"Slade, wake up," Cassie said, shaking his shoulder.

Slade moaned softly, the warm, fuzzy grip of unconsciousness only reluctantly releasing its hold on his mind. Slade was still hovering in that uncertain twilight between sleep and wakefulness, he said the first thing that came to his still-clouded mind.

"Shara?"

"Who?" Cassie asked.

Slade sat up, his vision only now clearing. He was a bit stiff and sore from falling asleep on the hard floor of the hayloft, but he did feel more rested for his brief nap. He also felt more than a little confused after all those weird dreams.

"What?" Slade didn't know why Cassie was looking at him like that, as if she was just as confused as he felt.

"You called me Shara just now? Who's Shara?"

"You know, I really don't know," Slade said, wishing for a minute that he could just be someone normal.

"Well, okay. Anyway, I found a pillow that you can use. No one will notice if it suddenly disappears. But still, I think you'd better hide it when you're not using it."

"That sounds like a good idea," Slade said. "Thanks."

Cassie turned away, waving to Slade just before she started climbing back down the ladder. Slade smiled, this was sure to be interesting.