The walk Ailysia took that morning to the bus stop seemed extra long. Food usually energized her in the morning. But today, despite stuffing herself with a blueberry waffle and a smoked salmon English muffin sandwich, she felt sluggish. She had even asked for some coffee at breakfast, which she usually didn't drink, and Grandma, who firmly believed that caffeine, like alcohol, was only for adults, didn't let her have any.
Coffee probably wouldn't have helped anyway. It wasn't like she was sleepy. Her mind just felt unfocused, distracted, and it was all the fault of that dream.
Despite promising herself that she would forget about it, Ailysia couldn't quite banish the dream from her thoughts. It had parked itself firmly in her memory, bludgeoning her with all the vivid details that she struggled to interpret.
Most of all, she was bothered by that strange glowing panel, and what could possibly lie beyond it. She had seen something there, she was certain, something that left her in tears. The mystery tugged at her like many tiny hooks, and she felt this was the source of her obsession. If only she could remember what it was, then maybe she would stop thinking about this once and for all.
Mind wandering, she arrived at the bus stop. Usually, she was ten minutes early, but today Misty – who lived just down the block and tended to come at the last minute – had already got there before her.
"Hey there early bird!" Misty greeted, with a tease and maybe a tiny bit of satisfaction. "Did you just jump out of bed?"
Ailysia remembered how many times she had urged Misty to get there earlier, just in case she missed the bus, and blushed from embarrassment. "I had no idea I was walking that slowly."
"Well, you do look kind of tired." There was concern in Misty's voice. "Didn't you sleep well?"
"I..." Ailysia was about to blurt out that she had the weirdest dream, but for some reason, she checked herself. "I was up late writing my campaign platform." She said instead.
Guilt twisted inside her. Why did she conceal the truth from her friend? There was no reason not to be honest! In all the years of their friendship, she had always told Misty everything. But she felt compelled to hold back on this one subject, because it was too strange – because her obsession over it was inexplicable. She was afraid Misty would dismiss it.
Fortunately, Misty didn't notice Ailysia' hesitation. "What did you come up with?" She said cheerfully. "Let me read it, and maybe I can give you some pointers."
Grateful for the change of subject, Ailysia dug in her backpack for the writing pad. And at that moment, the bus pulled up to the curb.
They boarded the bus, walking to the back for their usual, relatively quiet spot. Ailysia didn't know most of the students on the bus, and usually, she just walked right past them. But today, she remembered that she was running for office, and suddenly had the impulsive idea to say hello.
That would be a first. Ailysia wasn't in the habit of greeting strangers. There were some students who seemed naturally good at talking to people, who would casually smile and say hello and get a friendly response in return. On some level, she wished she could be like that. But years of disappointment, of people reacting with guarded skepticism at her friendly gestures, had taught her otherwise.
Deep down, she knew appearance mattered, and hers was more intimidating than friendly. Friends who looked past that, like Misty, were rare. And so, as she walked past row after row of students, she held her tongue.
But if saying a simple hello was going to be this difficult, how could she hope to ask anyone to vote for her? Frustrated, Ailysia forced herself to act.
There was one girl sitting alone near the end of the bus, a girl with blue hair who sat leaned back, arms crossed, staring up at nothing. Ailysia stopped by her seat and casually said, "good morning." And only then did she notice that the girl had headphones in her ears.
The blue-haired girl didn't hear her, but she did see Ailysia stopping, apparently needing something. So she took off the headphones and looked at her squarely in the eye, bewilderment plain in her face. "Excuse me?"
"I just said good morning." Ailysia explained, feeling stupid. She shouldn't have bothered with this, she thought. The girl probably didn't want to be disturbed, and now she was going to be annoyed.
"Oh." The girl's expression softened to a smile. There was no hint of annoyance whatsoever. "Good morning to you then."
Ailysia relaxed, surprised at how easy that was. That should be it then, and she was going to walk away, but the same troublesome impulse that made her say hello wasn't done yet. "I'm Ailysia by the way. See you around!" She added, inwardly amazed at how forward she had become, in just a few short seconds.
"I'm Pedra," replied the girl, a little shyly. "It's nice to meet you."
Ailysia went to her seat and plopped down next to Misty, feeling lighter and more energetic than she had felt all morning. She had been thinking about this too hard, she thought, when all it took to reach out to people was to just do it. The realization put a genuine smile on her face.
Misty, ever observant, gave her an encouraging look. "Reaching out to voters?"
"Future constituents." Ailysia laughed. "But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Let's get the campaign rolling first." She took out the writing pad and handed it to Misty. "Here is my draft platform. Please, I want your honest opinion."
