A/N - I am aware that I missed two weeks. But there's this thing called Writer's Block, and it sucks. Big Time. I apologize for the wait, and even though I tried to make this the best it could be, I'm sorry if it sucks...Writer's Block, ugh...

I have good news, though! A few days ago, I finished the outline for Don't Be Afraid! I can officially say that it's going to have 64 chapters and will end on November 18th, 2013, if I don't miss a week from now on. The sequel is officially tilted, "Asking Too Much", and should be up sometime in December of this year. I've outlined 10 chapters for the sequel so far, but I'm predicting it'll have around 30-40 chapters. Good, hmm?

I'm like 83% sure that you all imagine Shadowland differently than the next person reading this story, but since I'm the author, I have the perfect visual of what it looks like! I put photographs/visuals up on my profile near the end; In the "Don't Be Afraid" category of the profile. It's a link, so you can see what everything really looks like! I'm putting new photos/visuals up in that album, so keep an eye out for more! Just if you're interested... (If you want the link, it's imgur / a / F3LWE#0. Just remove the spaces and add a .com to imgur, and you've got the album!

I'm also like 83% sure everyone who's reading this knows that this story takes place after season 1, but before season 2, right? I mention that the Cup of Ankh happened last year, so just in case you were confused, there's something to clear it all up (;

DISCLAIMER: Since the name change didn't work, my name is now officially Julianna again. The security in Orlando wasn't happy with me when I said that I owned them. I was forced to say that no, I do not own House of Anubis. I learned the other day that Jerome is in Transylvania with the papers - I'm taking a flight there tomorrow. By May 30th, I shall own House of Anubis! :D

Mara
Sunday, November 13th, 2011 11:00 PM

"Mara. Alfie."

Silence.

"What are you doing?"

Neither of us said a word.

"Keeping quiet isn't going to work," Fabian stated ominously. "We're all working towards the same goal here. It's not going to hurt you by telling me where you were."

I shared a long look with Alfie; since we found out we were both Seekers, it always seemed that we knew what the other was thinking by instinct. Eddie told me a few days ago that he was literally born to protect Nina; it seemed like Alfie and I were born to be partners.

We shouldn't tell him, Alfie's expression was screaming. No one is to be trusted.

We looked at Fabian at the same time, on the same page. I knew what lie Alfie was going to tell him, and I was going to go along with it. The only difficulty was getting Fabian to believe it.

"Just taking a walk," Alfie began, stuffing his hands into his pockets. His brown eyes met Fabian's blue ones. Fabian licked his lips, and I knew he was considering Alfie's statement.

"Why were you taking a walk on the campus after lights out?" Fabian asked, mimicking Alfie by placing his hands into his pockets as well.

I shrugged, knowing it was my turn to support our lie. It needed another source to be proved correct. "Alfie and I had Seeker business to deal with. None of your concern. Besides, he needed help with his science homework." The last part was true, to some extent; I mean, Alfie was scoring badly in some of the curriculums.

Fabian narrowed his eyes. He wasn't buying it; if I was in Fabian's position, though, I probably wouldn't believe me either. I sucked in a deep breath and grabbed Alfie's wrist. "Come along, Lewis. It's time to go back to sleep."

"Uh, not so fast, Mara," Fabian interrupted, pushing me back into the foyer. "You've got some explaining to do. Eddie's not back yet, and when I learned that you too were gone as well, I knew something must be going on."

He continued, "We know that Eddie is a traitor. A spy for the Man in Red. He's also in contact with Nina, but we don't know how he gets to Shadowland every night. You just came back from a 'walk', but I'm not stupid. I can read expressions. You were following Eddie, and you know where Eddie goes every night, but you won't say. And I'm not letting you go back to sleep until you tell me where to find my girlfriend."

Now, he had a tone of desperation. All he really wanted in the world was for Nina to come back to Anubis House safe and sound, and be reunited with his first love. He didn't want to give her up that quickly, even though Nina broke up with him in a previous dream.

We didn't discuss the Day Dream that much; after all, Fabian said he hadn't learned anything. Sure, we'd asked questions about why he had a dream in the middle of the day, but there wasn't much to talk about. We knew someone had a dream that following night, but no one would say who did.

His eyes were pleading; Fabian wasn't mad at all. He just wanted confirmation that Eddie was visiting her, so he knew that she was still alive and well. He cared about her more than anything, and just wanted her to be okay.

I sighed, and looked at Alfie for support. He slowly shook his head, and I knew that now wasn't the time to tell Fabian: at eleven o'clock at night in the foyer, with Victor looming above us; I wasn't kidding, because Victor had just made his way, and was now looking at us over the railing.

