To Sleep, Perchance to Dream--Aye, There's the Rub

Rocky Road

*****

A/N: So, all of this started because I saw a picture. One blasted picture from a friend who explained to me their obsession with a rather interesting game. Now, I'm not a gamer. Never have been. But as she explained this plot to me, I could see why she liked it so much. And so, the imagination took over and here you have this new story. Hopefully it'll turn into something worthwhile.

*****

Prologue:

She scrambled, fingers digging into the soft, black mud of the shoreline as she peered around carefully, willing the hammering in her heart to abate as she swallowed back the bile in her throat.

She was surrounded. A deep, rosy hue overshadowed the night sky, muting the brilliant, twinkling stars and casting long shadows over the trees and vegetation sprawled around the deep lake.

The laughter taunted her, echoing in her ears before reverberating off the shield that encased her, caged her in like frightened animal.

"You thought you'd trick me, eh? Trap me here with you until help could arrive, hm? Well! I won't be so easily tamed and you've made a costly mistake in taking me on."

There was another blast of searing heat that sent her sprawling back into the mud in an attempt to dodge the blow. She felt the stinging burn of power overhead and heard the ear-splitting explosion that sent shockwaves through the water.

She struggled to raise her head, ears ringing and vision blurring.

But she wouldn't let the shield down, forcing all of her energy and attention into keeping the wall strong, keeping them contained in this small area as long as possible.

Hesitantly, she cast a fleeting glance towards the unmoving shadow looming on the other side of the rose-colored shield. Even with the muted coloring, with the shadows closing in around her, ever detail of the man's figure was seared into her brain from the moment he'd fallen trying to protect her, until now.

The golden hair haphazardly gracing his forehead, the deep purple bruising on the man's brow and the long, thin fingers splayed unceremoniously, and unmoving in the mud, which cast unhappy splatters across his school uniform sent jolts of anguish through her. Inches away, his wand jutted out in the thick mud, surrounded by low shoots of budding grass.

Her heart wrenched painfully, almost overwhelmingly so, before she recoiled from despair and focused on the fire of contempt that surged in her belly. She hesitantly took to her knees and then her feet, glaring toward the man who stood smugly before her, eyes alight with malicious glee

*****

Life shrinks or expands in relation to one's courage"-Anais Nin

Chapter 1:

Ellie jerked awake with a start, the loud, shrieking whistle of the train making her nearly tumble from her seat. Thankfully, she was alone, so no prying eyes would follow her movements nor curious commentary infiltrate her solitude.

More than anything she hated social situations. They never ended well for her. Especially when people knew about her strange...talents.

With a groan, she straightened and uncurled her legs, wincing as they gave an uncomfortable jerk. Ellie's head was pounding and the young woman rubbed her tired eyes as she tried to dispel the sense of dread that filled her. The images of the dream played over and over in her head and she couldn't shake the sense that something was coming.

Something was changing.

Well, the girl shook her head and slowly rose to her feet, careful not to trample her valise in the process, at least it was something more than her current excursion that is.