"You are… not what I expected."
"Thanks?" Kaia says. She's wearing a red hoodie and sweatpants, and her hair is soft and wavy.
"Sorry." I say. "I just kinda thought you would fit Claire's aesthetic. You know, Biker Barbie?"
She smiles. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Opposites attract, I guess."
"I guess." I respond, suddenly thinking about me and Nydia. If I compared our relationship to Claire and Kaia's, I would probably be Claire, and Nydia would definitely be Kaia.
I don't know why I'm even calling it a relationship, since it's basically just one-sided pining, but whatever.
"Are you ready to get started?" Kaia asks. I nod, and she grimaces. "Okay. This is gonna be a little bit freaky. I'm gonna have to go into your mind. I can't see anything other than dreams, but you're gonna want to keep last night's dream at the top of your mind, so I don't see any other ones you don't want me to."
"Okay." I think of the man with blue eyes and the dying forest. I feel Kaia's fingers touch my temples, and I try to concentrate as hard as I can on the dream.
Kaia must be viewing the dream, because it flashes through my mind as if I was seeing it for the first time again.
I shudder as she pulls away, but she seems strangely composed. I ask her why and she just says, "I've seen worse."
"So do you think that someone was trying to communicate with me?"
"It seems like it. I'm not exactly an expert in this, but this guy has to be pretty powerful to be able to communicate with you in your dreams."
"Do you have any idea who it could be?"
She shakes her head. "No. Sorry. I doubt he's human, though. Those eyes seemed pretty supernatural. He might be a djinn, but if he is, he's different from any djinn I've ever seen."
I nod.
"And I'm guessing you don't know anything about a girl that is supposedly his property?"
"Surprisingly, I do not recall stealing a woman from an amputee."
"I didn't think so. Well, I would start by looking for the forest. This man probably lives somewhere around there, if he was able to communicate from there so easily. Do you recognise the forest at all?"
I try to bring the dream back into my mind. Those giant oak, blackhaw, and ash trees, reaching for the sky, skimming the tops of the clouds. There was one tree in particular, a giant burr oak, one I've seen before. My family went on vacation in Missouri when I was twelve, and we saw the biggest burr oak in the state, or something like that. Tris and I thought it was pretty boring, but when our parents weren't looking, we carved our names into it with my pocket knife.
"Um, I think I might have recognised one of the trees. It's supposed to be the biggest burr oak in the nation or something. Me and Tris carved our names into it when I was twelve. It's in Missouri."
"I guess that's a good start. Sorry I couldn't be of more help."
"It's okay. At least we got something."
Nydia comes in, waving at us as she opens her dresser. "Hi. I'm just grabbing my Angel Studies notebook for a study group. Have you guys found anything?"
"Yeah. We think the man might live somewhere near this place in Missouri I went to once."
She grimaces. "Missouri again."
"I know, right."
"Do you think that the man might want Tris?" She asks.
"I considered it, but as far as I know, she's never been anybody's property, so I'm not sure. I definitely want to find him, though, so I guess I'm going to Missouri."
"Sounds good. I'm in."
"You don't really have to come. I don't think any of this has anything to do with you."
"Are you kidding? I'm coming. You're my best friend. I'm invested in your crazy dreams and tattooed sister."
A blush rises to my cheeks. "Thanks."
"Yeah. Just tell me when we're leaving."
"Will do. See you later."
She smiles and walks out.
Kaia watches me watch her leave and says, "Ohhhh."
"What?" I say defensively.
"I didn't know you two were together, that's all."
"We're not!"
"Huh. Really?"
"Uh, I think I would know!" I'm blushing really hard, and for some reason I kind of like that Kaia thought Nydia and I were dating.
"Okay, sorry. I made a mistake."
"I mean, I like her, but she doesn't like me. Or at least I'm pretty sure she doesn't."
"I don't know. It seems like she does, but I'm not super great at reading people."
"Seriously? You think she likes me?"
"I don't know. It seems like it."
I shake my head. "Wow. We got off topic. Anyway, thanks for helping me with the dream. See you later."
"Okay, bye."
I stay sitting on my bed for a little bit longer, and then head out and towards Sam's classroom.
"Hey, Delilah." He says without looking up as I step in. He's sitting at his desk, laptop in front of him, but he's not looking at it. Instead, he's smiling at his phone.
"Talking to Eileen?" I guess.
He blushes, which is a thing I thought I would never see. "Yeah." He turns his phone off and looks at me. "Anyway, what's up?"
"Kaia just helped me figure out where the dude from my dream lives. East Prairie, Missouri."
"Great. I'll take you guys tomorrow."
I rap on the door. "Thanks. See ya."
A/N: Oh my gosh guys, I promise I did not realise the parallels between DreamHunter and Delydia (Yes, I made up a ship name for my own characters, 'cause I'm pathetic like that. I'm also kind of debating between Delydia and Denydia. Please give your opinion in a review!). I guess I kind of knew going in that Delilah was gonna be kinda similar to Claire, but I never even realised the aesthetic similarities of Nydia and Kaia (I just realised you guys do not have the pictures I made of the characters, so just know that Nydia dresses basically the exact same way that Kaia does). If you like the story, hate it, have any opinion at all, literally have anything to say, PLEASE review. I am dying for a review!