I dropped down to a B in one of my main accounting classes. I'm so depressed about that, I've been able to maintain a 4.0 GPA until now but I think this thing with Sarah is going to take up more of my time than I originally thought. Still I have to help her and in order to help her I have to learn more about the Fae which is requiring me to do a lot of reading. The book that Barbara gave me is seriously long. I've only read about a hundred pages but the font is so small that it's the equivalent of reading old English. It's driving me nuts!

I'm taking a break. If I try to read one more sentence I'm going to be on brain overload. The Fae are not a nice bunch overall. According to the book, they're deceitful, tricky and on some occasions can be downright mean. Makes me glad that I'm mostly human, I can't say I want to claim any of them including my illustrious ancestor whoever he might be. Of course honestly it could be a she, not like the Fae are even remotely maternal from what the book says. In fact, think T-Rex on steroids. They're either so overly protective that they smother their child and have been known to smother a child if said child didn't do what they want. Yeah,  most likely a male Fae knocked up one of my ancestors and then went on his merry way. Such a depressing thought.

I must've fallen asleep because when I woke up it was dark outside and the only light from a nightlight I'd plugged in earlier. I hated the dark. I frequently woke up from night terrors as a child, many involving something bad happening to Sarah, so some kind of light to push back the dark is necessary. 

I'm not sure what woke me up, but then I hear this sound. I listen for a few minutes, it almost sounds like...scratching? The longer I listen the louder it gets. I put my hands over ears to drown out the awful scratching sound. I don't know why but I must find and silence the sound. I get up and begin stumbling around, stopping here and there to see if I can tell where the sound is coming from. It seems like  no matter where I go in my tiny abode, I cannot find the source of the terrifying sound. Some distant part of me is screaming at me to find it and silence it. I turn in a circle and then...there! 

I am facing the full length mirror I purchased when I was in high school and going through a "fashion" faze. The disturbing sound was coming from the mirror! I reached out to touch the surface when a god awful voice came from it.

"Touch the portal, Princess. All you need do is touch it and step through where I will be waiting for you." What made the voice so awful was that it was like two voices at once. One that sounded like nails being pulled down a chalkboard and one cultured and smooth, sexy even.

I have this overwhelming urge to touch the now black surface of the mirror, to just step through into the darkest of nights. There is a part of me screaming in the back of mind but I am helpless against the force of that voice. "Just another step, Princess, just one more." The two voices blended perfectly and I could feel its triumph as against my will my arm lifted and my hand stretched out towards the mirror. Just as I am about to touch it...

I hear a zipping sound as though an arrow is flying through the air and past my right ear. No Leilani, don't touch the mirror. 

Sam crashes into me from my right, knocking my arm and hand away from the mirror and I stumble backwards. 

Leave her be! Sam hisses, one paw up with his claws extended in front of the mirror. I shake my head.

"Sam?" I whisper, trying to figure out how my feline friend made it to my home.

"Oh, look at this, the illustrious Sam. You can't save her you know." The voice was fully the awful gravely, horrid voice that I heard before underneath the suave voice.

I watch, my feet frozen to the floor as a hand gnarled with age and tipped with long sharp yellow fingernails reaches through the black surface of the mirror towards Sam.

Not today! Sam snarled and reaching out he jabbed his claws into the hand, pulling back until he drew blood in the form of three long bloody scratches.

The voice growled and pulled its hand back through the mirror leaving a streak of blood on the black surface. The surface rippled once before it smoothed out. 

Sam began chanting in a language I've never heard before. "Sam what are you doing?" I whispered. 

"Who is he?"

"Is it the guy who has Sarah?"

Sam tapped the mirror surface three times and I was looking at a silver surface again which had the image of my friend Sam.

I sit up in bed with a gasp. A dream, it was just a dream. 

Something moves at my feet and there is Sam licking one of his paws. He shivers, Nasty taste, Fae blood.

Okay, so not a dream exactly. I'm so confused.

