Chapter Thirteen: Dirty Magic

You're so tragic
I hate you so but love you more
I'm so elastic
The things you say, games you play
Dirty magic
I should know better than to think I'd reach inside her
It's all a cloudy kind of daze
She's not so sweet today
She mocks me, I'm no fighter
It all just seems like such a waste
~The Offspring

Her eyes opened slowly to the bright lights above her. They stung, causing her to turn away and groan. There was a thudding in her head that made her ears ring, and the base of her neck hurt slightly. In the distance she could hear the murmur of a voice and a machine that was beeping evenly. Somewhere outside the room a phone rang. She had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there.

Her memory was fuzzy. It was as if it was right there but she just couldn't grasp it. Her neck was stiff as she tried to lift her head to look around.

"Well, look who finally woke up," said a tall, sharp woman. She wore her light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and had on plain blue hospital scrubs under her white doctor's coat. She walked over to a machine by Nilin's bed and pressed some buttons. The woman turned to her, looking in her eyes with a small flashlight. "Can you tell me your name, honey?" she asked.

"Nilly. Nilin Gilbert," she answered, still trying to look around the room and away from the blinding light.

"Good. Now, do you remember how you got here?" the doctor asked, clicking the flashlight off and sticking it back in her coat pocket.

Nilly blinked several times, trying to get rid of the white spots in her vision. "Um," she looked down at herself, pulling at her pale pink hospital gown and raising her wrapped up hand. "I-I'm not sure," Nilin muttered.

"Okay," she said, and then she scribbled down something on a clipboard. "That's normal, you should regain memory soon, but until then I'm going to keep you under observation," she said quickly, not looking up from her clipboard. "I'm Dr. Fells, by the way. Your family is in the waiting room, I'll tell them you've woken up. If you need anything just hit the red button behind you and a nurse will come. Any questions?" Dr. Fells said, tucking the clipboard under her arm and smiling.

"Uh, no. Nope." Nilin said, trying to unscramble everything the doctor had just spurted out. Her brain was working slower than usual, as if it was immersed in jello. Still she wasn't positive what was going on.

"Alright, good," Dr. Fells said. "I'll be back later," she said as her pager went off. She read it quickly, looked back up at Nilly, smiled and then went on her way to better more lives.

As she heard the doctor's footsteps retreat, Nilly tried to prop herself up with her hands, that's when she notice the IV sticking out of her good hand. Slowly, she laid back down with a groan. The room was spinning.

She was disoriented as if she had taken too much cold medicine. The gap in her memory wasn't helping the situation either. Rubbing her forehead with her not bruised hand, Nilin attempted to grasp at her shredded memory. She remembered her black dress and the dance, all the lights and people. Dancing with Tyler as he spun her and as she joked with him was clear to her too, but then things started to get blurry after that.

Well except Damon, she remembered Damon perfectly. The way he danced and twirled her, and how it felt when she looked up at him. She stopped her thoughts right there. No way was that going to any further. For all she knew, this could be his fault. Consciously, she started putting any thoughts of Damon Salvatore behind a thick cement wall in her head.

The night had been going okay-ish from that point. So that meant someone ruined something at some point. It was Caroline. The pictures popped into Nilin's brain. Yes, it was Caroline Forbs with her spick 'n span look, her expensive top price dress and her horrible bitchy attitude.

She had said all those things that sent Nilin over the edge, and Nilin had punched her. That explained the wrapped up hand and the dull stiff pain in her knuckles. Her dad would be disappointed. He had taught her how to punch the right way so she didn't hurt herself. Clearly she didn't do that. She must have had her thumb tucked in, or didn't hit her with the flat part of her fist. The details of the incident were gone, she realized she only remembered the outline.

Nilly laid her head back on the firm hospital pillow that smelled too sterile and sighed. After she hit Caroline and ran out of the gym, everything started getting weird and that's where her memory is all screwed up. She could recall bits and pieces; a strange necklace, walking through the woods, her bare feet, fire, flying backwards, a man, and then nothing.

Why had she been wandering through the woods though? Who had she been chasing? Nilin closed her eyes and concentrated. "Bonnie," Nilly answered out loud.

