Momoko drifted lightly to sleep as the car lazily made its way through the city, the lights and shadows of the outside world dancing across the seats and Grisla's passed out form next to her. Her eyelids twitched as a particular bright light passed by, but she began to fall into a deeper state of sleep—until the car jerked to a sudden, screeching stop, throwing both passengers forward. Momoko gagged as the seatbelt cut into her trachea, and then her body slammed back into the seat as her brain registered the thud.

"What's happening?" Grisla blared, rubbing her eyes hard, further smudging her makeup.

The driver replied in a shaky voice. "I-I think I hit something."

"Like what, a dog?" Grisla growled sleepily.

Momoko unbuckled her seat belt, reaching for the door.

"N-No, miss." The driver scrambled to unbuckle his own. "Don't get out of the car, let me—"

Momoko ignored him, bursting out of the car door and rushing to the front to see a large brown lump curled up in the road, illuminated by the headlights, yet indistinguishably hidden in shadow. She blinked, trying to see properly, but the illusion of distorted shadows did not pass, so she crept closer to the form.

"Hello? Are you okay?" Momoko spoke softly, gently, reaching out to touch the thing.

It shifted, and she pulled her hand back as an inhuman groan shuddered the brown mass.

She hesitated, but inched closer, glancing back to see the shadow of the driver standing behind the car door. Her finger brushed, not fur, but a coarse fabric.

"Hey." She placed her hand flat, grasping the fabric gently. "Hey, are you hurt?"

"Of course I am." A voice hissed from under the fabric. "You ran over me."

"Oh no, how bad?!" Momoko pulled at the fabric. "Let me see!"

A pair of gold eyes, glowing in the oppressive brightness of the headlights, glared at her from the shadow of the—blanket? She decided that must be the case, as there was far too much material for it to be clothes. She sucked in a breath, dazzled by the glowing orbs, yet dreading what else she may find underneath, she pushed back the thought and gave the blanket a final tug, freeing a pale face under a large cap, white strands straying from it to tickle strong cheeks. It was a boy, probably younger than her.

She managed to tear her eyes from his molten ones. "I'll get you out of there—where does it hurt? Your leg, or back, or—"

"I'm fine." He inched away from her hands, scrambling to free himself from the blanket.

"But you said you were—"

"I was being sarcastic." He paused in his struggles. "I'm sorry. Please don't worry yourself."

Momoko was dumfounded for a moment. Seeing him start to huff as his neck strained, she realized he needed help. "You're stuck? Can I help you out?"

"If you insist." He dropped his eyes.

She felt around for the end of the blanket, which was pinned under the tire.

"Mr. Driver;" she called out. "Could you back up a bit?"

"What's going on?" Grisla called from the backseat.

"This boy's stuck; I'm trying to see if he's hurt."

The car inched back, and Momoko jerked the end from under the tire, tossing it over the boy's head, and then he was easily able to shuck the rest of his lumpy cocoon. She offered her hand to him and he hesitated for a moment before taking it, letting her pull him up from the ground. At full height, he was a couple of inches taller than her, but his boyish features and large golden eyes made it hard to figure his age. He was dressed in a baggy grey sweater and black pants, finished with a haggard pair of old tennis shoes. Other than some dirt smudges on his face, he really did seem to be okay. His shoulders slumped and he glanced away as she surveyed him.

"Satisfied, lady? I'm fine."

"You're an odd one. I can't tell if you're being defensive or just plain rude." She smiled. "You're welcome, for getting you out of that blanket, in any case."

A crimson hue spread across his cheeks and he didn't turn to face her.

"I-I didn't mean to—that is.... Thank you." He shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't worry about it." She clapped a hand gently on his shoulder, and he jumped, his gold eyes wide as they again met hers.

She dropped her hand quickly, wondering if this kid had an issue with being touched.

"I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable— look, if you're not really okay, take this." She pulled a business card from her clutch. "And call me, anytime. I'll make sure you're taken care of. It's the least I can do.... and I'm really sorry, for our car hitting you in the first place."

His mouth opened and closed twice, then he shook his head and stood up straighter. Before he could voice what he was thinking, a loud shout from the sidewalk caught their attention. Two large men in white uniforms barged through a couple of onlookers, stumbling into the street. As Momoko realized they weren't merely running towards, but determinedly at them, the boy snatched the card from her hand and bolted across the street, disappearing through a small alley way. One of the men galloped past her, but the other stopped, trying to catch his breath.

"Are you... hurt, miss?"

"I'm fine. Our car hit him, and—"her words trailed off as she recognized the crest on the man's uniform. The Park Asylum, a facility for the criminally insane and mentally unstable. "Is he a criminal?"

"We've been after him for weeks." The man replied. "Pardon me." He resumed the chase.

Grisla whistled from the car. "We need to hang out more after hours, Mo. There's never a dull moment with you."

"Not lately..." Momoko muttered, kicking the blanket at her feet.

"Please get back in the car, Miss Momoko." The driver implored.

Suddenly feeling very tired, Momoko didn't offer any protest and climbed back into the backseat, where Grisla, suddenly awake, resumed regaling her with the details of how she met B-K at Almond. Momoko let her mind wander again, it filled itself with the things about the egg and strange wolf creatures and abandoned offices that she hadn't let herself think about since the day before. Now, she subconsciously added another oddity to the list: a pair of molten gold eyes seared into her memory.

She drifted back into a light sleep until the car stopped again, a gently creeping stop that told Momoko they were probably in front of her house. She opened one eye to confirm it as the driver climbed out of the front. She stretched out in the seat, her toes giving several satisfying pops before her door opened. She graciously took the driver's offered hand.

