Chapter 2! Yay! I hope you are excited, because things are about to take a turn for the worse. We get to see Timmy's POV! We also get to see some more of the mother. And we finally experience our unnamed girl's mysterious dreams… What could it mean? Only the Narrator knows ;) Starts from Timmy's POV, as promised. (I will begin putting in the POV changes as headings.) Enjoy!

–DellaAwake

_TIMMY'S POV_

I was worried. Papa and Sister had gone out to fight the zombies, and had not come back. They had been missing for the whole night. Mamma was crying, so I cried too, and snuggled into her as we waited the whole night for them to return. It was only when the sun rose that the door opened and Papa came in, followed by Sister. They were not hurt, but Papa was very dirty and Sister was dripping wet.

"Oh no, are you two ok?" cried Mamma as she ran up to Papa and gave him a hug.

"Yeah, we're fine. Just had an encounter with a couple zombies."

"Thank goodness," Mamma sighed. Sister shifted uncomfortably.

"Father…"

"Oh, yes," he chuckled. He turned to us and gestured to my sister. "She also single-handedly defeated an enderman and a drowned… at the same time."

I gasped. Sister was very skilled! Enderman were strong, and were hard to defeat even by themselves. And drowned were difficult to fight, because they were much faster than people when in the water. That explained why she was wet… she must have run to the river to fight the enderman, and then got caught by the drowned. As for Mamma, she burst into tears and hugged Sister tightly.

"I-I'm so glad you're ok… That I didn't lose you…"

"Hey, its ok, Mamma. I'm here now, and I'm alright." said Sister. Mamma just sobbed into Sister's wet cloak. Sister stroked her hair for a few seconds and then said something.

"Hey, you know I got a trident from the drowned? Would you like to take a look at it?"

Mother smiled and nodded. Drying her eyes, she took the proffered trident. Then she disappeared into her workplace muttering something about "prismarine", whatever that was. I walked up to Papa and Sister and gave them both hugs too.

"I'm glad you aren't hurt."

"Me too," chuckled Sister.

"But Sister, you know you are still wet?" She blushed.

"Oh, right… I should probably go get cleaned up. And then… take a nap, I guess? I was awake the entire night…"

"You should do that!" I said. She smiled, nodded, and left the room. I then looked to Papa.

"Will you play with me now?"

"Not yet, honeybear. I need to clean up first."

"Ok, don't be too long!" I said as he left the room. I began to bounce on my chair impatiently. But then I heard voices from Sister's room. She and Papa were talking. I moved closer so that I could hear them.

"This is the least I have slept in ages… the closer it gets to my birthday, the harder it is… even though it is relieved at the end. And I just stayed awake a whole day…"

"I know, sweetie." I heard Papa say. "But you are a strong girl, I know you can bear it." Sister sighed. "Yeah, but…." Her voice trailed off. "I just wish I understood, you know? I want some control over it, at the very least…" I heard Papa sigh and saw him back out of the room.

"Sleep well…" he said as he closed the door behind him. Then he turned around and saw me standing there, watching him. He froze as I cocked my head at him.

"What was that about? What does Sister want to understand? What were you talking about just then?" Papa ran a hand through his hair.

"Ugh, well… I will tell you on your birthday, ok? I was planning to tell you anyway… it's time you know…" He wandered towards his room. "Let me just get cleaned up and then I'll play with you, ok, honeybear?" he said in a distracted tone.

"No, that's ok, Papa," I said quietly. "You go clean up, and then have a nap. You also stayed up the whole night." He looked at me for a second and then gave me a hug.

"Thank you, Timmy. You're a good boy." I nodded and watched as he walked off, still muttering to himself.

"Diamond… special… birthday… risk…" I wondered what he meant but knew now was not the time to ask. Instead, I whistled to Wolfy, my pet dog, and walked to my room, sitting down on the bed. Wolfy rested his head in my lap, and I stroked his hair.

"Good boy… Well, I will wait. But I hope Sister's alright… I know, Papa will keep her safe." Wolfy whined and looked up at me sadly out of his dark blue eyes.

"Oh, don't worry about me, I will be fine."

_FLASHBACK_

"Happy birthday, Timmy!" Called Sister.

"It's your birthday too! Fifteen, congratulations!" I said.

"Thanks, Timmy."

"Oh! Sister, I just remembered, I have something for you!"

"So do I," she said. "But you can go first."

"Ok!" I said. I ran to my room and fetched it. "Here you go!" I said, pressing it into her hands. I heard Mamma gasp.

"Timmy, where did you get that? That's really rare." I smiled proudly.

"I found it! I was wandering in the village once, and I found this on the ground!"

"I see… well, you are one lucky boy!" She ruffled my hair, and I giggled. "But I want you to have it, Sister!"

"Are you sure?" she said hesitantly.

"Yeah! I'm giving it to you. After all, it matches your eyes!" She looked at me, surprised.

"You know, the green eyes…"

"Oh yeah, right. Thank you." She smiled slightly as I pressed it into her hands, but she still looked exhausted.

"Now let me put this away and get yours, ok?" I nodded eagerly and she got up, going to her room. I bounced up and down, barely able to contain my excitement.

"What do you think it will be? A compass? A bow?" My parents exchanged knowing smiles.

"You'll see." After a while, my sister came back, and headed out to the backyard. I stared after her curiously. Then a ball of fur shot through the open door, knocking me over. I found myself looking into happy dark blue wolf eyes as I was licked all over my body. After I got the wolf off me, I squealed.

