As day drifted into day, and the warmth of that final kiss became little more than a cold, distant memory, Claire began to doubt.

          It wasn't something she found herself dwelling on. Truth be told, she was often too busy working to think about any of it at all. Instilled with a new sense of confidence, Claire had picked up dancing with a new fervor and was preparing for her first performance as Alice in a musical interpretation of Alice Through the Looking Glass.

          The irony of playing a girl who traveled to a magical world had not been lost on Claire who smiled every time the thought presented itself to her.

          No, the doubt wasn't something she thought about with any regularity. It was the sort of notion that crept over her slowly, taking days or even weeks before revealing itself, often under the cover of darkness were it slipped with expert ease into those moments between wakefulness and sleep.

          Claire thought of him then, of Alek, of the things she had done, and the wonders she had seen, she thought of it all -- and she doubted.

          How could any of it have possibly been real?

          Naturally, these moments were fleeting and rare, but left Claire feeling alone and anxious.

          Was he thinking about her too?

          In that quiet moment between heartbeats, in that soft silence between breaths, was he thinking about her?

          Of course, Claire always ended up shoving these thoughts to the back of her mind. Sleep would eventually come and, as usual, it would be dreamless. She had only had one dream in the two months since she had woken up in the playhouse dressing room, and in it she had seen the tower again, stark and white against a black, starless sky.

          Claire didn't know what the dream meant, if it meant anything at all, and, like most things related to that place she had left behind, she did her best not to dwell on it.

          There was really only one thing that kept her from letting go entirely, from moving on.

          The music box and it's haunting memory was the only tangible evidence she had that it had really happened, that Alek, and their love, was real.

          She took the music box with her everywhere.

          Even now the weight of it nestled deep in the pocket of her parka brought her unimaginable comfort, as though she had a piece of Alek with her no matter the distance that separated them.

          A cold rush of air jerked Claire from her thoughts just as the hiss of hydraulics, too similar the bursts of steam, sent her heart crawling into her throat.

          She lifted her head and for half a second saw a glimmer of silver and a flash of auburn peeking out from beneath the rim of a sleek, black top hat. The owner was leaning from an open doorway, arm extended, hand reaching out to her.

          "Miss?"

          The scene vanished, swept away like a flurry of snow. The train was replaced by a long, sleek Greyhound bus and the auburn haired figure was in fact a puzzled looking fellow with bits of dark hair jutting every which way from beneath the rim of a driving cap that sat cockeyed on his head.

          "Are you getting on?" he asked anxiously, "Gotta schedule to keep."

          Claire nodded and quickly gathered up her lone suitcase and travel bag.

          The driver climbed out and moved to the side of the bus where he opened a side panel and stowed her bag with the others.

          "Ticket please," the driver said, holding out his hand expectantly.

          Claire nodded and reached into the deep pocket of her parka. Her fingers brushed the cool metal of the music box but did not linger. She searched a moment longer only to discover the ticket was not there.

          "I seemed to have misplaced it," she managed, unable to explain the sudden rush of anxiety that swept over her. "Um, maybe it fell on the floor..."

           "Ma'am, either you have a ticket to present to me, or you do not."

          "What did you say?" Claire asked, struck by a wave of deja vu so strong it caused her to physical stagger back a step.

          "I just said you'll need a ticket if you expect to ride," the bus driver repeated.

          "Right, of course, I'm sorry," Claire replied, feeling flustered. "I just had it--"

          "You dropped this," a voice interrupted. Claire turned in surprise, catching a flash of blue before the ticket filled her field of view.

          With her heart pounding in her chest, she took the ticket and held her breath, half expecting to see Draz hiding behind it with that mischievous grin on his face.

          It wasn't.

          The man in question, however, was by no means unattractive, especially when he offered her a dazzling smile.

          "It was on the bench," he explained casually, "it probably fell out of your pocket."

          "Thank you," Claire replied, grateful for the cold chill that masked the heat flooding her cheeks. She studying him for a moment before speaking again. "Green."

          "Pardon?"

          "Sorry, your eyes, they're green," she said, feeling silly. "Just a minute ago I thought they were blue."

          The man chuckled and raked his fingers through a mop of chestnut curls. "How kind of you to notice."

          Claire felt the heat in her cheeks doubling and decided it was probably best to get onto the bus before she made a bigger fool of herself.

          She turned to hand the driver her ticket. He scanned it and handed it back to her.

          "Thanks again," she she said, earning a lazy salute from the stranger. She boarded the bus noting that was mostly empty save for a handful of passengers who didn't even bother to look up as she passed. As a result, Claire had her pick when it came to seats. She angled her way towards the back and chose a seat by the window. The sixteen hour trip to Columbia, South Carolina was going to be long enough without feeling claustrophobic too.

          In the seat beside her she set her travel bag and began to dig through it in search of the book she had bought for the trip.

          "Mind if I sit?"