"Yeah?" someone said. Nilly's eyes snapped open. She gasped, almost jumping out of her skin. "I need to talk to you," Bonnie said, walking into the hospital room. She was wearing jean shorts and a red tank top, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

Nilin noticed the dark circles under her eyes as she walked closer and sat in a chair next to the bed. "Jeez, you sacred me," Nilly said, trying to figure out a way to sit up.

Bonnie reached over and pressed a button on the arm of the bed. The back of it started to move forward, allowing Nilin to sit up comfortably. "Sorry, I thought you saw me come in." Bonnie said softly, placing her hands in her lap. "How are you feeling?"

"No, I was just… never mind. I'm fine, just a little discombobulated." Nilin said, shaking her head. Her thoughts were so jumbled it made her want to bury her head into a pillow and scream. At the moment though, she just really wanted to go back to sleep.

Bonnie's eyes were down, fumbling with her fingers. "Bonnie?" Nilly said quietly. Bonnie looked up at her tears in her dark brown eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Nilly," she said, tears spilling over.

Nilin reached her good hand out gently and placed it on Bonnie's. "It's okay Bonnie. I'm fine. Really," she smiled to prove it.

"No, you're not, you have a concussion and your memory is all screwed up and it's my fault. I should have told you, you're one of my closest friends and I was just so happy you were here. I wanted to tell you but Elena said maybe it was better I didn't, but I just felt so bad not telling you. We used to tell each other everything, but I didn't and now you're all broken." Bonnie began rambling.
"Bonnie! Bonnie, please you're giving me a headache." Nilin said, rubbing her forehead, "I didn't catch any of that. What is there to tell me? I don't understand any of this. What am I missing?" she dropped her hand from her face and looked at her friend.

Bonnie was taking a deep breath, calming herself. "I'm so sor—", she began to say but Nilly cut her off.
"If you finish that sentence with the word 'sorry', I will get out this bed and kick you so hard—"

"Okay, okay. I won't." Bonnie said, leaving Nilly's threat short. Bonnie took another breath and stood up quickly. She paced the room a couple times, before she stopped right behind the chair she had been sitting in and spoke. "This is going to sound crazy. But I'm not crazy Nilly, I swear," she said, looking Nilin straight in the eye.

Nilin nodded her head. "Okay, not crazy."

"I'm a witch," Bonnie finally spit out, her eyes still firm on Nilly, taking in her reaction.

Nilly let out a breath, more of a sigh of relief. She rested back in the bed as the anxiety slipped away. "That's all? That's what all this is about?" she wondered.

Bonnie seemed taken back as she slumped down into the seat. "You know?" she asked, her eyebrows knitted together.

"Yeah, I know you're a witch, Bonnie." Nilin said, chuckling a little. "I had a hunch and I guess last night was just conformation."

"H-how?" Bonnie asked, clearly confused.

"Well, I mean I'm pretty sure I remember what happened in the woods." Nilly explained, sitting up straighter, "A spirit or a phantom, whatever the acceptable term is, had gotten a hold of you. You, or the spirit really, conjured that fire and destroyed that strange orange necklace. You must have needed some type of magic to do that, right? And ghosts don't tend to latch on to normal people. There has to be a connection of some sorts, too," she continued, trying to map out her thoughts. "Plus," Nilin continued, showing off her detective skills, "your last name is Bennett, which, if you traced it back, emanates from a long line of witches that originated here." She let Bonnie process everything before she finished. "Am I right, or am I right?" she smiled

Bonnie sat there, jaw slightly dropped and eyes somewhat wide, as a silent pause passed. "I don't know if I should laugh or hit you," Bonnie spoke up. "I mean, how do you know all this stuff?" she asked quietly. "This isn't everyday knowledge."

"Would you believe me if I told you I just did?" Nilly tried.

"Not a chance," she answered.

Nilly sighed, "Do you remember me mentioning Mildred?"

Bonnie thought for a moment. "Yeah, she was an old friend of your moms, right? She used to visit when we were younger."

Nilly nodded, "Mil used to babysit my mom when she was a little girl and grew to be a really close family friend. She's like a grandmother to me, basically."

"And when you and your dad left town you moved down to where she lived," Bonnie continued.

Nilin nodded again. "Yeah, she found us a house up there and helped me settle in," she explained. "Her kids put her in some Senior Home, but ever since my mom passed and we moved there she's been at my house. She's been looking after my dad, while I've been gone."

"Okay, but what does she have to do with all this?" Bonnie questioned.

