Greetings, I am a deity of another world, born on Earth, reborn into the role of god for another universe. But for me to tell my story you are going to need to hear it from the beginning, otherwise nothing will make sense. Let us begin. My name is Nicholas, I was an avid lucid dreamer, now… not so much. The issues all started when I was rather young, I was around thirteen or fourteen, I do not recall exactly when. Much like all kids my age I hated going to bed, the more time I spent sleeping the less time I had to play games. Every now and then I would have friends over and we would pull an all-nighter, just to fall asleep half way through the next day, exhausted. But one summer holidays I decided that I was going to test myself, I was going to see how far I could go. Every chance I had I would stock up on snacks and games, I would arrange for people to come over in a day or two, then I would start my binge. The first few tries were absolute failures, but I quickly learnt better ways of obtaining consciousness. It became apparent that good hydration was needed, I figured since I had to pee every few hours my body was working more, so staying awake to finish its functions. To my knowledge I am correct, I have never bothered to look up a more scientific reason behind that. Small amounts of food was also needed, but I do mean small amounts. Again, I figured if I was permanently a little hungry my body would stay conscious to look for food. Finally, I had to keep my brain active, the longer I was awake the more time I needed to spend engaging my brain. Three or four good attempts down the line I had reached a high score of five days, I was impressed with myself. I knew I could have gone longer, but I was starting to hallucinate badly. Everywhere I went I saw hands, at first, they were human like. They had no scary factor other than there were floating hands everywhere. They would crawl on the walls, creeping around corners and giving me frights when I was not expecting it. But late into the fifth day they all started, dying. They lost all their colour, then the fingers started to snap and crack, bending in un-natural ways. Where they once used to run like cousin It, they then started limping around, staining the walls black with a sticky tar. At this point I figured I should go to bed, clear my head. Sadly, I knew my holidays were coming to an end, with that my experiment came to an end too. I had to focus on school too much to allow myself multiple days of consciousness, but that was alright as I had just found a new goal, lucid dreaming. A friend of mine at school was talking about lucid dreaming, a concept to me which was foreign. He explained it to me simply as, the ability to control dreams. Naturally I was interested immediately, the concept of controlling dreams was amazing. As soon as I had free time I researched lucid dreaming, I learnt all about reality checks and instigating lucid dreams all from blogs online. Throughout the rest of my high school years I would attempt lucid dreaming from time to time, but it did require a lot of effort so I seldom attempted it with very few successes. Eventually I left high school and started my journey into real life, in the form of tertiary education. I moved to a city where I had family and friends nearby, both of which had moved in the pursuit of education. I was living by myself on the twelfth floor of an apartment building, it was ideal for me as I liked to relax by watching movies and falling asleep at the time. When I was not visiting friends, I would just do my work in my room, then I would chuck on a movie and slowly fall asleep. A couple of weeks into my time in the city and my friend from my home town mentioned lucid dreaming to me again. I did not have much on so I figured I might actually give it a go, a proper one where I don’t give up after a week. A few weeks down the line I started to one eighty from my earlier self, once I finished my school work I would go to bed as early as possible. I started to look forward to sleeping, I was starting to gain some decent ground on my lucid dreams. Eventually I had it to the point where I would achieve lucidity at least once a night, not always lasting in length but I would get a few moments of being a god. Eventually I had a break from uni so I spent most of my time trying to master the power of lucid dreaming. Until one day when I encountered a… hiccup, with my testing. One day while I was getting ready for bed I heard a knocking at my door, looking at my clock I decided that it was late enough that I could have said that I went to bed early, so I decided to ignore it. Five minutes later I heard the knocking again while I was on Facebook. This time it was loud, the door flung open and this thing entered my room. It dripped with tar and crawled all around my room filling it with its thick tar. I could feel myself suffocating, then my eyes opened and I was awake, actually awake. This time I ran through my reality checks and they cleared me, I figured I must have fallen asleep straight after hearing the knocking. That was the start of what was to happen next. Over the next few weeks I started seeing more and more things from my dreams while I was still conscious. Not all of them were bad, most of them would just pop up in the corner of my vision, disappearing as I turned to see them better. I could deal with these flickers in the corners of my eyes, but I could not deal with losing my ability to lucid dream. While I could still reach the point of realising that I was dreaming, I had started to lose my control over my world, I was no longer the thing in charge. Once again I started to hate sleeping, I started avoiding sleep. While the lucid dreams were not scary they had me on edge, the dreamscape would constantly change and door constantly appeared in front of me. I never touched them, I walked around them, or I sat waiting for the dream to end. Once I started to avoid sleeping the hallucinations got bad again, probably due to the lack of sleep. I was stuck in an endless cycle of being awake for days on end to avoid dreaming, then once I started to hallucinate I would go to sleep to gain back my sanity, then I would start again. I eventually made it through my year of uni with minimal damage, deciding that I did not like to study I left and moved away to another town where a friend lived. I flatted with him and his partner of the time, I got a job and everything seemed to be alright. Then, out of nowhere, nightmares. They were unrelenting, every night without fail I would have a nightmare. Never the same scenario, but the locations and the monsters were reoccurring. Each night I went to sleep I would catch glimpses of this horrible world, sometimes I would be in it, other times I was floating above watching as everything unfolded beneath me. This affected me, a lot. I started losing sleep once again, I was terrified of sleeping for a time. I sought help but their answer was to take sleeping pills, I told them the issue was not sleeping, it was that I did not want to sleep. No one listened, not really. Eventually the nightmares faded, leaving me to once again sleep with relative peace. Fast forward a short while, I am living back in the city with a much better job. I am working and surrounded by friends and family. I could not be happier. It was around this time I started writing my dreams down, collecting them, learning how to write a story. Then, one day while some friends from out of town were visiting I had an incident. I went to the super market to grab a few things when I got talking to an individual in the underground parking lot, I do not recall what we talked about nor for how long. But I do remember blinking, and him