I wanted to tell Fabian about the warehouse. All he wanted was to know that Nina was safe, and I couldn't even tell him that. I met Fabian's eyes, expressing a silent apology. I was trapped in Shadowland for 24 hours a few days ago; I knew how terrible that place was. It was no wonder why Fabian was concerned. I was concerned about Nina as well. I wasn't confused at all; I wanted what Fabian did. To end all this and get Nina back where she belongs.

"What are you all doing down here?" Victor's voice boomed, finally coming down the stairs, looking from Fabian to Alfie to me and back to Fabian again. Fabian made up a quick lie about hearing footsteps, but Victor knew better; if an intruder ever dared to break in, Victor would tear them to shreds. Instead of telling us off, he ordered us to go bed. Alfie and Fabian made their way back to the boys' rooms, but I entered the girls' corridor, and hid behind the door; I had things to discuss with Alfie, and he knew that too.

When I peeked around the corner and saw that Victor was snoring in his office, I slowly tiptoed down the stairs and met Alfie in the common room. His dirty sock was laying on the couch's arm, and the stench from the sock was looming around the room. I held my nose to block out the horrid scent as I sat down across from him on the other couch.

Alfie quickly put his sock back on his foot and faced me. Victor took about fifteen minutes to fall asleep, so it was now eleven-thirty; everyone else was asleep, so we had to be quiet.

"What do you think that was about?" I whispered, moving over to the couch Alfie was sitting in, now that the stench was trapped in Alfie's sock. "I don't understand what the fuss about the warehouse was."

"It's not good," Alfie answered, whispering also. "I guess you could say it stores bad memories for the original Sibuna."

"But..." I mused, trying to think of what Alfie said while we were leaving the woods. It took me a moment, but then I remembered. "It's just a warehouse. Patricia was only gone for a few days last year, and she turned out fine. Who's Rufus Zeno, anyway?"

Alfie groaned, rolling his eyes towards me. "God, Mara, you're a Seeker. Don't you remember anything? When Jerome and Joy were eavesdropping on the Sibuna Meeting, Jerome dragged you upstairs. And Fabian told you what happened with the Cup of Ankh last year, and how Rufus Zeno was part of the society but he wanted the elixir to himself so he was shunned as a traitor but he came back and tried to get the Cup for himself so he used Patricia as a source to get Joy since Patricia was all 'OH MY GOD JOY'S MISSING AND IT'S ALL NINA'S FAULT' but when Joy didn't show up after the play Rufus kidnapped Patricia and took her to the warehouse where she stayed for like three days and in the end Fabian gave Rufus the fake elixir so he didn't have immortal life and Rufus died over the summer vacation."

Alfie took a deep breath, sucking in all the air that he lost during his fast explanation.

"Well," I stated, a confused expression crossing my face. "Okay? So why is the warehouse that bad?"

Alfie tilted his head to the side, silently telling me that I already knew the answer. But when I didn't respond, Alfie tolled his eyes and explained, "You said it yourself: the warehouse looks nothing like Shadowland. Of course, I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but I've seen Amber's drawing, and that's some experienced shit. I don't know how Eddie gets to Shadowland through the warehouse, but there must be something suspicious."

"Should we check it out sometime soon?" I asked.

Alfie nodded. "Yeah. Definitely. Eddie isn't telling us something, and if no one else wants to take the opportunity to figure it out, we have to do it ourselves. Later this week, we'll check out the warehouse and wait for an explanation from Eddie, yeah?"

I nodded, moving over to the other side of the couch. After the chase for Eddie, I was pooped. Yawning, I rested my head on the arm of the couch and started to fall asleep. I heard Alfie mutter, "Goodnight", before he fell asleep too.

xXx

Fabian
Monday, November 14th, 2011 9:00 AM

They weren't telling me something.

Of course, I knew they were following Eddie; he's gone as usual, but with the news that both the Seekers were gone at the same time; well, it wasn't hard to put two and two together. I just wasn't sure where they went, and Alfie and Mara both refused to tell me. It couldn't be that bad, could it...?

After Victor came down and rushed us off to bed, I told myself I'd wait till the morning to interrogate them again. It was 11:00 PM then, and I was tired. Eddie never came back during the night, but surprisingly, he reappeared the next morning at breakfast. No one asked any questions, even though Eddie was the only one in Anubis House that wasn't in Sibuna.

Alfie and Mara were sitting next to each other at breakfast, and they were having a silent conversation. I didn't feel like listening in, but when I thought about it, Patricia might have been doing that job.

