I was falling through darkness, my hands outstretched… as I neared the bottom of this icy pit, I felt no fear pump through my veins. Instead, I pressed my arms to my sides and purposely made myself go even faster… faster… faster… I hit the ground headfirst with a sick crunch, feeling my neck snap…I had trouble sleeping, almost as if I were being smothered… everything went black…

THUD. I immediately jerked my eyes open, feeling my nose scream in pain. What the hell? Did I just fall out of bed!? With a groan, I picked myself back up, threw myself back into my bed and started drifting off to sleep again.

This time, I was falling through the sky, falling with my hands at my side, rocketing towards the street below me where people were pointing. I felt my lips curl back in a sneer; I was going to die again. Cool. I was almost to the ground…

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! This time, I awoke to a knocking sound, and not my still throbbing nose making out with my carpet. With yet another groan, I refused to open my eyes. I was still groggy, probably because of that sleeping pill I took before bed… now why couldn't I fall asleep again?

Huh, I don't remember. All I know is that I had one really messed up dream and two about falling. Oh, more knocking. Apparently, my mom thinks I'm ready to hop up and get to school. Yea-no. Sorry, us teenagers? We don't function like that. The knocking kept going and I was getting sick of hearing it. I got up, rubbed my eyes, and nearly passed out.

Knocking back at my mother was that pansy-man, NiGHTS. When my mother knocked, he replied with an exact copy of her knock, and he was smiling like a mad-man thinking this was all a game or something. Immediately, I hopped up and quickly ran over. If my mom got sick of this and opened my door, well, we were both screwed… mostly me.

Sneaky as a ninja, I got over there without making too much noise, and pretty much tackled him into my bookcase, covering his mouth with my hand. "Listen!" I hissed quietly, "Shut up for a second, or I'll have to practice my pimp-slap on your face! Got it?!" He looked confused. I flashed my angry eyes at him, leaned over backwards and opened the door, peeking out. Sure enough, there was my mom.

"Steph? What with all the thumping and knocking?" I froze for a second, and then quickly spat out, "I was playing with you, shifted my weight, lost my balance, hit my bookcase, stubbed my toe, muttered angrily and then opened the door." Hey! You want to make up a cover story in about ten seconds for your own mother!? It's not easy to do! I mean, she didn't really look convinced.

"Um, sure. Steph, just get ready, okay?" Her eyes narrowed a bit. I smiled my most winning smile. "Yes mom-AUUUUGGHHH!" Something warm and wet just pushed itself against the palm of my hand. My mother made the weirdest face back at me, as my face recovered from the wet shock. "Sorry. I, um-"

"Just get ready." My mom sort of backed off from me a little quicker than she really would have, and just went downstairs.

I shut my door, and turned to look at the freak that was doing something in his mouth with his tongue and making weird faces. It seems today is strange face day or something, but that wasn't important. What WAS important was that this creep just LICKED. MY. HAND. Not a little lick, I mean like a DOG KISS. HE LICKED IT. "What the bloody hell was THAT for!?" I snarled, releasing my grip on him and wiping the slime off on my PJ pants.

"You smelled sort of good, so I licked you. You taste salty though. That's nasty."

Argghhh! Now he wants to eat me!? DAMNIT. He's becoming less of a freak and more of a total pedophile! Apparently, he didn't want to be in the corner anymore; he pushed me off like an annoying bug, causing me to stumble into my dresser, back first. SHIT. OW. DAMNIT. THAT HURT. I turned to look at him, probably beat him senseless with that bat, only to see him on my bed all relaxed-like. THE NERVE.

"So…" He started, as if nothing just happened, "who was that playful dreamer?"

"That was my mother."

"Mother? Where did your other mother go?"

"What…?"

"The one with the funny hair on its face."

I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth. "That's my DAD. Like, um, Wiesman or whatever. Father?"

NiGHTS thought for a second and suddenly went, "Oooh! That's right! You dreamers have genders and stuff! Hah, sorry, forgot about that. By the way, you make noises that could probably rival Gillwing's when you sleep. What's up with that?"

"Oh. Was I snoring?"

"Is that what you call those noises that sound like Gulpo with stuffed gills?"