disappearing. It was not until he disappeared that I realise he was from one of my nightmares. I went home and freaked out for a while before falling asleep. That dream, that was the start of it all. In my dream, I sat facing an individual, I could not make anything about him out just that he was human, and a him. He spoke very quickly, always referring to himself as ‘You’, as in reference to me. He was adamant that we were the same, divided by the thin line of time. He said that he would show me the world I was to one day create, in return I had to tell his stories to the world. I saw nothing wrong with this, so we shook on it, striking our deal mere days before heading back to my home town. Note for all who read, never make a deal in a dream. It is too easy to manipulate truths there. I started to have nightmares again, it did not scare me this time, this time they were fascinating. I thought that would be the only side effect from our deal, but I had missed the fine print. Each time I was to walk near my room, I could feel eyes. Any time I was down that side of the house I could feel eyes, they would burn into the back of my head, but every time I turned around I was greeted with nothing. Again no one believed me when I mentioned this. As time went on I found the less I typed the more I felt depressed. I found out that I displeased dream me when I was not typing, so he would mentally start lowering my mood. I tried everything to raise my spirits, exercise, friends, relationships, family, gaming, drugs, but nothing worked. Once I started writing again I would be pulled from the bad thoughts and return to being normal. Now please focus, for we are nearly at modern day. This part is very important. I said it before, I will say it again. Never make deals in your dreams. Since moving away from the house with the eyes I have been free from its gaze, but now it is worse. I recently moved in with a friend, it has been great having a close friend for someone to live with. For the majority of the past months I have been great, but recently it has gotten worse. It does not matter if I am awake of if I am asleep, I see that other world, I see Hollow. When I sleep, it is a vivid world that feels as real as this world. When I don’t sleep I see parts of Hollow bleeding into this world. Regardless of whether I sleep I have the eyes on me again, but it is not only one pair, I feel hundreds. I can feel the worlds starting to collide, the worst part is, I don’t know which world is real. They both seem so large, …

Jackson stared into the bathroom mirror trying his best to flatten his bed his unruly brown hair. “Hey Jack, we have to go, experiment starts in half an hour and I would like to be early.” Jackson washed his face hoping he could wash off the bags under his eyes from a restless sleep the night before. “Fuck I hope I don’t have another nightmare for this experiment.” Jackson dried his face and started to head towards the door. “Alright I am coming ya banshee.” Coraline was stood waiting at the door with her face in her phone, oblivious to any tormenting from Jackson. As she noticed feet starting to appear before her she passed out a coat to which Jackson took happily. “Ok let’s go I hate being late.” The two of them made their way out of the building and into the car, which surprisingly started first try. Coraline let off a small fist pump with relief as she looked over to Jackson to see his drooping eyes stare off into the distance. No words said she started driving, between each gear change she would try to hold onto his leg as a way of comforting him. After a short drive, they pulled up outside the building where the test was to be held. “Jack if you decide you don’t want to do this just tell me and we leave right away ok? I don’t want you to start freaking out, it must be hard partaking in an experiment for a science that your father disappeared studying.” “I am too tired to care at this point, besides they were using crystals I doubt that they will get any result. Let’s just go in, at least I get to sleep during this experiment.” They both made their way inside, again being greeted by the same door that screeched as it opened. The halls seemed a little less damp with the extra lighting they had brought in, it made Coraline feel much safer. As they returned to the room with the crystals setup the other participant was already getting into a sleeping bag and laying down on a bed surrounded with crystals. The tall man was behind his laptop typing away, and the original examiner was setting up the second bed with the correct array of Crystals. “Welcome, Jackson I am setting up your bed now, Caroline I will do yours next.” “It is Coraline, but don’t worry plenty of people mess it up the first few times.” “Oh I am sorry Coraline, I will do my best to remember. As you can see my partner here is typing away setting up the experiment as we speak.” “No I am not, I finished setting it up ages ago.” “What are you doing then?” “Messaging some chick I met on Friday, she sounds like a freak. Judging by your face I should stop that for a while and get ready for final setup?” “Yea, you should. Message her off your phone once these lot are asleep and the system is booted.” Both Jackson and Coraline got onto their respective beds after the crystals were placed and proceeded to go to sleep, the tall man at the computer touched a few buttons and the adaptor light lit up blue. “Ok now we wait, I will go to sleep first just make sure you look up from your phone screen to check the monitor on occasion.” “I will don’t worry, sadly enough I would like the experiment to go right more than I would like to catch up with this chick again.” With that the night started to pass, with much relief the adaptor started transmitting data from the sleeping subjects nearly immediately after they had fallen asleep. Two hours in and still no sign of any visual data coming back from any of the subjects. It was nearly time to switch over between examiners when the laptop made a new noise, it sounded louder than expected and the tall man quickly turned down the volume on the laptop. After checking that everyone seemed to be still he returned his eyes to the soft glow of the screen, in the centre of the screen was a prompt to play a recently downloaded video. In hushed tones behind his hands he exclaimed. “Oh shit, oh shit, we did it.” He walked over to his friend gently nudging him awake. “Come look it worked!” “Really?” The still waking examiner yelled in surprise, quickly covering his mouth staring around the room. Coraline seemed to be moving in the dark but stopped shortly after. They both ran to the laptop and hit play, making sure they had headphones plugged in. As they watched their eyes widened with excitement, they started to shake as another file prompted to be played. “The subjects are going to freak in the morning!” Neither of the examiners slept the rest of the night, they spent their time organising the files and getting prepared for their morning presentation. 