I was hit with enough force to knock me off of my feet. It didn't come from in front of me, but on my side. The gun had gone off, but it was a second too late. I was already far away from the Hunter, being propelled by something large and covered in black fur.

I started to slip, and the creature's head nudged me back up as it ran. "Grab on, kid! I'm not going to risk my neck for you again!"

With no where else to grab, I dug my fingers into the monster's thick coat. It's body was lean, bony, and jerked me around violently as it continued to run, but I managed to swing a leg over it before I ended up a broken wreck on the ground.

A moment later, a bullet tore through the air just past my head. It impacted a tree ahead of us and burst through it like a twig. The great pine fell over almost in slow motion. I could watch it fall into the monster's path, looking to block our escape.

"Ah, shit," the monster said. It kicked back with it's hind legs and I was nearly thrown off as it went into the air, clearing the tree just as it hit the ground.

"You got anything else besides trees and fog, kid?" the creature asked me as it went back to running. "Cause I'll tell you right now, they aren't doing shit to slow that thing down."

"Anything else?" I parroted back. What else could I say? Everything was going way too fast for me to keep up.

I chanced a look behind me and saw the Hunter. He was running, guns pointed in our direction, but there was no way he could be running as fast as this beast with four legs. And yet, as I continued to watch, we weren't gaining any distance on him. As he ran, it was as if the surroundings moved faster around him.

He was gaining distance on us.

"We need something else to draw his attention!" the beast went on as another bullet blew out a small crater near it's feet. "Come on, kid, think!"

Think? About what?

As I thought about what to think about, people fell down from the trees around us. People coated in mud. The Hunter shot a few in mid-air, making them explode in a shower of dirt and debris, but there were a lot more than three this time. They surrounded him and he had to stop running in an attempt to evade the mud men as they raced to catch hold of him.

"Yeah, that's more like it!" the beast cheered as it let out a triumphant howl that shook the trees around us. "Try and catch us now, dickweed!"

The creature ran on and soon the Hunter and his mud men assailants vanished into the blinding white mist. He was running even faster now and I had to bury my face into his fur as the wind became too much for me.

"Alright, kid, now, think of a place for us to go," the beast said.

"A place to—I don't know what you're saying!" I hollered over the rush of air.

"This is your dream, isn't it? How long you've been here, exactly? Man up and control it!"

Right, this was a dream. My dream, apparently. But I couldn't control it, could I? Ash had said it was all subconscious.

"It doesn't matter where," the black furred creature went on. "Just somewhere else and in, like, the next few seconds would be great, thanks!"

I chanced a peek, using the beast's bony haunches to try and see through the blinding wind. All there was, all I could see, was the Sorrow. The blinding fog. That's all there had been, back then. Just fog, apple trees, and wat—

"Oh, shit!"

I was suddenly thrown off the mangy beast as he fell forward into a lake we were now in the middle of. I bounced off the water, like a stone, before my momentum stopped and I fell through it. The lake was freezing, like ice, and I felt my arms and legs grow numb even as I splashed in a frantic attempt to remain above the surface.

My failings grew more intense when I saw a pair of red eyes attached to a massive wolf, nearly the size of a horse, paddling through the lake towards me. I kicked and gurgled out screams as it opened it's mouth, revealing rows of pointed teeth.

"Relax, kid, it's just me!" the monster wolf said. It let out a high pitched whine when I connected a foot with it's nose. "Shit! If you don't calm down, I'm just gonna leave you here to drown, you ungrateful dick!"

It's words, coupled with the fact that it had yet to attack me, made me stop flailing, just a bit. My limbs were still numb and I was still struggling to swim.

"Here, grab on to me," the wolf said, swimming close enough for me to reach it. I put aside my fears in favor for my desire to live and latched on to the massive thing since my life depended on it.

"You know, you've got some fucked up defense mechanisms," the great wolf said as it paddled towards the edge of the lake. "Trees that just get in the way, fog you can't see shit through, and a lake that's cold as tits. How the hell did you last against the Hunter for even a second? It toy with you or something?"

