I'm back. It's back. I'm back where I don't want to be. Right where the darkness is. The ground below me feels like beach sand. Grainy, but unlike at the beach, there's no foundation.

I don't feel like I'm standing on solid ground. I feel like I'm floating in the air, with all the gravity stripped from the world, with my feet brushing against the gritty bits of the beach sand.

The air around me is crisp, like I stepped outside during an April morning in San Jose. A gentle breeze runs through the air, wispily stroking my skin and fading along with the rest of the atmosphere.

Instinctively, I take a step forward, expecting to fall right through the floating sand and into the room with the growing cake and shrinking drink.

At least Alice will keep me company while I ride this out.

Surprisingly, I don't fall through. Instead, initially, nothing happens. I don't notice anything different, or feel anything different. Until I feel something cold and fluid brush my toes.

I jump at first, but I step one more towards the mysterious darkness. I'm at a beach. I know it. But there's only one beach that is of such importance to me that it keeps on coming back to me in my dreams.

Hopefully, I look up, into the blanket of darkness, only to find nothing. "Use what's around you," a voice whispers.

Almost immediately, I look down at my mom's necklace, which I'm still wearing. My hand flies to it, grasps it, and immediately, the darkness is lifted. Blinding rays of light explode in replacement of all the darkness. My hand flies up to shield it, but after a few seconds, I lower it.

"You're a really smart girl, Ashmita. Oh, I got so lucky," the familiar voice says. I look over, and my mom is standing there, in the sand, looking as fresh as ever. She looks like she never aged a day over 25.

I smile, and say, "Mom. In the nicest way possible, what are you doing here?"

"Before we proceed, do you remember this place?"

I look deep into the ocean that's standing in front of me. "Yes, of course. This was my favorite beach that you loved to take me to before you died. We went here a week before Arjun murdered you. Then we cremated you in Surat, your hometown, and dispersed your ashes near there. Now are you going to tell me why we're here?"

She snickers. "Well, beta, you just reached an important part in your life. You're now 22, you're going to be graduating in a few months, and you could possibly start a family!"

"Gosh, you're sounding like Mason. Now I know how you both were best friends."

She rolls her eyes a little bit. "Sassy much. But, enough of that. You're also doing what I can't stop. You're letting your curiosity and suspicions get the best of you."

I look at her, with a determined look on my face. I realize that the ticket to advancing one more step in this process is standing right there. In the form of the victim itself.

"Mom, you're the key to helping me solve this case. Please, tell me anything. I need to know all that I can."

She looks at me, with a sad look on her face, and says, "I can't tell you everything, Ashmita. Some things, you just have to figure out on your own. But, I can give you clues. One, consider all possibilities. Two, there are clues everywhere. You just have to look closely. Three, limit your trust. In this world, everyone's a suspect. Four, everyone has secrets. Some of them are key to figuring this out."

Right when she says that, a large wave starts to rise. It rises more and more in height, until it comes closer to us, to the point where it's right in front of us and it's going to consume us and we'll drown.

"Hold on tight! This one's a big one!" my mom calls, as she takes my hand. The wave crashes down on us, causing darkness to fall upon me once more.

I shoot up, out of bed, and out of breath, while saying, "Mom? Mom?" My hand flies to my forehead, and there's a lack of moisture. It was all a dream. I should've known. My mom couldn't have survived the attack or being buried alive for almost 17 years.

I look out the door, to see Mason walking down the hallway, with his work laptop in hand. He stops outside my room, and notices me looking really uncomfortable.

"You okay, Ashmita? You just shot out of bed like that."

I rub my eyes a little bit, and say, "Sorry, Mason. I was just having a weird dream."

He raises an eyebrow, and hangs around the entrance to my room. "You've been having a lot of weird dreams lately. You sure you don't want to get it checked out?"

I shake my head. "I'm good. Nothing too severe."

He raises an eyebrow. "Okay. Just let me know if they get mega weird. Like you find me and one of your professors making out on the couch, weird."

I give him a weirded out look. "Great, I wanted breakfast. Now I'm not that hungry. Tell me, why would I have dreams like that? And why would my professors want to make out with a dude who's in their late forties and has a family?"

Mason gives me his signature smirk. "You're just jealous you can't get a piece. I'd give you some, but you're my daughter, and this isn't Alabama."

I gag a little bit, and throw my pillow at him. He catches it with one arm, and says, "Missed me!"

He throws it back, and I catch it. I smirk, and say, "YOU missed ME!"

He snickers a little bit. "I got a smile out of you. I love seeing that smile. Keep it on. You'll make everyone's day better. I'll be back by 5 today. Don't cause much trouble, okay?" he calls.

"No promises!" I call back, as he hurries down the steps.

"Bye, Ashmita! Love ya!" he calls even louder.

"Love you too!" I practically scream, as I get out of bed to get some food. When I get out of the bed, the dream still lingers with me.

Quite a convenient time to come into my dreams and advise me on what to do, huh? But what if that advice is useful in a way?

***

I'm taking the fresh laundry up to my bedroom so that I can sort it out. The warm clothes against my skin makes me want to fall asleep right on the floor with the hot clothes on me, keeping me warm on this very dreary day. I set the clothes on my bed, and start to sort through for my own clothes.

I take them, and walk over to the dresser to set my clothes in. I open the top drawer, and place my clothes in. I open the bottom drawer to clean it up a little bit, and sitting right there are my mom's diaries that I still have no clue as to what I'm going to do with them. I close the drawer one more time, sit down on my bed, and just think about what everyone has said. Including my mom in my dreams.

You can't trust anyone. Everyone has secrets. Some people aren't as guilty as they're portrayed. I have a perfect reason for leaving, and you know it too. Everything is just ringing in my mind like church bells. I don't know whether to follow this advice completely, or to ignore it as it could have been a figment of my imagination. Everything just feels way too confusing for me to process.

While I'm contemplating what to do, I finally come to a conclusion. If this was all true, that everyone had secrets to hide, then Mason would be one of those people. He'd have a secret that he's not telling me. It could be huge, or it could be something really stupid and petty.

But, other than that, he's got secrets. Like everyone here. That solidifies what my mom was saying. Don't trust anyone. And if I want to find those secrets, the diaries are my key. So, after considering that idea, I open my dresser drawer again and take out the diaries.

Because if Mason, or any other person, has secrets that he's not telling me, I'm going to find it out myself and bring this to a rest.

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You know, one of my readers (and favorite people on Wattpad) commented that she wanted to see Ashmita read Jyoti's diaries. I told her that everything will come in due time, and that she just has to be patient. And now we're about to dive into Jyoti's diaries! Who's excited to see what's inside of them? Let me know in the comments.

Hey everyone! How's it going? So, I just wanted to give you all a heads up when it comes to Jyoti's diary entries. Starting in the next chapter, we are going to start reading them. The next chapter, there is going to be her diary entry, and then we finish off with the regular chapter. It will all be in the same part.

However, in about four chapters, there is going to be a diary entry that's a separate part. It will have its own part to it. The week after I release that, I'll release Ashmita's reaction to that diary entry. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up. If you're still confused, don't hesitate to shoot me a message or comment asking me to clarify. I'll be happy to do it.

That's all I got. Hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all next Sunday with the our first entry that we're going to read from Jyoti's diary! Have a great week!

Love you guys,

Shree