Not that she was thinking about Vallen. Nope. She refused to give him a moment of thought today.

Not after he missed the last two days of school just so he wouldn't have to see her.

She couldn't know that for sure, but it was a good bet.

"Is there..."

Conway was gone and the rug she was sitting on was in the middle of a desert. Minus the heat of the sun bearing down on her. She was drowned in sunlight, almost to the point of being blinded by it, but it had no true heat.

There was no wind, either. No sound.

This was nothing like Conway's dreamworld except for the sand. His usually reminded her of a tribal ceremony from an olden day. A mixture of African and Cajun themed. He was a voodoo priestess, and a practiced witch doctor, after all. Born human over two hundred years ago, he'd accumulated all his magic through deals and misdeeds.

She fought the urge to call out if there was anyone there.

Today she was going to see something that could help if it kill... nope, no dying today. She was just going to try really hard to get a vision that could help.

Tucking her legs under her, she closed her eyes and breathed the way the new doctor told her to. Balance is the key. Focus. Don't force a vision. Let it come to her in its own way and time.

She allowed herself at least fifteen minutes of breathing and concentrating on nothing, but when she opened her eyes, nothing had changed. After another fifteen minutes of waiting, she laid on her stomach and swung her legs up and down while she ran her fingers through the sand.

It was nothing like the sand on the beaches of Honesty Falls. She sat up and scooped a huge handful of it and laid it in the skirt of her dress. How weird was that? She's lived her whole life in Honesty Falls and has played in the sand more times than she could count. Their sand was white and like dust unless it was wet. This sand was like tiny rocks in shades of browns, reds, and oranges.

How could her mind think of a place like this if she didn't know any other way for sand to be?

Because, for the most part, all of this was in her mind. Her body was sitting in Conway's room, no sand in sight.

She studied the miles and miles of sand, then, thinking that she could see something in the distance, she stood up and used her hands to block out the sun so she could see better.

It was hard to know if something was out there or if she just wanted something to be out there.

But it wasn't like she had anything better to do.

After tucking the clay ball into her pocket, she stepped off the rug. It could be a vision and that was what she was here for.

She'd taken no more than ten steps when she came to a single rose laying at her bare feet. A rose that was an ombre of dark purple and bright yellow. It was beautiful, and she was delighted at finding it, but not as delighted as she was when she held it up to her nose and a strong, sweet scent tickled her senses.

Laughing, she picked up her pace. She could get used to a dreamworld that gave gifts.

Nevaeha walked for a long while and when she got tired of only the sound of her own breathing; she sang about how we don't talk about Bruno. FYI. She'd love to talk about Bruno. He was one of her favorite characters from the show.

Okay, she loved them all.

She watched the movie twice with Silas and when he refused to watch it again; she forced Everett to watch it with her, then she went and got Rylee so she could watch it with her.

Her being banned from town wasn't all bad.

At least not till Mr. Peabody finally got around to turning off Silas's Wi-Fi. Her best friend has been giving her hurt, pissed off looks ever since. And whining. Lots and lots of whining.

Ben wasn't much better.

She'd thought three channels on her tv, and no Xbox would have sent them on their way, but she was sadly mistaken.

Silas insisted she needed him too much and no matter how many times she told him she didn't, he didn't believe her.

Now she's made herself believe they'd move out after Alison and Henry's wedding.

He'd move back home before he'd let his mom sell their house. She was sure of it.

Nevaeha came to a slow stop when she saw a crow fly overhead.

Thankfully, it wasn't her crow, but that didn't stop her from being bewildered.

It was smaller than her crow; it had red eyes, and it was flying backwards.

Making no sound and flying backwards.

Then, in the next moment, the sunlight was blocked out from the sheer amount of crows that filled the sky.

All of them not making a sound and all of them flying backwards.

That's not something you see every day.

It wasn't until they were a good distance away that she knew what it was. The black fog with the red eyes. It had to be and instead of coming at her like it usually did; it was moving farther and farther away.

