"What did Lucas say to you?"

That was the first thing Claire asked Neve when the three perfect human beings were out of earshot. Her lips shaped into a frown as she thought of a response. "Nothing important."

Claire crossed her arms. "Then why were you smiling?"

"What? Am I not allowed to smile now? Is it a crime to be happy?" Neve covered her mouth. What the hell was that?

Claire stared at her, eyes narrowed with barely concealed anger. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused."

Neve saw the exact moment when Claire snapped, her face turning an ugly red and eyes widening with anger. "You little bi—"

The bell chose this moment to ring, saving Neve from Claire's wrath. She rushed away, more confused than she'd ever been before. It definitely hadn't been her responding. She wasn't an idiot. No matter how irritating Claire was, she wouldn't say those things, unless she wanted her life to get even worse. So why had those words come out of her mouth?

Courtesy of yours truly.

Neve halted in the hallway, shocked. Pandora? Really?

Yep.

Why?!

Thought it would be nice to put that bitch in her place.

Why can't you just not get involved?

Uh... I'm your guardian angel, so it's kind of my job to get involved.

She let out an angry huff, continuing down the hall. Well, I don't want you to.

Oh, c'mon Neve. Don't be like that. Besides, you were thinking it anyway. I was just voicing your thoughts!

Next time, can you not do that?

But Neve...

What?

Those girls are really mean to you. I just want to help you out.

Look, I don't know who you are, or even what you are, and I don't really care what your intentions are. Just let me live my life and I don't think we'll have a problem. For the most part.

God, you're stubborn, but fine. I'll leave you alone for now. But remember, you can always talk to me. I'm here for you.

Neve sighed, feeling that Pandora wasn't going to speak anymore. She felt bad, really, but she didn't even know where Pandora had come from. All she knew was that she'd jumped inside her head and didn't know how to shut up. And she had claimed to be her guardian angel but was just an added annoyance. She only made her life harder, which she didn't need at all. Running a hand through her hair, she turned the corner and was shocked into a stop.

The hallway had completely changed, now like a forest, but without trees. When she blinked, it was no longer a hallway, a large expanse of land stretching as far as the eye could see. The chattering of students had also disappeared, silence reigning. Neve slowly turned in a complete circle and found that the hallways behind her had also disappeared. Her jaw dropped. What the hell? Where was she? What was this place? Why was she here? Where had the school gone? And most of all... why did it look so similar to the place she saw in her dreams?

Her eyes widened in dread. No. She couldn't be here. Not during school. But what else could this be? Had she fallen asleep? Probably not. But then, why was she here? She fidgeted with her fingers, apprehension pooling in her stomach. She had to get out of here. But how? The land was the same everywhere she looked; colorless, hefty bushes and withering grass. She shivered. The place was so dead and cold.

Neve was afraid, so afraid, of what would happen if something saw her, but she moved ahead. She couldn't just stay in one place, waiting for a savior that wouldn't come. She had to keep moving, even if she didn't know where she was going.

Nothing happened, for a time, and Neve was able to walk a long distance from where she'd started—though she wasn't making any actual progress in leaving the place. Then, the little wind that was whistling through the air came to a complete stop, and everything was still. This made Neve stop as well, a great foreboding coming upon her.

And had it not been for the feeling she had, she wouldn't have ducked in time when something came flying at her. However, despite her quick reflexes, the thing that flew past her yanked on her hair as it went, causing her to cry out in pain and be thrown into the air. She didn't have the chance to understand what was going on, the ground quickly rushing toward her face.

Then everything faded to black.

+++

When Neve regained consciousness, she was at the corner of the hallway, like she'd been before, except she was now slumped over on the floor. Pressing her hands to the ground, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. Every part of her body ached, so she decided to take it slow, easing her body into standing up. The first thing she noticed when she glanced around was the lack of activity in the halls. It must've been class time, but which hour?

Then she saw the clock far down the hall and squinted. They were already in fifth hour? How long had she been out? It seemed that she'd been knocked out for at least an hour. Yes, she'd been knocked out by whatever had flown at her in that... dream? Could she even call it that? She couldn't recall falling asleep and she didn't know herself to just randomly dose off in the middle of the school day.

So why, why had this world in her head appeared when she was in school? It had blocked out everything and seemed to physically take her into it, the aches in her body attesting to that fact. Or had it all been in her head, only a creation of her imagination, but so real, so palpable, that her mind had been pulled into it? Yet, it had been so like her usual nightmares, and those were real. They couldn't not be, as the damage she sustained from them always carried into reality. That meant... that meant... her nightmares were happening at school now.

But how? She hadn't fallen asleep. Did she cause it some way other than that? All she'd done was talk to Pandora, though. Wait—Pandora could know.

Pandora! she thought.

No response.

Pandora!

Wha-What? She sounded confused, like she'd just woken up. Is that... oh, it's just you. What do you want, Neve? You woke me up, and I was having a nice dream. This better be important.

You can dream?

Uh, yeah. I may not be human, but my mind is fundamentally the same. I think. Whatever. That's beside the point—what do you want? Wait a second. Oh. Jeez. You entered the Daemonsphere?

The what?

The Daemonsphere, where daemons live.

So it's an actual, physical place? The nightmares I have are in there?

Not exactly. The place is real, as real as Earth, but your nightmares aren't. I know it's hard to believe because of your injuries and all, but think for a moment. I wasn't there when it happened, but do you remember when that daemon shattered your knee? When you woke up, your knee wasn't like that. It was just inflamed. This leads me to believe that you're dealing with a certain type of daemon.

There are different types?

Yes. And this one doesn't physically harm you, it just makes you believe that it has. It doesn't have an official name, but I've decided to call it a Fear Creature.

A bewildered laugh escaped Neve then. Fear Creature? Really?

Don't laugh! It took a while to make up that name. And this is serious, stupid. I only have one more thing to tell you: the injuries that appear on you after your nightmares are illusions the Fear Creatures create. You can't make them go away, but they'll fade eventually, so you'll be fine. I hope this helps you, Neve. And I also hope that you know I care about you. Just give me a chance.

Neve leaned against the hallway wall. Should she let Pandora in? Was it okay to let her know everything? It wasn't like she was going to tell anyone. And Neve couldn't tell anyone else. No one cared, besides her brother, and he was too young to really understand or bother with these things.

But how could she, in her right mind, tell Pandora what she'd never told anyone else after barely knowing her for a day?

I'm sorry, Pandora, but I just can't tell you. You may have the best intentions, but I can't right now. Maybe not ever.

Pandora sighed. I understand. And I know that you don't want me interfering in what you do, so can we at least be friends?

Neve, pleasantly surprised by this request, answered, Sure.