"Well," Nilin explained, "Her kids put her in that home because they thought she was nutty, you know senile. She used to tell them how special they were, and how they descended form a long line of witches." Bonnie just stared at her, not really catching it. "She's a witch, Bon." Nilin said bluntly.

Bonnie's eyes seemed to widen, "Really?" There was a pause and then the questions started coming, "Is she really? Does she know my Grams? Am I related to her?"

Nilly interrupted her before she started rambling again, "Yes, she really is. I've seen it. And no, you're not related. She stems from a different witch line, but she knew who and what you were immediately when I mentioned your name one day. She told me about you. It was really her hunch I went off of. That's when I started researching your lineage. I was able to go as far back as the 1800's. To a witch named Emily Bennett."

Nilly adjusted herself, leaning forward, and looked at Bonnie. She was piecing everything together, finally. "That's the ghost, wasn't it, Bonnie? She made the connection with you."
"Yes," she answered, leaning back in the chair and crossing her legs.

"But why?" Nilin asked.

Bonnie inhaled a breath as she began explaining.

Elena sat on one of the uncomfortable metal benches in the Mystic Hospital's waiting room. She had been there all night and was still in her long white dress from the dance. The bottom of her dress was stained with dirt from walking through the woods. She rested her head on her hand as she waited for news about Nilin. The night had blurred together, she barely remembered the time between leaving the dance and finding Nilly and Bonnie in the woods. As the exhaustion of the night began to settle in, Elena's mind flashed back.

"Nilin!" Elena was calling before turning to Stefan, "Where could she be? You don't think he could have—"

"No, no. Don't think like that." Stefan was saying, trying to clam her down.

"But how do you know that…" Elena went to say, but he cut her off as he grabbed hold of her hand and started towards the forest.

"Wait, shh. I hear something," he said, focusing his power on his hearing and sharpening it. Whoever he was picking up on was deep into to the forest, Stefan could only get a soft murmur of their voice.

"Do you think its Nilly?" she asked. Like usual she and Stefan were on the same page, he was thinking the same thing she was.

"It's our best guess," he said, as he led her carelessly through the trees. Her dress kept getting snarled, forcing them to stop a several times. Finally, Elena had just gathered the end up in her hands and followed after Stefan.

"There's something else," Stefan said as they got closer. "I can sense something, the power someone's using."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked as she scurried over a fallen tree.

"I can feel someone using power, a lot of it and they're close," he explained. Just then he could pick up on another voice. "Bonnie," Stefan said.

"Bonnie?" Elena asked, slowing down.

"No!" they heard someone yell suddenly. Stefan and Elena's heads snapped in the direction of the shout. Elena began racing after the voice, ignoring the ripping sound coming from the bottom of her dress. Then there was a loud explosion, and a cracking noise. Elena hadn't even seen him, but Stefan managed to pull her to the ground, shielding her from whatever had just blown up.

Elena could see light coming from somewhere, Stefan helped her back up as they started running towards it. They broke through the tree line just in time to hear Bonnie scream. "Damon stop!" Stefan yelled as he grabbed Elena's arm and stepped in front of her.

She peeked around him and was horrified to see Damon right behind Bonnie, mouth open and fangs clearly extended, inches from her throat. Damon grabbed Bonnie's shoulders and looked Stefan straight in the eye, "I was going to bring Katherine back!" he yelled infuriated. "That was the only way I was going to get her back! I needed that necklace," he continued. "She destroyed it! Emily didn't keep her side of the deal, so why should I?"

"Damon, don't do this." Stefan was saying. "It wasn't Bonnie's fault."

Damon's body stiffened as if he was about to attack her, but suddenly Bonnie was tripping forward and Damon was gone, disappeared into the night. Elena ran to Bonnie, and grabbed her arm to steady her. "Bonnie what happened? Are you okay?"
Bonnie was shaking, "I-I don't know," was all she said.

"Elena!" Stefan called urgently. The sound of his voice chilled her bones as she turned towards him slowly. She choked out a sob, and stumbled towards him. Falling to her knees next to Stefan, she placed her hand on Nilin's limp dirty one.

She was unconscious on the ground, her back sluggishly leaning against a tree, eyes closed and dress ruined.

"She's alive," he said in a strained voice. "But there's blood." Elena was the one shaking now, tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt someone kneel next to her. Bonnie was rocking Nilly's shoulder lightly, trying to wake her.