All I really wanted was to see Nina again. Not in a dream. In real life, in Anubis House, and with everyone. We'd pretend like the dreams never happened, and resume the rest of the year in a normal boarding school. I missed her more than anything, and it wasn't helping my mood everyday with the fact that she broke up with me in my last real dream.

Trudy was so convinced that we were going to be late that she practically shoved the food down our throats. When I'd had enough toast to last me a lifetime, I pushed myself out of the seat and walked to my room.

All I wanted was to grab my bag so I could be prepared for school, but instead I found something completely different: Eddie was rustling through my wardrobe, muttering to himself about finding something.

"What are you doing?" I questioned, quickly moving over to the dresser to interrogate him. He'd looked suspicious and untrustworthy since the first day he came here, but this was the final straw. He had no right to go looking through my stuff - no reason. He was not allowed. And if he found the place where I hid Nina's locket...

His hazel eyes widened when he heard me approaching him. He closed the door to my wardrobe, and faced me, holding something behind his back. I couldn't see what it was, but I didn't care at the moment. "Um...I'm just seeing what kind of clothes you wear. You have some really good taste in clothes, by the way," he said smoothly.

I scoffed, never taking my eyes off his face. If I caught the slightest hint that he was lying, that would be Strike Three. He was out. "Try telling that to Amber. She'd appreciate it much more than me. How about you stop looking through my stuff and mind your own business."

He licked his teeth before rushing out of our room, still holding something behind his back. I didn't know what it was, but I caught a sight of blue. I didn't think it was mine; why would he steal something from my wardrobe? I rolled my eyes, thinking of Eddie's actions, grabbed my bag, and walked out into the hallway again.

Soon enough, Trudy rushed us out the door, and we set off towards the school. Mara and Alfie were still avoiding me, so I struck up a conversation with Amber. I talked with her about Nina, and Amber admitted that she never really was mad at her at all. She was just tired of the dreams and the constant confusion with the clues, so she made it out like she was mad at her best friend.

When school started, I began to think of another plan to get the Dream Log back. Amber was the one to come up with the Cat Burglar idea, so I decided to come up with a plan myself. All throughout the day, I tried and tried again to come up with a good enough plan to sneak the Dream Log out of the school without Mrs. Fitzgerald noticing; I had all day, as Mrs. Fitzgerald's History class was the last class of the day for the Anubis students and the ones in Isis House.

The end of the school day came. Before I set foot in Mrs. Fitzgerald's class, the Seekers approached me.

I scowled at them, already knowing where this was going. I placed my hands in my pockets and waited for the boy and girl to explain themselves. It took a moment, but eventually Mara, being the soft-hearted girl she is, blurt out what she'd been holding in since last night.

"Fabian, we followed Eddie last night."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know. Where did you go that was so bad you had to keep it from me?"

Alfie took a deep breath, shared a long look with Mara, and started to explain himself as we set foot into the History classroom. "Well, I wasn't with her at the time, but Mara says she saw the warehouse."

No explanation needed. Alfie and I locked eyes. We knew what each other was thinking; the same thing. Not good.

The warehouse didn't store good memories for the Sibunas. Last year, Rufus Zeno had kidnapped Patricia after the play, and she was locked in there for a good three days. Amber and Nina had attempted to rescue her, but instead they were locked in there and Patricia was condemned to sit in a van for the next couple of hours. Of course, I rescued Nina and Amber, but three of the five Anubis girls were stuck in there. This new information couldn't lead to anything good.

I nodded, and started to sit in my desk in the back of the classroom. Alfie and Mara sat in the next desk over, but we didn't stop out conversation. Alfie asked, "What are we going to do?

I shrugged, honestly having no idea. Mrs. Fitzgerald walked into the classroom, so we had to lower our voices. "Should we ask Eddie?"

"Are you kidding?" Mara whisper-shouted, overexaggerating every syllable. "Alfie and I had to be completely silent when we were following him, or else he'd hear us and yell at us. He doesn't want us to know what's going on with him. Do you think he knows that we know he's a spy?"

"Good morning, class!" Mrs. Fitzgerald exclaimed as the bell sounded. The class echoed her statement in a bored manor, turning to their notebooks for a new History lesson. I turned away from Mara and Alfie and tried to concentrate on the lesson.

Eddie, late as always, walked into the classroom. Mrs. Fitzgerald gave him a short lecture, but eventually sat in the seat next to mine. If she hadn't gone missing, Nina would have been sitting in that seat.

But it's not like it annoyed me or anything. I knew that Nina was okay. She was alive. If I didn't know that, if there was no news on her and she was presumed dead, I probably would have given Eddie a hard time and lashed out at him for sitting in her seat.