"Um… sure?"

"Yeah, you were pretty loud. I tried covering your face with a pillow, but then you started thrashing about and making weirder noises, so I just let you go."

I think I ripped out a chunk of my hair. He SMOTHERED me in my sleep!? Well, that explains part of the first dream! "Dude, that's NOT cool!" I shook, trying to keep my cool and so I didn't turn into something Satan would probably run from. "We need to BREATHE, and we can't do that if there's PILLOWS on our FACES."

"Breathing? It can't be that important. If I don't know what it is, then you don't have to worry about it."

I raked my fingers through my knotted hair. It's only five-thirty AM, and I can feel the migraines starting already. "Well, I'm going to go take a shower. Stay HERE, and don't touch anything!!" I hissed. I turned and pretty much stomped out of my room and headed down the hall to the bathroom.

I shut the door behind me, started the shower, stripped off my clothing and stepped into the nice and warm shower. I stood there for a moment, letting the water blast off scum and stuff before I grabbed an orange poof and squirted some body wash on it. I tried to make it fast, because if Twinkle-Toes got bored in my room, which he probably would, he'd venture downstairs and make my mother have a miscarriage without being pregnant, or worse -seeing where I've gone!

I washed my hair at super-sonic speed, shut the water off, hopped out and wrapped myself up in two towels. Now that I was clean, I could face my problems without looking like a scumbag. I was just about to get dressed when I realized something horrible – my clothes weren't in here! I never grabbed them! My mind raced, and now I honestly hoped NiGHTS when to go explore the house.

I opened the door a crack and peeked into the hallway. Besides the fact it was freezing out there, the coast was clear. Clinging the towels nice and close to my wet and nude body, I crept out of the bathroom… so far, so good! Without hesitating, I took off down the hall, hung a left and dashed through my bead curtain and stared around. Good, no pansy-man. I opened my underwear drawer and took out a fresh pair, along with a bra. Oh, please, like you never heard about girl's undergarments!

I slid my towels off and slipped my panties on and was about to hook my bra on when a tap on my shoulder from a velvety finger made me stop completely. Thank God my bra was covering what needed to be covered and I just needed to clip it, but STILL! So, I stood there, pretty much nude with this guy behind me. CREE-EPY.

"So, you can change colors?" NiGHTS asked interestedly. I just stood there, my face as hot as an iron on high, and my temper was getting there as well. He continued, "What are you holding there? Ooh, is that a slingshot? Can I see it?"

I lost it. Covering my breasts with my arm, I turned around and went to hit him to suddenly realize that the bra I had just in my hand was gone. "EEP!" I quickly covered myself with my other arm and looked up to see that jerk-head stretching it back and letting go, having it make a 'thwoing!' noise. "HEY!" I cried out, partly pissed and partly embarrassed as all hell, "I NEED THAT! GIVE THAT BACK!"

"Steph?" I heard my mom call from downstairs, "What are you doing up there? Who are you yelling at?" I bit my lip quickly, then called back, "My cat stole my… um… my sock!"

Silence, then an "Oh, alright." From my mother told me that I just slipped right by that. While he was distracted, I quietly stomped over and ripped it from his hands, turned my back to him and finally got that bloody thing on. I turned back around, feeling a little better, but not by much, and said straight to his confused face, "You do NOT mess with women's underwear, alright?! I don't know if you have chicks where you come from, or if you even ARE one, but you do NOT touch the underwear. Got it?!"

He just cocked his head at me, "Why do you wear a slingshot?"

I gripped my head and growled. "It's called a bra. Women wear them to… um… look good."

He made a face. "Actually, that looks sort of stupid; I mean, aren't you cold?"

"Well, you put clothes OVER it, dumbass."

"Oh, well, I didn't know… dumbass?"

Okay Steph, breathe in… and out… in… and out… "Just drop it."

He blinked. "Drop? Drop what? I'm not holding anything."

I decided to give up. I turned my back on him again and opened my shirt drawer when a sudden snapping noise and a quick stinging sensation littered my back. With a quick intake of air, I just realized he snapped the bra strap. OH NO HE DIDN'T.

"Sorry. I'm still trying to figure out why you guys wear these. I mean, they're like mini-torture devices!"

