Emily POV

I was walking in the woods aimlessly. "What am I doing here?" I asked myself. Everything seemed so... Surreal. There was a thick fog on the ground, the moon had a yellow tint and it was huge. It appeared to be so close to the earth, that if I climbed a 3-story building, I would be able to touch it. I stood there, admiring it's beauty... As a million stars waited for a chance to twinkle in the cloudless, purple sky.

"It's lovely, isn't it?"

I felt my blood turn to ice in my veins as I shifted my gaze to see who the voice belonged to, only to be frozen in shock at the beautiful enigma that stood in front of me.

Her blue lace strapless summer dress danced with a sudden gust of wind. Oh, how it accentuated those cerulean eyes of hers. Golden locks, slightly curled at the ends, fell ever so effortlessly over her shoulders. She seemed like an angel, illuminating every object that surrounded her.

"Alison?" I finally managed to whisper.

"It's been too long, Em" she said, while slowly walking towards me.

"I- I... How did you know I was here?" Finally managing to form a sentence after stumbling over my words.

Alison stopped after closing the gap between us, reaching out her hands to hold mine. "Where I am, I can see everything now." she said, searching my face.

I felt a shiver run down my spine as her hands held mine. She still had that effect on me, after all this time.

"I've missed you so much" Ali sighed.

I couldn't help but to grab her into a full hug, which she returned, after a moment of hesitation.

"Well, please, come back. We've been working so hard to take down A, so that you can come back safely." I said, trying to hold back my tears.

She released me from the hug, but continued holding my hands. I looked in her eyes and saw nothing but regret and concern. I freed one of my hands and cupped her face with it, gazing into her eyes.

"Please, please stay this time. I can protect you!" Trying to plead with her.

"It's not safe yet. I'd only put both of us in danger if I - "

Suddenly, I heard footsteps running towards our direction, interrupting what Ali was about to say. We both looked to see if anyone was around and couldn't help but feel as if we were about to face something both of us weren't prepared for.

"RUN! RUN, EM!" Ali screamed, trying to push me to a start.

"No! I'm not going to leave you! Not again" I grabbed her arm and started running in the opposite direction. Alison had no choice but to follow me.

As soon as we were close to a road, Ali tripped on a branch and I heard a bone cracked. She cried out in pain. The sound made my heart shatter. I ran back to her and I saw tears in her blue eyes, as the footsteps got closer.

I tried picking her up, but as soon as I did... A black hooded figure came out of no where wielding a hockey stick, which they were about to hit her with.

I screamed myself out of sleep, relieved that it was just a nightmare. My hands felt as if I was still holding Ali in my arms and my body was shaking in terror. I rubbed the sleep away from my eyes and turned my head to check the time, but instead, I saw a blonde standing beside my bed with a huge smile on her face.

"Samara, what are you doing in my room?" I groaned.

"Well, you were screaming and I thought maybe the monster under your bed scared you again" She smirked.

I got an extra pillow and threw it at her, but she caught it before it could hit her.

"Well aren't you feisty" she laughed. "Do you want me to sleep with you tonight?" She asked teasingly.

"Ugh. No, I'll be ok." I sighed, covering my face with my pillow.

Ignoring me, she slid under my blanket and snuggled up beside me.

"What are you doing? I said no"

"Well, you don't have a choice. I don't want you having anymore nightmares while I'm trying to get my beauty sleep." She said before turning her back towards me and went to sleep.

I swear, when I signed up for Danby, I didn't sign up for this. I still remember walking in my dorm and wondering who my roommate would be, only to have Samara walking in after I finished unpacking my stuff.

Flashback:

It's a week until classes, but the sooner I get to my dorm, the easier it'll be to get aquatinted with the school, so I don't seem too much of a newbie on my first day. As I entered the campus, I was ecstatic. Everything seemed so different. I couldn't help but think about all the endless possibilities and opportunities that would present themselves to me this school year.

I walked to the student information boot to find out where my dorm would be. I found 2 girls, a brunette and a blonde, filing throw some papers, not really paying much attention to the world outside them.

