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Hopefully those waters weren't too dangerous…

Lightning cracked, and my heart skipped a beat as the light silhouetted the man climbing free of the crashing waves.

I swallowed down a burst of fear. Real or not, he was bound to be pissed.

If he caught me, he would send me back to the real world. I was sure of it. Perhaps Frexin sent him to keep me from any moments of happiness.

That sounded like something she would do.

But I was NOT going back to the ship so soon. I wasn't ready! Everyone was leaving soon, and then I'd be alone. Really and truly alone.

No.I needed more time.

Not wasting another second, I turned and dashed up the slope, away from the man's curses.

I crested the hill a few moments later and slowed.

A grassy field lay before me, dotted in boulders and the skeletal remains of buildings — jagged beams and stone foundations giving it the feeling of a graveyard.

At least it wasn't a prison ballroom.

I glanced back over my shoulder to see the man reaching the top of the cliffside, cloak soaked and clinging to his large frame.

Thunder shook the ground as another burst of lightning lit the sky — illuminating a broiling storm behind him.

It was already so close!

Fear choked me as the ominous roiling mess drew closer with every second. What would happen if it caught him?

If he died now, it would be my fault!

Fuck! Fuckity fuck fuck!

"Hurry up, damnit!" I screamed over the wind. "It's right behind you!"

The man looked back towards the raging storm and shook his head — and then he was gone.

I gaped. Wait. Had he fled the dream … and left me to die?!

What a DICK!!

My heart raced, the wind threatening to drag me down the slope, and I had to drop to my hands and knees to move away from the storm.

Was I going to die in this dream? Something told me it would mean dying in the real world, too.

"Think of them! Quickly!"the warped voice said in my mind.

Was he back just to torture me before I died? Forsaken hells — if I got out of this, I was going to punch that asshole!

But there was nowhere to go or hide!

"Think of who?" I snapped.

There was no response.

Clinging to a rock, I thought of Jaiel and the ballroom. Of dancing. And all the other things I'd miss if this truly was the end.

The storm raged harder.