I reached forward and pulled Sam into my arms. "That's okay. I can always replace a compact. You saved me, thank you Sam." I hug him tightly to my chest.

Sam nuzzles my face. No problem. He purrs.

I lay back down, Sam cuddled to my chest. Just before I drift off, I hear laughing, you know the kind the villain has when he thinks he's won.

When I wake up in the morning, Sam is gone, but so is the compact that was sitting on the table beside my bed. And the mirror? Well the mirror looks just as it always has until I get up and look more closely. There is a small drop of dried blood on the far left surface. I leave it there. If I'm right, it's part of the spell that Sam wove to keep the mirror from being a portal and blocking out whoever tried to lure my me through it.

And the book on the Fae, it is exactly where I left it at the end of my bed, only it's open to a page titled,

"How to Deflect the Magic of a Fae." 

It appears that Sam and Barbara want me to read that section next. But first? First I have to get ready for class and work in the afternoon. 

I head for the shower to start my day.

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I don't know where I am...I know I'm dreaming again but I don't recognize this landscape. Unlike the other dreams where I see Sarah, this landscape is barren and dead looking. There is nothing for as far as I can see but a flat brown landscape with black skeleton trees whose branches reach towards a black sky. I don't like this place and I want nothing more than to leave it, but there is a reason I'm here, there has to be. As with my other dreams, I am hyper aware. 

I begin walking though I have no idea where I'm going. There is nothing I can see other than the black, dead trees that look as though a good stiff wind will uproot what little is left of them beneath the dusty brown ground, knocking them over to lie looking even more dead if that were possible. 

There are no stars in the black sky, and I'm surprised I can see as there does not seem to be any light sources and yet I can see as though I were walking at home on a gray day with rain falling down. I would give anything to see a set of clouds heavy with rain. In my imagination it would wash the heavy, dusty brown earth away to reveal soil live with the richness of the possibilities of growing things. The rain would decompose the dead black trees returning them to the soil buried beneath the ugly dead looking brown earth. In my mind's eye I can see the live soil beneath it, rich with small lights that I somehow know are very small crystals. This soil speaks to me, singing a song only I can hear. How can I hear it?

You have always been able to hear the song of the true earth.

The voice is soft, but it isn't Sarah's voice, this is someone else.

Who are you? I think, somehow knowing she will hear me.

I hear tinkling laughter. 

It is not yet time for you to know me. Just know that this place is what the dark fae would create for himself and those like him in both my world and yours if he is not stopped.

Do you mean the false face? I think to the invisible presence.

There is a pause, a deep breath which I can hear before an answer comes. Yes.

Who is this new person entering my dream universe and why will she not identify herself? I don't like it. Too much has been happening to me lately for me to trust anything or really anyone. Except maybe Sarah, Pokey and Darius. For some reason I know I can trust them. 

Is Sarah okay? I mean I may as well ask her since she's revealed herself.

Suddenly into the dead brown land a heavy wind rolls through the landscape pushing what looks like tumbleweeds that are four times the size as those I could find in the waking world, more brown dust, and what looks like trash. Wrappers, old papers, empty pop cans and more. And it's heading right towards me!

Sarah is mine! The same sinister voice I'd heard before, ominous, filled with gravel and hostile answers, as though to shout over any answers the other voice might give me.

Anger surges through me. No she's not! She's mine! I open my mouth to yell the words when I begin to hear a sound off in the distance. 

It's my alarm clock in the waking world. My eyes pop open and then close again as glaring daylight nearly blinds me. I reach over and slap the snooze button on my clock. I crack one eyelid slightly open and look at the clock. It's six am and I'm going to be late not only for class, but for my first lesson in how to turn any mirror into a portal. 

Do I have a new ally or is this just a trick of the false face? But then why would he tell me what his plans are to make both the fae world and my world a barren dust bowl where nothing can live?

With more questions than answers I throw back the covers and head for the shower. It's time to begin another day...