"Hi, excuse me. I'm looking for Building F10, Room 375. Do you know where I can find it?" I said, smiling at both girls.

"It should beeee...Straight up that catwalk over there. As soon as you see the huge water fountain, take a left and it'll be the first building you see, with all the glass in the front. Just take the elevator to the 3rd floor." The blonde said, returning the smile.

I thanked her before venturing to my dorm room. It was so easy to find. This day couldn't possibly get any better. I felt as if destiny was putting me on the right path.

As soon as I got in the room, I noticed it was more of an apartment. It had a kitchen that opened to the living room and a hallway with 3 doors. I'm guessing they lead to the 2 bedrooms and the bathroom. I decided that I'd choose a room for myself, since my roommate hasn't arrived as yet.

I ended up taking the first room on the left. It had accented walls, a chandelier over the twin sized bed, French windows and it felt a lot like... Home.

I started unpacking and getting familiar with the room that I'd be spending the rest of the school year in.

After what felt like hours, I was done unpacking. "Why did I pack so many things" I thought to myself while running my hand through my raven black hair. I ventured to the kitchen and decided to make a sandwich, since I was feeling a little hungry.

I heard the door knob turning and when I saw my roommate, I almost choked on my PB&J sandwich.

"Samara?"

"Emily? I must have the wrong room!" She said, frowning as she looked at the door to see if it was the right number.

"Awkward..." I mumbled to myself and started cleaning up my mess.

"Well, looks like we're stuck with each other" she said, trying to sound as happy as possible.

"Great!" I said, sarcastically.

End of Flashback

The first few weeks with Samara were a bit awkward, considering we didn't end on good terms, however, we managed to get over that rough patch and became good friends. Even though we live in the same dorm, we barely see each other, except at swim practice, history class, in the nights after she's done from the Newspaper Club or on the weekends.

I turned to see if she was still asleep, only to find her staring back at me.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I asked, studying her face.

"I'm just a bit worried about you. You've been screaming in your sleep for an entire week now and every time I ask you what it's about, you insist that it's nothing." She said, concern emanating from her eyes.

It's true, I keep having all these nightmares about Ali. It's as if she was haunting my dreams, trying to tell me something. Every one of them were different, but they all start off with a calm, breath taking scene, then turn into something ugly. It's coming to the point where I dread falling asleep.

I turned my gaze to my ceiling. I bought some glue in the dark stars a few weeks ago and sticked them there, so that I can count them until I fell asleep, if I ever had problems sleeping.

I sighed and finally decided that I should talk to someone about what I've been dreaming.

"Well, I... I've been dreaming about Ali," I said, turning to see Samara's reaction. "It's always about her and I don't know why."

She didn't seem surprised. She simply gave me a small smile before speaking again. "You know, I once read a quote that said 'The people you love become ghosts inside of you... and like this, you keep them alive.' So, maybe you just miss her more than usual. Maybe there's something your dream is trying to tell you."

She got up to get something out of her room and returned quickly after, throwing a book on the bed.

"This is a dream dictionary. Next time you have another dream about her, look it up and try to make sense out of it." She said, her voice drenched in fatigue.

"Thanks, Sam! Now, go to sleep. I'm sure you have a busy day tomorrow." I smiled at her, as she got back in bed.

"I know, I know." She groaned but smiled as she looked at me, brushing my nose with the tip of her index finger. "Goodnight, Em Bear" finally going back to sleep.

I put the book on my nightstand and laid back down, watching her sleep. Sometimes I wonder if she still had feelings for me but - oh, why am I even thinking about this? If she did, I'm sure she'd have said something by now. After all, I was the one that messed things up with her, because of A. Maybe I should apologize about it tomorrow. I sighed, my thoughts frowning at me. I forced myself not to let my mind drift to that subject again, while counting the stars on my ceiling.

After what seemed like hours, I felt myself drifting back to sleep; reality fleeting away as the world turned to a stop, while everything went to black.