Thanks to my pal Water Goddess to be the first review this intense and just as mysterious as the real anime series, and not being real familiar with it. Good for her! No worries, I'll be able to squeeze in more background information in the next movement! C'mon people, ya know you want a piece of the suspense! Here we are, the last part of the first chapter…err movement!

ACT TWO

She reached the end of the corner to discover another person. Her mother. "Mom!" Ashley cried out in surprise and relief, previously blind to the words that the person she thought she knew had said. Her mother, Margaret, opened her arms as the two hugged, happy to see each other. "I'm glad you're okay, mom," said her daughter as they embraced. "I'm glad you are too," Margaret said gently in response.

Margaret Johnson. Ashley was the spitting image of her mother, except for the hair and eye color. Short chestnut brown hair with hazel eyes, but this face was what welcomed her out of the creepy events that Ashley had experienced. They came to mind as Ashley quickly let go of her, alarmed. "Mom, there's a guy in the house that tried to get me! C'mon, c'mon!" she said to her all at once, grabbing her mother by the arm. "What are you talking about, sweetheart?" her mom asked, perplexed. "Slow down, you're going to yank my arm out of its socket!" Ashley continued to lead her towards what was supposed to be their home.

Swinging the door open, the younger woman yelled out a warning. "Alright, you pervert! My mom's here, so you better get out RIGHT NOW, or we'll call the cops!" She meant serious business as she stormed up to her room, only to discover that no one was there. Wow, he got out of there quick! she thought.

"Hey, he's gone!" Ashley called down to her mom, who joined her in standing by her bedroom doorway. "What are you talking about, dear? What happened?" She had a look of concern as Ashley spilled the beans without any hesitations. The report about that stalker came out all in one taking without having to inhale for air. "Oh my, that must have been terrible! It's a good thing he's gone now, or else I-" Margaret's nostrils twitched. To Ashley, she looked distracted. "Is that…coffee I smell?" "Yeah, my Butterscotch Supreme spilled all over me!" she said, nearly laughing in embarrassment. "So, yeah… I'll change into some clean clothes."

She calmly closed the door after watching her momwalk down the hallway in the opposite direction. Margaret turned to look back and announced, "I'll be fixing dinner soon. Does lasagna sound okay to you?" Lasagna, one of Ashley's favorite foods. She was such a sucker for Italian food whenever it was offered. "Yeah, sounds great!" she yelled back, thinking that she could used a good home cooked meal.

As she looked through her dresser for a quick change of clothes, her mind just would not shut off. There was just something odd in the air still. Her mother seemed a little oblivious from how Ashley had acted. Shaking her head free of the thoughts, she argued with her smarts that she just wanted to forget about that.

She came back out, dressed in blue jeans that had glittery flowers on the pant legs, and in a nice light blue spaghetti strap shirt. Soon, she joined her mother in the kitchen. Ashley also found it weird that her mother didn't hug and kiss her like crazy in seeing that Dolem take her up into the air and teleport her to where the café was. There was something that needed to be asked. "Mom, do you remember that Dolem thing that took me away for a while?" Her mother's back was turned towards the kitchen stove, but that didn't mean Margaret wasn't paying attention to what her daughter had to say. But there came no response at first. "Mom? Y'know, it's so weird! Remember Aaron? That guy looked just like him and acted like him for a bit and didn't know what a Dolem was! Isn't that just…weird?!"

"Oh, don't worry yourself about it. You're home, aren't you?" said her mom as she remained focused on preparing her food. Okay, this wasn't like her… "Weren't you worried when I was gone?" Ashley asked, feeling worried herself on what was going on. Why is she acting like this? Why didn't…? "Yes, I was worried," Margaret said, and turned to her daughter. There was a sense of confidence in her voice as she added, "But I had faith that you would return." Ashley watched her mother hold onto her daughter's hand. "You are one of the strongest young women I've ever met, and I mean it." Margaret Johnson smiled, causing Ashley to smile back. Well, it was a good enough reason for her!

Then, the flash happened once again. The naked woman in head dress was starting to approach her, slowly, swaying this way and that if she had a little too much to drink. The fancy head dress had some sort of eye shape on the front, and it covered her eyes.

When she found herself back in the kitchen, dinner was ready. Her mother sat on the other end of the table across from her, cutting up her slice of lasagna into smaller pieces. As she took a bite, Ashley was told, "Eat your food before it gets cold, Ash." A warm hearted smile showed on her face. "Mom?" Ashley asked, starting to feel the chills again. There was a bit of fear in her voice. "Yes dear?"

Suddenly, she had forgotten what she was about to ask her mother, in distraction by the framed photo behind her. Her mother loved birds, and the Canadian goose was one of her favorites. As usual, Ashley was smart enough to know that things in pictures cannot move. But the goose flapped its wings and flew to one side of the frame, and was seen no more.

