I knew I was dreaming but I couldn't wake myself up. Squeaking sneakers carried me up a steep jagged staircase and down a long twisted hallway. Sweet smelling fog fell around me, darkening my path and making it harder to breathe. I was walking blindly for a moment until suddenly I was frozen in place. Flames circled me and danced dangerously by my feet. The rising heat made me squint, beads of nervous perspiration gathering around my brow. Fear shot through my body as a familiar shadowy figure appeared before me; sliding through the fog.

"Come with me into the shadows. Come back where you belong..." His voice was deep and rich, calling out to me with deadly seduction.

The shadow disguised body leaned forward, reaching out a strong hand to me. As his fingertips breached the fog, they changed to those of a human man. The lightness of his buttermilk skin shimmering in the ring of fire that surrounded us was phenomenal. His horns disappeared into his head and his voice became velvety and alluring.

"Our time is running short. Hurry and find me…"

My senses heightened at the sound of his new voice and my feet took me over the flames. The closer I seemed to him, the further away he was becoming. His body was becoming clearer and more defined but I couldn't make out his face.

Before he could disappear completely, his voice carried over to me as a sweet whisper.

"You are destined to find me."

"MY GOD!" I yelped as the alarm clock went off in my ear. Instinctively, I swatted at it, but my arms were so tangled in the blankets of my bed that I could barely move.

"Quinn, get the clock!" I groaned for her help but all I was answered with was the sound of the shower running softly. I untangled myself in a hurry to shut up the annoying shouting alarm. When it finally went silent, I took a moment to breathe.

"What the hell was that about?"

The dream had been so realistic! I felt the heat of the flames still hot on my cheeks and my legs felt stiff like I really had run up all those steps. It took me a moment, but I stood up and stretched my legs; taking a look around the room. Class was going to start in about an hour so I had plenty of time to tell Quinn. The door opened and Quinn stepped out wearing a very bright pink and yellow polka dot print underwear set. She yelped with the sight of me, covering her half naked body in surprise, one hand over her heart; which was obviously beating fast.

"Oh gosh Becca! I thought you would be asleep still!" Her face flushed bright pink and she quickly grabbed her uniform which hung over the side of her bed. I rolled my eyes at her and wiped my forehead with my wrist. To my surprise my skin was clammy and cold.

"It's just underwear Quinn. Same as a bathing suit if you ask me. If me seeing you in your bikini bathing suit is acceptable, then me seeing you in your Bikini briefs is just as fine…" Quinn nodded with me as she dressed.

"Never thought about it that way. Cool! Now I can walk around in my undies, Ha-ha!" Quinn giggled as she sat down on her neon pink blanket and looked me over.

"Becca, you don't look so good…" She frowned. "Why are you so sweaty?"

My head throbbed but besides that I felt physically alright. My mind was racing and in a way, I felt very distressed. The dream was taking of 99% of my brain and driving me crazy. I rubbed my eyes and leaned back on my bed still shaking off the seductive sound of my mysterious demon man's voice.

"Have3 you ever had a dream that was so real you feel like it wasn't a dream at all?" I thought she was going to give me one of those "you're a crazy biotch" faces, but instead Quinn was nodding when I leaned up to look at her. As she continued putting on her knee high socks she spoke.

"Yea all the time, why?"

"I dreamt about that monster guy, you know the one I saw yesterday afternoon?" She nodded and leaned forward listening close. "It was definitely him"

"That totally means something Becca! What happened in the dream!? It wasn't one of those sexy dreams was it; because I didn't know you were into demons…" She wrinkled her nose and drew in a long strain of air, getting ready to ramble again. Before she could speak, I jumped in.

"He's not a demon" I rolled my eyes at her "At least I don't think he is…"

"Hmm…fire, horns, scary shadows…Sounds pretty demon-like to me Becca" Quinn winked and I couldn't help but laugh. Her hair was almost completely dry, the neon strands poking out in random places.