There was a wet spot on the tree above Nilly's head, darkening the bark. Elena touched it, and looked at her fingers. The tips of her fingers were stained red with Nilly's blood. Stefan had stiffened up next to her and she furiously wiped her hand in the dirt, trying to get rid of it.

"We need to do something," she said turning to Stefan who was already scooping Nilly up in his arms gently. Elena and Bonnie stood up as well.

"Go," Bonnie said to Stefan, "Get her to the hospital. Elena and I will meet you there. Just go fast, Stefan."

He nodded sharply, looked Elena in the eye and said, "She's fine, I swear. She'll be fine." Then he was gone and Elena and Bonnie were running through the woods again, getting back to the parking lot.

Elena snapped back into the present as Jeremy sat down next to her, pushing a hot cup of coffee in her hands and clothes to change into. She lifted the cup to her mouth and drank some before turning to Jeremy. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he said, taking a sip out of his own. "Where's Jenna?" he asked.

"She said she was going to make some calls, probably to Mildred or Uncle Jack." Elena answered. She took another sip of the steaming coffee, trying to get rid of the goosebumps she had, when Jeremy said, "Tell me what happened again." Elena swallowed hard, looking at her younger brother. She had relayed the cover up story she and Bonnie made up on their way here several times already. "Why?" she asked.

"Because it doesn't make sense," Jeremy said.

Elena eyed him, everyone else believed their story. "Yes it does," she urged. "Nilly and Caroline got in to a fight. Nilly hit her and ran out of the dance. She started to walk home, when she must have tripped and fell, hitting her head. That's when Bonnie, Stefan and I had found her. Stefan put her in his car and drove her here with me and Bonnie following." Elena repeated. Still Jeremy didn't look 100% fooled. It was that damn stubborn Gilbert gene they all seemed to inherit. "Those heels were big on her, she must have stepped in a crack on the sidewalk and fallen. We both know Nilly's not the stealthiest." She tried to lighten the mood, but Jeremy wasn't smiling.

"Why wouldn't she have gotten one of us to drive her home?" he asked.

"I don't know, Jer. You'll have to ask her when you go to see her." Elena took another sip of her coffee as she waited, nerves hardening her stomach.

"So wait, let me get this straight," Nilom said. She was now sitting cross legged on her hospital bed, while Bonnie sat at the end with her feet dangling off. "That necklace I watched be destroyed was Emily's."

"Yep," Bonnie nodded.

"Your Grams, who's also a witch, told you it belonged to you now, that it had found you and to not let anyone have it. But someone was after it, right?"

Bonnie nodded again, "Right, I kept getting these dreams that were so real. Emily was trying to tell me something. She tried to warn me in the dreams, and I would wake up outside in the woods by the Fell's church completely freaked out."

"Who was after it? Was it the man I saw behind you?" Nilly asked, sitting up straighter. Bonnie stopped, she wanted to tell Nilly that it was Damon who was after the necklace and why, but Elena made her promise not to say a word about anything that had to do with the vampires in Mystic Falls. Leaving Bonnie to dodge around certain questions and lie about others completely.

"We don't know who it was," Bonnie said. She saw a flash of panic go through Nilly's eyes as she played with the edge of her blanket. Why would Nilly panic over that? Bonnie wondered. "But listen, nothing else is going to happen to you, Nilin. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time," she tried to reassure her.

Nilin just nodded, a small half smile on her lips. "And you said Elena has known about this for a while now." Nilly said, looking down at the blanket.

"Yeah, she was the first person I told," Bonnie answered.

"And she wanted to keep it from me?" Nilly asked, still looking down.

"She just wanted to protect you, Nilin. She truly thought it was better not to tell you," she said. "Knowing about this stuff puts an extra weight on your shoulders, and you didn't need that when you've already go so much pushing down on you."

Nilly shook her head, a strange expression on her face. "What did it do?" she asked suddenly.

Bonnie stared at her confused. "What?"

"Your necklace, the amulet. What did it do?" Nilly asked, snapping her head up and looking Bonnie straight in the eye.

"Um, Emily. She used the amber crystal as a key for lifting a spell." Bonnie tried to explain. "She connected it to the comet that passes over Mystic Falls every 145 years. And as soon as the comet returned a few weeks ago, the crystal was empowered."