Another chill crept up Ashley's spine. Her mother looked the distraught expression and asked, "Is there something wrong, dear?" Staring at the framed scenery, missing goose, fear enveloped her voice in response in the form of another question. "Mom? How…long did you have that goose picture?" What the hell's going on here?! Why did the goose…? Without bothering to look at the framed photo on the wall behind her, Margaret replied gently, "Since you were four." Ashley caught her mother wearing a smile on her face. A cold smile. Her mind was just close to panicking in a frenzy, but a small part of Ashley was still sane.

She left the table, knowing that nothing was feeling the same way anymore. Quickly, she ran up to her room, and shut the door. Catching her breath, the moments of what happened with the Aaron look alike and her mother called back in her brain. And…what about that strange woman?! Why am I seeing her when no one else isn't?! After a moment of thinking, she thought back to what "Aaron" said… "If you can see, taste, touch, hear, and smell it, doesn't that make it real in the end? Making the other reality seem surreal? Why suffer in silence when this world is yours to enjoy? Who cares about what's real to others? You are the one that counts…" And the most creepy things he said before she ran out of the house. "Tell me, what is it that you desire? Tell me…"

The Dolem, she once thought the Dolem was behind all of this. Was that it? Did the Dolem create a replica of the world around her? The familiarities? Those she knew? Are her mother and the Aaron she thought she knew…illusions? And the woman, who was she? Wasn't ANYTHING around her real?!

This was insane! Ashley felt like she was going crazy and that at any moment she'd start pulling the hair out of her head. "Stop it…" she hissed towards the Dolem, if it was watching her. "Stop messing with my head…" Another picture, one on the east wall of her room, caught Ashley's attention. A beautiful classic painting. She forgot the name of the artist, but guessed the name of the artwork to be "Starry Night?" The stars were twinkling, and the visible wind was blowing around the dark castle. Her eyes twitched. Photos and paintings weren't supposed to move, but be still!

"STOP IT!!" she screamed and picked up the first thing she could find. Her alarm clock off the drawer, located next to her bed. She threw the machine at the picture in the wall, plug coming out of its socket. The glass shattered by the impact. The framed painting that she enjoyed to see slid down from the wall, falling face down. Her hands balled into shaking fists at her sides.

It was now confirmed that this was all fake and a twisted and sick dream world the Dolem that captured her has created. She needed to find a solution to get out into the real world. She had to escape to her real mother.

Without telling her illusion mother, she ran past the illusional father who was just coming home from work on the way out of the front door. "Ashley?" he called to her, but she kept running. "ASHLEY!"

She ran out into the streets, past walking people she didn't know. The sun had set and now the sky had been filled with stars. A cold wind brushed up against her running form, making Ashley shiver slightly. The strange thing was they hadn't noticed her. Another definite answer that this was all fake. And that latte back earlier on, was that fake too? But it all felt so real, but all of this really wasn't.

"How do I get out of here?!" she shouted out loud as she ran. FLASH! Oh no, it was that woman again. She was coming closer. Shaking her head clear, she found herself facing another woman. A stranger, and she noticed Ashley. Her hair was brown and straight. It grew down to around her shoulders. Her eyes were a shade of dark green. She was professionally dressed in a black suit with slacks to match the color of it. The same kind of smile appeared on her face like the last facial expression of her illusional mother gave to her. A voice rang into her head. It sounded…weird, as if Ashley were hearing a talking person underwater.

"Your time will come, Ashley," said the voice, and her gut instinct felt it came from the woman in front of her. "You and my son will tune the world to perfection… Into the way we like it." The dark green eyed woman, the way she was speaking to her…was so creepy. So creepy that Ashley had goosebumps all over her insides. "WHO ARE YOU?!" she found herself screaming, going mad for that one millisecond. "You are smart, and have figured out everything up until now. You'll figure it out eventually." "No!! I want YOU to tell me!!" Ashley demanded, desperate for a way out of this hell. For the first time, the professional looking lady's lips moved. "My dear Ashley, I am not important to you right now. After you meet up with my son, I will be doing what's best for you."

"What the?! How do you know who I am?! I've never met you in my entire life!" The mysterious and telepathic woman vanished into thin air, giving her nothing else, but that riddle to ponder about. Ashley cursed in frustration. "Dammit!" NOTHING is making ANY sense!!

What the hell was that lady talking about anyway?! She seemed so creepy, and sounded like she had a plan having to do with her and whomever the "son" was. Was it Aaron? No, that couldn't be right. The real, true and kind Aaron she had met over a year ago never mentioned about his mother or if he had one or not. Just his dad. So who was the guy that the woman wanted Ashley to hook up with?!