I wasn't that fond of the boy with these circumstances either, though. He was a liar and a traitor. I wasn't even sure what to do with him. I ignored him for most of the lesson, but the fact that he kept sneaking glances at what I was writing didn't make me feel better about trusting him.

Near the end of the lesson, Mrs. Fitzgerald assigned independent work; I was one of the first to finish, of course. I grabbed my work from the table and walked up to the teacher's desk to hand it in, just as she ordered. She thanked me, not even looking up from the book she was reading, but before I turned to go back to my desk, I whispered, "Um, Mrs. Fitzgerald, could I possibly have the Dream - I mean, could I have my journal back?"

That's when I realized.

The book she was reading was the Dream Log.

She was reading the last page. She had read through it all and was about to finish all we've written. Just because I was a pushover, the teachers learned everything in a few minutes that Sibuna had learned in four weeks. All the information was surrendered to them.

Because if Jason, the person we thought we could trust, turned out to be the person that kidnapped Nina, no one was to be trusted.

Mrs. Fitzgerald looked up from the Dream Log, and met my eyes. She released a sickening smirk, and after she sneered, "Sure, Mr. Rutter. I feel you've learned your lesson." She closed the notebook and handed it back to me. Trying hard not to scream, I hurried back to my seat and rubbed my temple. I tried to relieve the upcoming headache, but Eddie, sitting beside me, slid me a note.

I read it, and it said: How do you know that I'm associated with Nina?

I hesitated before answering it. Sure, I wanted to know what was going on with Nina, but I didn't know if I could trust Eddie. After a minute of debating, I gave in and wrote back: Do you know about the dreams Nina gives us?

I wanted to make sure Eddie was caught up in the business of the search before I explained further. I waited a few moments before the piece of paper returned to me with Eddie's handwriting: Yes.

It was short and simple, but it got to the point. I realized that my handwriting was more slanted than Eddie's, even though we both wrote in black pen. I decided to continue the conversation while Mrs. Fitzgerald graded papers. Amber told me that you were in contact with Nina. She said that Nina told her you were a spy in her last dream.

Big mistake. Eddie's reply didn't come until the last few minutes before the school day ended. I supposed Eddie was taken aback that we knew so much, or that he was just ashamed of his name and job. His note back read: Yeah, she's right. I am a spy. What do you want to ask me? I can't give too much away.

I took a deep breath before thinking about what to write. I had hundreds upon thousands of questions; how could I fit all of them onto this small sheet of paper? I decided to start with the question that was bothering me the most: I haven't had a dream since Nina broke up with me on the 8th. Is she okay? I just need to know that she's okay.

My tension was relieved in great amounts when Eddie's reply was: She's fine. Yeah, maybe a little sad, but she's fine. She misses you. God, Fabian, even *I* can tell she's so in love with you. Any other questions?

I tried to hide my joy when I wrote my response. All I wanted to hear was that Nina was okay, but Eddie's extra few words made my day even better. By this time, though, the small sheet of paper was completely covered in black markings and there wasn't a lot of space left to write notes. I found a clean spot and wrote: Why are you telling me to ask you questions? Mara told me you had to cover her eyes when you left Shadowland so she wouldn't see where it was because if she knew, you'd get killed.

The day was ending; we only had a few minutes of class left. Eddie's reply was sloppy and rushed in a desperate attempt to finish before class was over. He wouldn't tell me anything if we had to physically speak to each other. If MIR - now renamed Paul - knew that I gave Mara the information about where Shadowland was located, it wouldn't be good for everyone at Anubis House, much less Nina and I. He's evil, Fabian. Pure evil. I was moved to Liverpool and drugged, taken to Shadowland, and afterwards, the Man in Red - sorry, Paul - told me my job and the consequences if I ever let any information slip. You're lucky that I'm telling you all this now. It's all for Nina.

My response was sloppy as well. Can you tell me more? Please, I'm desperate to end all this and get Nina back where she belongs.

My heart sank when Eddie's reply was: I'm sorry. I can't.

I figured our conversation was over, but only twenty seconds before the bell rang, there was a blood-curling and heartbreaking scream issued from the hallway. The whole class, who was talking, suddenly went silent after hearing the scream. For a second, we did nothing, but I frantically grabbed the piece of paper and wrote: Please tell me that wasn't Nina.

When there were more screams and shouts, the class and Mrs. Fitzgerald decided the best idea would be to see what all the screams were about. Anubis House and Isis House crowded around all the other Houses, to see a girl being lifted onto a stretcher.

