Chapter #2 When Dreams Turn Dark

"So, what really brings you here?" Heather asked as she offered Figment a glass of cranberry juice.

"Nothing serious." Figment answered as he took a swig of juice. "I missed you girls, so I decided to stop by."

"That's nice." Sharlene said. "How are things in the Dream port?"

"A lot better since Paul vanished."

Sharlene frowned upon hearing that. She and Heather may have imprisoned him by using their imginations. But he managed to escape the prison and disappear without a trace. Since then Sharlene's been having an odd feeling that Paul will return some day, but she didn't know when or where he will strike.

"Sharlene? Hey, Sharlene."

"Huh?" Her thoughts were interrupted when her sister said her name. "What?"

"You alright?"

"Oh...yeah I'm fine." Sharlene paused for a minute before continuing. "I was just wondering...where Paul went."

"Don't worry, Sharlene." Figment said as he flew up and hovered in front of the girls. "He's gone and everything is back to normal."

He did a back flip in the air as he said that. Sharlene smiled as she relaxed a little. She was glad to see that Figment was back to his cheerful self. He's was right, Paul is gone and everything is fine. What could go wrong?

"So, he's with them."

Paul snarled as he watches the conversation between the dragon and the twin sister through a pool of water in his lair. He was frowned as he waved his hand over the water and the image disappeared. He used to be a great Imaginer until he was fired for creating a faulty attraction at Walt Disney World. As he was about to leave, he found a doorway to the Dream port. Where he discovered his powers and used it to capture the Dream finder and several other people who worked at the Imagination Pavilion as part of his plan for revenge. He would've succeeded if the purple dragon hadn't taught the Lane girls how to use their imaginations and defeated him. He was able to escape and create his own realm. A place similar to the Dream port, only it was more evil then good.

"Soon, when the time comes. I'll be able to stop them. Then my revenge will be complete!"

His cold laugh echoed throughout the lair.

Meanwhile, back at Heather's and Sharlene's apartment. Sharlene and Heather were getting ready for bed after Figment returned to the Dream port. Sharlene just changed into her white nightgown and brush her teeth. She went back into her bedroom while Heather went into the bathroom to wash off her off her partly messy make up. "What a day." Sharlene muttered as she turned off the lights and went to bed. She was so tired that night that she fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Sharlene was sleeping when she heard noises outside. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. As she reached for her glasses, she felt wet grass under her fingers.

"What in..."

Sharlene's eyes widen as she saw she was lying in the middle of a forest. She blinked a few times as her vision blurred.

"Oh where are those stupid glasses?" she muttered in frustration as she patted the ground.

Once she found her glasses beside a bunch of tree roots and put them on. As her vision became clear, she looked around to see that she was lying in the dirt, in a dark forest. Her nightgown was stained and her hair was matted and filled with tree leaves and small branches. Sharlene slowly got to her feet, her legs shaking as she did. As she pulled the leaves and twigs out of her hair, she heard noises in the bushes behind her. She turned around to see the bushes settling down and become silent again. Sharlene stared at it for a few minutes before she slowly took a few steps back. Then her foot got caught in a tangle of roots and she fell backwards. She closed her eyes tightly as something grabbed her shoulders and broke her fall.

"Hey baby you ok?"

Sharlene looked up to see a familiar face looking at her. It was a man around Sharlene's age with red hair, tan skin, dressed in street clothes. She knew him well. It was her boyfriend, Carlos. They had computer class in at the University of Regina together and have been dating for ten months now. Carlos grinned as he helped his girlfriend up. Sharlene returned the grin as she stood up.

"Carlos, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I had to see you." he answered as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Sharlene smiled and returned the embrace. They were about to kiss, when Sharlene noticed something was wrong. She gasped as she saw her boyfriend slowly change into another person. A person she fears the most.

Paul.

He grinned evilly and tightens his grip on Sharlene. "Hello again, Sharlene Lane." he said. "I'm back."

Sharlene tried to push herself away but Paul's grip was too strong. "Let me go!" she screamed.

Paul laughed. "Why would I do that?" Sharlene's eyes widened in horror.

Sharlene woke up and gasped for air, her heart pounding hard. She panted a few times before she calmed down a little. She had that dream again. Only this time, it felt more real then before. Like Paul was really there. Sharlene shivered as she noticed how cold the room was. She turned and saw a light breeze blow in from an open window. She got up and went over to the window. She was about to closed it when she noticed a shadow of a man on the sidewalk across the street from the apartment. She couldn't see who it was but she could tell it was a young man in jeans and a T shirt. Then the shadow disappeared in a flash when the person noticed she was there. Sharlene watched the event in confusion. Who was that? Then she remembered what she was doing and closed the window. She went back to the bed and lay down. As she pulled the covers to her neck, she remembered the dream and started to worry about going to sleep. She's been having the dream for the past few nights now and she can't figure out why. Sharlene turned over and stared at the ceiling before she dozed off and fell into dreamless sleep.