The riddle provided was just too much of one. If she tried to figure it out, a migraine could possibly develop. Well, if no one was going to show her the way out of this hell, then she'll figure it out herself.

Ashley walked on, trying to solve this gigantic puzzle she was standing around in, for tweaks or little mistakes in the system her captor Dolem had imprisoned her in. Strangers around her didn't even notice her screaming at the woman who haunted her already dispirited mind and heart. She was invisible to the pedestrians. If she walked out into the middle of the street and just stood there, a car would probably just hit her head on and keep on going. The thought of that kind of scenario scared her.

Passing by a clothing shop, Ashley recognized one of the girls she was friends with among Hilton Head. Bridgett. Curly blond hair with light blue eyes. A good friend Bridgett was at that, but Ashley knew all to well that this place was so fake. All of her surroundings were so fake. Fake, fake, fake!!! Knowing this girl was an illusion, she ran past the store, thinking it wasn't wise to go in there or else she'd end up being spooked out of her wits. It would just be another mind torture game for the Dolem to perform. Ashley wasn't going to fall for it.

Eventually she had to stop again, and catch her breath. The non cloth wearer returned once again, closing in on her form. "No… Go away…" she whispered to her, looking into the eye on the head dress. Ashley found herself backing up during the next second the most strangest figure of all was walking closer and closer, arms stretched out, wanting to touch her or grab her.

When that was over, she was found inside the clothing store that she saw "Bridgett" in. She was still there. "Hey, where are you running in such a hurry? Have you been jogging?" she giggled. "Leave me alone," Ashley whispered, in utter terror, and turning to walk towards the exit of the shop. "Huh?" the illusion quirked in bewilderment as she watched Ashley quickly left.

Tears flooded her vision, causing the victim that was toyed upon to come to a halt. She was scared, and cold. Soon she would become tired of running. Somehow, Ashley knew there was no escape from this living nightmare. It may be what she might have wanted to see. Sure, it might have been her secret desires. But I HATE IT!!!

"I want my real mom and dad," Ashley said through her tears. "I want to go home… I've had enough of this place." Please, please God… I know I haven't been paying much attention to you, but please hear my plea. Get me out of here…

Well, her God seemed to somewhat heard her prayer and the dream world had left her by herself for a while, to cry it all out and try to come up with an idea. If she was in trapped in her own world of dreams, couldn't she somehow wake herself up? Thinking it over, maybe the car collision course action wasn't a bad idea. No… I could be killed! It may be fake, but I can feel pain. SHEESH! This is just like that Matrix movie I haven't seen in a while!

In her heart, Ashley knew there was going to be no "Neo" or "Morpheus" to come and rescue her. They were more fake than this. The movie recalled was pure fiction. There had to be some kind of glitch though, thinking upon the movie's terms. Nothing is perfect, right? A flaw just had to be around her somewhere! She just had to get up on her feet and find it.

The search had begun from that moment on. Indeed a long one. It took all night and she had to rest up for the upcoming morning. During her sleeping time, the flash blackout thing with the head dress woman (as she called it) happened again. Ashley felt ice cold hands touch her bare shoulders, for she was wearing a spaghetti strapped shirt after all. "Get off of me!" she yelled at her.

The vision ended and once again, Ashley found herself back in the exact same spot where she was resting, in an alleyway she hid away in. Away from all she knew, and it wasn't like the strangers were going to start paying attention to her NOW. Good thing it was the same spot too, because if she were someplace else again, she would've just gone freakin' haywire! It was hard trying to remain sane in a place where everything was not.

It felt like forever in being trapped in this lunacy, for Ashley had lost track of time. At least a few days had past in running and searching to find a way out of this mess. Ashley made sure to stay away from familiar faces. She had to or else she would be fulfilling the Dolem's wishes. To desire and not worry about a thing while she was here. One thing she could not avoid was that naked red haired woman in the head dress. Soon, her hands left Ashley's shoulders to be around her neck, in starting to strangle her. The more encounters Ashley had with her, the more desperate she wanted to break whatever barrier there was that held the whacked system together. She HAD to get away from that crazy bitch!

Ashley ate and slept whenever she could, but it wasn't enough. Every once in a while, she'd get another terrifying encounter from you-know-who. One mid afternoon, she felt those cold fingers touch her one last time, nails wanting to dig into her skin. After that, the wind was knocked out of her. The location was inside a kind of warehouse, near a large mirror. She fell backwards, into the mirror. It began to shatter, and Ashley began to fall. Pieces of the mirror cut into her arms and some of the shards made little cuts on her petite, but sickly pale face. Would she survive…?

PREVIEW: Two strangers from different times… Who was loved by one is now thy enemy… RahXephon, Second Movement. The world suffused with sound…