Chapter 1 — The Burning Palace

By the time I got home, I was exhausted.

Not the dramatic kind of exhausted where you collapse onto the floor and question every decision you've ever made.

Just tired.

The kind where even taking off your shoes felt like unnecessary work.

I pushed open the apartment door and dropped my bag beside it.

"I'm home."

No answer.

I frowned. "Wow. Wonderful welcome."

I looked toward the living room.

Daniel was stretched across the couch with a book in his hands.

He didn't even look up. "You're alive," he said.

  "Unfortunately."

That got a small laugh from him.

I walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "Did you eat?"

  "Yeah." he said

  "Anything left for me?"

  "There's cake." he said

I immediately turned around. "Why didn't you lead with that?"

Daniel finally looked up from his book. "Because I knew you'd find it."

I stared at him. "Sometimes I think you underestimate how important cake is."

  "I think you overestimate it." he said

  "I don't think those two things are mutually exclusive."

He shook his head and returned to his book.

I took the cake and sat at the kitchen counter.

For a while, neither of us said anything.

The apartment was quiet except for the occasional sound of a page turning.

It was an ordinary evening.

And I liked ordinary.

University had been exhausting that day. Two lectures, an assignment I had almost forgotten about, and a professor who apparently believed sleep was an optional activity.

I finished the cake, washed the plate, and headed toward my room.

  "Goodnight," Daniel called.

  "Goodnight."

I closed my bedroom door.

The room was dark except for the faint light coming through the curtains.

I changed, climbed into bed, and stared at the ceiling.

My mind wandered through everything I'd done that day.

Nothing particularly interesting.

Nothing worth remembering.

Eventually, my eyes became heavy.

I fell asleep.

The first thing I noticed was the heat.

It pressed against my skin like I was standing too close to an enormous fire.

I opened my eyes.

I was standing in the middle of a palace.

Or what remained of one.

Flames climbed the walls.

Smoke filled the enormous hall, twisting toward the ceiling.

Long curtains burned beside shattered windows.

Somewhere in the distance, something crashed.

I looked around.

"Where am I?"

My voice disappeared into the noise.

Then I heard footsteps.

Someone was running.

I turned.

A girl came rushing through the smoke.

She looked about eighteen.

Her long hair was disheveled, and the elegant dress she wore was torn at the sleeve. She kept looking behind herself as she ran.

She wasn't running toward me.

She didn't even seem to know I was there.

I stepped aside as she passed.

She went straight through the place where I had been standing.

I froze.

  "...Okay."

I turned around slowly.

The girl kept running.

I followed her.

I didn't know why.

Maybe because I was dreaming.

Maybe because dreams have rules.

She ran through a corridor lined with burning paintings.

One of the paintings fell from the wall and shattered against the floor.

The girl stopped.

She looked toward a set of enormous doors at the end of the corridor.

For the first time, I saw her face clearly.

She looked frightened.

But not confused.

As if she already knew exactly what was happening.

She whispered something.

I couldn't hear it over the fire.

She took a step toward the doors.

Then stopped.

A loud sound came from behind them.

The girl stepped backward.

"No..."

Her voice was barely audible.

She looked toward the opposite corridor.

Someone was coming.

I couldn't see who.

The smoke was too thick.

The girl turned and ran.

I followed.

"Wait!"

She didn't react.

Of course she didn't.

She couldn't hear me.

I tried again.

"Hey!"

Nothing.

I hurried after her through the burning palace.

She reached a staircase and started climbing.

I followed.

But halfway up, the entire dream seemed to shift.

The fire disappeared.

The noise vanished.

The girl was gone.

I stood alone on the staircase.

Everything was silent.

I looked around.

The palace was no longer burning.

The walls were intact.

The air was cold.

And somewhere above me, a clock began ticking.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

I looked up.

At the top of the staircase stood the same girl.

But she wasn't looking at me.

She was looking toward something behind me.

I turned.

There was nothing there.

When I looked back, she was gone.

The ticking stopped.

I woke up.

I opened my eyes to darkness.

For several seconds, I didn't move.

My heart was beating faster than usual.

I stared at the ceiling.

Then I let out a slow breath.

"What was that?"

I sat up and rubbed my face.

I couldn't remember anything about a place like that.

The palace.

The fire.

The girl.

Especially the girl.

I could still picture her face.

I reached for my phone.

3:17 a.m.

"Seriously?"

I dropped back onto my pillow.

Whatever that dream was, I wanted no part of it.

I closed my eyes again.

And eventually, I fell asleep.

This time, there were no dreams.

Just sleep