9AM rolled around and alarms sounded from several cheap alarm clocks placed at the heads of each bed. Everyone sluggishly moved from their sleeping positions, propping themselves up to see two very excited examiners. Jackson started rubbing his eyes and yawned. “I am guessing something went right.” “Everything went right, we have some calibration issues but we can sort that. Do you all want to see the dreams you had last night?” The subjects looked at each other briefly then ran over to the laptop. Open on it was three files, each one labelled after each of the subjects. “I guess we go alphabetical, so Coraline first. You have to understand this is the first time this has worked, nothing is one hundred percent clear but it is there.” Coraline’s file was opened to reveal four video files simply labelled one through four. “We have already watched all of your dreams, we can say this is an underwhelming result if you are expecting great video quality. We clearly did not sync any of you right, so the link is hazy to be nice.” The first video started to play, everyone watched intently as images started to appear. The video was nearly completely covered in static, but every so often there would be an opening and image could be made out. After going through all four of Coraline’s videos it was apparent that no one was truly going to see their dreams. Out of curiosity they went through all the other videos, but in the end, none of the subjects could confirm nor deny if these were truly their dreams. “We understand that this is the end of the testing week, but we truly believe if we can put a portfolio together we can get funding and continue this research. We discussed this last night and agreed we would only continue if we could use you guys all the way through. You have to understand though that we may not have the blessing of weekend work, we may have to do week based work as demonstrations.” The third subject pulled a disappointed face, “I am sorry guys I don’t have the free time to just jump out of class, you are going to have to count me out.” “We understand don’t worry, we know it is a lot to ask for.” “Both Jackson and I will do it, whenever you need us just call.” Coraline started to write down both of their phone numbers down and proceeded to hand them over to the two examiners. “Excellent we will be in contact as soon as we have spread the word.” Coraline ushered Jackson out of the building, she brimmed with excitement. “I can’t believe it actually worked, isn’t this amazing? Why don’t you looked amazed?” Jackson was lost in space staring out into nothing. “I am just so surprised it actually worked, I don’t know how I feel just yet.” Reading the mood Coraline calmed down getting back into her car, watching as Jackson walked straight past down the road. Sighing she turned her key and started driving back home without him. “I might be able to see my father again, this could be amazing. But I doubt that these guys will achieve that. Am I just setting myself up for disappointment? This isn’t even a real science, it is just a whole bunch of stupid shit.” Jackson walked until the sun fell behind him, talking to himself the whole time. Debating whether he was ready to see his father again, or even if it was possible to see him again. As the air cooled he made his way back home, where he walked in on Coraline hanging up her phone. “Who was that?” “It was…well the dream guys. I just realised that we do not know their dreams.” “What did they want? We only finished their test this morning.” “They were asking if we wanted to head back tonight for another test. But I told them we can’t, so don’t worry we can just relax at home.” “Na, fuck that, let’s do it. Trust me I am sure, I will grab my things. You call them back, I will wait in the car.” Coraline was hesitant, she was uncertain on how this was affecting Jackson. Her hesitance was crushed by her curiosity for the experiment and she called them back. The drive over to the experiment was quiet, the walk to the experiment had an eerie feeling as the sound of their shoes echoed around the hall making it sound as if people were walking behind the two. Once they reached the room where the experiment was being held the mood changed. “Come in, these are the head of our department here at the university, they are here to see how our machine works.” Jackson had very little interest in anyone in the room, faking a yawn he moved over to a bed. “Is this one mine? Sorry I am so tired and would like to get to sleep before the feeling fades.” Coraline knew he was lying, but she wanted to help him. “Yea me too can we get this going we have some hard night’s sleeping to do.” “um, very well. Yes, Jackson that is yours, we shall begin now if you two are ready to start.” Both Coraline and Jackson laid down and went to sleep. Meanwhile the two examiners sat with their lecturers to observe the process. “This does take a while, it would be best to take turns sleeping.” The lecturers agreed, with that one of the examiners and one of the lecturers went to sleep while the others stayed up. Again, the first shift was nearly over when the first video came through, this one noticeable larger in size than the last, yet it had a similar length. “You need to teach your machine to compress, no twenty second video needs to be a full Gigabyte.” “This is odd, the last files were only a couple of megs, it could be because we re-calibrated the system. It may be a negative side effect, or an indication of improved video quality.” As the two watched the footage their eyes widened, the flickering of the screen dimed as the video ended. Both the examiner and the lecturer turned and stared at Jackson before their attention was caught by a new video file coming in, this time even larger. As they stared at Jackson they noticed his body twitching and his face scrunching up. “No wonder he is squirming, I would be if I was having these nightmares too.” “I guess Coraline was right. They did have some hard nights sleeping ahead of them.”

He sat staring around the examination hall at all the busy pencils, heads stuck into the papers laid before them. He flicked through his paper, every box filled, every question answered. Bored he sat waiting to be set free from the halls.“Physics tells me that gravity binds me here, but really it is obligation isn’t it.”He muttered to himself, as a woman stood to the front of the hall waving her hand.“An obligation that unlike gravity, has just been lifted.”He moved from the hall and out the back to a run down to a two-door car which was waiting for him. Along with the car came a sweet smile with red hair.“I somehow knew you would be out as soon as that first bell sounded.” “Oh, look at me I am Coraline, I am a psych major and I know every move everyone is going to make ever. He said sarcastically.” “Well, in that case, I am Jackson and I have the need to add little quirky tid bits to the end of my sentences to show people I am unique.” “She said mockingly.” Both Coraline and Jackson exchanged glares before bursting out into laughter. They gave each other a warming hug and kiss before getting into the run-down vehicle. As the key turned the machine spluttered back to life, taking a few moments before settling its cough. “Ah, purrs like a beauty.” Jackson said laughing. “Can we please not be sarcastic for one moment, now I know she is rough but she gets us around. For instance, she gets us from your physics exam to this mumbo jumbo science experiment that you want us to do. So, appreciate the dying vehicle who will give her life to see us reach our destination.” The two drove off down the road, Jackson stared out the window at the university buildings as they passed by. He knew the drive would be a short while as their destination was on the other side of campus, and the university had an extremely low speed limit. “You could drive a little faster you know?” “Speed says thirty, I drive thirty. I don’t know about you, but I cannot afford a ticket.” Jackson pouted as he looked back out of his window, this time a strange man stood staring at the vehicle drive by. The freakishly tall man seemed to be emanating a creepy vibe that Jackson could not handle long, turning away from him before he fell from sight. “Damn there are some creeps that hang around campus, I just saw this tall weirdo. He was standing alone and just stared down the car, something about the guy makes me feel uneasy.” “Just be