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I slump back down on my bed and watch the clock as it goes from 3:00 am to 3:01 am. What is happening to me, what are these strange dreams because now I'm not just dreaming of the girl and her wolves, but terrifying creatures that remind me of Iroquois false face masks come to life. Something is changing in my dreamscape, the current dream was not just a nightmare, and I know this deep down inside. But how is this even possible? Dreams are just that dreams, aren't they?

I throw one arm over my closed eyes. Thank God, it's early on a Saturday morning, and I have no work and no classes. I can sleep in, get up when I want and study when I want. Heck, I might even go and see a movie, no horror though! 

I turn over and reaching out I make sure the alarm isn't set, I don't want to wake up at 5:00 am later on. Then I cuddle back down into my warm blankets and fortunately I easily fall back asleep.

***

What feels like seconds later, my eyes pop open. Bright sunlight nearly blinds me, as my senses are assaulted by the scents of hundreds of wild flowers. When my eyes finally adjust to the bright light I see that I am sitting in a field full of wild flowers, some of whose stalks are as tall as the top of my head. 

"I've been waiting for you." 

My head whips around so fast I can hear the bones in my neck crack and whiplash pain shoots down one side. 

"Fuck that hurts!" I groan, my attention has been taken off the soulful voice. That is until gentle fingers pluck the muscles on the side with whiplash, and the pain begins to subside. 

"I didn't mean to startle you." 

I still can't see her, but I'm pretty sure who it is, especially when two wolves come romping into the wild flower field. Strangely I am not afraid of them. One of them plops down and puts his head in my lap, at least I think it's a him, before the other swipes one side of my face with his rough tongue before sitting down and cocking his head to one side as if to say, "Well aren't you going to pet me?"

I laugh, while they may be wolves, they're acting like great big puppies.

A slender hand reaches over my shoulder and begins scratching behind the ear of the wolf who is sitting in front of me. The wolf lets out a low whine of pleasure. "This is Pokey." 

"Pokey?" I ask, I think that is a pretty ridiculous name for a wild wolf, but maybe she knows something I don't.

"Yes. She is always sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, hence the name Pokey."

"Ah." I say, as if it makes perfect sense.

"And this is my Darius, he's the Alpha wolf." She says, and I guess that explains why the wolf whose head is in my lap, and who has the most beautiful gold eyes I've ever seen has the majestic name of Darius. 

I smile down at the wolf in my lap, "Hello, Darius." I say, gently scratching the top of his head and around his ears. He sighs, and closes his eyes.

Just so Pokey won't feel slighted I lean forward holding my hand out so she can smell it. She licks my fingers and taking that as a sign  that we are friends, I rub my hand under her chin and along her chest. She lifts her head back and gives what I can only surmise is a little happy doggy groan. 

The girl with me, laughs. "You keep doing that, and they're going to leave me for you." She teases.

"I very much doubt that." I smile. She is still behind me and I cannot see her face, but her voice calms me.

"There, your neck should be better now." She removes her hand from where she continued to massage the pain away. 

"It is, thank you."

"You're welcome." I feel her move around me until she is sitting in front of me next to Pokey. "And I am Sarah." She holds out one hand to me and I take it, squeezing it gently. She is even more beautiful in person than in my dreams. Raven hair cascading over her shoulders and down her arms, silver eyes and blood red lips. She is like something out of my most erotic fantasies. She is wearing a black and white corset dress that pushes up her breasts and creates some of the most wonderful cleavage I've ever seen. To top it off, she has a red cape over the ensemble. On her legs are white stockings and finally black flats with some kind of small silver buckles that have beautiful round filigree carved into them.

"It was very brave of you to confront him, but I want you to promise me you will never do so again." 

I laugh nervously, I didn't confront him the first time. "Are you talking about the false face man in the dark forest?"

"Yes. He's dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt. Promise me you won't confront him again." 