"Something," I mumbled. My mind and body were a wreck. I could barely keep my feet when we reached the shore.

The wolf shook out its fur, spraying me with water. It looked even bigger out of the lake. Standing in front of it, it's face was level with mine. It's dark brown eyes were almost as big as my fist.

"So, I guess you're really real," the wolf said as it appraised me. I couldn't help but feel it was sizing me up as a meal. But then it sat down and began to pant. "That's great. I was thinking that this might still have been an elaborate trap that thing set up for me. But this is really your dream. You're stuck here, like me."

"Is that what the Hunter does?" I asked as I looked around. It was definitely the same lake I had been to in my dreams before. "Traps people in their dreams?"

"That's what it did to me," the wolf said, a low rumble rising up from its throat. It was enough to make me take a hesitant step back, but then his eyes fell on me again and he went back to panting. "Long as I can remember, it's just been me and the thing trying to hunt me. But now, here you are."

"You've never seen anyone else here?"

Hornroot had gotten trapped, shot. But I had been trapped and shot too, and here I was, alive. Maybe—

"Nope," the wolf answered. "Well, if there was ever anyone else here, your Hunter got to them before I could. But, hey, listen, I—"

The beast cut himself off when something behind me caught his eyes. My blood ran cold when those big orbs widened and teeth like knives revealed themselves. "Kid, behind you!" he snarled before leaping in my direction. "Get down!"

I turned around as I fell back and away from the wolf's attack. Behind me was the creature's target. A pale, blonde woman wearing a ruined blue gown.

There was no time to correct the wolf's mistake. He was upon her--or, he would have been had he not gone right through her instead. Ash made no move or indication like the sensation bothered her, simply turning around to face her attacker as he seemed to struggle to make sense of what just happened.

Another growl rumbled out from the wolf, making the grass sway and the water ripple. "You—" he started.

Ash raised her hand, palm facing out, and the wolf flew backwards. A weak whimper was all he managed to get out before he bounced across the lake, much like I had just moments ago, and landed somewhere in the middle of it.

"Ash?" I called out to the woman, my voice sounding very far away.

"I have been wondering where you were," Ash said, turning to face me. Her eyes were as glossed over as ever, her face just as expressionless, but I felt like I had become the only thing she saw, the way she was honing in on me. "I thought maybe my Dream Sand had worn off. I am glad that is not the case."

"I'm glad too," I said, finding my voice. I never thought I'd feel grateful to see Ash, of all people, but I was. Unimaginably so. "I'm a little in over my head."

Ash nodded, as if to agree with me, but before she could say anything further a great splash interrupted our moment as a giant wolf burst from the lake right behind her. It was in the air, mere feet from her, but didn't get much further before hitting the ground suddenly, as if a great weight had fallen on top of it.

"Get away from him!" the great wolf said with a snarl. It tried to stand, but the invisible weight seemed to still be keeping him pressed against the ground.

"You do not belong here," Ash said, slowly turning back around to face her attacker. "This is not your dream."

"Hey, Pot. Name's Kettle. Come here often?" the wolf shot back in a strained voice.

Ash tilted her head. "I do not understand. My name is Ash, not Pot."

"Ash, it's alright, he's a friend!" I cut in before whatever was happening could go on any further. "He's been helping me."

"Really?" Ash asked me. She glanced back to see me nod before turning her dull eyes back to the wolf. "Who are you?"

"What do I look like?" the beast asked back.

Ash paused to think for only a moment. "A monster."

He let out a ragged laugh at that. Like something between a strangled cry and a chortle. "This coming from the person who is crushing my body with her mind."

"Oh." Ash's body seemed to relax unconsciously and the wolf's own body went limp against the ground as he let out a sigh of relief. "I apologize. I forgot I was doing that."

"Right." I flinched unintentionally when the wolf's brown eyes switched to me as he slowly got up from the ground. "You know this pot, kid?"

"Pot?" Ash mumbled to herself, still trying to decipher its meaning.

"Yeah, Ash is a wi—She's someone whose been helping me, too. We can trust her."

