ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀꜱ : ᴛʜᴇ ᴜᴘʀɪꜱɪɴɢ

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"I don't want to leave. It's unfair," I cried as my mom stroked my hair.

"I know, but you have to do it. One day you will understand. It's only for your safety. You are the most important thing to us, Wills. You and nothing else." I was still crying, but I felt sleep catching up with me.

"I don't want to leave you and the others."

She hugged me tightly, stroking my hair. "You will make new friends, don't worry. I'm sure you, Arthur, and Carter will be good friends."

"But I don't want to leave him, Mommy."

"You will find each other one day, trust me. You must sleep now, baby." She kissed me on the forehead and left the room, leaving a little nightlight for me. Only my black teddy bear and I remained alone in this room.

"Wills, pssst... Willow, wake up. I need to say goodbye to you." Deep blue eyes stared at me, a huge smile and messy hair.

"How did you get here? Your mom will be really mad if she doesn't see you in your bed."

"It's a secret. I wanted to give this to you before you leave. Mom said I was going to see you again someday, but I'm afraid you will forget me. So I did this for you." He handed me a little necklace with a seashell hanging on it.

"Thank you," I whispered and hugged him.

"Dad helped me because it was difficult to add the seashell to it, but it was my idea." He smiled sheepishly.

I was about to hug him again when my door opened. "You should be in bed, young man," my father said, a little angry but smiling as he pulled the boy away from me. The boy waved to me, and I went back under my covers, hugging the necklace tightly.

It was a strange dream again. This necklace told me something. I got up and started looking for my little box in my closet. Albert came to my room and jumped on my bed. I joined him when I finally found the little flower box and put it on my bed. He sniffed it and barked as I stroked him and opened it.

Inside were tons of different items from my past, such as love letters, cards from Carter, Arthur, or Alicia, and pictures of me and my friends when we were little. There were even some of Alfred when he was young.

These were things that meant a lot to me, items that took me back to the good old days every time I saw them. It had been a while since I opened this box. Usually, I did it when I felt nostalgic or in a bad mood, but right now, I was just looking for that thing confusing my mind.

This necklace.

I thought it was just a dream, but the necklace was exactly the same as in my dream. I didn't even remember where I got it; maybe this little boy really did give it to me. But in the dream, my parents were my real ones. I guessed I was about three or four years old then, since they died when I was around four. Frankly, I didn't remember anything from that period of my life.

But why did these dreams seem so vivid and full of details?

I decided to put it in a bracelet next to the one my biological parents left me, also because it was too small for my neck now. I wasn't the same girl I was when I was four. Then I did my morning routine and went to school as always. Before I left, I took a look at Raiden's sweatshirt. I didn't plan to give it back anytime soon.

I was talking to Marius, Anastasia, and Alicia at our lockers when Adrian, Logan, and Ethan walked past us. They smiled at me, and I smiled shyly back.

"Oh my lord, did they just smile at you? Girl, you are so lucky," Anastasia said as I tried to figure out if this was real.