There's a tickling sensation in my nose, like I really have to sneeze but less aggressive. It's slightly annoying, but also a little funny. Really funny, actually.

I let out a little snort, which turns into a giggle, which turns into full blown, howling laughter. I can't remember the last time I laughed like this, so openly and wildly and-

My eyes fly open, the laughter dying in my throat. I sit up. This is no time for fun, I have to get up, I have to escape...

I can't quite remember. Looking around me, though, I don't see anything dangerous.

I'm in a big, brightly lit field with thousands of tall, brightly colored trees under a perfect blue sky. It's perfect, like a fairy tale. Nicer than anywhere I've ever been. I sigh, relaxing back into the soft grass.

The grass is damp. Frowning, I sit back up, feeling the grass around me. It's not just damp, it's downright soaked. Nasty. Maybe I should be getting out of here-

"Hiya, Blythe!" A booming voice says. I look around, but no one's there. The voice laughs, bright and cheerful. "Up here, silly!"

I look up, but the sun is so bright my eyes burn.

"Hi, Blythie!" The voice says again, and I see that it's coming from the sun. Is this normal? I don't see why it wouldn't be. I think.

"Um, hello!" I yell up to it.

"Hiiiii!" It yells back, but its voice is already so loud that the yelling makes my eardrums quiver. "I'm Sol! Sol the Sun!"

"That's, uh, that's cool. I'm...um," I falter. What am I, again?

"Blythe!" Sol the Sun supplies. I nod.

"Right!" I say, snapping my fingers. Or, trying to. The nail of my thumb is too long and it digs itself deep into my middle finger. It hurts. There's blood, I think, except it's not really blood, it's a checkerboard.

I'm holding a checkerboard, though I'm not quite sure how it got there. I don't know what to make of it.

"Oh, checkers! Wanna play?" Sol the Sun asks, shining down on me. I smell burnt hair.

"Sure," I say, because what the hell else is there to do. "But we don't have any pieces."

"Go get some!" But from where?

The cut on my middle finger hurts. It bleeds 24 drops onto the board, 12 red, 12 black.

"Oh, you found some! Now we can start!"Sol the Sun says, doing a flip in the air. I laugh. "You be red, I'll be black."

I sort the pieces and we play. Sol the Sun moves his pieces with his mind, but I just have plain old fingers. Even so, I win! What an upset!

"Wow, you're good!" Sol the Sun says. I roll my eyes.

"No, I'm really not. That was just lucky." I look down at the board, 24 black circles shining back up at me. "That hasn't always been that way, has it?"

Sol the Sun shrugs. "I don't know. It probably has."

I kick the board, knocking all the pieces over. "Then what the hell was the point in playing?!"

"What's the point in any of it, really?" Sol the Sun asks.

My eyes flew open and I shrieked.

"Did you have a nice nap?" Liam asked me, staring intently. But it wasn't the same kind of stare as before-this was more curious than intimidating. He looked like a cat, though a pretty demonic cat.

I shivered. "That wasn't a nap. What did you do to me?"

"Well what I attempted was persuasion. What I did...I'm not sure." I frowned, rubbing the back of my head.

"What do you mean by persuasion?" I asked. "Also, why does my head hurt so much?"

"It's a vampire thing. Usually works better on other vampires than humans, but I thought I'd give it a shot," Liam shrugged. "As for your headache, that would probably due to you passing out on a hardwood floor."

I glared at him. "So you just let me fall?"

Liam shrugged, almost sheepishly. "I was mad at you! Just consider it payback for that little stunt you and Craig tried to pull. Ridiculous," he scoffed.

It took a second for the words to land. He knew. My plan. He knew! I gasped, sitting up fully, the strange grogginess leaving my head. "Look, I'm sorry. Please don't put me in the basement I j-just wanted to go home, I wanted to see my mom again, I-I wouldn't have told anyone about...this I just-"

Liam held up a hand. "Stop groveling, it's not a good look for you." I quieted, but my hands were still shaking badly. What kind of monstrous punishment would I suffer now? He could put me down in the basement, or starve me, or drink my blood or-

Liam tilted my chin up to face him. "God, Blythe, relax. You get a warning," he said, laughing.

"W-what?" I asked. "You're...seriously not going to do something horrible?"

Liam shrugged. "Well if you insist, I could-"

"No!" I interrupted. He snickered.

"Thought so," the smile left his face, and he went back to that intense stare. "Now tell me what happened before you passed out."

I thought for a moment. I could sort of remember, but it seemed like so long ago. Really, that sun from my dream was more clear-

I gasped. My dream. I'd forgotten all about it until that moment, but it suddenly came rushing back. All the confusion, the weirdness hadn't scared me at all when I was having it but now...I was trembling. I didn't want to think about it at all for some reason.

"Blythe?" Liam asked. My heart jumped, fluttering like a hummingbird. "Seriously, are you okay?"

"I'm...I-I don't know. I don't know what's happening..." The weight of all that had happened over the past two days was beginning to crush me. Before, I could have at least counted on myself to stay the same, to stay normal. But now? "I d-don't know what to do!" I wailed, breaking down into sobs.

Liam patted my shoulder, letting his hand rest there. "It's alright Blythe, I get it. I do."

I snorted through my crying. "H-how could you possibly get what I'm going through? You're a vampire! This place literally belongs to you!"

He sighed. "That's not the point. What I was saying is that I can help you figure all this out."

"Why on e-earth would you want to do that?" I asked, tears and snot streaming attractively down my face.

"Because I'm curious too, believe it or not. I've never heard of anything like this happening before, freak."

"Y-you've got some nerve calling me that, psycho," I mumbled back. Liam sighed, pinching my shoulder.

"How rude, Blythe. Psychopathy is a personality disorder, not an insult," Liam said, shaking his head.

"Shut up," I grumbled, glaring at him. "But also...thank you for helping me. And for not...murdering me or whatever."

Liam's garnet eyes widened, and he put on a weird, dopey grin. "You're welcome! Now that we're best friends-"

"Okay, nevermind."