"So what happened?" She asked as I stood up and grabbed my shower bad and school uniform.

"I'll have to tell you after a shower. You can wait that long right?" I smirked playfully at her and she gave me a wicked thumbs up.

"I won't move a muscle, promise!"

The warm water did wonders for my legs which hurt for no reason other that a lot of dream running. Water ran down my dark black tattoos that covered my skin. My markings twisted down my neck and around my shoulder to my chest where it gently framed the sphere made of three black rings. A thick black ring enclosed the sphere in the middle of my chest; cutting it off from the rest of my tattoos. I turned around and let the water caress my back. The black scrolling went all the way down but seemed to fade in color and disappear as it reached my bottom; which I found oddly convenient.

No one knew what my marks meant, but hopefully now that I knew someone or something else shared the same markings; I could find my answers.

I finished my shower and sure enough there say Quinn who hadn't moved one inch. She was cleaning the room with her telekinesis, putting clothes in her hamper and putting her things away. Quinn turned to me, giving me her full attention. While I got dressed, I ran her through the whole dream. I told her everything from his steamy words to the burn in my legs that was still rubbing in my muscles.

By the end of the story she was staring at me with her mouth wide open.

"Becca, that's crazy!" She threw he hands up into the air in disbelief.

"I know! What I don't know is how to explain it" She nodded as we packed up our things and locked our room door. On the way to class, we bounced ideas back and forth but nothing seemed right. Even while Mrs. Masterson lectured us and used her power of manipulation to force us to take notes; Quinn and I were thinking up ideas in the backs of our minds.

By the time breakfast rolled around, we had exhausted ourselves with the farfetched ideas. I loomed over my banana pancakes feeling down and confused.

"Maybe it means nothing Quinn…"

"No way! That's far too strange to be nothing. Think about it Becca, it's far too perfect to be a dream." Quinn sounded crazy but I knew she had to be right. That thing had the same marking as me and now he was in my dreams. He was definitely trying to reach me and he knew I was there in that hallway with him. Quinn and I agreed it had to be a vision of the future or at least his way of reaching out to communicate with me.

"Hopefully that demon of yours is cuter as a person than he is as a demon" Quinn laughed and stuffed some fruit loops in her mouth, the milk dripping slowly down her chin.

"Normally, people like to keep their food in their mouths…" A tall boy smiled and sat down next to Quinn. She smiled back so I assumed she knew him. He had dark brown eyes and creamy chocolate skin. His hair was cut short but it was obviously curly. He noticed me observing him and introduced himself.

" I'm Wyatt, haven't seen you around before." He held his hand out and I forced myself to take it. Learning to trust people was hard but I needed to try.

"I'm Becca, Quinn's new roommate."

"So you're staying with her then?" Wyatt's features went hard. Quinn nodded and patted her mouth with her napkin.

"Oh…" I said " You don't have to worry yourself, I'm staying right where I am." Quinn's eyes met my own and we both smiled. It was crazy how close we had become in a mere two days. Quinn gave Wyatt a playful nudge to the ribs and giggled.

"You hear that Wyatt, she's mine! Back off!" Her threat would have been effective if she wasn't so innocent and oddly adorable. Wyatt laughed and patted her head; looking at me. I could feel my blood getting hot, and when I realized that Quinn was gawking too; I freaked.

"Seriously you guys what's so damn interesting about my face? There's a tattoo there, duh, I know!" Quinn held up her finger pausing my outburst. Instantly she was digging through her bag for her compact. When she finally pulled it out she flipped it open and practically crammed it into my hands. She pointed to her forehead, still staring at mine. I was reluctant to look at first but when I did I was speechless.

Right smack dab in the middle of my black V tattoo was a teardrop shaped stone. It was white with little bits of color in it; like an opal. I picked at it franticly but when I did it hurt terribly.

"That wasn't there before was it?" Wyatt asked Quinn as she nervously bit at her nail stumps.

"No…It wasn't" She said in between chattering teeth.

"Oh damn."