Author's Note: I am very encouraged by the reviews! (Ripper101 – the name is Mai, and the sister is Min) Who knew that such a little idea would be so interesting… but it goes to show that you never know until you try. The only other Labyrinth story I've written is 'Haunted' and I wrote that when I was depressed. This one is a product of stress, so perhaps it's all related.

Dreaming?

I entered my apartment and threw my bag on the floor. What was going on in my life? Everything had been fine until I decided to be sympathetic to a complete stranger. Even though he was a very good looking stranger, and completely out of my league… Did I even have a league? As far as my history with men went, most of them were interested physically, but not mentally, and that just wasn't enough for me. That man, however, seemed to be in a league of his very own – completely detached.

Twisting my hair up on the top of my head, I grabbed a giant hair clip from my bed and secured it off of my neck. I loved my hair, but it really was getting to be a bit of a hassle. Coming from a mixed ethnic background had its drawbacks. First things first… I wanted to take the makeup off of my face. If I let it rub off onto my cloths, I would be doing twice as much laundry down at the laundro-mat and I had plenty of other places to use my quarters. That and I really did not feel like going out tonight after he did whatever he did.

With the water running in the sink, I stared at my reflection while waiting for the water to warm. My mother had been Chinese. My father was an American, blond, and blue eyed. I had my mother's general looks, but the mark my father had left on me was my smile, and the faint dimple in my chin. I never liked it, but that was how things went. I reached for my face-cloth.

There were leftovers in the fridge. Mostly it was BBQ chicken, some pasta, and yogurt. With a shrug I pulled it all out and arranged a plate. Plopping down on the second of six pieces of furniture I owned, I slung my legs over the arm of my generously padded living room chair, and turned on the television. Scratching an itch on my collar bone, I dug in to my miscellaneous dinner and watched two episodes of CSI. I'd seen them all, but I needed some sort of mindless activity. When it was over, I began flipping channels, and itched again, this time a little lower, right over my heart.

Curious, I peeked under the collar of the t-shirt I had put on after washing up. My skin was glittering in the dim light. With an eerie feeling, I put my plate on the floor and went into the bathroom. Taking off my shirt, I stared at the mirror.

In a perfect outline, the silhouette some kind of bird graced my chest just over the material of my bra. It shimmered in the yellow glow. Almost cool… if it didn't have the distinct impression of ownership on it. I growled and began rubbing at it. Nothing.

"Well, damn." I cursed. The next time I saw that infuriating man, he was going to get a major earful. I glanced at the clock.10 pm already, and I had to get up at seven. Giving up on trying to remove the mark, I climbed into bed.

Laughter… children's laughter was floating around me. I could hear a girl chanting and clapping her hands, the beat slowly speeding up. Then I heard someone calling out,

"Mia, your friends are here!"

"Send them back here, Mom! I'm beating Min!"

More giggles. "No you're not!"

"One more time and I'll prove it!"

I could see something, a cake, glowing in the distance and I began struggling to get to it through the clinging darkness. It vanished.

"Hey Kay, hey Zoe! Who's that?"

I turned to see myself, at nine, talking to a girl with short brown hair and grey eyes. Freckles dotted her nose. It was Zoe, who I had lost touch with in high school. My friend Kay, who still wore her hair shoulder length, but had begun experimenting with colors, was carrying a gift wrapped in a large green bow. Kay wore cut-off jeans and a paint-splattered t-shirt. I couldn't help smiling – she always loved colors, which is why it didn't surprise me that she became an artist. Behind the two of them, a small, slender figure hovered, chewing on a fingernail. She had long, curling dark hair that I immediately envied. Soft green eyes met dark brown, and hesitantly smiled.

"I'm Sarah, I came with Jess. Hope you don't mind."

"Are you good with ghost stories?"

"I can be, I know one good one."

"Great! Cause we're going to scare ourselves to stay awake all night!"

The scene was pulled away from me and I had the sickening feeling of being dropped.

"Mia, Mia, I want to come in."

"Go away, Min. This is my party. You can't stay up this late."

"Well neither are you!"

"But it's my birthday. Mom said it was okay."

"Then it's okay for me too!"

"No it's not! Go to bed! We'll just scare you and you'll start crying and then Mom will make us all go to bed."

"No!"

"Min, we'll scare you and you'll have nightmares."

"I'm old enough!"

"You're only six!"

"So?"

"Min, I swear if you don't go back to your room right now, I'll wish the goblins come and take you away right now."

"No you won't!"

"Yes I will! See – I wish the goblins will take you away!"

"Mia, you're so mean!"

"Go to bed!"

I jerked awake. I wanted to say that it was the mark on my chest. I wanted to blame it on the man who had been tormenting me for the past week. But this, I knew in my heart, was the truth. Rolling over onto my back, I flung and arm over my eyes. I remembered now… I remembered running down stone corridors, panicked and afraid. Strange creatures chased me, I remember falling down a cliff, and being saved by a giant white owl. But I couldn't remember the end.

