I stare at the stop sign and sigh. "You were right, Rob, it's them again."

The stop sign is painted with the image of a snake surrounded by a circle. The symbol has just started showing up in Port Jade, Florida. This is the third, so we can officially rule it as a pattern.

I make a tsk sound with my tongue.

I hear Rob's footsteps behind me and I turn my head to look at him. His tall figure looms over my short one. He has brilliant blue eyes, shiny blonde hair, and he's very attractive to say the least.

"Hm," he studies the sign. "It's exactly the same..." He mutters as he fishes for his phone in the pockets of his jeans.

He taps on the device's screen for a few seconds before holding it up to the sign. It displays a photo of another sign with the exact same logo painted on.

"It's uncanny," I shake my head, recognizing the photo from the park we visited last week.

He shuts off his phone and shoves it back in his pocket. "Something's off here, Dahlia," Rob says seriously.

I scoff, "Oh and the serial murders of teenagers isn't weird?"

Rob rolls his eyes at me, "No, I mean, I'm getting this weird vibe, like this might not just be a gang symbol like the police think."

I cross my arms across my chest. "What else could it be? What are you insinuating?" My eyebrows raise on my forehead.

He shakes his head and runs a hand through his short blonde hair. "I don't know," he breathes out. "But something about Justin's death doesn't feel right."

That does it for me and the anger I was containing lets itself out, "What the hell is wrong with you Rob? Our best friend was murdered by this gang," I point at the sign. 

"I put up with your weird theories before, but I'm done now. You're just making this harder," a tear slips from my eye. 

I shake my head, frowning, and quickly wipe my cheek. "He was murdered because he was in the wrong place at the right time, not because of his grandmother's fairytales!"

"Then why are you here!" Rob yells, throwing his hands up in the air. "You said something was off too!"

"I-" I shrug my shoulders and run my hands through my straight hair. I open my mouth but nothing comes out. 

This is ridiculous, I think. Justin's grandmother is senile and believes that magic, and fairies, and basically Lord of the Rings type crap is real. I don't.

Rob places his hands on my shoulders and I move my gaze up to meet his eyes. His blue iris' look like they're sparkling due to the mist covering them.

I'm almost distracted, but his charms have never fully worked on me. My heart still belongs to someone else.

"Why are we even investigating this, Dahlia, if you don't believe anything else happened?" He asks me calmly.

I shrug my shoulders again. "I don't know," I tell him honestly.

The sound of buzzing and voices interrupts our conversation. We immediately run to the car without a second thought.

I slide into the driver's side and turn up the volume on the portable radio I grabbed a second earlier from the back seat.

Yeah, another one, on Emerald, across from the cemetery. But this one's a little different. A woman's voice says through the speakers.

Roger that, I'm on my way. My father, the police captain, responds.

My hands fly to the ignition and I shove in the keys.

Wordlessly, I drive towards the cemetery a little (a lot) over the speed limit.

I park on the street behind the mess of police cars that surround the small block of grass and stones that used to have names engraved, but are too weathered now to tell who lies beneath.

Rob and I exit my car and observe the scene in front of us. Not only are there police, but I see men and women walking around with jackets that read: FBI.

"Oh crap," I say. As the daughter of a cop, I know it's serious business once the feds get involved. This can't be just gang violence, this means something greater is happening.

Flashes from cameras go off all around the lot and people bustle around, taking samples and putting up police tape. 

A man a couple of yards in front of us takes a photo before moving out of the way, allowing us to fully see what's covering the stop sign.

My feet begin to move forward before I can even process it, and suddenly I'm standing right in front of the sign.

It's almost the same as the others, but this one has an eagle instead of a snake in the center of the circle.

"His grandmother said the war was between--" I look up at Rob who stands still beside me now.

"The serpent and the eagle," he finishes my thought.

I stare at the sign and it starts to glow. My face scrunches and I'm frozen in place. "What the hell? It's glowing..."

"Huh?" Rob looks at me weird.

My eyes widen and my mouth drops open, "You don't see that!" I motion towards the sign by waving my arms around.

Rob shakes his head and his eyebrows furrow, I can tell that he's concerned about my mental state now.

I turn back to the sign and the symbol of the bird in the circle is still glowing around the edges of the black paint. The longer I look at it, the stronger the urge to touch it gets.

Hesitantly, I reach my hand out, and before my palm can lay perfectly flat against the surface, I'm falling.

A scream rips through my throat and a second later my back hits the ground hard. My scream is cut off and a groan escapes my lips. My body aches from the sudden impact.

My heart beats erratically and I struggle to catch my breath on the ground. 

As my breathing slowly begins to become even, my eyes roam around the scenery that surrounds me. 

My body suddenly aches less and I jump up from the dirt.

My vision is filled with the dull brown of bark, the vibrant green of leaves, and the baby blue of the clear sky. I'm standing in the middle of a forest.

My body is frozen and my breath is caught in my lungs. I want to yell but I don't know what to say. I'm utterly dumbfounded. 

My hand flies to my back pocket and I groan. I left my phone in my car, so that's not helpful.

The only thing that I can think to do is to look for someone, anyone. So, my feet begin to move forward.

The forest feels like it goes on for miles because I don't see even a hint of anything other than trees for hours. 

When I finally see what looks like the outline of a building, I sprint. I run faster than I ever did in track and field.

I almost trip over my own feet when I stop dead in my tracks at the sight behind the treeline. A castle stands tall behind a bustling village that's full of horses, carriages, and people wearing clothing from the renaissance. However, I don't look at it for long, because I'm soon overtaken with darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I suck in a sharp breath and I shoot up on the bed. Wait, bed?

"What," my eyes focus on the wall containing jars of herbs and gross looking things. "The," paintings of mythical creatures decorate the walls and ceiling. "Hell," my gaze stops on the back of a man with light brown hair and broad shoulders.

A laugh comes from the man and he turns around. His smile is as bright as it was the first day I saw him in the hallway of our high school. 

My heart skips a beat. For a split second, I forget reality, and we're at our spot on the beach behind the bridge.

"Justin?" A gasp escapes my lips and I suddenly feel like fainting again.