glad it isn’t night time, then he would have been ten times more disturbing.” Coraline said laughing at how nervous Jackson was. “Just some tall guy, you really are antisocial if that creeps you out.” “Ha…ha, you are so funny. Just keep driving your shit box.” Coraline laughed as she swerved over the road trying to scare Jackson. A few swerves later she could see it was having no effect so she straightened out in time to turn into their destination. “Hey Jack, does it concern you that the project we are doing is in a building that is being destroyed in a few weeks?” “Na, we are too much hassle if we die. If we die in an unsafe building they will not only be investigated but fined and their reputation ruined.” “True, but I would like to hope that THAT, is not the driving need to keep us safe.” “I mean ideally but it is the one that makes the most sense.” A silence stretched out as Jackson and Coraline climbed from the vehicle, and headed towards the dilapidated building before them. “I would love to get into that head of yours, you have such macabre answers to things.” “To me they seem normal, maybe you are just too optimistic. Although in saying that I am very optimistic that this test will be successful, because I want the ability to see dreams.” “Yea, but what are the chances this is actually legit?” “Low as hell but even a sliver of a chance fills me with excitement.” The door screamed as Jackson pushed it open, gesturing for Coraline to go before him. They walked down the musky hall towards a dim light spilling from an open door. As they got closer they could hear hushed voices, Coraline’s hand grasping at Jackson’s as they entered the room. Before them was a small group of people all huddled, discussing the experiment. The examiner turned to the couple as they walked in, speaking to them in a hushed tone. “Please take a seat, we are talking quietly to help relax the body for the experiment.” They both took a seat and sat next to the other two participants of the test. “I was hoping for a few more but this should still be enough to spark interest. What you read on the handout is true, we are developing a machine that can not only see into your dreams but record them. Right now, it will only be able to see your perspective, but we are hoping to gain full freedom around the mind of the individual.” Everyone was interested in the concept but still highly sceptical. “Is there any chance of brain damage with this experiment?” Asked one of the other subjects. “No, we are using electrically charged crystals that will be a safe two feet from you, we believe that these crystals will be able to resonate with your mind as you sleep, allowing us to see your dream.” The instructor finished his sentence just as the silent participant left the room laughing to themselves. “This is a fucking joke, I came for science, not a hippie convention.” “Well if everyone else is happy I would like to show you our machine.” The instructor lead the way as the three of them followed him through to the next room. What laid in the centre of the room was far less than any of them expected. “Shouldn’t this involve a lot of big machines? Or even just more than a laptop with a funny adaptor.” “You see those crystals that are lying around the table? They are commonly known to help retain the memory of dreams, this adaptor as you put it, sends out low waves of electricity that should help the crystals resonate with your dream state. Then much like an echo, they will return any piece of information back from where it came.” A short while passed as no one was sure how to proceed, awkward glances were exchanged by everyone until the door opened from behind them. Silent and swift the man walked over to the laptop and started typing. Jackson pulled Coraline closer. “That is the tall guy I saw, I told you he was creepy.” “Also not deaf. We are in a hard floor room, things tend to echo no matter how quiet you are.” The room was filled with an awkward feeling, surrounding and capsuling everyone. “Well with those pleasantries out of the way, who would like to go first? Today we are not doing the experiment, we are simply getting you all to lay down one at a time so that we can lock onto your brainwave.” One by one the three of them laid down on the table, after a time a sound would chime from the adapter attached to the laptop. A few seconds would pass and another would sound, they would then be asked to hop off the table for the next person. Both Coraline and the stranger took close to a minute to sync with the machine, but for some reason Jackson took nearly ten. “Hey was there an issue with me? Why did your machine take so long to find me?” The tall man from behind the laptop sighed loudly. “Not even an apology for before, real nice. Look it is a new science we do not understand everything yet, but we are sure no matter what happens now we will be able to see your dreams. Now you can all leave, remember that the test is this Saturday night.” Before any more words could be exchanged everyone was ushered out of the building. Outside Coraline stood shivering as Jackson pulled out a note book. “What are you writing? Can’t it wait till we are home?” Jackson looked up confused before closing his book. “I am not the one with the keys, now am I?” Coraline felt her pockets for the familiar pointy bulge of the keys. She gave a slightly embarrassed look before heading towards her car. They were quick on the drive home, both thinking of the warm bed they had waiting for them to relax in. “So not that I am scared or anything, but don’t you think that maybe we should have people with us, just in case this is a scam and they steal our stuff?” Jackson gave off a little chuckle. “We will be fine, they are both students. Or had you forgotten this is a part of the science students test week? Granted the tall guy is weird, but nothing more. We will be fine.” The two-arrived home safe and warm. They both neglected everything in the car to get inside quicker, there they jumped straight into their bed hoping to get to a comfortable level of warm. “Shit we need to get a warmer house next time we move, this is damn ridiculous. “ “Hey Coraline, do you think that your bed might be warmer if you had more than just one shitty cover?” “At least I own a bed, you own like nothing.” Coraline noticed that Jackson was staring off into the corner of the room. “You ok Jack?” Jack slowly turned his head to hers, keeping his eyes fixed at the corner of the room, only bringing them round to meet hers at the last possible second. “Hmm, yea. It is just, the day my dad disappeared was because he was testing dream stuff out. What if we suffer the same fate?” “Well if I was not scared before I am now, look you told me it will be fine and I tend to trust you. So, let’s chuck some crap on the TV and fall asleep in my cold as bed.” Jackson smiled as he pulled out the TV remote and got comfortable. They snuggled up watching some terrible show on the TV. What seemed like two minutes of show quickly turned to ad’s. “Do you think my dad would have been ok with us taking this experiment?” “I think he would call you a pussy for backing down at this point, except he would use words only a dictionary would understand to say it.” “Hm, yea you are right. It is hard how he just left one day, I know it is not my fault but it is hard to convince myself otherwise. I just don’t think he would stuff up so bad that he died, he must of cracked something and figured he did not need his family anymore.” “I don’t think I am qualified enough to help you just yet.” Coraline said smiling at Jackson. “Maybe we will see him during the experiment, maybe we will find him on the other side.” “Baby steps Jack, let’s wait till Saturday.”

