glass across her wrist trying to kill herself in a dream that might kill all of us.

Yeah, my life is just pleasant.

I took in one last collective gasp, and just simply stared at my girlfriend, waiting for her to open her eyes. I was breathing in and out, watching my breath in the chilly frigid air when blue met green.

Nina said nothing. I said nothing. There was silence as we stared into each others eyes. The green pair was blood-red from crying, and the blue pair was full of concern. The owner of the blue ones finally broke the silence by mumbling, "why?"

Nina opened her mouth to start speaking, but I cut her off by saying, "Not good enough!" and I kissed her.

It was nothing intimate, nothing inappropriate. In fact, at the time, it was quite appropriate. The kiss showed that there was someone in this world that loved her and cared for her and missed her. Was that why she cut herself? Did she really think no one cared about her? Did she really think that Sibuna didn't give a flying eff about her, and that we just continued on normally with our lives? Did she honestly think that we weren't trying with every fiber of her being to rescue her? What on Earth could've made her think like that?

I had a pretty good idea, but I kept it to myself. I pulled away from our kiss, and stared at Nina again. Her cheeks were still soaked, and her lower lip was trembling. By the look in her eyes, I could tell that she was on the verge of breaking down. I was slowly shaking my head to myself, thinking about why she would do what she just did. I met Nina's eyes again, and only two seconds later, she cracked.

Nina Martin finally cracked. She gave in, collapsing into me. She sobbed into my shirt, and I placed my left hand around her waist, and my right hand on her neck, holding her close to me. She sobbed uncontrollably, and I could do nothing but hold her as she bawled. She took shaky breathes in between sobs, gasping for breath. She was mumbling something to me, but I couldn't understand her. Her face was buried in my shirt.

I had never paid much attention to my outfit before. But now, as I stared down at the crying form of my girlfriend, I couldn't help but notice my clothing. I was wearing a plain, bland ocean-blue t-shirt, black boot-cut jeans, and black sneakers with green laces. On the wrist of my right hand, the one I was holding Nina's neck with, was the bracelet I had received from my grave. I still had no idea what my bracelet meant for me, but I guessed I would find out soon enough.

Nina was still mumbling, but this time I could actually catch something - "I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I'm so, so, so sorry. It's all my fault," she gasped, . I'm so sorry for dragging you all into this. Oh, God, Fabian, he's so wrong."

Nina hiccuped again, slowly slithered out of my grasp, and backed up two feet. I blinked. Was she trying to escape from me? I honestly hoped she didn't think I was a threat. I was her boyfriend, her best friend, and her partner in crime. We did everything together. I was, in no way shape or form her enemy.

Nina winced, as if someone had just punched her in her stomach. It pained me to see her like this. I was mentally forming an idea of what was happening, and so far, my thoughts were not looking good one bit.

I glanced down at her wrist. Blood was pouring from the gash, down her forearm and onto her hand. In her right hand held a piece of glass, but she looked like she was in pain just by holding the glass. I blinked, trying to see her right hand more clearly, and I saw something purple. The purple paint that I had seen before was really a bruise.

Oh, God, was that bruise horrible. There was tiny gash near her thumb, as if something had cut it, but I knew Nina wasn't responsible for that. The bruise itself was purple and red, and it was huge. Her knuckles were bruised, and they looked bent at an extremely painful angle. Her thumb and the bone above that were also extremely bruised, probably the worst spot in her hand. How had she gotten that bruise? And more importantly, how had she gotten the glass used to cut her wrist?

"Nina . . ." I sighed, and moved my arm to brush hers.

As soon as they made contact, Nina whimpered and jumped back another two feet. "Don't touch me," she hissed under her breath. Nina was still eying the ground, but I could tell that her nasty tone of voice was ultimately aimed at me.

"Did I do something?" I muttered. "Did I do something to make you do this? Is it my fault?"

"No," Nina whispered, "it was never your fault." a single tear slid down her cheek.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell, fight, thrash, and run away. But I knew I couldn't do that. Nina was trapped in Shadowland, so I had to take up responsibility as the leader. I wasn't fit to be a leader, but Sibuna was counting on me to make things right again. This was my destiny.

My eyes trailed over to the bleeding gash on her wrist. Since she slashed her wrist open vertically, drops of blood were falling down both sides of her arm, completely dousing it in blood. I clenched my teeth together to keep from yelling at Nina. I just remembered that she had tried to take herself away from us at Anubis House, putting an end to the search for her and the truth to the dreams permanently.

That was not acceptable.

"This has to stop." I muttered.

"What?" Nina said softly, slowly glancing up from the stone pavement, her bloodshot green eyes meeting my blue ones.

"This is going to stop," I announced with more confidence. I was the leader. I had to play my part. "Nina, I'm going to help you. But this has to stop. You have to promise me that you'll never do this again. Promise that you'll never think like this again. Promise that you'll continue sending us dreams, no matter what happens. Don't let anyone stop you."

I held out my pinkie finger. "Do you promise?"

Nina hesitantly latched her pinkie finger onto mine, and we agreed on the promise. Little did I know that the promise we just made would come back to haunt me only a few months later.

