"Would you like to share with the group today? Either of you?" the counselor asked, his eyes drifting to the two of us huddled in the corner.

I bit my lip, keeping my head down as my cousin, Kaia, answered for the both of us.

"Not much to say, you know. Just...one day at a time. Every day's a gift. Like the kitten poster says, "Hang in there baby."

I snorted at her choice of words as the man continued to pry.

"And the... uh, the incident...are you ready to discuss that?"

At this, Kaia and I both tensed up as she replied shortly, "No."

"Look...you two overdosed. Both of you were found unconscious in an abandoned tenement with enough prescription amphetamine in your systems to kill a small rhino. Not to mention the stolen pills the police found in your bag, Kaia,"

"We didn't steal them. We bought them," I bit out, defending my cousin.

"Yeah, from a dealer," he countered.

Kaia shrugged, "I don't know, I like to think of him as a small businessman just trying to make it in Trump's America,"

"The court sent you both here to get better, but if you don't wanna talk about this, then we can't–"

"I am talking about it. See? Lips? Moving?"

He changed subjects, "Let's talk about your scars,"

"Pass,"

"Kaia-"

"Look, I know you're just trying to do your job or whatever, but please stop. You don't know anything about her - or me," I piped up, irritated at him berating my cousin.

"I know you both need help," he shot back.

Kaia shook her head, "I don't. We– we don't... we don't belong here. We're not addicts,"

"We've all been exactly where you are, Kaia. Denying the truth of our situation,"

Kaia was riled up at this point and frankly, so was I.

"I hate doing this to myself, putting that junk in my body, but it's the only thing that keeps me awake!" Kaia shouted at the man as she crushed the small Styrofoam cup in her hand, "It's the only thing that... that keeps me from... from the bad place,"

The counselor was finally silent for a moment before nodding his head, "Yes, we've all... we all have our bad places, don't we? The stuff were running from, the things that we try to blot out with drugs or drink. But we have to face it eventually, don't we?"

I shared a knowing look with my cousin. We didn't look entirely similar, Kaia and I. Kaia was of full-blooded Native American descent, of a proud tribal lineage. And as for me? I was the biracial child of her aunt and a brief tryst with a white boyfriend at the time who her parents hadn't approved of. For that, Kaia and I both felt like outsiders - her for being a person of color in a small white community and for my own biracial background.

But the truth of the "bad place" was much darker than demons living in your head. No, this was a far worse place - a real place - that Kaia and I both dreamwalked to. It had only happened the once for me but for Kaia? For Kaia, it was every moment her eyes were closed. That's why we both began taking the pills - to keep her out of that place and, once she was shoved into a 12-step plan, so that I could be by her side.

As the session ended, everyone else dispersed but as a simple "hey" met my ears, my eyes locked on a pair of baby blue eyes that took my breath away.

"I'm Jack," the boy introduced himself and I began to smile despite myself.

"Hi Jack. You're new," I commented, tilting my head to the side.

Henodded with a small smile, "Yes, I am,"

Kaia looked between the two of us, a brief smile on her lips before she asked, "So? What's your poison? Why are you here?"

He paused in thought for a moment, "I like... cocaine,"

Kaialaughed, "Okay, Suite Life. Well, I don't know why you're really here, but you're gonna have to find a new day one buddy, 'cause that's not really my thing,"

I set my coffee cup down on the table beside the wall, eyeing him as he spoke.

"I know who you two are. I'm a... friend of Derek's. He told me about you, Kaia. Said you were like him, " he revealed as we gazed back at him before he leaned in to whisper, "A dreamwalker,"

Kaia sucked in a sharp breath, backing away slightly, "What?"

"He said you were the most powerful one he'd ever known. And I need your help,"

"Look, I– I don't know what you think you know about dreamwalking–"

"And I can help you. I can get you both out of here,"

I arched an eyebrow, crossing my arms over my chest, "How?"

Jack smiled slightly, "Follow me."

Despite the obvious bad idea that it was, we both decided to do just that. Jack led us through the corridors when we crossed paths once again with the counselor.

"Where are you three going?" he asked in clear surprise, "You're not allowed to be in here."

Wordlessly, Jack touched his fingertips to the man's forehead and he collapsed onto the tile floor. I gaped at the counselor's unconscious body, glancing over at Kaia whose expression mirrored mine.

"What did you do?" I exclaimed.

Jack only shrugged in response, "Don't worry. He's just sleeping. You're not the only one with powers,"

This last was said with a chuckle and I was surprised that butterflies erupted in my belly at the sound. Now was really not the time for that. We followed him to a locked door then before the locks broke of their own accord to lie in a jumbled heap of metal on the ground.

"That door was triple locked," Kaia pointed out.

"Was it?" Jack asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"What are you?"

"That's a long story. This way," he said as he began to lead us outside.

He was matter-of-fact in his gestures and the way he spoke but still...something felt off about this guy. Despite the obvious attraction I felt for him.

"Yeah, no," Kaia shook her head.

"Yeah, sorry, but I'm with her. This just doesn't add up," I shrugged.

"Look, thanks for the jailbreak and all, but I don't know you, and I don't know what's going on, so we're out,"

Jack shook his head, "No, we had a deal,"

"You said you'd get us out. That's the deal I heard,"

"You can't,"

"Watch me,"

"No!" Jack said, quickly grabbing our arms as we both attempted to walk away, "You will help me!"

Suddenly, the door we had just exited was thrown open and two men came running out. One had shaggy brown hair and hazel-brown eyes while the other had short blond hair and a green-eyed gaze.

One of the men called out to Jack, distracting him as I kicked out at his knee. He released us just long enough for Kaia to sprint away but I was not so fortunate.

Jack looked dazed as he gazed back at me,"She hit me!"

The shorter of the two men nodded, "Yeah, good,"

The blond boy shook his head, "No! Kaia's getting away. I– she can't–"

He attempted to race after my cousin then but one of the men grabbed him while the other grabbed me.

"No, no, no, no, no. Hey, we're not letting you near either of them until you tell us whats going on,"

"What is he even?!" I piped up, breaking the silence as I struggled against the moose holding me hostage in his iron grip.

The moose - who I heard called Sam - shared a glance with the squirrel-y one called Dean. Dean made a face, "He's a wanted man-angel-thing. It's complicated,"

"Wait, so he's evil? Hm..." I stopped to contemplate this news, "...that's kind of hot,"

Sam shot me an admonishing look and I rolled my eyes in response. Jack then began to explain to us all why he had attempted to kidnap me and my cousin. Apparently, he needed a dreamwalker - or two - to rescue the men's mother, Mary. But first things first, we needed to find Kaia.

And that's when the real story begins...