"Sarah, I didn't confront him the first time. I'm not sure why you think that." As much as I wanted to keep touching her, I drop her hand, slightly irritated she would think I would put myself into what had clearly been great danger if her demeanor was anything to go by.

"You didn't?" She seems surprised. "But I thought..." She shakes her head. 

"You thought what?" I ask belligerently. 

"That you were the one. Well, damn. That is that then." She moves as though she is going to stand. Not having any idea what is going on I grab her hand again.

"Hey wait a minute. Sarah, what do you mean the one? What are you talking about?"

"There's just no help for it then." She tries to shake my hand off, but though I'm small, I'm stronger than I look.

"Uh, uh. I want some answers Sarah." I looked deeply into her eyes and I can see she is wavering. "Listen, I've dreamed of you and your wolves every day of my life for the last twenty years, there has to be a reason, so tell me."

"You have?" Her eyes blaze with the fires of hope.

"Yes, nearly every night. Last night was the first time the dream was different. I didn't consciously seek out the false face. I just found myself there. Who is he, and why did I dream of him?"

"His name is Ciprian, and he's evil as they come." She said in a voice devoid of emotion though she held my hand so tightly I heard one knuckle crack. "I don't know why you would dream of him, but you wouldn't be the first person he used dreams to trap. You need to guard your dreams better."

I could scarcely believe I was talking to the girl from my dreams in a dream as though I were not dreaming right now this very second. "How do I guard my dreams?"

"You don't know how?" 

"Not really no. You see where I come from dreams aren't real, and while some people believe dreams have meaning, most do not believe they are anything more than the subconscious hashing out the problems of the day while we sleep."

"Oh, that is a very dangerous belief to have. Dreams are real, Leilani, and they are often doorways to other realms."

"I believe you, I'm dreaming right now you know."

"You believe this is a dream?"

"I know it is, though it's very real."

Sarah shook her head. "Dear, dear Leilani, this is much more than a dream. You have traveled into another realm and become caught up in a spider web of lies created by Ciprian. He is toying with you and me." 

"Stop speaking in riddles, what do you mean?" 

Sarah took a deep breath. "I am cursed." She whispered.

"Cursed like in the fairytales?"

"Goddess, you're from the human world, you're human!" Sarah sounds utterly shocked.

"Well, yeah. What's so bad about that?"

Sarah frames my face with soft hands. She brings her face even closer to mine. "Dear, dear Leilani, this realm is not safe for humans.You have been dreaming and visiting the realm of the Fae your entire life if you what you tell me is true, and I have no reason not to believe you. Why Ciprian would involve a human in our battle I do not know, but you must return to your world now. You cannot dream of me anymore beautiful Leilani." She leans into me and puts her soft lips against mine, "Sweet Leilani." She whispers against my lips. 

I crave to taste her breath and as though she hears my thoughts she opens her lips slightly and I swipe just inside with my tongue. She is the one who is sweet. I don't want to leave her. She pulls back from me.

"Dear one, if only we had time for more. I would do such wicked lovely things to you were I not cursed. If only you were not human. I believed you were Fae, or maybe Elven, but that was one of Ciprian's tricks. I have watched you as you have watched me. If you do not heed my words, he will trap you in this realm forever, and you will share my curse. You must wake up now, Leilani, and never return to this place. Wake dear one, wake never to dream of me again. Be safe, love." The words whisper against my lips.

I try to hold onto her, the wolves, a wild flower stem, anything, but it all becomes as smoke and as I begin to wake I hear an angry growl. Then I open my eyes to the plain cream of the walls of my bedroom. I know I will not take Sarah's advice. I cannot leave her to her curse as she wishes. I will have to find some way to go to the realm of the Fae for real, but I'm scared. What if I can't find a way to help her though? 

No one will believe me if I ask for help. Humans no longer believe in fairytales, or the Fae. 

A tear tracks down my face to fall on my pillow. 

How am I going to help Sarah? Because I know I have to try.

(c) Copyright 2017 by Regina Paul. All Rights Reserved.

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