She did a victory dance. Not being choked deserved a victory dance.

She went back to her singing. This place was so relaxing she might come back one day. It was amazing how__.

There was someone up a head. She was sure of it. Afraid that she would miss what she was supposed to see, she walked faster.

Her eyes filled with tears as soon as she was close enough to see that it was a boy crying over a wolf.

Not Vallen. Neither of them. The wolf was huge and black. There was blood matted to his fur, and it was very clear that he wasn't breathing. The boy was tall, with his hair shaved close to his head. He'd yet to look at her.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered as she knelt close to them. "So sorry."

He raised his head. He was a year or two older than her, with dark hair and dark grey eyes. A shaky hand wiped tears from his eyes before his face hardened and he rose to his feet. As soon as he stood at his full height, he and the wolf disappeared.

Nevaeha sat back on her hunches and took a deep breath. She didn't know him.

Was this vision even for her?

In bizarre land, anything was possible. It was even possible that the boy and the wolf stood for something else, just like the crows represented the fog.

One thing was clear, the amount of pain the boy had been feeling. Like he'd lost a part of himself. The better part of himself.

She almost had herself believing the boy could be someone from Conway's past, that all this had something to do with Conway when she looked up and saw Vallen.

He was in wolf form and not alone.

Ho wolf was with him.

Rubbing against him. Nipping at his ear, trying to get his attention. No, not trying to get his attention. She wanted more than his attention.

He was looking at Nevaeha.

"Don't do it. Don't choose her over me this time."

He didn't move, didn't look away, or say anything, but he didn't have to. She could feel how much he wanted the wolf. She belonged to him, and he wanted nothing more than to be with her. His desire was like a slap in the face.

When the smaller wolf nipped at him this time, he caught her by the neck until she laid down, then he nudged her and came to stand over her.

It didn't matter what Nevaeha said or did, if it came down to her or this wolf, he was always going to pick the wolf.

Not wanting to see their intimacy together, she looked away. Seeing another boy in the distance, she got to her feet and left the path she had been on to find a new one.

Is that what she's supposed to learn here? That no matter how hard she tried, Vallen was never going to pick her?

Could she blame him?

He'd told her how difficult it would be to have a witch as a mate. He might have to give up being alpha to the Bloodstone pack if he picked her.

As it was, he was embarrassed to even be seen with her on pack land.

So, what was his big plan? Keep her hidden and visit every three days? Have a real mate and kids and just come around long enough that their bond didn't drive him crazy?

No, she forgot. He doesn't want kids or a mate. Which is a lie! He was having some pretty powerful feelings back there with ho wolf for a boy who didn't want...well, vision Vallen was.

She looked back over her shoulder to find him in the same spot but watching her again. The other wolf gone.

Stopping, she was about to go to him and ask him what he wanted from her, but she couldn't. Around her ankle was a large iron shackle. It was so heavy she couldn't even lift her foot.

She didn't like this place anymore.

What the crap was this supposed to represent?

Seeing that the purple rose in her hand was dead now, she let it slip from her fingers. When she looked back this time, Vallen was gone and now there were smaller shackles on each of her wrist.

Oh, this was just great. Her future was looking freaking bright.

A cheating wolf and shackles.

Her eyes narrowed. She was going to be shackled to a cheating wolf?

She'd kill him first.

Her head snapped up at the first sound she's heard since arriving here. It was the damn crows. They were a good distance away, but they seemed to be attacking something. People. She could hear screams and cries now.

They were attacking people.

She tried to move but couldn't.

Remembering the figured she'd been moving towards, she looked that way, but he was still too far off. "Can you help me? We have to do something."

It ended as quickly as it had begun. All sound was gone again and where the shackles had been were golden bracelets.

Her eyes widen at the enormous diamond on her left hand.

Holy shit.

Bizarre land for sure.

Her nails were long and red.

There were a pair of stilettos nearby and a half empty whiskey bottle. Far ahead was a baby carriage, broken and lying on its side.

She wasn't so sure she wanted to see any more.