THE GIRL FROM Alec's dream two weeks ago was in his dream again. Seeing her face again in his dream pricked his consciousness enough for him to process that bit of information, before the dream took over his mind once again. He was standing outside, in the breakdown lane of a freeway. It was raining heavily around him, but the rain didn't fall - it simply hovered in the air. Raindrops in the middle of hitting the ground were in a frozen state of tiny splashes as they reached the pavement. The storm clouds above him remained still, a bolt of lightning frozen in the air. The cars in front of him didn't move, but the exhaust from the car's tailpipes remained still in the air.  He took in more of his surroundings, and a red car caught his attention, which he recognized as belonging to one of the girls from his school. His eyebrows furrowed, and he squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look. He looked back to try to see the girl from before again, but she wasn't across the freeway from him like she was before. Instead, she was a few feet to the right of him. 

Her eyes were underlined by worryingly dark circles, making her look as exhausted, even though the rest of her face had an energetic glow. He studied her appearance carefully, noticing that her skin seemed to have a grey color to it. Her skin tone was unnaturally pale, it seemed almost transparent. He had never seen her before, so he had no idea why she's appeared twice in his dreams. She glanced at him wearily after a few moments of him studying her, before her gaze focused on something in front of them. He followed her line of vision, and saw a truck in the opposite lane. The driver looked as though he was in the middle of falling asleep, when suddenly it seemed as though the world unpaused. The truck swerved into the lane that the red car was in, slamming into another car in front of the red one. The collision quickly became a pile-up as the slip of the rain on the road made it difficult for other cars to stop, the red car ending up somewhere in the middle of the mess. Alec ran over as time seemed to slow, but it felt as though he was running through oil, his motions restrained. 

When he finally reached the red car, he looked through the shattered passenger side window. The blonde, who was in two of his classes yet he could never remember the name of, was slumped over the steering wheel. He tried opening the car door, but his hand went right through the handle. He watched helplessly as blood trickled down her forehead, and her ragged breathing came to a stop. Her body went completely still before he stepped back in horror, whipping around to find the girl again. He finally spotted her as she appeared in front of him, on the other side of the car. There was a moment of silence as he stared at her, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to think of anything to say to her or ask her. She watched with a look of patience as she waited for a few moments, before she exhaled heavily.

"Warn her." The girl finally spoke. Her voice was as tired as her eyes, and hoarse as though she hadn't spoken in years. Fog began to surround them as he again tried to question her, to find out who she was or what he was seeing, yet his voice wouldn't work. He felt as though he was being squeezed as the fog quickly crept up and around his form, suffocating him momentarily, before the scene suddenly disappeared. His eyes snapped open and he saw his ceiling, just as thunder cracked outside his window. He gasped and quickly sat up, his breathing uneven as he tried to reorient himself. A chill settled over him as his blankets fell from his torso and the cold air of his room hit his sweat-soaked shirt. An eerie feeling traveled down his spine as he recalled how realistic the dream seemed, and he shuddered. The alarm clock to the left of him read five thirty-one in the morning, and he let out a groan. 

Lightning lit up his room as he steadied his breathing, the girl from his dream's voice echoing through his head. Warn her. The last time he saw her, she only warned him of something vague, that anyone could've dreamed of. It was minor. Unimportant. Even considering that it came true exactly as he saw, he didn't blink an eye as it could've happened at any time, to anyone. This time, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he felt as though he should listen to her warning, considering that the scene she showed him was so realistic. Thinking more about it, his conscience nagged at him to do something, but he quickly shook the thought out of his head. As disturbingly real as it seemed, it was just a dream.