She wasn't breathing.

xXx

She died on Monday, November 14th, 2012.

The funeral was on Thursday, November 17th, 2012.

Exactly one month after Nina's disappearance.

The whole school was gathered around a gravestone, in the same exact graveyard where Sarah Frobisher-Smythe was buried. The priest was saying some words about her death, but I wasn't listening. A theory was glowing in my mind, and the funeral of the girl who died didn't matter to me at the moment.

Amber was openly sobbing. It was no wonder; Amber would cry if she had to flush down an insect. She didn't know her that well, but then again, neither did I. I didn't even know her name.

Laura Lynch, of Osiris House, died on November 14th. There was no reason to her death; or, at least, the teachers wouldn't release what caused her death. I was sure it was something to do with the search for Nina, but I'd never confront a teacher about that. School was cancelled the day after her death, but on Wednesday, the whole school was surrounded in whispers and murmurs about Laura Lynch.

Anubis House, along with the other three houses, crowded around the gravestone as the priest finished the ceremony and we left Laura Lynch in her final resting place. The other residents of Osiris House were sobbing into their shirts and tissues; they couldn't believe that their friend and classmate was dead, and there was no reason of death. But I knew.

Sibuna gathered in the common room after the funeral was over. Sure, everyone was sad, but I didn't know Laura Lynch that well. I barely even knew her name.

Eddie hadn't spoken to us since the day she died. None of us were sure why, but he avoided us like the plague and didn't want to take a step near us. Mara and Alfie seemed suspicious of this and was constantly talking amongst themselves, but I never butted in or asked questions. They had their Seeker business, and I had my own team to myself. The thing Mara and Alfie told me about following Eddie to the warehouse never left my head through the last few days, and I wished I could follow him myself, but Eddie never seemed to leave the House anymore.

"Is this the work of MIR?" Amber spat out her theory as soon as she sat down. Trudy wanted to talk to the father of the victim, and Victor was up in his office, so we had to be careful so he wouldn't hear us. After we learned that Jason was involved in Nina's kidnapping, we learned not to trust any of the teachers. Well, we didn't trust them in the first place, but Jason drew the hypothetical line.

After all, Mrs. Fitzgerald had read all of our entries in the Dream Log. I knew she was a part of what happened to Nina, and she most likely told Eric and every other teacher involved; Victor could count as well. I couldn't trust anyone except my housemates anymore.

"I have no idea," I admitted, sitting down on the couch across from the others. I scanned the amount of people in the common room, and I came up with...six people.

Patricia, Amber, Mick, Jerome, Joy, and myself were sitting in the common room. Nina was still in Shadowland, Eddie was nowhere to be seen, and Mara and Alfie were...

"Hey, where are Alfie and Mara?" I questioned, once Patricia had finished her secret conversation with Amber. Whispers indulged the room, theories and ideas about where the two Seekers were. I had seen them at the funeral, so I presumed they were walking home with us. Where could they have gone?

xXx

Mara
Thursday, November 17th, 2011 10:00 PM

Alfie and I came up with a plan on the way back to say nothing.

To give nothing away. We couldn't afford to. Even though Alfie desperately wanted to tell Fabian what we had found, we vowed not to tell anyone.

I didn't even tell Amber. I was still sleeping in Nina's bed at the moment; I couldn't stand sharing a room with two other people. When I walked into my room, Amber was writing an entry into the Dream Log, so I sat in Nina's bed and waited for her to finish. I was still a tad confused about what the Dream Log was and what the meaning of it was, but she handed me the Log a few minutes later and I read her entry.

Thursday, November 17th, 2011 10:32 PM, Amber
I've made a new improvement to the system of Dream Logging.
Okay, to anyone reading this/anyone writing an entry, you have to write your name after the date. There are ten people in Sibuna now; it can get confusing about who's writing what entry, especially because boys handwriting all looks the same.
I don't even care that Fabian and I are the only two people to write entries so far. It's neater and looks more professional.
Anyway, onto the entry.
I, Amber Millington, am writing this entry many, many days late, because the oh-so-smart Fabian Rutter got caught by Kathleen Fitzgerald and got the Dream Log taken away. So forgive me if I leave a few details out, because I should have written this entry as soon as I had the dreams.
I had a few dreams in the last couple of days. I learned a lot of new things - that Eddie Miller is a spy for MIR, Nina had to break up with Fabian by force, and that people can enter Shadowland through a "fog". Nina can't go through the "fog", because she was cursed and Eddie wasn't.
I made up with her a few days ago, at the stables. I was so sick of fighting with my best friend that I gave up my act of thinking she was selfish and now we're friendly again.
A few days ago, though, a girl from our school died. Her name was Elizabeth Canning, and she lived in Osiris House. Yeah, it was sad, and I'm sorry she had to go at the fingertips of a cruel person, but I have a feeling it leads up to something in the search. All I really want is this whole thing to be over with and Nina to come back to Anubis House, where we'd pretend like nothing ever happened.
Because if I have to admit anything in my lifetime, I miss her. I miss her so much right now.
-Amber

"You should write an entry, Mara," Amber brainstormed once I'd finished her entry and closed the notebook.

I cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I haven't got any dreams so far. It's just been you and Fabian. I don't need to write an entry."

"Uh, yes you do," Amber said, like the answer was obvious to everyone, while I didn't have the slightest idea what she meant. "Remember all those days ago when you were taken to Shadowland? You never told us what really happened. Now's your chance to spill your heart out. Take it.

I rolled my eyes, but opened the notebook to the next clean page and began my entry, in the neatest handwriting between Amber and Fabian.

Thursday, November 17th, 2011 10:42 PM, Mara
Hello, this is Mara Jaffray.
Amber made me write this. I've never written an entry in the Dream Log before. But Amber's right, though; my contribution would be useful.
A few days ago, I was kidnapped by the Man in Red. He took me from the side of the road and I was taken to Shadowland. No one except Nina and Eddie know what really happened in the 24 hours I was in there, so I figured I'd tell the notebook my whole story.
Well, you know how I was taken: from the side of the road. The same exact way Nina was taken. MIR took me to Shadowland, and knocked me unconcious. When I awoke, I found I was chained to the wall in Nina's room like a rabid animal. At first, I was too shocked, too scared, too fearful for my life to comprehend anything. So I cried.
I cried until Nina calmed me down. She assured me that I'd be alright, and after that MIR came in to check on his new prisoner. He threatened both of us, and even though the threats terrified me, Nina didn't seem to be fazed by them. After that, the person I least expected to walk in did.
Eddie Miller. Sibuna knows now that he's a spy, but when I was kidnapped, I was still a new recruit. I didn't know or believe anything they were telling me. Eddie wasn't dangerous though. He gave Nina and I food to eat, and even though Nina didn't really eat her food, I was starving.
I think I'm the only person in Sibuna that really knows how Nina and Eddie's friendship formed, but it's too complicated, so I won't write it now. Nina was upset when Eddie had to leave again, so we talked a bit before we fell asleep.
The next day, Nina and I hung out for a while, doing nothing. She gave me a tour of Shadowland, but that was it. After schoo, Eddie came back, and I figured out how to leave. Eddie and Nina helped me get out, but Nina couldn't leave, since she was cursed and I wasn't; Sibuna knows what happened after that.
I think that's it. My experience was terrifying and scarring, but it's over now. Even though Alfie and I are Seekers, I don't think we're going to be involved much. I don't think I'll be holding this Dream Log more than once.

"What did you write?" Amber asked curiously, once I had finished writing. I quickly shooed her away and told her to go to sleep; I was exhausted. Amber was a pit pissed that I had commanded her to go to sleep, but eventually I heard the soft rhythm of her breathing and I knew she was sleeping.

I didn't stay up much longer than her, because I was so tired myself. I wasn't expecting a dream that night, because Fabian and Amber had been getting them steadily.

Well, there's a first time for everything, right?

xXx

Fabian and Amber weren't kidding when they described the rough landing into Shadowland.

I felt like I was falling from the damn Empire State Building. I supposed it was because I was being brought to a whole different dimension, but I fell onto the ground so hard I swear to God I broke my ankle.

Pain shot right through it, and I screamed out. I stumbled down into a sitting position and bit my lip to keep from yelling again. I wasn't sure if MIR, who was renamed Paul by Eddie, was roaming around. I knew Nina had to be here, since she was the one that had given me a dream. The pain was screaming in my ear as I inspected my ankle, 99% sure that it was broken. I wished I had Jerome with me; he could heal the broken bone in the snap of a finger.

The headache was already starting to form when Nina came running over. "Are you alright?" she cried, kneeling down to inspect my ankle along with me.

I pushed her away and took in a deep breath of air before I spoke. "Yeah," I breathed, leaning over to caress my ankle to relieve some of the pain. "Fine. Just a little break. Don't worry, I've broken plenty of bones before. My arm, my wrist, my leg, my hand..." I attempted to assure her, counting off how many bones I'd broken since I was born on my fingers.