"As you trust him?" Ash asked, rejoining us with a half-assed, skeptical look tossed the wolf's way. "I do not like him. He should not be here."

"Well, welcome to the club, Pot. I don't think any of us should be here!" the wolf shot back hotly, but kept his distance from her. "I'd ask if you were a prisoner here, but you seem more like the type to be working for that thing."

"That thing?"

"The Hunter," I answered, before meeting eyes with the wolf, "and she wouldn't. She isn't that type of witch."

"Oh, so you're an expert?" the wolf returned. There was still the heat, but also apprehension. The big creature took a step back away from me.

"I'm a familiar," I said quickly, but had to pause as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

That's what I was now, wasn't I? Saying it was easy enough. Not a person, not fully human. I was something different. I was part of this world and it was part of me. Strange how it took being trapped in my own dream with a giant wolf and a witch for me to fully realize it.

Or, maybe, it wasn't all that strange at all.

"I was made to serve a witch," I went on, the words coming easier.

"And I am a witch," Ash joined in. "I can freely enter the dreams of those who sleep close to me, or those who eat a special drug I call Dream Sand. I hold a new sense of power within dreams, but I am unsure as to the extend as I am content with observing and learning about those whose dream I am within." She paused, watching the wolf who looked between us wordlessly. "And you?"

"Me?" the wolf asked back. When neither Ash or I said anything, his big, brown eyes drifted to the lake beside us. "I'm just a prisoner of the Hunter. That's all I remember."

"Sounds like the only person we can't trust here is you," another voice joined in. A voice that made the air catch in my throat.

"Mary!" I said as I turned to face her.

She wouldn't look back at me. As she walked past me, something she was dressed in that I did not recognize dragged behind her. Some kind of black, flowing dress with thick embroideries that she had to lift up as she walked through the wet mud towards us.

"What the hell is this?" the wolf asked, now backing away from the three of us. He couldn't get far with his back to the lake. "Long as I can remember, it was just me and the thing. Now there's three of you?"

"The Hunter unintentionally brought a few hitchhikers when he took him," Mary said, throwing a thumb in my direction. "Consider it your lucky day, if you can be trusted."

"Unless you really are a trap after all," the great beast said with a snarl, bearing his teeth at me. "Just another trick the thing made up to get my guard down."

"I am real," I said, giving up my attempt's to catch Mary's eye in order to meet his. "This is my dream. I wouldn't be able to control it if it wasn't, right?"

"You can?" Ash asked, her glossy eyes widening, slightly.

"Focus," Mary deadpanned with a single clap of her hands. I found she was not looking at anyone, her gaze focused somewhere between Ash and the wolf. "If you want out of here, you will work with us. If not, Ash can easily get rid of you."

"I do not know if—"

"You will, if I tell you to," Mary cut in, her steely gaze now trained solely on the witch. "Unless you want your meal ticket to waste away in here for the rest of his life."

Ash closed her mouth and stiffened under Mary's glare. It was my first time seeing her afraid, and it scared me.

"Even if I did not need you," Ash muttered, her eyes meeting mine for only a second, "I would not want that."

"You understand then, wolf?" Mary went on, moving her attention to the beast. "Either you are with us, or against us."

The wolf shared glares with the girl for just a few moments before moving on to me. Neither of us spoke. At this point, there was nothing I could say that I hadn't already said. He would have to believe in people he had just met, instead of doing what has kept him alive for who knows how long and trust only in himself. I would not blame him if he chose the latter.

"If it means getting out of here, then I am with you," the wolf said, not looking away from me. "And if this is a trap, I guess this is me saying I give up."

"A wise move," Mary said before moving her eyes back to staring at nothing. "Now, we need a plan. We—"

"Mary, wait, slow down," I said, swallowing my own fear and nerves as I interrupted her. "How long has it been since I've been here? What has happened? Is everyone else—?"

"Alex, I do not want to hear your voice right now. If you keep talking, I might just leave you here to stew over your mistakes for another few weeks."

"Weeks?" I repeated, my hands growing a bit numb at the idea and how rough Mary's voice had become. "Have I really been here for that long? Mary, please, I need to know what's happening."

