We all went to bed early that night, but in my childhood room I found no comfort and sleep only came when I cried myself to sleep. When morning came, I was not able to get up out of bed and go downstairs. I couldn't face my mother, nor my uncle. Knowing I was with Yuki in their last moments, they wanted answers and I couldn't give them. They'd never believe the truth and I couldn't bring myself to lie to them.

And so I stayed in my room, staring blankly at the ceiling and going from feeling numb with disbelief, and then I'd burn with rage and helplessness, knowing that despite everything I knew about the law and how to catch criminals that I could never bring the culprit to justice. And then, after the numbness and fire, there was grief. It was heavy, sent an ache into my bones and made it hard to breathe.That was when I cried again, muffling the noise with my pillow as I fought against the tide of pain and loss and failed miserably. It dragged me down like a riptide and eventually, I gave up the fight, falling into a shallow sleep for a few minutes to an hour. They never lasted long, the nightmares always came. Those red eyes plagued me, mocking me and my fragile, human nature. And worse than those eyes were Yuki's. Her raspy voice, struggling to breath, blood soaked and reaching for me.

When I saw the monster I woke up gasping for air or screaming, when I saw Yuki I woke up sobbing. I knew which one was worse. Around noon, I the exhaustion hit again and my eyes began to shut and as I drifted off, I wondered which horror awaited me this time.

***

The room around me grand; a penthouse apartment with lush, white carpet under my bare feet and modern, sleek black leather furniture. It looked like it belonged in a furniture catalog. The whole west wall was a giant window pane, looking out onto the city skyline. I couldn't tell which it was, but the glittering lights and colors were certainly beautiful. Yuki would've loved this, I thought, biting my lip as more tears washed down my face.

"Like it?" A male voice asked and I turned, frowning at the source. A tall, thin white man with tousled brown curls and sharp cheekbones stood behind me, leaning at the black marble fireplace.

I wiped at my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was explain my tears to a perfect stranger. Even in my dreams. The thought stopped me short, I was dreaming. I was aware of the fact that I was dreaming. I knew there was a term for it, but I didn't know it. But even if I didn't know the word, I knew what this entailed; I could control my dream. I shut my eyes, knowing exactly what I wanted. I wanted to talk to Yuki. To have her hug me again and tell her how sorry I was, tell her how much I loved her. But when I opened my eyes, the luxury apartment hadn't been replaced with my crappy one and Yuki was nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry love," the man said again, two drinks in crystal tumblers. The amber color and strong scent told me it was whisky. "This is my dream, sit down?"

"No it's not," I corrected, fingers closing automatically around the drink. "You're just a figment of my imagination."

The man smiled. The gesture made his cheekbones even sharper. "You're wrong," he informed me. "But you'll realize that once you wake up, trust me."

Since I had no control over my dream, I decided to go with it. This was strange, but at least I wasn't seeing Yuki die again or feeling eyes of her killer mock me. Anything was better than those options. "Fine," I said, sitting on the soft leather seat. "Talk." I took a sip of the drink, the burn of cinnamon and ice making me shiver.

The man sat down in the spindly legged chair opposite me, stretching out his long legs. "First thing's first, the name's Loki. And of course, you're Suzume. I know quite a bit about you and I'll say first that I'm sorry about your cousin. It wasn't right what happened to her."

Even in dreams I couldn't escape my reality. My fingers twitched around the glass. "You're stating the obvious." I wished my mind could be a little more original than this. I was already getting bored.

"It's called politeness but I understand this must be a very difficult time for you." The man, Loki took a sip of his drink.

"Sorry," I said, not sure why I was apologizing to my own mind. "Loki isn't it? Like the Marvel character?"

He frowned. "Yes, though that movie got nothing right. Well besides the fact that I'm dashingly handsome." He smirked at his own joke and I rolled my eyes. How had my sleeping mind created something so conceited? Perhaps it was some unconscious part of me. "But yes, I am very much Loki though your knowledge of who I am is negligible I'm sure. Tell me, what do you know of Norse myths?"

"You're part of my head," I pointed out, taking another sip of the cinnamon-flavored Fireball. "You already know the answer."

"No I don't," Loki replied. "I might be in your dreams, but I don't have access to your thoughts and memories. Only my own. So again, what do you know about the Norse gods?"

I shrugged. I'd taken one mythology class in high school and I'd slept through half of it. It hadn't interested me in the slightest. "Nothing really, I know that the Viking culture worshiped them and something about a place called Valhalla."

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes. "Fucking All-Father," he groaned. "Okay, long and short-." The dream shifted, the surroundings rippled around us, like water and I frowned as it steadied. "Oh fuck," he cursed again. "Is that on your end or mine?"

"What?"

"Okay it's mine." He set his drink down. "Listen, when you come out of this dream, you're going to know how wrong you've been about it all. Look at your nightstand, read the notebook there, got it? It has everything you'll need to know about Asgard, read it."

I must've absorbed more from that mythology class than I thought. The term certainly sounded like they belonged in mythology. The dream rippled again and Loki got onto his feet. "Okay, he said, downing his drink and getting to his feet. "I've got to run but we'll see each other sooner I'm sure, now, wake up."

He snapped his fingers.

****

I woke up with a cracking sound ringing in my ears. I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut tight, wishing i was back in my dream, however strange it was. It had been my only reprieve from the crushing reality. But try as I might, I was awake, painfully and vividly aware and I knew attempting to sleep right now would be a waste of time. So I sat up, the taste of cinnamon still on my tongue. I then turned towards my nightstand, intending to grab my cell phone and check the time but even as I reached for it, my hand froze and my heart dropped into my stomach as I saw my phone was not alone on the wooden surface.

A thin, emerald green notebook rested near it and on the top, a crystal tumbler full of cinnamon flavored whisky.

"Mother fucker," I swore to myself even as I grabbed the tumbler and drained the last of the contents. The ice even melted. Then I grabbed the notebook as I added 'invading people's dreams, having conversation and bringing items into the real world' to my ever-expanding list of things that were not impossible as I'd once believed.

I flipped open the cover, heart beating hard and slowly in my chest as combination of dread and resolve filled me. I couldn't bury my head in the sand, i couldn't pretend what I'd seen wasn't real and go back to my normal life.

Not while that thing was still out there.

I had to take the plunge, learn more about the impossible things that stood between me and Yuki's murderer and maybe, just maybe there would be some slim hope that I could get justice for her. I flipped open the cover and slanted handwriting greeted me.

Told you that it wasn't a dream, this should be enough to get you started. We'll see each other again soon I'm sure.

- Loki

I turned the page, the paper more threatening than a pipe bomb and more slanted writing greeted me, this time paragraphs worth, at the top of the page, the word Yggdrasil greeted my eyes. I had no idea what that meant, but I had a feeling if I read on, I would learn very quickly, even if I feared the answers. I did fear the answers. I was terrified of all the suddenly impossible things around me that had happened over the course of two days, but I couldn't stop. Yuki's dying face flashed into my mind and my hands tightened, rage and grief twinning inside my body but they didn't render me incapable now. It was fire, fire that burned through fear.

I started to read.

*****************************

New chapter! Loki has made his appearance, quite different from the first draft if any of you remember it! Suzume is about to get much deeper into the Norse stories and legends, wonder how many of them will match up to her reality? NaNoWrioMo continues on at a steady pace! As always, COMMENT and VOTE if you can!

Write on! :)