"God, I'm so sorry," she muttered, moving her position around a bit so she was facing me. "I hate giving dreams to new people because they don't know what's coming. It's horrible," she told me, laughing a bit.

I thought it was strange, how strong she was acting. Today marked one month since Nina was kidnapped. I could never handle the type of abuse and pain she went through; if I was in her position, the only person I would send dreams to would be Jerome and I would ask him to heal me and carry me away every single time.

"How many people have you sent dreams to?" I asked, moving my ankle into a position where I would be in less pain than it was already in.

Nina took a deep breath and said, "You're the third person. I sent dreams to Fabian first, then Amber, even though there was that time we were fighting so I mostly sent dreams to Fabian but then I broke up with Fabian...so I sent you a dream!" she exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood and make me forget about my broken ankle. "I figured you'd be okay with it, since you spent a while in Shadowland a week ago."

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine," I groaned, pain still shooting through my ankle. I ignored the pain and said to Nina, "No, it's fine," when I saw she was getting up to get an ice pack. "I'm fine with it. So...what normally happens in a dream?"

"Well, I would call a person from Anubis House here, you for instance, and then I would tell you anything new I learned in the past day or two. And the cycle repeats..." she sighed, and smiled at me. "But you're special. You don't get a clue today."

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "What?" I questioned, "Did you just want to try sending a dream to a new person?"

She chuckled, and shook her head slightly. "Nah. I just thought we could discuss something that's been bothering me since you left here. When I was sending you off, you mentioned something about me being cursed and that was why I couldn't leave."

I nodded, wincing when the pain shot through once again. "Yeah. I'm a Seeker, so I can know the answer to every question, but somehow I can't figure out how to release the curse, or who sent it. And because I'm the Seeker I can know why I can't know the answer to the question at hand, but I still can't know the answer to the original question. I can't know it because the person who kept the answer doesn't want people to know. Is that confusing?"

When Nina nodded, I attempted to explain again. "Look, the Man in Red -"

I was interrupted by Nina. "Eddie renamed him Paul," she laughed, but when she noticed my look of confusion, her eyes widened and she said, "Sorry. Carry on."

"So, Paul, took you from the side of the road on October 17th, exactly one month ago, right? He was the one that took you to Shadowland. I'm presuming you're the first person that's been here, so he administered the curse on you so you couldn't leave. When he took me, it was act of impatience, as you were taking too long. He didn't truly need me, so he didn't put the curse on me. He doesn't want me to know about some of these things, so I can't know, because he doesn't want me to know."

"Okay," she murmured, letting the new information sink in. I understood; it was a lot to take in in one night. "So how do we get rid of the curse?"

I shook my head, honestly having no idea. "I guess we'll have to find that out for ourselves. Hopefully, Eddie will admit to what he's doing so he can help us, instead of working against us. He'd be a huge help. Hey, has he come in yet?"

She shook her head. "Not since the other day, no."

"Wait!" I exclaimed, when her words were made into a sentence in my head. "Eddie hasn't come here in a couple of days?" Nina nodded sadly, and before she could change the subject, I continued, "That's weird. Have you been alright? You haven't . . . you know . . . tried to take away . . . yourself?"

She met my eyes, and I knew she knew what I was talking about. During the 24-hour period I was in Shadowland, I saw Nina's cut and knew she tried to commit suicide. I didn't know why she had done it, since she didn't want me to know, but I wanted to know if she was okay. I was afraid, since Eddie was the only person in the world to visit her and if he hadn't visited, she wanted to leave. Permanently.

She shook her head the slightest bit, but in that tiny movement, my worries had been relieved. I would be devastated if she had died; I had spent a while day with her and learned more about her in one day than I had in the whole year before. Nina took a deep breath and stood up before she spoke.

"Well, Mara, I'm afraid it's time to go. I'll think about the aspect of the curse, and I hope you will too. It was nice speaking with you again, and I hope I can see you again soon."

Before I could protest, the whole world starting spinning.

xXx

When I woke up, the first thing I did was grab the Dream Log from the side of the bed.

Friday, November 18th, 2011 5:00 AM, Mara
Nevermind. I think I WILL be using this a lot.
-Mara

xXx

Alfie
Friday, November 18th, 2011 7:00 AM

One thing I wasn't expecting?

To wake up the next morning to the sight of Mara Jaffray crying on the side of her boyfriend's bed.

Jerome opened his eyes, only to see the same thing I did. His eyes widened, he grabbed the skinny girl off of the floor and carried her over to his bed. Mara grabbed the pillow and cried into it. But because I was Mara's partner-in-crime, I knew she wasn't crying out of sadness or fear.

