A single flame flickered, it’s light dancing back and forth with the air currents. It was like a little dancer, twisting on it’s toes and twirling, then shrinking as it bent down again. A breath of air blew on it, and it shuddered to one side, shaking as if in fear that the breath would soon extinguish it’s small life force.

The golden light of the flame did little to illuminate the surrounding area. It was covered in an impenetrable darkness, the only light coming from the single flickering flame. It almost appeared as if it could be floating in midair. One certainly could not see anything holding it up. The ground, perhaps? Or was there even ground? Maybe the flame was floating in a void, surrounded by absolutely nothing at all.

Another breath blew by, and the small flame danced wildly, flickering just before it at last went out. In another moment, the utter blackness was driven back as another flame appeared, dancing merrily. Then another. And another.

Soon, a steady fire was going, blazing cheerily in the dark void. Despite the generous amount of fire, however, the blackness remained as it was. Nothing but the fire seemed to exist.

In a blink, the fire had grown again, now almost an inferno. Bright flames licking at the surrounding darkness, it now had a much more menacing feel to it, no longer the merry fire it had been moments before. Another blink, and it had grown further, the heat beginning to be stifling in what appeared to be a small, yet infinitely large, space.

The oddest part was, perhaps, the fact that there was nothing for the fire to be burning. Floating in an empty void, there was no wood, no fabric, no straw. Nothing that could possibly sustain such an inferno as was currently blazing.

And yet still it did. The fire burned in all it’s glory, flames stretching high into the darkness, yet still not finding anything but more blackness. It was impossible, but that was what perhaps made it all the more incredible. For while it burned nothing, a seemingly impossible thing to do and yet live, it felt real. Sounded real. Smelled real.

The heat had become stifling, the fire crackling as if burning wood. The smell of smoke hung in the air, even though the smoke itself was nowhere to be seen. It all added up, but none of it did. It was an oddity.

For a while, the fire hung there, blazing away. It was enough to burn down a house, or even a whole town. And it was growing by the second. Perhaps that should be scary.

But the small dove watching the fire didn’t seem to think so. It sat there, perching, like the fire, on absolutely nothing. It hung there, white feathers folded in, doing nothing to keep itself aloft. It just sat there, watching the fire burn at the emptiness.

Until something changed. A shift in the mood of things, so to speak. Out from the fire stepped a dog, growling angrily. Behind it followed three more, each one different than the last. One had a scar down it’s cheek, while another had one running across the top of it’s head. Another was shaggy, long fur hanging limp. And the last walked with a limp, hanging behind all the rest.

The dove shifted uncomfortably and looked around at the darkness before it’s head swiveled back to the fire and the dogs. Perhaps it was wondering why the dogs were not charred and burnt from the fire. Surely if the dove found the heat stifling, the fire itself must burn. Mustn’t it?

The lead dog, the one with the scar on it’s head, took a step forward, it’s growl intensifying. The dove fluttered it’s wings uncomfortably, hopping back a step. The dog bounded forward, and the dove took to flight, soaring up into the blackness and out of reach of the canines below.

It didn’t last long. The dogs jumped, and somehow found themselves a ledge to land on, though there was none. The dove cooed in alarm and continued to rise, the dogs leaping and bounding up what seemed to be a staircase.

Then one of the dogs closed it’s jaws around one of the sweet dove’s wings, dragging the bird downward to the rest of the dogs. The dove fluttered desperately, but couldn’t escape. Down, down, down.

The scene changed abruptly, and again there was fire, only this time it wasn’t in a void. This time, it was in a town. The fire crackled, blazing monstrously in the upper story of a building, the fire leaping out of the windows and rising to the black sky above.

Men and women rushed to and fro, carrying buckets, some of them merely screaming as they attempted to outrun the fire. An odd attempt, considering the fire was staying in the building. What was there to run from?

But inside the building, a figure appeared in one of the windows, hands pressing against glass. It was a man, or a boy. It was hard to tell from such a distance.

The view zoomed in suddenly, and it became clearer. The man - for he was too old to be a mere boy - had dark hair, much like the people scurrying about below. His eyes were a pale green, begging desperately. But for what?

