Dreams are strange, I know that, but this dream was quite possibly the strangest I've ever experienced.
It started with me running through the woods, hand in hand with Riff. Our steps were fluid, easy, even lazy. The trees were far apart, giving us plenty of room to run beneath their branches without getting scratched. The pine needles beneath our feet cushioned our steps, and the sun was bright and cheery above our heads, radiating warmth through my body. Birds chirped from their high perches, singing to me. It made me want to sing back, and, unhesitatingly, I tilted my head to the sky and did. Simple notes blasted from my throat, pure and intense and sweet, and I laughed. Riff turned his head to look at me and smiled, his teeth dazzling white and his deep brown eyes crinkling with happiness.
         I felt so strangely happy, and that happiness made me feel calm, safe... Protected.
         That all ended in less then a heartbeat.
         A tree root split the earth in front of me, and while Riff leaped simply over it, I wasn't so lucky. My knees hit the hard dirt, scraping them, and my hand was yanked from Riffs. Oblivious, Riff ran on, disappearing into the trees. I called out desperately, searching for Riff as I pushed myself back to my feet. The sun disappeared behind a cloud, casting the world into shadow, and as I started forward, still shouting Riffs name, the wind started to howl. It whipped my hair into my eyes, blinding me, causing my clothes to flap around my body. Squinting and putting my hand over my face, I continued on. The wind whipped my voice away as soon as words exited my mouth. As I started to run again, panicking, the trees suddenly grew, enclosing upon me, reaching their branches down to rip at my clothes, tangle my hair, bloody my skin. Nevertheless, I ran, though the wind and the pain, pushing my way through the tangled trees, still desperately calling for Riff.
         And then, suddenly, it stopped. I fell from the woods into a clearing as the wind quieted. Relief ran through me as I looked around and saw Riff a few yards away with his back turned to me.
         "Riff?" I called out, voice high and sweet. "What are you doing, Riff?"
He didn't look at me and so I stumbled closer, wanting to reach out for him. Something held me back, though. He was just standing there, back to me, hardly seeming to even breath. I slowly circled him, keeping a cautious distance, wary. As soon as I could see his face, and, more importantly, what he was holding, I couldn't help but scream, falling down on my butt and scrambling to push myself away.
Riff had his arm around a little boys neck. I recognized the little boy as the same kid I had seen earlier, the one that had been beaten. The one we had left. Pressed into the neck of the little boy was a knife, held in Riffs other hand. The little boy was staring at me, his eyes full of desperation, begging me to help him, to save him.
         At my scream, Riff looked up, a twisted smile on his face. Looking me dead in the eyes as I sat there, frozen, Riff slowly dragged the knife across the kids throat, opening a bloody smile across his skin.
         "No!" I screamed, scrambling forward on my hands and knees as the boy crumpled to the ground. I pressed my hands against the wound, trying desperately to stop the bleeding, to save him. The blood just seeped between my fingers, pouring down the boys throat and soaking my clothes. I sobbed as his lifeblood poured from his body, unable to look away from his eyes as they stared up at me, unblinking, accusation in his dead, glassy eyes.
         Unbeknownst to me, Riff had snuck up behind me as I wept over the dead boy. I felt the chill of the metal as he pressed the same knife he had used to kill the boy to my throat. My weeping suddenly ceased, and I hardly dared to breath. Riff whispered in my ear, "Look what you have done to him. You have killed him."
         I wanted to scream that I hadn't, to beg for forgiveness, to promise I hadn't meant to. Before I could say a single word, Riff quickly swiped the blade across my own throat, opening the skin as easily as if he was slicing through butter. Blood poured down my shirt, and I collapsed on top of the little boy.
         If the dream had ended there, I would have considered it normal. But it didn't.
         Blurred images flashed before my eyes, that of powerful white lights shining directly in my eyes, distant faces as they came into view and went away again. Voices buzzed in my ears, hardly audible, only snippets of conversations making sense. I heard words such as "waking" and "ready." The very last thing I heard before I drifted away was, "She's gone again..."

* * *

         My eyes snapped open and I screamed, bolting straight up. It was a reflex scream, something I couldn't help, and it sent Riff scrambling up into a defensive position instantly. When he saw that nothing was there, he relaxed, instead turning to me. I huffed, remnants of the nightmare still fresh in my mind, eyes wide as I stared at Riff. His brows furrowed as he took in my state, and then sudden understanding dawned in his eyes, instantly softening them. Despite the warmth in his eyes now, I couldn't help but imagine his eyes the way they had been in my dream, cold and distance and ruthless. Unable to look at him anymore, I turned away, pulling my legs up to my chest and crossing my arms over them. A few moments passed in silence, and then Riff spoke, "Are you okay?"
         "I'm fine." I hadn't meant to snap, but I didn't like the pitying look he was giving me. I also hated that he was seeing me like this, weak and frail and useless. The silence stretched again, and the only thing that filled it was the squeeking of the rats. Finally, Riff moved. He settled down on the cardboard behind me. I could feel his eyes as they seared me, his unspoken questions probing against my defenses. Finally, I broke the silence. "I had a nightmare, is all."
         I felt rather then saw him nod. "Do you want to talk about it?"
No. That was my immediate thought. I don't want to talk about my nightmare with Riff. It might cause him to ask probing questions, and with my current fragile mental state, I might even answer them. I couldn't afford him knowing about my nightmares, knowing how fragile I was inside once I let my guard down. That was out of the question.
         Yet, a small part of me, a very, very small part, wanted to tell him. To finally let another person inside, however brief. I was sick of keeping everything trapped inside under lock and key. I wanted someone to understand how I was feeling. But I was also afraid of sharing, of what that would make us. Our relationship certainly wouldn't be on the same professional level if I did. But maybe it wasn't in the first place. Riff had wormed his way into my brain, and now... What were we? Acquaintances? Friends even? I had no clue.
         Apparently, my indecision choose for me. Riff sighed. "You don't have to tell me, but know that I'm always here to listen." He started to move away but paused, and I turned slightly so that I could see him out of the corner of my eye. "You're like a sister to me. I hope you can learn to trust me."
I swing my head around to look him in the eyes. Strangely, despite the kindness in those words, they stung. I couldn't for the life of me fathom why. What was even stranger than that, though, was the weirdly bitter look in Riffs eyes as he spoke those words. Maybe he was remembering who my real sister was? For what seemed like forever but was most likely only a few seconds, we simply stared at each other.
         I didn't get to think further before a noise echoed through the warehouse, piercing the bubble we had created.
         It was the sound of shattering glass.