Mabel opened her eyes to the darkness. The black void, mixed with deep fog, that seemed to be scattered for miles away, were making it impossible to see a thing.

Where am I? The young girl asked, taking a step ahead. The ground under her feet was steady, but she couldn't understand, what material it was.

And still, she continued to walk around the darkness, trying to find anything, that would help her to find a way out of the place. And the whole time, Mabel couldn't shake a feeling...

A feeling... that she thought was familiar from somewhere. She didn't know, from where... but she knew she experienced this before...

As Mabel continued her way into the emptiness... a sound started to break through the thick blanket of the fog... that made the girl raise her alarm.

"Huh? Hello?" Mabel called, looking around herself. "Is somebody there?"

Starting as indecipherable, but the Mabel approached the source, she could finally make it out...

A voice... a voice of a young girl. It was distorted and still far away... and yet, Mabel could make out something of her words...

M■ p■■■io■s ba■■■s...

M■■■■s go■ ■uo...

■ ■■■ve y■■ ■■ ■■ch...

■y be■■■■■ul bo■■...

And many more phrases like that... at first, all of them made Mabel feel comfortable and warm inside... just a small, silly thing, but it really did make her feel better, even with this darkness all around her.

But Mabel still thought what could that mean... who was that girl in her head? She still couldn't see her face, but only heard the voice... she couldn't place it anywhere, from what she knew... but, from sound of it, it did seem similar to her own to some extent.

That reminded her of a book she read... it was about legends and signs, people would use to try to guess their baby's gender before birth. One that stuck to her the most was an Asian thing, about mothers having dreams, that would tell her the baby's gender...

Could that dream be one of them? Could that girl be her baby? Was she having a baby girl? A thought about having a daughter made her smile... she would be happy with either, a girl and boy alike through.

But then, a wind seemed to pick up and Mabel's attention turned back to ahead of herself... to see a dark figure... a girl...

She was moving around, like if she was fighting something... or, rather, somebody...

"N■, no, ■o, n■!" The shadow of the girl started to look around in worry(?), but fear and anger lingered in her still distorted voice. "L■■ ■e ■■! P■■as■! Do■■ ■o ■■■s! ■y b■■s! M■ ■a■■es! Gi■■ t■■m b■c■!"

"W... what?" Mabel whispered. She was getting scared now, with the situation escalating from peaceful to this... she also felt the emotions of this girl going to herself too.

It was when the figure stopped. It seemed to turn it's head (face?) to her.

And within second, Mabel found herself on the ground, a death grip placed on her hands,

"■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■!"

The figure cried. It cried to the world, to Mabel, to sky, to ground. To nothing and everything at the same time. But Mabel held herself still... she still couldn't make out a single word of what that girl tried to say. She was shaking, while the figure continued to scream to her, with liquid (tears?) starting to fall on her hands.

"G■■■ t■■■ b■■■! ■i■e ■e■m ■a■k! G■v■ t■e■ b■a■k!"

And then, there was something, Mabel couldn't foresee... the figure started to glow... no... not glow... zipping. Lightning bolts started to come out of her body. White light started to come to her. Clearing the shadow to reveal Mabel...

Herself...

Again, a bit older... exhausted, her hair a mess, wearing a hospital gown, bags under her eyes and... blood... blood on bottom of her clothes.

But the most haunting thing in her appearance were her eyes. Eyes, filled with despair, fear and anger. Filled with tears, that were dropping onto her younger counterpart's body.

Mabel sat there speechless. Just... just what lead her to this?! What happened? What just...

The older Mabel, once again, tightened her grip onto the younger girl's hands, before a nearly animalistic growl left her with "GIVE THEM BACK!"

And the bright light brusted from her, covering them both.

But also... there was something that struck Mabel. A cry... a very distinct baby cry.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Mabel shot up gasping for air. After that minute of trying to catch her breath, she found herself in familiar surroundings... her room...

It was... a dream? She asked herself, before looking down. She brought her feet to her face, hiding in them, starting to cry silently. What just was that? What it tried to tell her? Why... why was there another her? What happened to her? Why was she so worn down and bloody?!

"Mabel..?" A tiny voice called from side of her, making her gasp.

The door was slightly ajar, a small figure in the doorway. Now, that she was used to darkness, she could tell who it was...

"S... Shermie?" She asked quietly, wiping away the tears.

The girl raised from her bed, blanket wrapped around her, as she made her way towards her brother. They stood in silence for a bit, neither wanting to start talking. But Mabel decided to start first.

"Why are you awake?"

"I wan'ed to drink..." Shermie said quietly. "And you? I heard you cry..."

Mabel didn't say anything... the look and sound of Shermie told her enough that he had an idea what happened.

"I'll be fine, Shemrie... let's get you to bed..."

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

Mabel was taken by a surprise by this question. But she didn't know how to answer... Shermie did promise to protect her since the day she joined the family, because... "I gotta protect my sister!" from his own words. No amout of arguments seemed to work with it, not that she was older or could protect herself.

And then again... did she want to sleep on her own now? No. She didn't... She wished she could go to Filbrick and Caryn for that parental safety... but Filbrick still wasn't too happy about her decision to keep her child. And Shermie was here...

Mabel sighed and smiled, nodding.

And just five minutes later, two siblings were laying in the bed, cuddling against each other. Shermie seemed to be about loosing himself to sleep, but Mabel couldn't find any desire (or force) to fall back to dream.

Mabel sighed.

Shermie yawned, opening one eye "What wrong, May-May?"

"I don't know..." She said softly. "I don't know if I'll be able to sleep..."

"Oh..." The boy whispered. "Mama would sing to me, when I can' sleep..."

Mabel chuckled softly at this, smiling to her brother. She closed her eyes for second. Just for one moment... before...

"Mama..?"

What was that..?

A figure of tall woman appeared before her eyes... she felt two big warm arms wrapped around Mabel, as she buried her face into her chest. The woman... she was blurry, but it felt... like safety with her. The safety and comfort.

"Oh, my precious little girl..." The woman's voice said softly, before pulling Mabel closer.

Then, the woman's voice was heard over her head, as Mabel listened to her heartbeat.

"Close your eyes, have no fear
The monster's gone
He's on the run
And your Mommy's here~..."

Shermie looked up onto Mabel's face, before giggling. It seemed like she had something in her head right now and, judging by the smile on her face... it was something more pleasant, rather than whatever nightmare she cried from, when he came in...

He smiled one last time to her, before burying his head into her chest. To his own surprise... Mabel was mumbling something... a soft song, like his Mom's... but he never heard one, Mabel used...

Maybe it's her mom's? Was his last thought to himself, before falling asleep, listening to Mabel's heart and the lullaby...