Then came the realization he was trapped inside the burning building. Why wasn’t someone helping him? Someone should be helping him. He was trapped. Someone needed to save him.

The man coughed, covering his mouth with his elbow. Then he began again to pound on the window, occasionally looking over his shoulder. Why didn’t he run? Why stay at the window? Get out. Don’t stay. Why is he staying?

Another cough, and the man’s body shook tremendously. With one last pleading look at the window, his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed. No, that wasn’t right. Someone was going to save him. Any moment now, someone would come find him, save him, somehow. Save him. Save him!

Mirabel’s eyes flew open, one word echoing through her mind; Tomas. It reverberated through her mind until another thought took over.She clutched desperately at her surroundings, confused. She was blind. Was she still dreaming? She must be, she wasn’t blind. Was she blind? She couldn’t remember.

No, that wasn’t right. She couldn’t speak. That was it. But why couldn’t she see? She wasn’t blind, she knew, so why did she feel as if she was?

Then she remembered. The bag. She had to swallow hard at the thought. She had the bag on her head again. That’s where she was. Her mind finally beginning to throw off the dregs of sleep and the terrifying dreams, she could feel the cart rocking beneath her.

Knowing where she was set her mind mostly at ease. Even though it was a dangerous situation, back in the cart, the bag over her head, at least it was familiar.

Her mind instead wandered to the dream she’d had. Her skin was still clammy with sweat from the fright she’d felt while in the land of dreams. And what a terrifying land it was. The image of Tomas collapsing replayed itself in her mind, and she closed her eyes, trying to shake it away. It was just her imagination. Tomas was fine. The inn was fine.

Or was it? She’d knocked over the lantern, after all. Who was to say the inn wasn’t currently a heap of ashes on the ground? But surely, she thought to herself, surely Tomas was safe. He could take care of himself.

But even with that surety, she couldn’t quite relieve herself of the image in her mind. It was seared there, playing over and over. What if she had gotten him hurt? What if he was in trouble? She couldn’t stifle the worry that rose up in her.

She should really be worrying about herself, she thought. Not only had she been kidnapped for the second time in a week now, she also hadn’t a clue where she was being taken. And that was never good. If she had at least a small clue of where they were headed, she’d be more comforted with the idea of lying low and letting whatever happens happen. It was all she could really do, after all. She’d decided that early on in the new trip. There wasn’t a chance in heaven or on earth that she was going to be able to escape a second time.

With the bag over her head, she couldn’t even see where they were, much less where they were going. Internally, she berated herself for allowing herself to be captured again. Surely there was something more she could have done. A knife, maybe. Or if she’d been paying more attention.

Another thought came in, unbidden. How had they found her? Assuming, of course, that they were the same kidnappers from before - which she was certain they were - how had they even found her? Not only had she escaped, but she’d escaped in the opposite direction of town. They couldn’t possibly have followed her. If they had, they would have taken her long ago, back at the cottage.

So if they hadn’t followed her, how had they found her? It should have been impossible. She’d almost begun to think she was safe, even. But then they found her. How?

Her mind flashed to back in the marketplace when her hood had slipped for a brief moment, and her eyes widened. They must have seen her. Perhaps they had been in town to get a new cart - the one they were in right now, no doubt - and by some unhappy coincidence they’d seen her just as her hood slipped.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. It was the only thing that made any sense, really. There was no other way she could think of that they could have found her. She mentally cursed herself for not being more careful. If she hadn’t been so lazy, she wouldn’t be in this situation.

Her eyes soon began to drift shut again. It was late, and the excitement of before had only made her more exhausted. But despite that, she urged herself to keep her eyes open. She couldn’t fall asleep. Not now. Not after those dreams. Images flashed across her mind, too fast to really register, but all from the nightmares she’d had. She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to dismiss them from her memory, but she knew it was to no avail. Whatever else happened, she would not let herself fall asleep. Not when her own mind was the monster.

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A/N New chapter :) I know a lot of people hate dream sequences in stories, so I'm sorry, but I felt this was a good thing to put in. I may take it out in editing, but as it is, oh well. It's here. So I hope you enjoyed, prejudiced against dreams or not :3 Do you like dream sequences in stories or hate them? Let me know below in the comments! I'm curious :) And don't forget to vote if you liked it!