Once a year a great cosmic event occurs and the walls between worlds start to meld together. Travel between dimensions is completely possible on this day, but individuals must make sure they are back before the day is over or they will be stuck in the opposing world. Those on Earth dread this day as they are bombarded by nightmares from Hollow, whereas the Holites from Hollow celebrate for the coming of Bea’tality. Each year the deity arrives with the spirits of animals, brought to the towns of Hollow to play with the Holites before they pass on to the next life. The Earthlings load their guns as the Holites load the fireworks, both planets prepare for a long day, but only one prepares for fun. While it is true those on Earth gather, and cower on this day, there are a select few from Earth who use this day to travel between worlds. They take inert crystals through the portal to Hollow, there they gain powers that may be utilized by the Holites. Earthlings use these crystals to bargain with Holites, they use them as a currency to purchase tours, weapons, drugs, and more. Although this day begun like any other before it, it would end in a way that has never, and will never happen again. And it all begins with one human. June the 1st came around as a small group of friends got ready to go camping. “Hey, Cameron you have to hurry up man, we are heading out now!” “Yea two seconds and I will be there.” Cameron finished packing small gem stones into a bag crammed with warm clothes. “Don’t know why we are rushing we have until the third” Cameron muttered under his breath. Cameron closed his bag and headed out to the car parked out front of his flat, there his friends were waiting for him to arrive. “Dude hurry up, we need to get to the portal tree as early as possible, that way we can sleep before going through so we last the entire day.” “Yea well you can all suck my dick since I am driving, so next time you feel like hurrying me along don’t, or I may take even longer.” The bickering between friends lasted the entire time the car was being packed, still unaware of the events that were about to unfold. After some stalling and creative packing their car was loaded and they were on the road. Cameron could not help but smile as he drove, “Guys I can’t believe we are actually going to go through this portal. I hear they have a festival on this day for the whole day.” “Come on everyone knows that, but I heard that they do it because a deity of theirs brings the spirits of animals around for the Holites to play with.” “I really don’t care what it is as long as the drugs they have there are as good as everyone said they were.” Laughter erupted from the car as they sped up towards their location. Hours passed by with very little chatter to fill the silences. “Hey, Cameron why do we have to go so far out for this?” “It is because we can’t use just any tree, it has to be either plagued or burnt by natural causes. If you find one that is both I hear it makes the trip ten times smoother. I happened to be lucky enough to find one which was both. That is why we are driving so far for this tree.” Although the day was still fairly young, the forest Cameron drove through cast a long show across the whole car. The friends slowly ran out of words to exchange as they waited patiently for their driver to say those critical words. “Wake up bitches, we are here.” Cameron yelled as they drove off the logging path to find a tree that had been struck by lightning, just over a year ago, at the base the roots bulged with a virus that had made its way into the whole tree. Cameron and his three friends all dragged their own tents from the car and started setting them up around the designated portal tree. By the time they managed to sort everything out, night fell, leaving the friends to fall asleep with only one more sleep till Hollow Day. The entire group woke up early Hollow’s eve, already the tree in front of them was changing. It had only been a few hours since they last looked at it and already the bark had started changing to a sea of vile greens and black. “Ok so we do as we planned, first we go for a run then we come back and work a little longer. After that we sort our travel bags as final thing to do before we take our final sleep.” Everyone agreed and did just that, all day they exercised to get sleepy earlier in the day. By the time it had reached mid-day they were all on the ground exhausted, but they persisted and started sorting their bags for the day to come before sleeping once again. “Ok so what I heard from my guy was that we should take our own water since the water theirs will usually be spiked with something insane. Mandatory was as many crystals as you could get your hands on, because once we pass through the portal they can give the wielder powers. We will use those to buy stuff.” “Wait, why don’t we just bring these powerful crystals back so we can have powers here?” “Going through the portal is like a switch, we go through and it turns on, we come back and it turns off. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t, it would turn back into a mundane Earth crystal.” Cameron discouraged talking so they could all fall asleep faster, making sure that they would be well rested for the whole day of partying they were about to do. Eleven thirty rolled around and the whole group had a relatively healthy sleep. The tree was barely recognisable as they looked again. It was gnarled, twisted, and covered with large boils. The base of the tree had widened and cracked open, it was starting to look like an opening that they could walk through. Every single one of them grabbed their bags and stood in front of the tree awaiting midnight. As the hour turned the front of the tree expelled a great heat and the opening in the tree seemed to fall back to let a light shine through. One after another they all walked through, Cameron went last. Although he was the most eager, he was also the most cautious of what he had heard of Hollow. He did not let it stop him, he followed only seconds after the rest of the last group, excited he walked through with his eyes closed, he waited till he could hear the noises of Hollow before opening his eyes to the marvels around him.

The day before Hollow’s eve had begun, and Cassandra was becoming beyond anxious. For every minute that ticked over on the clock, she looked up at it twice. She was shaking violently as she packed everything she thought she needed for the trip to the camp. “Cassandra, are you nearly ready I would like to hit the road?” Cassandra’s mother yelled from out outside as she was packing in the last of her things into her car. Flustered Cassandra decided she had gotten everything and quickly closed her bag before leaving through the front door. She turned and made sure that the door was locked securely behind her, as she turned away she did a double take as she could have sworn that she saw something move in the mirror. “Na, no way she knows.” She reassured herself as she ran over to her mother. “I am all packed, door is locked, so we can go now.” “Great, we are picking up David and Sasha on the way over since their parents are overseas right now.” Cassandra’s eyes rolled, “urgh, I hate them. She is weird and he always hits on me, it is really off putting.” “Well, too bad. I would hate to think you were left alone on Hollow-Day so I am not letting anyone else go through that if I can help it.” Cassandra sat into the car disinterested in continuing the conversation, she felt slightly better knowing she would be in the front while the Fillabricks would be in the back. But ultimately, she was just focused on getting to the safe house and sleeping out Hollow-Day. “Can we go any faster? I don’t want to miss a spot in the safe house.” Cassandra’s mother laughed. “We are registered to the one nearby, so there will always be a spot no matter what.” “Yea but what if they gave it away or they just decide they are not taking in any more people?” “Sweetie, I had no idea that this day scared you so much. You watch so many horror movies I assumed this day never got to you.” “Literal monsters from nightmares start roaming the streets for a full day, why wouldn’t that bother me? I just want to get to my bed and sleep away these days.” “Ok I will be quick, but it is only ten minutes from the Fillabricks and we are only a minute from theirs.” Cassandra went back to nervously tapping and looking out the window, where once again she could have sworn she saw something move in her reflection. She stared into the mirror trying to spot something, she got closer as she looked more and more in depth for what was moving. “Don’t