"What was it meant to unlock?" Nilly asked bluntly. She tried to figure out what to tell her. How can she be truthful to Nilly without telling her about vampires and the 26 that were trapped in that tomb? She couldn't, and Bonnie knew that Nilly had the right to know. Bonnie opened her mouth "It—"

"We don't know, we haven't figured it out yet." Bonnie shut her mouth, she didn't say that…

Her head turned towards the door with confusion. Elena stood there, her arms crossed over her chest. She walked over to Nilly and Bonnie in a fresh pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt. "Are you okay?" she asked, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

Nilly nodded, lifting her arm she said. "Just a little banged up and confused."

Elena smiled softly, "Well, like I said, we don't really know who wanted the necklace or what it did. Emily must have known though," she said.

Nilly looked to Bonnie as if to confirm what Elena had said. Bonnie swallowed and then nodded, "Elena's right, Emily was the one who destroyed it."

"Yeah and sent me flying back into a tree." Nilly said with a sigh, leaning her head back tenderly. She looked at Bonnie, her expression softening. "It's my fault I'm here, Bon. I went into the forest after you, I knew what I was doing. I just couldn't let you go in by yourself."

Bonnie smiled, and leaned forward wrapping her arms around Nilly. "You were protecting me," she said.

Nilly laughed lightly, showing she was still in pain. "Of course I was," Nilly said as Bonnie let her go. "And I always will. That goes for you too," she said, turning her head to the side and looking at her cousin.

Elena smiled and stood up, "I'm going to find the doctor and see when we can get you out of here," she said, hugging Nilin before leaving the room.

Nilin laid in the dark hospital room, staring up at the ceiling counting tiles. It had been several hours since Bonnie and her family had left. She had to all but physically force them out, so they could go home and get some sleep. Dr. Fell had returned, like she said, and told them that she wanted to keep Nilly overnight, just in case.

So now she was alone in the room, moonlight shining through the window. The hospital was eerily silent at night, the only noise coming from the hallway outside her room. Scuffling of shoes as someone passed her door, the occasional ringing telephone at the nurse station, and someone's hushed conversation off in the distance. The door to her room was open, she was too tired to get up and close it. Plus she didn't really want to, she was already feeling lonely and closing the thick wooden door would only make it worse. She continued to trace the patterns of the tiles on the ceiling with her eyes instead.

Nilly's eyes burned. They began to fell heavy the longer she laid there. She wondered how long she had actually been laying there. Her knuckles were still sore, but the ache in the back of her head had gone away after the nurse came in with pain medication— which apparently made her super drowsy but unable to sleep.

Eventually, Nilin rolled over to stare out the window, pulling her blanket around her tighter. She was on the second floor of the hospital and could make out the outline of tree tops on the other side of the parking lot. The leaves were rustling with the slightest breeze. For some reason Nilin felt a shiver run through her body. It prickled the back of her neck, causing the hair to stand up.

Nilin always had a bad reaction to hospitals. To say the least, she hated them. They brought back bad memories. It didn't help that her room was giving her the creeps right now either. All she wanted to do was fall asleep so she could wake up and get out of here as soon as she possibly could. Nilin sighed, her eyelids drooping a little bit, and rolled on her back again.

That's when she noticed that the room had gotten darker. She looked in the direction of her door, it was shut now. She hadn't heard anyone close it though. Maybe one of the nurses thought she was sleeping and closed it. Maybe I am asleep, Nilly concluded, propping herself up on her elbows carefully.

Movement caught her eye, something had blocked out the moonlight coming from the window. Nilly turned her head towards the window, but nothing was there. She let out a breath and rested back on the bed, rubbing her eyes with her good hand. She was so tired, she was just seeing things. Either her brain was playing tricks on her eyes thanks to the concussion or she really was dreaming. Nilly wasn't sure which one.

"Hello, beautiful," said a silky voice at the foot of her bed. Nilly's head snapped up, to find Damon standing there, hands behind his back, dressed in all black and grinning.

"Damon, what the hell?" she breathed out, falling back on the pillow. She ran her hand down her faces, everything feeling slow and fuzzy.

Damon walked over to the side of the hospital bed and peered down at her, a smile still on his face. "You don't seem too surprised that I'm here," he said, pulling his eyebrows together.

"I'm dreaming," Nilly mumbled, peeking up at him from between her fingers.