"No, it…" I decided I might as well tell him the truth. I turned and pointed at my chest. "Bras give support to your boobs. Girls have them." I pointed at the tiny ones I had as if to make a point. He pointed at his own chest, "Do I have boobs?"

I seriously pretended to look him over. "No, I think you're considered a guy and don't have boobs." I really needed to drop this conversation – it was killing my brain cells. "I need to finish getting dressed so give me a second."

I turned around and threw my hand in my drawer to grab something when a sharp pinch on my index finger made me yelp and jump backwards. Hanging off my now-bleeding finger was a hermit crab. Okay, so that's what it looked like anyway. It was a red and white colored shell thing with claws and eyes that stared right through my soul. I did a little dance, attempting to shake it off. So, yeah, there I was in my underwear at six in the morning dancing around waving my finger in the air trying to shake a mutant crab off my finger. Lovely way to start a morning, innit?

I felt a body against my back, "Oh, look, it seems you have a Kircle problem there, Steph." I looked upwards, suddenly feeling tiny and blinked, trying to hold back tears of pain. "Uh-" He seemed to get the idea that I honestly had no idea what it was. He took my hand gently, and carefully pried its tight little claw off my scarlet –colored finger and held it aloft by its shell. For good measure, he punched it right in-between the eyes. The thing sort of went cross-eyed and seemed dazed.

I started to suck on my finger. Dude, I needed to get that Neosporin out of my drawer. "So- " I asked him, still nursing my throbbing finger, "what are you gunna do with that… Kircle?" he looked around and his eyes rested on the window. "Can you open that up?" I nodded, and walked over, throwing up the multiple layers of screens and stood back. "If you throw it out though, it might attack someone else." NiGHTS didn't seem to care; in fact, all he did was swiftly move toward the window. "Hey, didn't you hear me? He might- ARRGHHH!"

NiGHTS literally dived head-first out my bedroom window! MY SECOND FLOOR BEDROOM WINDOW! I charged at the window and threw my head out, looking at the ground and gasped. Carnage! His mangled body on the ground, the Kircle feeding on his dead body!

Okay, no, that wasn't there, but I was expecting it to be. In fact, I saw nothing on the ground. No indent where he landed, no Kircle… I went to extend myself out further to see if maybe he went down the sidewalk, but a sudden burst of air nearly threw me up and out the window. I pulled myself back into my room, my hair now nearly dried due to the wind. I touched my hair with a light "wow…" out of the corner of my mouth, and then I started to remember what just happened.

"NiGHTS?!" I talked to my open window. I walked over to it again and slowly stuck my head out. "Hell- ARGGG!" A pair of grape eyes just appeared in front of my face with a cheery "Hello!" I stumbled backwards, ass-over-teakettle onto my floor, and felt pain shoot up my already-tender tailbone.

He looked at me, hands on the bottom of my windowpane, and that jerk had the nerve to giggle! HE GIGGLED AT ME, but I was too scared to be angered. "How the hell are you doing that!?" I think my eyes bugged out of my head; I'm surprised they weren't rolling on the floor already.

"What? Doing what?" He let go of my windowpane and shrugged, little cyan stars falling from his fingertips. Of course, I screamed and pushed myself up onto my feet to, I dunno, try to catch him if he fell, but he stayed put. "I don't know what you're walking about."

I stuttered, trying to find something to say to him, gave up, and ran over to my other window. Throwing away the curtains and the blinds and whipping up the other layers of window, I stuck my head out to look. There he was, just floating in air. No, I kid you not. Him. Just floating. Right there. Out my window. Midair. Just floating.

I pointed at him, feeling my bottom lip brush against my carpet, and my temper started to rise when he just giggled again, "You never saw anyone fly?" He pushed away from the window and did cart-wheels in midair and laughed a little bit. My anger slowly faded – seeing him like this, I honestly couldn't be angry at the guy. I seemed hypnotized, feeling a little sad. Then, as I realized that the sun was out and people could see him, I pointed at the other open window and mouthed the word, "in" at him. He seemed to understand and he gracefully spun through the window, landed in front of it, and grinned a most-winning smile.