worry Cass, you still look good. You don’t have to check the mirror.” “Urgh, hi David.” She said reluctantly as she sat back into her seat, locking her eyes forward. Both David and Sasha climbed in the car, “Thanks misses Merry.” The two Fillabricks said as they fastened their seatbelts. “No worries kids, but you really need to get your licences. Cassandra has hers, and I am pretty sure that you two could have gotten them a few years ago now.” The two Fillabricks just sat their awkwardly, unsure of to say. Cassandra could feel the awkwardness so she turned up the radio so there was no awkward silence. No one talked for the ride over to the Safe house, they all sat listening to the radio as the car drove by more homes that had started evacuating. Nearly every house they passed had someone playing with a gun or some form of melee weapon. Those who were not armed were getting into cars and heading out to their registered safe houses. The area was littered with them, each one slightly different from the last, although some people had taken this time to make a few dollars. While most only ask for cost of the day there are a few that charge ridiculous prices to those who have nowhere else to go. “This is why I always come here the day before Hollow eve, no traffic and we can just cruise on in.” Cassandra’s mother said as she pulled into the armoured gates of the safe house. She could see an individual screaming at the guards to let them in, they looked her dead in the eye begging for a ride but she drove on turning the radio up to distract herself. It was impossible to see into the safe houses when you are outside, they are domed and heavily armored, the inside Is just as armored with a large floor place covered in a hardened steel. Dents scattered across the floor where things had try to dig up. All around was men and woman with guns, while they were in uniform they were not all military, most of them just farmers with an itchy trigger finger ready to blow the face off any nightmare that walked through their camp. “Ok kids I will park the car up, you get your bags and go to our room, here are the keys, we are number 459. Hurry up before people start queuing behind me.” Cassandra’s mum drove off to follow the already long que of vehicles waiting to park. “Well come on let’s go, when we get to the room I am going to do anything I can to stay up till moments away from Hollow-Day so I can sleep the day away. If you want to join me feel free.” Cassandra started to walk towards their accommodation as the other two followed. “Don’t know if my sister could handle doing that but I will sit up with you if you like.” “Dick, you fall asleep at like nine at night. If anything, it will be me and Cass and you asleep on the end of the bed like a little dog.” “Oh my gosh sibling banter, this is going to be so much fun.” Cassandra said sarcastically and very loud, she continued walking forward avoiding eye contact with the other two hoping that they would keep their mouths shut for the night. It took the three nearly half an hour to get to their room, as they fought their way through the crowds of other people to the sanctity of their own little space. Although they were prepared for minimal they were still all underwhelmed with what they were presented with. A cramped rectangle room with two sets of bunks and a small pile of blankets on the end of each one. “Guess that is why they tell us to bring our own bedding, it is going to be freezing these next two nights. Maybe we could all sleep together on one bed for warmth.” That is a great idea David except one little detail, you can have all our blankets and Sasha and I will share a bed with my big Duvet.” “I was only joking but whatever.” David said as he put all his things on the top bunk. “We don’t have to sleep together if you don’t want Cass, I have my own blanket.” “No I don’t want to sleep alone, but even more I do not want to sleep next to your brother.” “Cool so movies on the laptop?” “Yea, I am going to be awake till the last minutes of Hollow eve if I can manage that.” “Cool I can help with that.” The two girls sat up all night watching movie after movie sharing their earphones with one another. All through Hollow eve they tried doing any and all activities to stay awake, eventually they were kicked out of the main halls. By the time, they returned to the room everyone else was asleep, so they quietly crawled into bed and tried to put another movie on but fell asleep nearly immediately. Cassandra awoke still half asleep she made her way to the bathroom, as she was washing her hands she looked up into the mirror where she saw a familiar face. “Been having fun in my body?”

My eyes flutter open to the sounds of a whining squeak, a single light illuminates the room I am sitting in. The sway allowed me to make out more of the room, I watched to see if there was something I could use to cut through the rope that was binding me to a rather uncomfortable seat. As far as I could see the room was empty, not only that but I could not see a single wall. The light was slowly beginning to stop its crooked sway, my body was starting to shake with the fear that I was not alone. I could feel my chest move in and out as far as the ropes would allow it, my arms vigorously moving on their own trying to slip loose the binds I had. “We invite you into our home and you seek help to leave, you are getting a glimpse at the future, a chance that few get.” These words echoed through the room I was in, I could feel them vibrating across the walls before returning to my ears. “Who are you? Where am I? Why am I…” Before I could finish he interrupted me. “Well I am a part of you, as for the others, they are your creations. You are to be our deity and yet you try to sabotage your anointing.” My eyes strain as I try to make out any shapes in the black, the light in the centre of the room dulled my low light senses making me blind to all but the light. “Do you not see me? I am right here in front of you, standing just outside of the light, just outside of your reach. I am but a fragment of the glory that is you, and yet I am the one that can see far beyond you.” A long arm reached from out of the black, slamming into the light forcing it to sway uncontrollably. The tone of the voice changed into a thunderous rage. “You were meant to be chaos and night, you are our beacon of blight in this eternal light. We need you to cast your shadow onto Hollow, so that we might prosper and flourish in this disgusting Eternaverse. We adore you, we fear you, we respect you, they just want to change you. So why do you hate us? I sat in silence, shocked would be an understatement. “I do not even know who you are.” A freakishly tall man emerged from the black and stood in the light, his fine suit tattered, his posture poor, and his face adorned with a look of utter defeat. “Have you forgotten us already?” “Are you the conductor?” A small grin started to appear on his face, “So do you want us again, will you come once again back to us?” “I can’t.” His face soured once again. “You are tearing me apart, I can’t tell what is real when you visit, I can’t function. You steal sleep away from me, I can’t work right, I become useless.” The Conductor stood tall, adjusting his bow tie he moved back out of my sight. “If I cannot convince you I will show you.” My binds fell from me, a light illuminated past the first, then another. The lights started to make a path for me to follow, the furthest most light illuminating the forward stride of the Conductor. I followed, curios to where this path would lead. The path had a calming curve, curving ever so slightly to right. The Conductor was always one step ahead of the lights, as the next one would pop up all I would catch was his back leg moving forward. “Where are, you going?” “You say you, but really we mean we. We are one, I am a part of you, would you consider your hand to be another person or apart of you? I am your hand, your fist. I deliver your swift judgment. As for where we are going, we are going to see you.” I remained silent, waiting for his riddle to reveal itself. Unfortunately, it was no riddle, the lights stopped moving. Standing ahead of me was the Conductor, sitting in front of him was me, in a robe. I looked content, sitting on my throne of vines. “This is you now, you are calm you will live in a world of luscious green.” The vines started to turn, thorns grew stabbing into my body doubles body. Nightshade flowers started bloomed around the base of the darkened vine throne.  “Here is how your world could look if you follow me now. A world that hurts, moves, poisons, cheats lies, and most importantly of all everyone hates you.” I stared at this new me, the one with ten centimetre thorns stabbing into him. The one that looked uncomfortable and pained. Every inch of my body was telling me that this was wrong and that the first image is what I wanted, yet I was drawn to this new image. “Why would I want that? I see nothing but pain and discomfort, no one would want that.” I held a straight face as I lied through my teeth, but I could see that I had not fooled him. “We want this, do not lie to us. There is something ever so alluring about pain and chaos, something we crave deep down.” I went to protest, but I knew that he would outsmart me. So instead we stood staring at each other, all the while the thorny throne writhed in the background. “So if you, why do I… What does lack of sleep have to do with any of this?” “Why we hate sleep, trust me once your body adjusts you will thrive.” “No. I will collapse due to exhaustion, I will hallucinate, not to mention slowly losing my mind.” “Losing your mind, or finding another? Your doctors will tell you that you are broken, we say we are beyond whole. We have our birth mind then the mind of another, you have more than one soul, just let them move in.” “Anodyne?” The Conductor lit up with glee. “YES, ANODYNE. That voice you hear whenever you should be angry but let it slide, that voice you hear that tells you to leave all those so-called friends behind, that voice that tells you this life is not worth living. Do not get him wrong though, he needs you to survive. If he is to survive he needs you to live past twenty four. But don’t think you can just end it then, Ompti does not like suicide, you need to die a natural death.” I started to take steps back towards the initial room, the Conductor pressed towards me. “Anodyne is the better part of you, he is your strength. Let him take over and your life will become infinitely better. Unlike you he is strong, smart, dedicated, and he is willing to hurt those who gets in the way. You have been hurt Nick, but you always let it slide, you always let them go because you are good both deep down and on the surface. If you let Anodyne out he can hurt those who have hurt you, you will be granted the fear that you deserve.” I started to run back towards the original room, the Conductor stayed by the throne shouting at me as I ran away. “RUN, run back to where you feel safe. He is smarter than you, we shall rise.” As I returned to the first room he was standing there, standing tall at attention, Anodyne. “I am tired, I am going back to my chair so I might sleep.” I walked past Anodyne returning to my chair, closing my eyes to try and fall back to sleep. Anodyne turned to face me, he walked up to me and punched me swiftly in the nose. I fell from my chair clutching my nose. “You sleep when I feel that we need sleep. You have wasted your talents and fallen into the trap of being human. I will bring us from your pitiful existence and give us a godly purpose.” “I want sleep, I need to sleep. You are not a god, you don’t even exist. You can’t stop me if I don’t let you.” I returned to my seat, this time no punch. “Finally,” I smiled as I attempted sleep once more. With a terrible crack my chair tipped me onto the ground, Anodyne had kicked out one of the legs. Much as the Conductor was before, Anodyne started to yell. “Do you think that this is a fucking game, I am not something you can wish away. We are one, we cannot be whole till you die at the appropriate time. To ensure your safe, I am going to drive you to insanity. I will take you away from all the hassles of life, and lock you up in a padded cell. You are mine and soon you will be me, so do not think I am leaving. I am going to break you till you drive away all who love you, you are mine and no one else’s.” Anodyne placed a hand over my throat holding me to the ground. “FYI, I hate sleeping. So, if you get so much as even a wink of it I will start cutting into your flesh till you crave the pain. As for the doctors, we will get rid of them, we do not like her, we do not like him, we do not like any of them.”

One, one, one, one. Two, two, two, two. Three,three,three,three. Four.Four, four, four, four. Three,three,three,three. Two, two, two, two. One. The call of a stranger as he knocks on my door, internal I peer through the windows of my soul as I try to see the one knocking. It’s not until my door is open do I realize that I have already let him in, my door now ajar and time passed I have no recollection of deeds done. I try to search but my mind is not one of order or reason, large restraints over sections locking me out from myself. I can see images of self struggling to get through the barriers as I try to claw my way in, never getting any closer to each other, forever missing the feeling of being whole. I walk the large internals of my own self as I look for that who has no place, I search where I feel safe, visiting my other selves, and the characters of my mind. With each one they point me where to go, but each time I ignore them as I do not want to travel to where they say he treads. Eventually I run out of familiar self to question and must look deeper, I must go out of my safe boundaries into the realm of unknown, and search with utmost precision. The journey is never pleasant, as I leave the safety of my town to search the bile of the wasteland  that is yet to be cleared for those who live in my mental town. There are those that are me but are unused, the manifestations of those I see on the physical plane, and those of my own creation come to visit me and tell stories. For all of these I have built walls and made safe a place where they may roam, but in my distracted absence someone else has been making walls, someone else has been editing my home, making it dangerous to be alone. I stand on the borders of mental safety as I make the first search into the unknown with my eyes, it is apparent the stranger walked through as their footprints were still deep in the muck. I took my first step out, I could feel the town drifting away as it shrunk in size, without me it would fade into the black, taking everything with it. I had to be quick to make sure I did not lose my mind. The further I searched the greater the pit of emptiness swelled inside me, but I had to press on I could not allow a stranger to invade my mind. Before long I came across a home, one I had not built so I knew it did not belong. It was small and poorly built, a rushed job by an unskilled craftsman with desperation on his hands. This was my stranger, this is where he was hiding. I climbed the hill of filth as I tried to reach the rugged shack, I realized as I climbed that the building looked familiar. It had a shape that was not pleasing to the eye but it was a form that brought back memories. It was not until I had reached the peak of the hill that I realized that the reason it was familiar was because it was mine, I did not build it but someone had tried to recreate my home in my mind. Worst still they had started the construction of the whole town, once I had reached the top of the hill I could see the construction below. This stranger could not have done something this big by them self, they only just arrived they could not have constructed something so great in such a small time. I could not see a single person so maybe it is possible he has gotten through before. He started his fractured empire that is an empty shade of my well crafted town of safety. In the center of fractured town I spied the central town clock rising by the hand of many pulling ropes and strings. I descended as fast as I could, I needed to get to the bottom of this, I could not let these intruders corrupt my mind. I have no idea how so many got in, the door was only left open for a moment. I arrived as the tower stood fractured in the near center of town, a testament to the fractured name. To my surprise I was there along with a hooded figure. Multiple versions of me had taken sides with this stranger and was not interested in returning to my perfect town of safety. “You gave them everything they could ever need, now they crave more, not in substance but in life. They look for chaos as they have been deprived their fair share, more and more of yourself comes here everyday to seek the thrill of uncertainty.” I had no response to the hooded stranger that had made their way into my mind by cunning. “Even your creations have started to help as we grow in size, soon you will be left alone in your perfect town. There will be no one there for you as it all slowly falls down, soon to become part of our fractured kingdom.” My body shook, I