Laura splashed the cold water against her face with disdain, rinsing off the grapefruit-scented facial scrub off of her face. "Guess the water heater's electrically powered, as well..." she shivered, grabbing the towel she was so used to grabbing, even in the darkness of the power outage. Sighing, she turned and strode confidently to the door, only to find it wasn't open like she thought it would be.

"Owwww..." she whined, flinching, and opening the door. Outside, the rain battered and battered the windows. The crashing thunder and lightning never faltering. "What a rotten night..." she whispered as she walked carefully over to the living room. Feeling her way around the couch, she reached her arm out in attempt to find the safety light on the wall, and flipped the switch.

Laura waited for the light to turn on, but waited in vain. What the heck? Seems like more than just a power outage is going on here... Tapping her foot impatiently, she began to think of where the spare flashlight had disappeared to, and remembered that Lionel was screwing around in the towel closet the other day with it. "Leave it to him..." she whispered with a small smile as she strode over to the hallway.

As she reached for the doorknob (which was found thanks to a close bolt of lightning), she froze. The air around her turned cold, as if someone had serious AC issues. It lingered for a while, and for some reason, she felt as if she shouldn't go for the flashlight. She felt as if someone didn't want her to get the flashlight. Feeling uneasy, she retreated to her bedroom.

"Maybe...it was nothing. Maybe...I'm just tired," she reassured herself, still uneasy about the feeling around her. "I should get some sleep. It's late..." Retreating to her doorway across the hall, the cold, unwelcome feeling seemed to pass.

As she finished changing into her pajamas, it seemed almost as if the already ferocious storm had gotten worse. Opening the curtains covering the window beside her bed, she was scowled down upon by an almost opaque sky, as well as rain that made vision through the glass almost impossible.

She groaned in response to the unwelcome gaze the sky had given her. It continued on with a low, menacing growl, followed by a distant bolt of lightning from far-off.

"Ugh." Falling back onto her bed, she stared up at the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling. It all seemed like the day happened a little too fast to Laura, as she began to recall the strange things that had happened. The man named "Marly", and how Lionel claims he didn't see him, calling her "schizo".

But something didn't feel right. It almost seemed like he did, but didn't want to tell me...

She sighed in annoyance at her friend's reaction earlier that day. "But he was there! I was talking to him and he gave me that... that crystal!" she complained, dissatisfied at the turnout of their encounter.

She stretched out her arm, almost as if to reach up to the stars on her ceiling. She then contemplated the strange and intimidating silhouette that had haunted her as she had sped through the hallway. She retracted hr arm quickly, knowing that she wouldn't get any sleep if she kept thinking about it.

Finally giving into fatigue, she turned over onto her stomach, slowly drifting off to sleep...

Blue skies. Warm breeze. Faint cries of seabirds heard here and there. The calming, constant sound of the waves. The smell of ripe fruit and fresh, healthy plants. Everything seemed peaceful, like nothing could go wrong.

Two lively teenage boys sparred skillfully on the beach, who were being cheered on by a cheery, pretty teenage girl. The silver-haired boy, who seemed older and was much more muscular than the brown-haired boy, but it was still an even match.

The auburn-haired girl was laughing at the funny faces the brown-haired boy made to her. She seemed to be the same age as him. The Silver-haired boy took advantage of this, and caught his brown-haired friend off guard.

I watched them from up on a hill, dangling my feet off of the bent tree I sat on. They seemed so happy. Their faces seemed so sincere.

As quickly as the bright image began, it began to fade. Darkness crept from the forest to my right, as well as from the water to my left. The sky grew a deep blue, the darkness snuffing out any source of light. The silver-haired boy seemed to walk backwards into the darkness, holding his hand out to the brown-haired boy, calling out his name:

'Sora.'

Sora, who showed great fear in his face, was about to reach for his hand when the auburn-haired girl whispered his name.

'Sora...'

He whipped his head around, looking like he was at a complete standstill towards what he should do. The silver-haired boy became annoyed.

'Sora!'

Sora glanced at both of them, unable to move.

'Riku... Kairi...'

Sora muttered, as who I thought was Riku gave him an evil smirk, and dissapeared into the darkness. The one I thought was Kairi cried out to Sora again, before vanishing. Sora's head hung in lonliness. Almost instantly, a beam of light shone like a sword in Sora's hand, changing into a sort of key. He took it in both hands, swinging at the darkness many times. The darkness began to mix with the light illuminating Sora, until it swirled about, making a bright blur.