The next morning I rolled out of bed at the sound of my alarm, bleary-eyed and still half-asleep. I downed some yogurt, quickly dressed in a sleeveless, high necked shirt, pants and make up, and ran out the door. If I planned the day correctly, I could leave a little early, and what I wanted to know from that stranger would not wait for long. The shimmering mark on my skin hadn't faded.

"Mia, what's wrong with you today?"

I looked up from my computer and realized that I had been staring at it for fifteen minutes without reading a word. Sighing, I smiled up at my supervisor, Steve, who was in his early fifties. "I'm sorry, I didn't sleep very well last night."

He frowned, concern shadowing his face. "Any particular reason why?"

"Not really, bad dreams."

He glanced around at the other cubicles before leaning in and whispering, "Why don't you take a couple days leave. I know you've been working hard. Take a break."

I blinked. Steve was a rather demanding man, always requiring the best of those under his watch, but not to the point of tyrannical. Some of my coworkers would probably disagree with me, but I found him rather charming if he simply loosened up a little. With a more genuine smile, I nodded. "I think I might, sir. Thank you."

He gave me a nod before returning to his second daily 'patrol' of the department. I sighed and stretched my arms, both shoulders popping.

"Sheesh, I hate it when you do that!"

A red head leaned out of the cube across from mine followed by a plump body in a classical wheeled office chair. Grinning, I twisted my back which emitted a string of pops. Carol wrinkled her nose at me. "You know that's bad for you!"

"Well so is that." I pointed at the candy bar in her hand. "I thought you were on a diet."

"I am, I get one treat a day. This is it."

"Uh, huh… You've said that before."

"Mia, not everyone has your metabolism."

I shrugged. "But I don't eat candy all the time."

A wrapper hit me in the head. "Oh phooey on you!"

I laughed softly. "Hey, Carol, Steve said I could take a few days off. Do you think you can handle things around here if I do?"

She made a show of considering my question before groaning dramatically, "I suppose."

"Thanks!"

My spirits considerably lightened, I returned to the insurance claim in front of me.

I can give you back your dreams.

Like hell he could… Not if he was going to use them against me like that. I was going to get to the bottom of his little fascination with me, my dreams, and my sister.

When I reached the park, it was empty. I circled the bench, searched the perimeter of the grounds, and even looked up in a couple of the trees. All I found were a couple of curious squirrels. Sitting down on the bench, I waited. And I waited.

"Go figure that when I actually want to see him, he doesn't show up." I muttered to myself. "But then again, he started this. If he's so big on games, I would think he would want to know the ending to this one. Big baby that he is about winning." I watched the sun reflect off of my hand decorations. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed. A familiar voice answered,

"Hello?"

"Kay! I was hoping you would pick up."

"Mia? Wow, it's been a while since I've heard from you. What's up?"

"I have a random question for you. Do you remember my ninth birthday party?"

"Um, kinda."

"Do you remember what happened after we finished telling ghost stories?"

"We went to bed."

"That's it?"

"Why?"

"Something has been going on… Someone told me that there was more… that we did more… Or at least, I did. But I can't remember."

"Sorry hun, don't think I can help you there. That was a long time ago."

I sighed, "Yeah, I know – it was a long shot."

Kay was one of the few people who could read my voice. "What's really going on Mia? You sound more upset over this than you should be."

I couldn't take it any longer. I had to tell someone. The mark on my chest began itching again. "It's about Min. And that party. Did you know I've never had a dream ever since then?"

"Uh, okay."

"Well, something has happened, and I'm trying to find out why… I'm trying to remember… but I can't."

"Mia, the accident was right after that party. It's no surprise you don't remember much before that. It's trauma."

Frustrated, I sighed and stood up from the park bench. "I know… it's probably nothing. I've been working hard lately."

"I can come over if you want. Even if you're working, I just finished a big commission, so I can take a day or two off."

I smiled. "That would be great! I'm taking some leave too."

"It'll be just like the old days! How about I come over on Sunday, take Monday and Tuesday off."

"Fine by me, do you want me to pick you up?"

"Nah, I can remember where you live. Be there at four!"

Well, at least some good came out of all the madness. I hadn't seen my best friend in years.

"Enjoying your present?"

I jumped a mile high. He stood behind me, just as arrogant and smug as he had been the day before, only this time he was dressed in a black leather jacket and blood red pants. Looking like a modern-day vampire, he grinned. All my previous anger came roaring back.

"What the hell did you do to me?" I exploded. "What did you put on me?"

"Just a simple spell to help you remember, and then you will help me."

I slapped him. I hadn't even thought about it, my hand came up and moved to hit that smooth, white face without a conscious effort – at least that is what it would have done if he hadn't caught it. His fingers closed around my wrist and squeezed. I gasped as pain shot up to my shoulder.

"Never do that again if you wish to remain in this world." He hissed.

I took a breath to scream as he raised his hand. Before I could let it out, he snapped his fingers and the scenery whirled.