She was crying out of pain. Somehow, on her way down here, or some time before she had come in here, she had hurt a part of her body and the first thing she thought of was to come to Jerome. Which makes sense: he is the Healer.

Jerome and I shared a long, confused look, before he turned to the crying girl and tried to soothe her. When Mara didn't stop crying and Jerome looked to me for help, I made a movement of breaking a bone, and Jerome understood. He moved Mara so she was lying on her back without holding anything, and asked, very carefully, "Mara, what hurts?"

"Ankle," she cried, breathing in heavily. She was going to try to say more, but with the pain clouding her judgement, she decided not to. Jerome elevated her ankle, placed his palm over it, and waited a few seconds, before Mara cried out in relief.

"Oh, thank you, Jerome," her expression gave off pure relief and release from pain. She hugged her boyfriend and Jerome, still hopelessly confused, looked at me with such a confused expression it was laughable.

"Okay..." he muttered to himself, before carefully pushing Mara down on the bed. "Mars, can you walk now? And, you know, you could thank me for healing you..."

Mara released a weak laugh, and pushed herself up. I caught Mara's gaze, and since we were Seekers, we instantly knew what we were thinking. It was like we were born to be partners. I instantly knew what had happened to her, but she put her finger to her lips so I wouldn't say anything. Then, she looked at Jerome and said playfully, "Well, I would be in your debt forever if you carried me out to the common room to have breakfast."

She held out her arms, and Jerome gave in and grabbed the girl into his arms. He planted a kiss on her mouth before carrying her out into the kitchen. I followed the two, and held in my laugh when I saw everyone's confused expressions when we walked in. We were surrounded by questions of "What happened?", "Is Mara okay?" and "Could you pass the juice?"

Jerome explained about Mara's injury, but no one in Sibuna suspected that Mara had a dream. I supposed I was the only one who knew; I mean, I was the Seeker and Mara's partner, but the evidence was all there. After Amber's first dream, she had complained about her ankle, but I guessed the fall wasn't as bad as Mara's was.

I sat down in the seat between Fabian and Amber. I kissed Amber's check as she buttered a piece of toast, and Fabian said, "Meeting after school. Right behind the House. Be there. It's important."

I nodded, trying to play down a bad feeling I had. It resided in me all throughout the day, and it only confirmed my suspicion when I saw Mick looking annoyed, holding his hat.

xXx

"Um...woah," I muttered, hurrying back to the bed and waiting for Jerome to settle into his. I had barely been around Jerome since Mara claimed me as her partner and wouldn't me out of her sights. "That was weird."

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about," Jerome muttered, disoriented. Fabian had a theory that Mick could take us to Shadowland with his hat, and when he tried it alone, it worked, but when he tried to take us all, it hadn't worked and he'd passed out. Jerome had to heal someone for the second time that day and he wasn't happy about it, and it only worsened his mood when Mara wouldn't stop talking to me.

Jerome would never admit it, but he was missing his best friend and girlfriend at his sides. I got a good chuckle out of that. We settled into the beds and listened to "IT IS TEN O'CLOCK! YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES PRECISELY...AND THEN I WANT TO HEAR A PIN...DROP!"

"Alfie?" I heard Jerome whisper, only two seconds before I fell into unconsciousness.

"Hm?" I mumbled, lifting my head off the pillow the slightest bit to see my best friend wide awake, laying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"When do you think this is going to end?"

"I don't know, mate," I answered, already knowing what he was talking about. He had to heal his girlfriend's broken ankle today, all because she had her first dream the previous dream. "I really don't know."

xXx

I could honestly say that I wasn't expecting a dream.

Much less to share a dream.

After the rough landing in Shadowland, I was face-to-face with one of my friends, one which I hadn't seen the face in for over a month. I wasn't expecting a dream, because only Amber and Fabian had gotten them - well, including Mara, who finally got her first dream - but I definitely wasn't anticipating getting one. Maybe if Nina had warned me...

Nina looked me over, and then at the person next to me. When I turned my head, much to my surprise, was Jerome.

"What the hell are both of you doing here?!" she cried, looking from both Jerome to me and back to Jerome. I could tell that she was surprised about the fact that we were both here, for some reason.

The only thing Jerome said was, "I saved your life on Halloween, and this is how you greet me. I can feel the love."

A/N - Longest chapter yet! Like I said, sorry for missing out on 2 weeks; the next chapter, 38, will [most likely] be up next week, and I'm predicting it'll be about 12k words, just in that one chapter. Prepare for next week, my lovelies, because you're in for a hell of a ride.
Have a sparkling day!~
~Julianna