"A dog! A pet! Ohhh, thank you so much!" I barreled into my sister, giving her a ginormous hug. She looked a bit surprised, but returned the hug willingly. Then I looked at the wolf.

"I'm gonna name you… Wolfy. That sound good?" Wolfy barked and wagged his tail. "Ok then!" I smiled.

"Also, Timmy," Mamma said.

"Yes?"

"Wolfy can help protect you if you get caught outside at night or in a mine. Take him with you everywhere you go." I nodded and then shuddered at the thought at that ever happening. Wolfy whined sadly and put his head on my knee. I turned to stare into his mournful blue eyes. I smiled. "Don't worry about me, Wolfy! I'll be fine!"

_END OF FLASHBACK_

That was one of the best days I ever had. But it did get me wondering. Was it because of the same thing that Sister and Papa had been talking about that was why she was so exhausted that day? Speaking of which, I was starting to feel tired too, my lack of sleep catching up to me. But I thought of Mamma. Was she as tired as I was? I got off the bed and walked quietly down the corridor, not wanting to disturb Father and Sister. I turned a corner, pushed open the door and entered Mamma's office. There was paper everywhere, strange artefacts on the walls, and a desk at which Mamma sat. I noticed the trident that she had been studying was lisping to the side, threatening to fall off the table and impale her. I hurriedly straightened it and then took a look at Mamma. She had fallen fast asleep in her chair. I knew what a heavy sleeper she was, so I wheeled her chair to a pile of blankets in the corner of the room, put there for when she fell asleep in the study. I put her on the blankets and then yawned loudly. Quietly leaving the room, I walked back to my own bedroom and flopped down on the bed as Wolfy curled up near my feet. I was more tired than I had thought, and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

_POV CHANGE – SISTER_

As soon as Father left the room I let out a sigh of relief. I could hear Timmy talking to him outside, and briefly wondered if he had overheard us. I sighed. I hoped not, that would be annoying to have to explain… again. I had only told my parents once. I was not very close with any of the villagers, really. I had always been a loner, and the dreams distanced me even more from the group. I had always wanted to be normal, but I had been bullied from my first day at school. I had no idea why, and it made it impossible to get friends. Nobody wanted to cross the bullies, certainly not to make friends with a random new girl already bearing the title of the bullies' punching bag. School was no fun for me, and I was glad it would not be resuming for quite a while. And also sadistically glad that it was the fault of the bullies, who thought it would be "fun to knock a hole in the wall" enabling mobs to get in. Specifically creepers, who managed to blow up most of the campus before the teachers killed them. Suffice to say, the bullies would have in-school suspension once the builders finished rebuilding the school. I tensed as I heard footsteps outside my door, jerking out of memory land, as Mamma would call it. Then I relaxed as I heard Timmy's door open and close. He was probably going to take a nap. I remembered that was what I came here for too. Quickly changing out of my wet clothes, I flopped down on the bed, exhaustion filling my limbs. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. Then I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

And there I was.

The Other.

That was what I had decided to call it, this dream-realm I went to when I slept. It was also the home of the voices. I heard them now, barely audible. I took a deep breath and willed my surroundings into existence. I found myself in my house, lying on my back in my bed. It was my exact position in the real world, but I wasn't fooled. This was probably their idea of a joke. But I knew this was far from real. I got off the bed, willing my hands into gleaming obsidian claws. They winked in the faint dawn light coming from my window. I enjoyed the Other's ability to give me whatever I wanted. If only it wasn't all in my head. Phasing through the bedroom door, I wandered through the house. A light mist hung around everything, refracting the sunlight and making the house look abandoned. Wait… I peered closer. It was abandoned. The furniture was covered in dust. Now I was confused. What were these voices playing at? I teleported to the village square, where the marketplace was held. There were piles of rotting vegetables everywhere, overturned stalls and the doors of the houses surrounding the square were hanging open, as if their owners had left in a hurry. Dust covered everything, and there was not a soul in sight. It was clearly also abandoned. I frowned. The voices usually liked to use the images of those I knew as puppets to speak for them. Why was there nobody here? Suddenly my vision went white.

When I could see again, I gasped. There was a replica of the village hanging over my surroundings like a see-through illusion. But this one was teeming with life. There were people everywhere, buying, trading, chatting, and playing games. Suddenly three boys who I recognized ran into the square, screaming in panic. They were the boys who had bullied me in school, People began to ask them what was wrong, but they just kept running and were soon out of sight. People began to mutter amongst themselves. Suddenly I heard the shrill scream of a woman. Her face was white and she was pointing to one of the roads leading into the marketplace. I looked where she was pointing and saw a group of pillagers coming. A very large group. Soon all I could see was bodies being tossed through the air, phasing right through me, and people screaming as they tried to escape. I stared in horror, and then felt the voices gather around me. They began to whisper…

Wake up, Wake Up, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, Wake Up, Wake up, WAKE UP, Wake Up, Wake up…

My vision dimmed as I curled into a tight ball on the ground. My surroundings began to fade as I scrunched in on myself, trying to escape the voices. It was not to be, though. Suddenly everything around me froze and I heard the loudest voice of all.

WAKE UP!

Another chapter complete! And yes, I finished on a cliffhanger. You will just have to wait and see for the next one. Again, you can get angry if I haven't uploaded in a week, but I hope to get it done much sooner than then. I have a self-imposed minimum of 2K words per chapter, but I don't want to keep anyone waiting. I know how hard cliffhangers can be. P.S. the last voice is not who you think it is!

Until we meet again! -DellaAwake