"Thank you for carting us around tonight."

"No problem." He smiled back, tipping his hat. "Have a good night, Miss Momoko."

She turned to shout in the car. "Grisla, I'm home. Thanks for tonight."

Her friend snorted in her sleep, turning in the seat to curl up.

With a helpless shake of her head, Momoko headed to the front door. She clicked the entry code quickly and let herself in, glancing back to see the driver sliding back into the car.

She slipped off her heels and headed upstairs, a light under Sylvia's study illuminating the dark hallway floor as she passed by on her way to her room. She chuckled softly to herself. Her guardian had the work ethic of a honey bee. She gently shut her room door and flicked on the light.

She changed out of the skin tight dress into a comfortable cami top and shorts. She used a wet cloth to wipe off her make-up, set up the egg on top of the dresser, flicked off the lights, and shimmied under her comforter. With a deep sigh, she stared at her ceiling, her emotions clashing. The night had gone so well up until the ride home. Couldn't she just have one, normal night? Was that boy really an escapee from Park Asylum... he had seemed so hurt, frightened. Was it really okay to have let him leave that way?

'What were you going to do, chase him down and smuggle him home? You don't even know what the situation is. Maybe he's a mass murderer or something and you're lucky he was wrapped up in that blanket like a crazy burrito.' She chastised herself for the thought. Except, the realization dawned at her as sleep lulled her from keeping her eyes open, it wasn't in her voice. It was strange thinking a thought in another voice, or rather, being aware the thought was not your own. Was she going crazy? Maybe the next person they were going to admit was her... if she kept hearing things and seeing things, and losing touch with reality—

"Don't be absurd. You're not crazy." The small voice that invaded her thoughts scoffed.

Momoko recognized the dark void that she had dreamed of the other night.

"Isn't that what crazy people tell themselves?" she laughed humorlessly.

The same pink glow from before illuminated the dark behind her, closer this time.

She began making her way towards it. "If I'm not crazy, then explain it to me. Why do I keep hearing you in my head? Why did I see that creature in practice—why can't a shake this deep feeling that everything's losing itself?"

The warm glow said nothing, but she couldn't stop herself from being drawn in. The light grew brighter and she could sense she was getting close, close enough to touch the source. She reached out, her finger tips brushing against gossamer.

"Don't." she could sense someone behind her. "Please, go no further."

She turned to see the same figure from her last dream, his features still hidden in shadow all though the pink glow illuminated everything else.

"Are you going to give me more riddles?" she frowned. "Why can't I see you, even though it's so bright?"

"I can only do so much. You're not ready." The dark form replied. "I beg you, leave things as they are. Don't pursue this light. You'll change, Momoko. The world will change, and nothing that awaits you down this path is good. You'll suffer greatly. Please don't go towards that light."

The pain in his voice broke her heart. "Do you.... Do you know what's going on? Last time you said that I was going to see a demon soon. Did you mean that literally.... I will see another strange, evil creature?"

"It grows very close." The figure warned. "If you pursue that light, it will surely find you."

She shook her head. "Things like that don't exist. Even now, I'm dreaming.... Which means you're not real either. I'm at least able to tell reality from dreams when I'm asleep."

She looked down at her hands. "I don't understand this dream, or the one before. All I know is that light is calling me, and I'm drawn to it, but I'm drawn to you as well... so if you say I shouldn't go towards the light, am I supposed to believe you, and give up without seeing for myself what it is?"

"Momoko." A voice pulsed from the light. A light, child-like voice that sent shivers up her spine. It was the same voice that had been whispering to her for over a week. The voice that she hoped she wasn't just imagining.

"Momoko." The figure echoed, reaching out an elegant hand, pale with long claws. Palm up, she realized the figure was beckoning her away from the voice.

"Am I supposed to choose, is that it?" she felt anger bubbling in her chest.

"In a sea of weirdness, without knowing anything about my options, I'm supposed to make a potentially life-changing decision? This is wrong! I want to wake up! I'm tired of all this! I just want to go back to my life and not worry about my mental state."

"You'll see, soon enough." The figure promised. "You're no crazier than the rest of the world."

"That's supposed to be comforting?" Momoko choked on a laugh.

"Momoko." The pink light hummed. "I cannot promise that no matter what you choose, your life won't be hard... but I swear, I'll protect you. Until every last inch of me."

"You'll.... Protect me?" she glanced at the pink light. "What are you?"

"If you think about it, you already know the answer." The light glowed brighter. "We're bound, but not close enough. I can't be strong enough to keep my promise until you fully accept me."

Momoko glanced back to the shadowed figure, his hand still outstretched. She slowly shook her head. "You're some kind of warning, aren't you? That's what I get from you, and you seem so desperately sad.... But even if things go poorly, I can't do nothing. It's not in me. I'm sorry. You can't grow by standing still."

The hand dropped back into the darkness of the figure. "Yes, I knew I probably couldn't sway you. That's just how you are...."

He took a step forward, the shadows pulling away from his grey skin, just enough to reveal carved cheeks and gold eyes like a cat's. She inhaled sharply. It was too similar, yet so fundamentally different from the boy earlier.

He completely disappeared, leaving Momoko alone in the void with the pink glow, a strange emptiness in her heart. She couldn't keep herself from trembling. The figure had been comfortable hidden, but looking into his eyes had completely unsettled her.

"Momoko." The glow called to her again.

She pushed all thought aside and pushed herself toward the light, embracing something large, warm whispers engulfing her entire being. She couldn't understand them, but the warmth that spread through her, the sense of complete belonging echoed her experience at Midnight's office. The steady warmth pulsed through and completely consumed her, and she felt a new surge of confidence well up in her as everything went dark.