Lauren shot up from her bed and gasped. Beads of sweat were falling down her forehead. She took deep breaths before silently heading out of her room to the bathroom. She turned the faucet sink on and splashed water on her face before heaving a deep sigh. She gasped when she saw the same girl from her dream. Without thinking, she grabbed her toothbrush and put it between her and the girl. "Who are you?!" She hissed. "What do you want?" The girl stared at Lauren with a blank expression. She raised her hand and reached out for Lauren. Lauren immediately ran towards the door trying to get as far as possible. She heard knocks coming from outside and almost fell down to the ground.
"Who's in there?" She heard Tyler ask.
"Just me Ty." She answered doing her best to hide the fear in her voice.
"Will you be out soon?" Lauren looked up. There was no sign of the mysterious girl anywhere. She opened the door with a shaky breath. Tyler was standing in front of her with a sleepy expression.
"You okay?"
Lauren nodded. She handed the toothbrush to her brother. "Put this back for me, will you?" She flashed a quick smile before speed walking back to her room. She shut the door as quickly and quietly as she can and fell down on the floor. For a few minutes she focused on catching her breath. She felt something warm on her chest and looked down. Her ruby necklace was glowing. Her eyes widened and she ripped it off her neck. It fell in front of her. She slowly moved closer but still kept her distance. She inspected the glowing jewelry. There was a knock heard on the window. She froze. How could someone knock on her window when her room was on the second floor? There weren't any ladders nearby to use. She slowly looked up and saw the girl from earlier. She was wearing a glowing jade necklace and was staring right at her and at that exact moment, Lauren screamed.
>>>.<<<
Sun rays streamed in Lauren's room from her window. Her eyes fluttered open and she was greeted by Melanie. The little girl hopped up her bed and grinned. "Good morning Lauren!" Lauren slowly stood up and smiled back before ruffling her sister's hair. "Good morning." She yawned and looked around. Events from the night before flashed in her mind. The last thing she remembered was screaming and falling down on the ground and possibly fainting but she woke up on her bed, wrapped around her blanket. She couldn't have magically teleported back to her bed. Was everything all a dream then? Her hands shot up towards her neck. She was wearing the necklace. She let out a sigh of relief. It was the only thing she has from her real family. She didn't want to lose it. It was ridiculous. She wanted to feel hatred towards the family that abandoned her when she was just an infant but she couldn't do it. In fact, she wanted to meet them and talk to them and be with them no matter how much she loved the family she had now. She shook her head and smiled at her sister. "Ready for another day?" She asked. Melanie grinned and nodded as they both went out of her bedroom.
>>>.<<<
Lauren tightened her grip on her bag. Claire wasn't going to school today since she was sick so she was on her own. She could take care of herself and she was capable of defending herself, the sadistic side of her just didn't do it or maybe she just didn't have enough courage to do it. It was part of the reason why she was grateful that Claire was always by her side. She was capable of doing something she couldn't do herself. She sighed and started walking towards homeroom. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder and turned around. Matthew was standing in front of her with a goofy grin. "Hey." He greeted.
