Dimension Fourth

Prologue

I awoke, sweating all over my sheets, which were tangled all over me after my wrestle with my bed. I groaned, disengaging myself and stumbling blindly to the bathroom. Turning on the tap, I washed my face, rinsing the sleep out of my eyes. As exhausted as I was, I could no longer rest. Those dreams just kept coming, haunting me even after I had awoken.

I returned to my room, shoving open the windows to let some cool breeze into the stuffy interior. I felt hot, as though I'd been running for a while. And I had been running, running from my nightmares. I couldn't do it much longer. Suffering through the night's, then struggling through the days. It was killing me. I hadn't slept through a night in I don't know how many weeks.

I sat back against the bed, resting my head against the wall. Looking across the room at myself in the mirror, I stared at the gaunt haggard figure there. I felt completely worn, the same way the image looked.

I jumped, my head snapping to the direction of the window as I heard a soft crash from outside. I got to my feet slowly, not really believing what I was hearing, and being cautious just in case. But my curiosity won out, and I reached the window, looking out and down. There was something lying in the alley behind my house. I couldn't tell what, but there was soft light flowing from the back there.

Grabbing my robe, I shot down the hall and stairs, quickly dashing out the door and into the crisp night air. I headed for the alley, intent on discovering what was going on back there. Quickly reaching the space beneath my bedroom window, I headed in the direction of the noise. Whatever it was, I was going to find out what.

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As determined as I was to find out what exactly was going on out there in the alley behind my house, nothing prepared me for what came next. There was a soft glow, sort of pulsing from the entrance to the alley. I was entranced, sort of. Maybe more curious, though. I stepped closer, not even realising that I was actually moving cautiously, as though I expected to find some sort of monster.

Like I said, nothing prepared me for what came next.

She was lying on the concrete, eyes closed and wrapped up in little more than some sort of translucent material. I could see her breathing underneath, so at least she wasn't dead. But her breathing was really shallow, and I remember stopping when I noticed this, instead of hurrying forward like I thought I should have.

I reached her side. She was young. About my age. Her hair was short, and kind of spiky. She was pretty in a kind of fairy-ish way. I remember hoping to God that she wasn't a pixie or something freaky like that.

I also realised that the light I'd noticed coming into the alley was actually coming from her. But on closer inspection, the light seemed to be dulling. I stooped next to her, and touched her cheek, checking for a temperature. She felt kind of cold, almost, but there was a softness to her skin that almost made her warm.

Almost made me want to lie down next to her and join her. Kind of perverse, I know. But just for the record, I don't do the whole scene where you find a girl in an alley and lay on cold concrete with her while she's naked and unconscious.

She had these strange marks on her skin, like tattoos. They seemed kind of tribal, and for a minute I thought of castle spires and ancient wild lands. Weird, I know, but that's exactly what happened. In that moment, if she'd awakened and had told me that, I would have believed her. Well maybe eventually.

A sound behind me made me aware of someone approaching. Out of nowhere these wild protective instincts hit me in the gut and I stepped between her body and the entrance of the alley. Call me crazy, but I sensed that ssomething was up. And while my senses suck, I wasn't taking chances.