"Do you?" Mary's hands clenched into fists and I found my breathing harder to come by when she turned to face me. There was nothing comforting in those brown eyes. "Do you want to know so bad? Then I'll tell you, Alex. Mutt is missing. I don't care where he really is or what you've done to him, but Wildwood knows it was you who took him and sent the Hunter after you. Kat and her Master are on a rampage, throwing caution to the wind and laying siege to Son's city. I'm sure Stallion and Kat have crossed paths and have had a wonderfully time trying to kill each other."

Mary took a breath as her words, and their implications, sunk into me. The numbness in my hands was growing, extending, but she was not done.

"And, if you even care, my Master and I are currently pursing Lady Louise, August, and her child before Madame Terrebonne kills them all. But here I am, using the few hours of sleep I get each week, trying to pull you out of the great big hole you've dug yourself."

"Mary," I said. Through the numbness, it hurt. It hurt in my throat and in my chest. Mary's eyes weren't getting any softer, weren't glaring at me any less harshly. I just couldn't meet them. "I..."

"Do you feel bad for what you've done?" she asked me. I shifted my eyes back up, but it wasn't a question. Not in the way she had her teeth clenched and shook her fists. "Well, you should. You never listened to me, never cared what I had to say, and look at where we are now. Do you even care about us? About me?"

"Of course I do!" I shouted over the growing lump in my throat. "Everything I tried to do was for you guys! I was trying—!"

"They were better off, Alex!" Mary yelled back, taking a step towards me and throwing an arm through the air. "Forgetting, moving on, embracing their new life. They were ready, but you had to push it. You couldn't accept it. You were bitter about how things ended up for you so you decided to selfishly drag them all down with you."

I shook my head, as if I could shake off her words. But they stuck, digging their claws into my brain. Stallion was at peace. Kat was detached. Mutt was doing his job. Had I made things worse? Reminding George of the things he'd rather forget. Forcing Elizabeth to make an impossible choice. Beating Ezekiel nearly to death.

But, still.

"You're wrong," I muttered.

"Wrong?" Mary repeated back, unbelieving. "I'm wrong? The hell with you, Alex. Are you even listening to me?"

"I see what you refuse to see," I said, clenching my own hands to try and stop their shaking. I couldn't be scared of what she would think. I had to tell her the truth. "You don't care about them like I do. You never tried to see them for more than the people that once tormented you. They hurt, too. They remember. If they had a choice, none of them would want to live this sham of a life. I'm trying to give them that choice."

"You think you know everything, don't you? That what you do is always the right thing to do, no matter the consequences."

"Better than just pretending that I am okay with how things are. Better than ignoring people who suffer just because they once made you suffer."

"What the hell do you know about what I've been through?" Mary spat. "Oh, that's right, nothing! You don't know anything about me, Alex. Why am I even trying to help you? What have you ever done for me? Wait, let me answer that too, nothing! Instead, you lied to me, tricked me, and brought me back into something I fought so hard to escape."

Mary paused for breath, and I wished there was something I could say. More than anything, I wished there was just one thing I could say back. But there was nothing. Nothing at all.

"But I stayed, I pretended to forgive you, because I lied to myself. I told myself you were just like me: a victim, someone who didn't have a choice. I fought so hard for you because I believed, through it all, when it came down to it, you would fight hard for me, too."

Mary's voice had become less harsh and faded. But it was worse. A thousand times worse. Her eyes left me and fell down to her hands that were extended, unclenched, and shaking. "But when you had choices to make, who did you chose? Them. Every time them. The people who took me. The monsters who tortured me. You were more than happy to pretend to like a girl you didn't even know, because you are no better than them."

It felt like I had been stabbed. That was the only thing that came close to describe it. Seeing Mary there, staring at her own shaking hands, her eyes brimming with tears, I wanted the knife to finish the job. I wanted to die.

"I..." I said, despite the pain. "I care about y—"

"I don't want to hear your voice," Mary said, the tears gone and the shaking hands clenched back into fists. "Not ever aga—"

Bang.

...