Today was the first day of the new year. Most of us stayed up to hear the clock strike midnight. Phoenix curled up next to his sister, though, because he was just too tired.

I went to bed around 12:30. Duke was still up and dressed. Anyway, it didn't take me that long to fall asleep, because I was so tired.

***

At first, everything was dark and quiet. Then I found myself in another white room. This one felt different from the last one.

I saw a girl who wasn't very tall. She was even shorter than me. Her face looked older, though. I wanted to say that she was about the same age as me.

Her hair reminded me of fire like Phoenix's did. It had curl to it, but it was nowhere as curly as mine. It was long. It looked like it went down to her waist.

As for her eyes, they were very blue. They were also kind. She wasn't a doormat, though. She didn't let people be mean to her just cuz they could.

She was pale. Her skin was the same color as Alain and his sister's.

She wore a loose dress that blew behind her. It made me notice that there was a breeze in the room. Her dress was long. It went down to her ankles.

She started running, so I ran after her. She led me to a field of sunflowers.

The girl glanced behind me. "Come find me, Briana!"

***

That was when I woke up. That was one of the weirdest dreams I'd ever had.

Duke came over to me. He was in pajamas now. "Hey, kiddo. Did you have a dream?"

"Yeah..." I looked at him. "Have you slept yet?"

"It's not that late!" His cheeks got red. "Was it about your brother?"

I shook my head. I hadn't dreamt about Zane in a while. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad, though.

Duke wiped my forehead with a towel. I hadn't realized I was sweating. "Do you feel okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine..."

"Think you could be getting sick?"

I shook my head. I didn't think I was. I wanted to hold onto him like I did when I didn't feel good, though.

I didn't want to bug Duke, but I wanted to know more about the girl I saw. Maybe Hannah could help me find out... Noelle was good at digging up information and the others said they had the same type of job.

I'd have to find some way to talk to her later, or I guess later, since it was already after midnight. Hopefully, she could help me... I wouldn't know who else to ask, otherwise...

Sure, I wanted to talk to Hannah, but I hadn't expected Kayleigh to drop a present in my lap after I woke up.

Noah had apparently come by to get Phoenix. They were going to do something at his house. They didn't say what, though. I didn't really care what, though.

I grabbed my shoes. "Can I come with you?"

"Uh... Sure..." Noah said. "You should grab a jacket, though. It's cold outside."

I could do that. It was worth it. I wasn't sure when I'd get another chance like this.

"And we should let the others know, too," Phoenix said.

***

Anyway, we went on our way after that. I wanted to grab onto Phoenix, but I didn't because I didn't want to be an annoying little sister. That sort of thing used to drive Zane's friends crazy...

Once we got to the house, they went off by themselves. I didn't really mind, though. They could do whatever they wanted.

"Hi, sweetie." Hannah came up to me. "Did you come here with Noah and Eni?"

I nodded. "I wanna talk to you..."

"Okay." She leaned in. "Would you like some hot chocolate or anything? It's really nippy outside."

I shook my head. "I'm okay."

Two girls came out of the hallway.

They looked really similar. The one that had a purple band in her hair asked, "Are you sure? I'm about to make some, because I'm craving chocolate."

I didn't really know what to say next...

"Go ahead, Len. I'm sure someone in this house will drink it."

We sat down in the living room. Hannah sat on one couch and I sat with the girl that looked like Len on the other one.

Len came back with four hot chocolates. She sat beside Hannah after she set them down.

I looked between Len and the other girl. They looked so similar. The main difference that I could see right away was that the girl who sat next to me had her hair in a ponytail.

"My name's Ivy." She smiled. "Len and I look similar because we're twin sisters."

Len picked up her hot chocolate. "We're not identical, though. We just look similar enough that people that don't know us well can get us mixed up." She took a sip of it. "I'm Len, by the way."

"Why does everyone call you Len?" I put my hand over my mouth. Why did I blurt that out like that?

She waved it off. "You're fine, hon. I only answer to it or Eleanor. I think Len was Ivy's idea."

"Mom said you came up with that yourself." Ivy turned to me. "What's your name, sweetie?"

I couldn't open my mouth. I didn't usually trace with people I didn't know very well. Would it better to show her with my phone?

"Her friends call her Lie." Hannah said.

Len knelt a bit to look into my eyes. "That's a cute name, hon."

"You said you wanted to talk to me." Hannah smiled. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I heard this weird dream." I picked up a hot chocolate. The warmth felt good on my hands. "It was weird, but it was too real to be a regular dream."

Ivy looked at me. "What was it about?"

Just thinking about it, I could remember the girl's face. It was so clear. I could remember every detail.

Hannah went stiff. She gasped.

One of her kids nearly dropped the big white basket he was holding. I thought his name was Alastair. "What's the matter, Hannah?"

"I didn't know anyone but Annie even had that ability..."

He set the basket down. His eyes were big. "Hannah?" He drew her name out when he said it.

"Alastair, honey." Ivy reached for him. "Why don't you go check on Noah and Eni?"

"Do as she says," Len said.

He then left the room.

Ivy smiled. "We'll look into that for you. It just might take us a little time to figure it out."

"Okay," I said.

A dog came up to us. It nuzzled my leg then curled up next to Hannah.

I had to wait, but I could live with that. I just wanted to know who that girl was.

***

Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!