          Claire looked up and saw the man from outside grinning down at her. He was motioning to the seat across the aisle.

          "No, not at all," she said.

          He nodded and put his bag in the overhead compartment before sitting down and leaning across the aisle towards her. "My name is Benjamin, you can call me Ben," he said, extending his hand towards her.

          "It's nice to meet you, Ben," Claire said, reaching out to shake his hand. "My name is-"

          "Claire," he said, causing the smile on Claire's face to falter.

          How did he know her name?

          Before she could ask, however, he chuckled again. "It was on the ticket," he explained, motioning to the ticket protruding from the front pocket of her travel bag. "It's a beautiful name."

          "Oh," Claire said. That made sense, why then did she still feel uneasy? "Thank you."

          There was a moment of silence and Claire thought Ben would go about his own business. Instead, he settled back in his seat and looked towards her again.

          "So, are you traveling for business or pleasure?" he asked. "If you don't mind me asking that is."

          Neither, Claire thought ruefully.

          Not long after she had gotten back, she received a phone call from her grandfather's attorney, Mr. Jacbos. Steven Belmont had passed away and left his entire estate to Claire. It had been harder for Claire to accept the reality of his passing than it had been for her to accept that all she had experienced was real.

          Jacobs had been unavailable during the funeral, so Claire had to make a second trip to speak to him about the details of her grandfather's will.

          "I'm going to visit family," she replied quietly. It wasn't exactly a lie.

          Ben chuckled. "Most would call such a tedious affair business."

          Claire offered a stiff smile generated on the pretense of being polite. He didn't know that with the death of her grandfather she no longer had any living relatives. He had no way of knowing that now she really was all alone.

          Feeling a heaviness in her chest, Claire started to consider the politest way to extract herself from the conversation. Fortunately, she was saved from the trouble by a shrill ringing sound which erupted from Ben's coat pocket.

          He dug around a moment and finally produced a cellphone. The ringing stopped as he answered and lifted it to his ear. "Ben Stafford," he declared. There was a pause, his expression pensive. After as second or two a smile broke out unexpectedly across his face. "Walter! Long time no talk, buddy, how have you been?"

          Ben offered Claire and apologetic smile before rising and moving towards the very back of the bus where he'd be sure not to disrupt anyone. Claire offered a brief wave and waited until he was out of earshot before letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

          She pulled her cell phone from her bag, as well as a pair of sound canceling headphones which she promptly slipped over her ears. Even if she wasn't listening to anything right then, she hoped Ben would take the hint and leave her be if he happened to wander back before she had found something to listen to.

          In the end she settled on the music from her upcoming show, her mind mapping out each movement as the notes washed over her.

          Claire stood center stage, the bright lights making the world beyond look black and empty.

          Somewhere in the pit below music rose up, slow at first but rising in both tempo and volume with each new note.

          Claire help her breath, waiting for her cue.

          Her body was poised and still, muscle taut.

          Just as she was about to leap forward, a cackling laugh rose out of the darkness and she stumbled instead, coming down hard on one knee. Fire burned through her leg, from her calf all the way up to her thigh. The laughter continued, a high, screeching sound that cut through her and left her feeling cold.

          As the laugh began to fade, it would ring out again, rising over the music which had gone from melodic and magical, to sharp and violent.

          Claire clamped her hands over her ears in an effort to drown the laughter out, but it was useless. It was as though the sound was coming from inside rather than all around her.

          It was in that same instant that Claire realized the darkness was moving, creeping towards her in long, reaching tendrils. She opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was the horrible, ear splitting laugh.

          Claire woke with such abruptness that she she smacked her knee on the seat in front of her eliciting a sharp pain as her bone came into contact with something hard behind the cushion.

          The music had long since stopped playing and Claire could just make out the steady pattering of sleet and rain as it struck the window beside her.

          The world beyond was dark giving Claire pause to wonder how long she had been asleep.

          Looking across the aisle she saw that Ben had returned to his seat. He was reading a book, though Claire couldn't make out the title. Whatever it was, he seemed distracted enough by it. If he had noticed her strange behavior, he didn't show it.

          Claire turned her attention back to the window watching as the rain ran in thin streams across the glad. No dreams for weeks and now this? She rubbed absently at her leg, not the knee she had bumped, but her calf. Days after returning, the scar which had stood out stark and white against her skin, began to fade. Within a week it was gone completely, but the memory of it remained and every now and then Claire felt a ghost of a burn.

          She hoped, like most dreams, that this one would fade from memory, forgotten like all the rest.

          Unfortunately, it did not and Claire couldn't shake the feeling that some bad, that something dark, was coming.

** Note **

It's so great to be back with you guys, and Claire and all of her friends! I can't wait to take you all on this journey with me. I look forward to hearing your feedback and sharing in your excitement. I have a lot of fun things planned for you guys outside of Winter Embers, including some never-before-read scenes that are being added to Winter Fire during edits. I hope you enjoyed reading this first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. <3