"You have to know that we're going to be there for you," I said, "no matter what. Sibuna solved the mystery of the Cup of Ankh last year. Now we're going to solve this mystery now. You saved Joy, and now we're going to save you. Don't give up. No matter what, I love you."

Nina smiled as another tear escaped her eye and slid down her face. "I love you too. But it was all just too unbearable. I couldn't stand the thought of putting you and Sibuna into any more danger than you already are in." she admitted, and shrugged. She gave me a weak smile, and I could tell she was trying to stay strong for me.

I put my hand on her shoulder, and luckily, she didn't cringe away. "Nina, exactly how much danger are we in? I know the Man In Red wants to get a hold of us, but what you're saying makes it seem like there's more than that. Is it like . . . close-to-death danger?"

Nina nodded, and sniffled before saying, "Yeah. That's exactly why I wanted to leave, so you'd never have to see me again, and the Man In Red wouldn't have me as a pawn anymore." her voice broke on the word anymore.

Suddenly, I remembered what the Man In Red had told us only one day ago - something that he only needed Nina to get to us. So many thoughts were running through my mind at once, I had trouble keeping track of them. There was the question of who the Man In Red really is, what our powers do to us, and how to save Nina.

I asked Nina these questions. She had stopped crying, but she still seemed slightly shaken up. She wouldn't answer me for a moment, so I embraced her in a hug. Nina laid her head on my shoulder, and for a moment we just stood there, completely content. I wouldn't let Nina go, not after what she'd done. I couldn't let her go. She might go off and do something stupid, like the thing she had just attempted. I wouldn't even think of that.

She finally answered after another few moments. "I don't know how you can save me," she answered, "but I know that these dreams help. I also know that using your powers will help you as well. To answer your question about your powers, each of you has a separate ability that helps you more than you realize. I can't tell you what your power is yet, Fabian. You know currently that Amber is the One Who Can See, and Patricia is the One Who Can Hear. They have similar names, which means they have to work together. They're partners. I know they might not be best buddies, but if you guys want to end this quest once and for all, Fabian, you'll have to make sure they bond. It's important."

Well, that was definitely true. Amber and Patricia had been at the boarding school since they were eleven. They'd always fought and disagreed, which was why Trudy never wanted them to share a room. Of course they'd talked, and sometimes there were rare days when they got along. They'd never been best buddies, and they'd NEVER worked well with each other.

Now, of course, I had another duty. I had to make sure Amber and Patricia became best friends in order to save Nina. Thinking about, it was practically impossible. Amber and Patricia would never be able to get along. They're two completely different people.

It looked like I'd have to complete yet another impossible task.

"Of course," I assured her. "I'll try my hardest."

I was disappointed that she couldn't tell me what my power was, but I knew I'd find it out in time. I silently swore to myself that as soon as this dream ended, I'd make a new journal entry with the clues that Nina has told us over the course of the past three weeks.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" I asked hopefully.

Nina seemed to ponder this. "The Man In Red is very suspicious."

I felt like saying, Uh, DUH, but I restricted myself. I knew that the comment wasn't necessary, and would only hurt Nina's feelings. I was about to say something, but Nina interrupted me by inserting, "There's more to him than meets the eye. I don't know who he really is, but he gives off vibes. Fabian . . . I get the feeling that someone new is about to come into the search. I think you may have to make room at Anubis House."

Someone new was coming. "Okay." I mused. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Nina blinked. "Both," she whispered. She looked completely lost in thought, staring into space. "There's a boy and a girl, two different people."

"Do you think two new people are coming in? The Houses are only allowed occupancy for eight. Maybe . . . maybe they won't live in Anubis?" I ventured.

"No, they will live in Anubis." Nina said, still lost in thought. She blinked, shook her head violently, and finally seemed to come out of her trance. "They'll live there. They're coming, Fabian. They'll cause trouble, but they're essential to the search. They'll cause pain and misery. See, this is exactly why I wanted to kill myself!" she screamed, and then crouched down onto the ground. She fell over, sitting on her knees, and buried her face into her hands.

I sighed miserably. I hated seeing her like this. All I wanted was to wake up on the morning of October 17th. This whole thing would be one whole dream. Having these dreams, would be one whole dream in all. One huge nightmare.

Unfortunately, I knew that wasn't true. I sighed once more, biting my lower lips, holding back a cry of my own. I kneeled down next to Nina and once again embraced her in a hug. She gripped my shirt, holding on for dear life, and just sobbed as I held her.

Her sobs were so heartbreaking, I don't even want to go into details. My hand was on the back of her neck, holding her close. As she cried, I vowed that I'd try my hardest to save her. We'd destroy the Man In Red, and get her back. Everything would go back to normal.

I knew I'd made an impossible promise, but it was the least I could do. I listened to the muffled sobs of Nina as I closed my eyes and thought of anything but the horrible sounds of my crying best friend beneath me.

A/N - I'm just sitting here in my corner, crying, eating my blue cupcake. Why, you may ask? Because it's my anniversary. Yes, exactly one year ago, I joined this website. Why not wish me a happy anniversary, please? :3
. . . forever alone.
Seriously tho, it's almost been two months since I last updated. I'm going to jump off a cliff now.