Misty flipped through the writing pad, scanning through page after page of bullet points. "Lots of items. How many plans are you going to propose?"
"Twenty-ish." Ailysia said, a little sheepishly. "You think that's too many?"
"Not me personally. I'm a fan of long lists." Misty smirked. "But of the twenty, we should select three or four that stand out. What would those be?"
Ailysia laced her hands on her lap, thinking carefully. "I would say the peer mentoring initiative, the healthy relationship workshop, and bringing back the botanic garden."
"Great! Now all you have to do is to sell them. First of all, and I'm only giving my honest opinion here, they all sound like chores."
"Chores?" Ailysia frowned, sitting up a little straighter as she reflexively went on the defensive. "I didn't think of them like that. Sure, students will have to put in some effort, but surely there are great benefits."
"Exactly!" Misty clicked her fingers. "Sell them like that. Benefits; rewards. That's what any politician would promise."
"Huh." Ailysia began to see her point, and there was new appreciation in her voice. "Wow, Misty, you sound like a master at this. Are you sure you don't want to run as well?"
Her friend chuckled. "That's not going to happen. I'm also a master of doing things last minute, remember? Now, let's start with peer mentoring..."
But Ailysia was no longer listening. Suddenly, as if her head was dunked in vacuum, she could no longer hear Misty's voice, or the chatter of other students on the bus, or the traffic noises from outside. There was a pounding in her ear, the sound of her own frantic heartbeat, and beyond that, utter and complete silence.
What is happening? She panicked, trying to speak, trying to gesture that something was wrong. But her lips were frozen, and she could neither move nor feel her own hands. She watched, in horror, as Misty continued to talk, apparently unaware that anything was amiss. I can't move! Ailysia wanted to scream. It was the most frightening moment she had ever experienced. It was as if her body was no longer her own, as if it had abandoned her.
An excruciating second passed, and then, Ailysia began to hear something else.
The sound of rushing water. Only a soft gurgle at first, but swiftly growing to an unstoppable roar. Somewhere in her panicked mind, she figured out what this meant. The Rogue Snake River. The bus was crossing the bridge that spanned the river, which divided the city into the north and south sides. The water roiled under the bridge, and the sound flooded her mind, overwhelming everything else.
She sucked in a sharp breath, and it was as if the rope that tethered her body here suddenly snapped. She tumbled backward, back to that place. She flailed, hand striking a wall, and her feet landed on hollow stone, in the staircase buried deep underneath the crystal palace.
The cold and damp air sent shivers down her arms. She saw the mystical symbols on the wall light up, one by one, leading up to the end. And then, right in front of her, there was that panel. It beckoned her, all but commanding her to go through. And she stared at it in horror. If she went through, and saw what was on the other side, would this be over? Would the nightmare finally go away?
She walked through, eyes wide open, and saw it all. Blood. Smoke. Screams. Her screams. Pain deep in her marrow, so sharp that she could't breathe. No, no, no! She protested, clawing at her head. She didn't want to see this, didn't want to remember. Not now, not ever—
"Ailysia?"
That was Misty's voice, deeply concerned, slightly frightened. Ailysia gasped, snapping out of her paralysis, and immediately hunched forward, burying her face in her hands. She struggled to hold back tears.
"Ailysia, what's wrong?" Misty tried to comfort her, laying a tentative hand on her shoulder. But not knowing what the matter was, she couldn't do much more than that.
Ailysia knew she probably looked deathly pale. She knew an explanation was called for, but she was too shaken to give it. What she had seen beyond the panel came back in brief glimpses. She couldn't make sense of them, and even now they were fading from her mind. All she could be certain of was the despair.
She allowed herself half a minute to calm down, and then forcibly pulled herself together. "I'm okay now." She told Misty, voice still quivering slightly.
But Misty didn't respond. She was staring at something past Ailysia's head, mouth agape in shock. Puzzled, Ailysia followed her gaze, and saw the window she was sitting next to.
The entire pane of glass was frozen in ice crystals, so dense that it was no longer possible to see through. The crystals bloomed out, jutting into the air, an odd sight in the balmy summer morning. Stunned, Ailysia touched her fingertip to the ice, felt a piece of it break off, and felt the coldness seep into her skin. She began to tremble.
"It wasn't...it wasn't like this just a minute ago!" Misty murmured, now very much frightened. "What happened?"
Ailysia's voice came out so weakly, she could hardly hear herself speak. "Misty, I need to tell you something. I think something is very wrong with me."
A\N: What do you think of the icy surprise? Yes, the dream world and the real world are intersecting, and this is only the beginning. I hope you will stick with the story so I can show you all the plot twists I've planned. Please vote for the story if you've liked it :)