Lost in a Dream

Chapter 1

A boy in a faded blue hoodie strode down the street of the big city. He had long, blonde hair, which waved lazily around in the breeze, like it was trying to dance, but didn't have the courage to start. His skin was a pale white, and made the freckles across the bridge of his nose very prominent, and enhanced the color of his brilliant purple eyes. He wore black Jeans, and a red t-shirt could be seen around the neckline of his hoodie. He had the build of a teenager who grew slightly faster than his muscles could keep up, making him lean, but still strong.

Lightning flashed overhead, and the boy pulled his hoodie up, right as the rain began to pour down from above. It didn't seem to bother him that the heavens were pouring down their fury, almost like it had happened before.

This was the city of Tempest, a city that wasn't very well known, but still large. There were skyscrapers that stood like pillars against the sky, their windows glowing white with electricity. They were terrifying to behold during a storm like this, like stone pillars that had been raised by a sorcerer.

"Lightning storm, right on time, as per freaking usual." The boy muttered walking along. His voice was  one of weary frustration, the tone of someone who had spent years trying to find their destiny, and gotten lost in the process.

The boy was known as Shiloh to the people around him. It wasn't his real name, which was Saphire, but everyone called him Shiloh. And although he had tried to change it, it had quickly become a wasted effort. For everyday, things started over, like they had every day, for as long as Sapphire could remember.

Tempest was a city with a unique history. In short it had none. For as long as Shiloh could remember, everything had started over. It was almost like they were caught in a time loop, and as he had learned very soon, Shiloh was the only person who remembered every day as they passed.

He turned onto a street, and quickly arrived home, going upstairs to his room as he did. He completely ignored his parents, their calls of "Dinner's Ready!" going completely unheeded.

Sighing, Shiloh turned to his computer, and quickly powered it on. It was a simple laptop, and everyday, he had searched for anything that could give him a clue as to what was going on. And every day, there was nothing. The same old internet news story, the same old web-browser information. Everything was the same.

Today, however, there was a surprise waiting for him. Several icons layered the bottom of the screen, which could store up to 10 icons at once. He had 5 that were preset, never bothering to change it to 10, knowing it would change back the next day. One of them was for his emails, one was for his music, one was for his books and movies, and one was for photography and writing.

What stood out to Shiloh, however, was his email. The icon looked like the usual icon; a letter that sat waiting, even though no mail ever came. Today, though, it was bouncing up and down like a physicist meeting Albert Einstein. A little circle with the number 1 sat on the top right corner, giving an almost ominous feel to the situation.

"Who could have sent me a message? " Shiloh thought to himself. "I thought I was the only one who wasn't affected by the loop."

Finally, after a moment of thought, Shiloh shrugged, and clicked the little letter icon. The loading symbol briefly appeared, followed by his email. In his inbox, there was nothing but white space, with the exception of the little bar of light that seemed to have appeared at the top of the screen.

Open This if You Want to Your Destiny to Find You, the letter was titled. It was a strange title, one that Shiloh was sure only existed in crazy movies, like the ones he somehow had on his computer. At first, he wasn't sure that it was a good idea, but eventually, he decided to open the message. Like before, it took the computer a second to load, but eventually, a very short note appeared on the screen.

I know you aren't effected by the loop. If you want to finally discover who you were meant to be, come find me. You'll know where to look. Your whole world is about to change.

-A

Shiloh stared at the screen, dumbfounded. "How is this possible? Change isn't possible in Tempest." He muttered to himself, not sure whether or not to believe in what he was reading.

"Shiloh, did you hear me? I said--!" Shiloh's mother was coming up the stairs like she usually did but seemed to briefly freeze. A strange murmuring filled the air, and time seemed to slow, almost to a stop. Shiloh watched, not sure whether to feel horror, or confusion at the sudden change. Then, the murmuring in the air stopped, and Shiloh's mom continued to speak. However, she didn't say what she usually said. "-you need to head over to the Bradley's house. They're expecting you!"

"I know, I know, Dinners read- wait, what?!" Shiloh began to reply, having heard his mother say the phrase a million times. "What did you say?"

His mother looked at him with a bewildered expression on her face. "I said, you need to head over to the Bradley's house. They're expecting you."

Shiloh felt his jaw drop at these words, and his mind began to reel. Then it hit him. "You're whole world is about to change." That was what the mystery person had said. It was as though the change itself was a sign that what the person had said was right. Like a clue! Like a trail of breadcrumbs, as his mother liked to say to him about the mystery novels she wrote.

"Ok." Shiloh managed to say. He had just found his first breadcrumb, and was going to follow it.