It was bright. I covered my eyes with my arms. When I took them away, I found myself in an all-white hallway, where I saw Sora again. But he wasn't alone. At his sides were a dressed duck, holding a staff, and dog, holding a shield. Sora seemed more determined as he stared at the figure in front of him. I blinked as I saw his face.

Not Marly... Marluxia.

His name came instantly into my mind. In his hand was a large, pink and green scythe, and he pointed it to Sora, who charged at him. As he jumped at Marluxia, his friends behind him, the whole scene was washed away, like sand mixing with water. It shaped another, where a large, white pod stood in the middle of an immense, white room.

In front of the pod stood a girl with blond hair and a white dress. A man with bandages covering his head came to stand beside her.

'It seems we've come to a standstill.' his voice sounded deep and cultured. He made me feel strange.

She nodded meekly. 'Yes.'

I saw an orb of darkness grow larger beside them, and from it emerged a silver-haired boy who I thought may have been an older version of the boy I saw before. His eyes were blindfolded and he wore a black leather trenchcoat with a silver chain across the chest, and two silver tassels as hood strings. The bandaged man spoke again.

'Riku. You know what to do.'

'Right.' Riku nodded, and became emerged in the darkness he appeared in, which soon disappeared.

This scene swirled, and changed quickly before my eyes to a dark, rainy city. A heart-shaped moon hung in the sky, I thought it looked beautiful.

Ahead of me were two dark-cloaked figures. I saw one figure carrying a large key in each hand, and the other with only one. They spoke, but I couldn't hear them. However, a name came into my head:

Roxas.

The one with two keys. I stared at the two, and they charged towards each other. Their keys clashed, and the scene was once again washed away.

I opened my eyes again and found myself once again at the beach, with the same three teens: Sora, Kairi, Riku. This time, I watched Riku hug a large mouse, and Sora get tackled by the duck and dog. Kairi laughed at Sora. They all seemed so happy. I was alone. I was only watching them.

Swirling again. I found myself watching them again, but from the beach. They were on the hill, sitting on the bent tree. They were talking about a letter.

They looked up to the sky, and I felt myself looking up too-

Lillian woke up abruptly from her dream, sitting up, panting, eyes wide open. "What the... hell?" she panted, trying to regain her breath. Almost instantly, the thunder outside roared, which made her jump. Sliding her legs to the side of her bed, she rested her arms on them. Sighing, she recalled most of the dream she had just woken up from. "Who... who were they?"she asked herself.

Instinctively, her right hand rose up to her heart. "Do I know them from somewhere?" she mumbled, looking over to her lamp on her bedside table. Her heart felt heavy, like something was tugging at it from underneath. Am I forgetting something? Convinced she had never met any of those people, she got up and headed for the kitchen.

As she stepped into the kitchen, she looked up at the battery-powered clock. It read 3:31. She shook her head at how late-or early- it was, and reached up in the cupboard above the sink, which was, once again, dripping. "For heaven's sake, someone's gotta get this fixed..." she complained, filling up her glass. She took a small swig, letting it sit in her mouth for a second before swallowing.

You are the next link to the chain

Laura almost spat out her water in shock as she heard a voice call to her. "Wh-what? Who's in my apartment?" she called out, scared.

Do not be afraid. Walk the chosen path. The light will guide you

"What chosen path? Who are you? Where are you?" Lillian asked, setting the glass down and looking out the kitchen entry, before entering the living room. She looked left: Nobody. She looked right: Nobody, either. Completely confused, she stood in the middle of her living room.

Do not be afraid. Walk the chosen path. The light will guide you

Gulping, she walked towards her hallway. It was like her feet were moving all on their own. When she stopped in front of her entryway, the front door lock glistened, and the door opened all on its own, the glistening fading into sparkles. Laura found it strange that she didn't feel scared anymore. Slipping on her circa sneakers, she opened the door wider. Instead of her hallway stood a bright white path. Reluctantly, Laura walked down the path, admiring this strange place she entered. Am I dreaming? Is this real? She ran her hand through the air beside her, touching the swirls of pale orange, yellow, pink and pale, pale blue.

Do not fear... Let the light guide you. The power is your own

"Huh? What do you mean? What power?" Laura asked the voice, confused. What is going on here? Before she could ask anything more, The light shone even brighter as if she walked through a doorway. The light tugged at her body, pulling her through. Moving quicker and quicker, she moved to a position she could have sworn was like flying. Soon, everything faded... She reached her destination.