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Chapter 1
I could hear the world crashing down around me with the waves. The water rose to my waist, and yet I still sat frozen atop the ledge in the rocky cave.
"This is always the worst part, isn't it?" The Kind Stranger said to me, and I nodded.
"Why not tell me your name before we drown?" I coaxed, and he only laughed and nuzzled against my side, holding my trembling hand in anticipation of my outburst to come.
The murky waters rose to our shoulders and the panic began to settle in.
"I'll tell you my name when Queen Luna permits it. Your sentence is almost up, Selene. You know I'll miss you," he said, attempting to distract me from the inescapable depths that would shortly consume us.
"My name still isn't Selene. And the feeling is mutual," I told him and he nodded, but his face began to harden.
"You haven't told anyone in the waking world about us, have you?"
The warm waters rose to my chin and I could no longer suppress the fear elicited by the malevolent suffocation. I turned to The Stranger and he was gone, and all around me was the waves.
The water rose above my head and I finally gave in to the darkness, struggling and choking out muffled screams as it finally filled my lungs.
***
I jolted awake. As if the boundaries between worlds were still fastening, I was as soaked in my bed as I was in the lifelike depths. My hair was wet and stringy, and when I blinked a few times, I found myself nearly dry.
I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door, and with a face still flushed and pale, I opened it.
My adoptive mother's soft eyes gazed upon me with concern, and I could see the age-old, "Why won't you let me take you to the therapist?" , written all over her face.
"Eden, were you having another nightmare?" she asked me, reaching to feel my forehead, but I immediately recoiled, worried that she might feel the unnatural coldness of my skin.
"It was nothing, just really weird is all," I lied, and I could tell she sensed the fabrication, "Is Dad back from Denver yet?"
She shook her head, "No, you're not getting out of this again. Let me take you to the local family therapist's office."
I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, "Mom, I'm fine, I swear. A few weird dreams is nothing I can't handle."
"You've had these 'weird dreams' every single night now. I hear you screaming when you wake up in the middle of the night."
I turned around and crossed my arms, face red with shame, "Are you saying I'm too weak to handle nightmares alone?"
She sighed, and I felt guilty as I saw her hand hover over my shoulder and slowly retract in the shadows.
"I wasn't saying that. Look, I'm not at all trying to embarrass you, I just worry. Your homeroom teacher calls me a lot now because every morning you come in looking pale and sick. You look pale and sick right now, Eden!"
"Well I'm not sick so you don't have to treat me that way!"
My mom fell silent and I turned to her again, not anticipating my intense remorse for the tears that pricked her eyes.
"Woah, hey, I'm sorry, okay? You don't have to worry, Mom," I apologized, and held her hand when I was sure mine was warm enough.
"You're being such a teenager. You're not my little ladybug anymore, you know? I just wonder if all that trauma you experienced in that awful home from before we adopted you might be affecting you more than I realize-"
"Mom, I'm not there anymore. That's all in the past, okay? I swear."
She giggled softly and teased me, "Stop swearing, young lady."
She hugged me and kissed my forehead before her phone went off. She confusedly crinkled her nose at the dampness of my hair before answering.
"Hello? Speaking. Oh crap, it's 6:00 AM already? Right. On my way."
Without even saying goodbye, she fled for her purse and car keys and I was left to let out the shaky sigh I had been holding in. Tears fell from my eyes as I closed the door and slid to the floor against it. There had been so much turmoil in my dreaming life, but I depended on the word of The Kind Stranger, who had said that it would all come to its fruition with time. That sentiment was the only thing that kept me going.
***
I distractedly wandered through the halls of my school, ignorant to the pencils and erasers that spilled from my overflowing open bag. My mind was swirling with thoughts and questions. Why do we come into the world feeling so entitled to everything around us? Could there really be a destiny for everyone to fulfill as The Kind Stranger had told me? Why had I, of all people, been chosen to live this impossible double life?
"Earth to Eden," Mrs. Cress snapped in my face, handing me my Chemistry notebook, "You need to pay attention to the zipper on your bag."
I stared at her for several moments, analyzing what she had said, then finally nodded politely, "Oh! Oh, yes, yes, of course! Sorry, Mrs. Cress."
She scanned me subtly, searching for clues in my face that would explain my momentary lapse in judgment.
"Have you been drinking, young lady?" she finally asked me, and I quickly shook my head.
"No, of course not, just a bad night's sleep," I explained, and she said nothing before clicking away on her heels, suspicion in her eyes.
I rushed to my locker, the realization suddenly dawning on me that the bell would ring at any moment. Inside, my fingers grazed against a blurry Polaroid picture, and I sighed at my toothy ten-year-old smile, cheek to cheek with my best friend Nolan, who I'd had to leave behind in the foster home when I was adopted. Underneath the photo was the glitter-covered letters we'd send each other.
"What's the fun in emailing?" he'd said before I left, so we became pen pals.