"So you've dreamt about me, I guess that happens often, huh?" he teased her.

Nilin rolled her eyes, or at least she thought she rolled her eyes. "Your arrogance must be impressive if it even shows up here," she shot back with a grin of her own.

He laughed a little before asking her, "What makes you so sure this is a dream?"

Nilly thought for a moment. "Besides the obvious fact that you weaseled your way into my subconscious?" she wondered, turning her head towards him. "Visiting hours are from 3 to 8," she explained to him sarcastically.

Damon chuckled too as he looked down at her. "Oh, is that so?"

"Well, yes." Nilin nodded languidly. Her nose tickled, she attempted to scratch it as she continued to ramble. "But honestly, it's a dream because why else would you be here right now," she sighed, "wasting your time on me."

She scooted over on the bed a little and patted the open space. He sat down on the side of her bed facing her, legs hanging off. This was a very realistic dream, she could feel the mattress move under his weight and she could even smell his cologne over the strange hospital aroma.

"It also doesn't help that they've doped me up on pain medication either," she laughed, shutting her eyes for a moment. "They make everything really weird."

"I glad you're having a good trip," Damon said. "I just needed to make sure you were okay," he said softly.

Nilly opened her eyes to stare at him. She smiled but her smile was quickly replaced by a yawn. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine just concussed. Strong like bull." Nilin chuckled quietly. His cool fingers brushed the bangs off her forehead gently. "Mmm," she murmured. "That tickles." He chuckled at her, shaking his head in the dark. "You know what's weird, Damon?"

"Enlighten me," he said.

"I'm exhausted. I've never been tired in a dream before. How strange…" she mumbled. "Why am I so tired?" she asked.

He smirked at her. "It's your body," he elaborated. "It knows that you're hurt and it's fixing itself. It does that best when you're asleep."

"Oh," she said, yawning again. This made him smile more but then she looked up at him, "Why are you so nice to me? Caroline said you're just using me. Is that true?" Nilin saw him pause for a moment, his smile disappearing, but then it returned. He spoke smoothly, his voice the softest Nilly's ever heard it. It was like a lullaby. "Don't listen to her, she jealous of you."

Nilin grinned a little in the dark, "Jealous? Ha. Don't make me laugh."

"Really," he said as he leaned down towards her and whispered, "Don't tell anyone but, she has a crush on me."

She laughed. "Well, that explains this," Nilly said, lifting her hurt hand.

Damon trapped her hand in his and held it, examining it so lightly that she didn't even feel anything. "I don't think you know how disappointed I am at the fact that I missed you punching her," he joked, taking her hand in both of his and placing them in his lap.

"Well, I do have a pretty wicked left hook. I can always reenact it for you," she offered as she looked up at him. The moonlight casted a shadows under his face, making him look paler and darker. She couldn't see his eyes very well so in her medicated state she stared at his mouth. The only color that he seemed to have was in his lips. They were a pale pink but red in the center. His white teeth glinted when he laughed. There was no way this man was real, he was too perfect.

"Let's wait until your right hand heals." Damon said, pulling Nilin out of her thoughts.

She sighed, "Fine." She yawned again. "This is a nice dream, usually I just have nightmares," Nilly mumbled, her eyes drooping. Damon looked down at her, frowning a little. Or at least it felt like she was frowning.

"Nightmares?" he asked. "I hope I'm not in those ones."

"No," Nilin sighed. "Just him," she answered, struggling to keep her eyes open. She didn't want to shut them. She liked talking to Damon, but he was caressing her hair again, swiping her bangs back and making it extremely hard to stay awake.

Nilly thought she heard Damon ask her who she was talking about, but she was still mumbling. "I don't want him to find me. I don't want him to…" She lost the battle with her eyes as they shut.

Then she heard Damon say close to her ear, "I won't let him." She felt his lips touch her forehead softly. "Goodnight, Nilin." She heard him say, but his voice was far away. The dream seemed to fade out strangely. Nilin was pulled into a soundless sleep for the rest of the night. No dreams, no nightmares, no one.

Author's Notes:

So, was it a dream or not? Hmm...
This was a long chapter. Thanks for reading, guys :) Chapter 14 will be up on Wednesday, not sure if I'm going to split that into one or two parts yet. Let me know what you want! Tell me what you guys think of Nilin's adventures so far. Favorite, Follow & Review!
Thanks again,

RLS