My anger slowly came back, and I finally answered his question, "No. I never saw anyone fly. It's something us humans could… well, we can't do that." I sighed out of longing, and shook myself out of it. I had more pressing matters to attend to, like getting dressed. I walked over to my other dresser, bent down and grabbed that bat I was talking about, walked to the open drawer in the other dresser and cautiously put the bat inside. After hearing no claws-on-wood action, I took the bat out, replaced it with my hand and pulled out a shirt to wear.

After I got a pair of pants on and a shirt, I turned back to NiGHTS and crossed my arms. "Okay, so, besides the fact you can apparently FLY…" He scratched the middle of his face where a nose should have been, probably nervously, "Yeah, Sorry, I forgot that detail."

I nodded in agreement, "-What exactly was that thing? A Kircle? Why was it in my shirt drawer?" I was just curious; I would have gone apeshit if it was in my underwear drawer. "Oh-" he started, "That was a low ranking Nightmaren. It just clings onto your body and causes you pain while slowing you down a bit if you're flying. Since you were on to ground, all it did was cut your finger open."

Oh yeah. I forgot my finger was bleeding like a river. Thankfully, none of my bodily fluids got on my dark clothing as I dashed to the bathroom, washed it off, grabbed a band-aid and went back into my room. I grabbed that magical Neosporin tube and loaded the slash with nice and creamy soothing goop and looked at it. The cut didn't magically seal itself; wow. That was pretty ghetto. It worked on Clown-man. Damn. I put the band-aid on it nice and snuggly, and that was the end of that.

"So, what did you do with the Kircle?" I asked, seriously wondering about it. "I mean, is it on my roof?" NiGHTS shook his head, "I paralooped it." I stared at him. "You did what with a parasol?"

He made a weird circular hand motion with his two pointer fingers, "You know, paralooped." I kept staring. "No. I don't know." So this was as obvious as the blue sky to him apparently… well, I guess I'm not into the hip lingo of today. Fo' Shizzle.

"What I did was create a vortex around it and sucked it into another dimension where it was crushed to death and wiped out from either plane of the words. In other words, I killed it."

My eyes got bigger with my stare. That was… dark. I realized where that strong updraft of wind came from that dried my hair oh so nicely. Suddenly, I started to realize how screwy this morning was and I couldn't help but to start laughing. I just started and kept on going and before I knew it, NiGHTS was laughing his merry little laugh, but I think he just felt left out and wanted to be in on the laughing as well.

A call from my mother made me snap out of it. "Steph!! It's quarter to seven, let's go!" I gasped, realizing I didn't do my make-up yet. I dashed over to my mirror and started to apply it at the speed of light, trying to still make it look good. The interested maren watched as I applied concealer, eyeliner, all that girly stuff. When I was done, he smiled. "That's how I remembered you looked yesterday." I smiled, and then saw the clock. Gack!! I had to go, NOW!

I ripped on a pair of elbow-length black mesh gloves, my class ring, and cat collar, and was halfway out my room when I turned and pointed at NiGHTS. "Stay here till I get come from school!" He cocked his head at me like a confused dog, "What's school?"

"I'll tell you when I get back, I promise!!" With that, I dashed out of my room and nearly tripped down the stairs. Deciding today was a day that I was not going to straighten my hair, I grabbed a nearby hair tie off the colonnade and pulled it up into a pony-tail. "Mom! I'm ready to go!" I yelled, throwing on my trench coat (which was still wet and sort of disgusting looking) and threw on my book bag.

My mother came in and eyed my coat. "Did you fall or something?" I nodded quickly, "Yeah. Tripped on the way home. Forgot to wash it." I smiled a bit. She sighed, "And what was with the yelling upstairs?" I froze again, biting my lip. I needed a story and fast. "I opened the closet and I thought I was someone in there, but, uh, it was just the way my clothes were positioned and since I was half-awake… you know!"

She looked like she didn't really buy it, but she didn't pester me about it. So, beating off as much dirt as I could from my coat and quickly patting my cat on the head, I turned and walked out the door to mom's car. As I sat in the front seat and pulled out my iPod, I looked back at my house. I really hoped he stayed still, otherwise today was going to be interesting…