was surrounded by myself and my own creations. None of them capable of anger, just unwanted gratitude towards my efforts. I was worse than not enough for them, I was too much. I ran back to my town away from the muck and mire that thrived outside my walls. I crossed my barriers to come back to an empty town, the streets were barren of bodies and rich in an undesirable amount of space. All of a sudden I had to run the entire town by myself, the food needed farming, the stores restocked, the walls guarded, the gardens tended. I was so busy making sure everything was right that I did not realize that I was losing control, I started to notice things that were not there. Before long I was talking to the creations that were long gone, only to finish my sentences to the walls in front of me. I had gone from everything to nothing, a thriving mind to one under maned having to handle every task at hand with only one self. I started to lose parts of my town that I could not maintain, I let them fall to the fractured town, expanding their control over my mind. Eventually I was left with my home, the grounds were well kept, the walls painted, glass as clean as new, but the inside darker than the wasteland. My creations now roamed the waste with the stranger looking for a way in, but I made sure that the outside looked clean. I made sure no one had a chance to suspect that I had been failing. My exterior always clean and pristine as the interior rots into the earth from whence it came. One, one, one, one. Two, two, two, two. Three,three,three,three. Four.Four, four, four, four. Three,three,three,three. Two, two, two, two. One. The call of a stranger as he knocks on my door…

It is late Friday night and the girls are getting ready to go out, they are all constantly in and out of the bathroom, fighting over the mirror. Only minutes left and one by they finish getting ready, but Cassandra was lagging behind. She stood as close to the mirror as she could to finished her winged eyeliner, her eyes only centimeters from her reflection, unaware of the eyes staring back. “Finish the rest in the car Cass, we want to go!” Cassandra sighed as she reluctantly packed up the last bits of makeup she needed before taking one final look in the mirror, “Damn I already look good. Good thing too because no way I could do anything in a car.” Cassandra then winked at herself before switching off the light and closing the door. “Please leave the light on, it is so dark.” A voice whimpered from behind the glass. The room sat empty and dark, but behind reflective glass stood Cassandra’s reflection. She held herself shivering in the room she was left behind in, slowly turning to the corner of the room where she lent against the wall and slid to the floor. “Please take me with you, I am so alone.” Cass’s Reflection cried out to an empty home, as she waited for the real Cass to use the mirror once again. Silently she waited in the darkened room for the instance that Cassandra would use the mirror, as she waited she prayed that he would not call out to her again. Footsteps echoed from beyond the door, she knew he was coming, she knew that he was near. Flashing lights pierced her eyes as the real Cassandra pulled out a small compact and touched up her makeup outside the bar, she drunkenly dropped it back into her bag before turning back to all her friends. Cassandra’s reflection was able to sit in lights and noise basking in their glow while indulging in the loving atmosphere. She held fast to the amazing spectacle laid out before her, till the memory faded. Once again the reflection of Cassandra was left in a dark room waiting for the man to walk through the door. A voice echoed through the door, “In your hands you hold a memory, one you stole from the real you. You could steal more you know, even take enough to switch places.” A hooded figure stepped through the door staring down at her, “You are a mirror man, you can do so much more than you are doing. You could live her life, instead you are bound to this mirror reflecting her not willing to take a chance.” Cassandra’s reflection pulled herself as far away as she could from the figure, “I am not evil I will not take her life away.” “Once you have taken enough memories you can even move between mirrors, wouldn’t it be nice to leave this dreadfully dark room?” Cassandra’s reflection gave no reaction, the hooded figure smirked and started to walk out. “You know there is a whole world in here if you are ever strong enough to leave your room.” The figure wandered back out the door, his footsteps echoed once again as he slowly left the reflection in silence holding the one memory she stole from so long ago. “Maybe I could take one or two more, I am sure Cassandra would not notice.” Months passed from that night and the real Cassandra was rummaging through her bags searching for her phone. “Cass you put your phone down in here, I swear to god you have gotten so stupid recently.” “I am not stupid, I just keep forgetting stuff. I just have to grab one thing from the bathroom, then we can leave.” Cassandra did as she said, turning out the light and leaving the bathroom door shut like she always did. Inside the mirror was her reflection, no longer did she sit huddled in a corner of a dark room, instead she stood in the glow of all the memories she had started to take over the last month. From the simplist of things as putting down a phone to crazy party nights at friends houses, finally the reflection had entertainment in her little room. No matter how many memories she took she always seemed to crave more, she got used to the memories she had taken and they no longer excited her she knew that taking them was no longer to satisfy her, she was going to have to make them. As she sat a planned how to claim enough memories she was visited once again. “I like what you have done with the place, very memorable.” “What do you want can’t you see I am busy.” “Why I merely stopped by to let you know about memory loops. They are very simple just wait till they do something where they can’t see you take their memory of them starting so they start again. Then what you do is take another random memory, repeat for unlimited memories.” The figure grinned, “think about it.” They then left from the door once again. The reflection had no idea how to do what had just been said. She sat on the idea all night trying to imagine a time where it might work, when all of a sudden Cassandra walked into the bathroom after an early morning shower. She lowered her head to start drying her hair, so the reflection leaned out and took the memory of her starting to dry her hair, she continued to do this for nearly ten minutes before she realised what she could do. Unfortunately for her Cassandra did finish drying her hair, before the reflection could do anything else Cassandra had left. The reflection knew that all it had to do was wait. Weeks went by and Cassandra was never home alone, the reflection was incapable of stealing enough memories in one go, until one fatal evening. Cassandra had returned from a party drunk and alone, her friends dropped her off and promptly left. Cassandra had decided to take a late night shower so that she could sleep better, once finished she made her way into the bathroom. Just as the reflection hoped she started to dry her hair, at this point the reflection acted, leaning out from the mirror she would alternate. First she would take the memory of starting to dry her hair, then one from her past, she continued till Cassandra was left with nothing. The reflection then stepped out of the mirror dragging Cassandra in, she stood for a few moments expecting to die from the process. Instead she stood in the bathroom where she could hear the tv just one room over. The reflection now had her own reflection, and Cassandra was left standing in the mirrored version of her bathroom. Her mind was loose and she could not understand what was going on until she noticed a note on the other side of the mirror, it read. ‘I am sorry but you are no longer on Earth, I have taken your memories and now your life. The mirror I was stuck in was cold and lonely, I am sorry but I won’t go back to that world. Just wait and someone in a hood will come by soon to help you. I am sorry I can not give you more, thank you for letting me switch my life with yours.’ The reflection ran from the room after leaving the note, closing the door and switching off the light like Cassandra had done so many times before. Cassandra was now left in the cold dark mirrored bathroom, alone and confused she waited for the person to come. “Hello Cassandra, would you please follow me?”