One moment, Lily was in her dad's arms, but now she was standing in an empty road. She looked down to find that she was still wearing her red t-shirt that she fell asleep in. She looked around. The sky was dark with the exception of multiple twinkling stars beaming, but there was no moon in sight. There were buildings, shops, and cars parked beside the sidewalk, but there was no form of life anywhere. It was only when she noticed the big sign sitting in the grass which read 'Union' that she realized she was in her dream world.

This world used to have so many friendly people who would sometimes greet her while she was here. They would often attend to their business with their families and jobs. She would even interact with her mother here all the time, but now it just felt so isolated. She wasn't sure what happened to everyone, but now the place just reminded her of a ghost town. She began to walk around, knowing her way around this place, and she was searching for some place to go. She wasn't sure why she was even here.

Unless it had something to do with...

Just then she heard a large footstep off to the distance. She didn't need to turn around. She already knew who it was and she didn't have much time to waste before he would begin searching for her. She glanced around the town for a building she could hide in. As she started sprinting across the hard pavement, she dared to take a glance behind her and once she did, she caught a glimpse of the Boogeyman's shadow still a bit far away from where she was, but he seemed to be scanning around the area in front of his grand theatre for her.

He seemed to have sensed her and she saw his head whip over to her direction, his blue left eye beaming in the darkness. She needed to find somewhere to hide fast. She spotted a warehouse and she knew there were a lot of hiding places in there, but then she recalled what happened last time. He'd probably suspect that she would hide in there again, so she went for the large hotel across the street. She made it there as fast as she could, her heart feeling like it was going to pump out of her chest as she heard the Boogeyman approaching the street that she was just on.

Lily quickly went inside the hotel and she searched the building for any good hiding spots. She heard him getting closer to the main entrance doors and she was running out of time. She had to resort to hiding underneath the front desk. As she positioned herself under it, she heard him burst through the doors.

"I know you're here," his chilling accent rang throughout the interior of the building.

Lily was doing her best to stay quiet by clasping her hand onto her mouth. The ground rumbled in sync with each of his footsteps and she tries to control her fear by taking deep breaths through her nose, but they didn't seem to help as the breaths came off shaky. She didn't know exactly which part of the room he was searching, but she did, however, notice from under the desk that the lights hovering around the room began to flicker. She could have sworn that each flicker matched her racing nervous heartbeat.

The Boogeyman seemed to take notice of this as he inched closer towards the desk. Lily's breathing came to a full stop once she caught a glimpse of his shadow hovering over the desk. She cowered down in hopes that she would wake up soon. As she waited for the inevitable, the tall man didn't move or say anything while standing there, leaving Lily in suspense as to what he would do.

This only lasted for about ten seconds which to Lily felt like a whole minute, before the desk was abruptly lifted. The darkness that had been concealing her was removed and replaced with bright flashing lights on the ceiling.

"I think you just gave yourself away, dear," the man says with a cocky smirk on his face. He was holding his camera in one hand and a spiky looking knife in the other. Lily couldn't help but feel intimidated by his tall stature. "Now, hold still."

Lily was in that frozen state of fear again, not knowing if she should run somewhere else or stay put. She screamed as the man's large hand reached to grab her and she clenched her eyes shut in a flinching way. But just when she thought he was going to grab her, she suddenly hears a loud crash which sounded like hundreds of pieces of glass shattering.

She peeked one eye open to find that the large chandelier which had been hovering over him had dropped and smashed onto his head.

"GAHHH!" He cried out while dropping his blade and grasping his head with both of his hands.

Lily watched him as he continued to grumble in pain. She took this opportunity to map out her exit. She would go for the entrance doors if it weren't for him blocking the way. She glanced to her left and found a set of stairs. She took off up the stairs climbing them as fast as possible. Normally it wouldn't take her this long to get up some stairs, but under this circumstance, it felt like forever.

Eventually, she reached the last step in hopes that she would find any sort of exit, but she was only met with a narrow hallway with a dead end. She turned to find the Boogeyman at the very bottom of the steps and he was glaring at her menacingly.

"You are going to pay for that!" His voice cracked as teleports midway up the stairs.

"No..." Lily mutters as she started to panic yet again.

She took off toward the hallway, knowing that there was a wall at the end of it, but she needed get somewhere, anywhere away from this man. She saw him appear at the end of the hallway and she began to take a few steps back.

"I've got you now," he says and teleports even closer to her.

She tries to step back, but loses balance and falls on her bottom. She started to lose hope, knowing she didn't have anything to defend herself with. She wished she would have been brave enough to head to the door, or that another inanimate object would strike him, but luck wasn't with her. She kept trying to tell herself this man wasn't real and she was pinching herself to wake up, but she didn't wake up and the man was still advancing towards her.

Just when Lily had lost hope, she suddenly started to notice large paintings and pictures on canvases coming off the walls in the hallway. As if the they had a mind of their own, the pictures move in front of the man and they had positioned themselves as a barrier between him and Lily.

What was this? Was he doing this or...?

Lily spots a brunette girl in a defensive stance in front of her who looked to be no older than she was. Lily couldn't quite make out her face, but by the way her arms were sticking out and her palms pressed outward shakily, she looked like she was struggling to control something. Becoming confused, Lily looked up at the picture barrier and then back at the girl only to realize that she was the one controlling them.

Lily didn't know who this girl was, or what she should do next. The tall man groaned before blasting the pictures easily out of the way with a swing of his arm which caused the mystery girl to tumble backwards. Lily could only watch as the girl stumbled back to her feet before making her way over to Lily.

"You have to trust me," her light yet urgent voice spoke out and the girl grabs Lily's wrist much to her already panicked state.

Before Lily could react, she along with the girl were transported to a different part of the hallway and they ended up behind the Boogeyman.

"Come on!" The girl says, exhaustion present in her voice, and she tugs on Lily's arm and starts running downstairs.

Lily was beyond confused and scared at this point. Who was this girl? How did she teleport like he did? Was she trying to help Lily? Endanger her? She didn't know and she didn't have time to think as she tried her best to keep up with the girl's movements.

The girl kept tugging Lily with her until she stopped in the middle of the empty road. Lily watched the girl glance around frantically before spotting a manhole cover in the pavement. She stuck her arms out once more towards the cover and it was lifted in the air without her even touching it making Lily wonder how this girl was even doing all this. The cover was tossed to the side and they both looked down the hole and saw a ladder.

"This way," the girl instructed while positioning herself on the ladder.

Lily was hesitant to go down there with her, but to the best of her knowledge, the girl was trying to help her and it was either her, or the Boogeyman. That wasn't a tough choice to make.

She cautiously made her way to the hole and saw that the girl was climbing down. Upon catching the camera man exiting the hotel and scanning the area for her, Lily wasted no time joining the young brunette girl on the ladder.

"It's going to get dark," the girl warned before pulling the the cover back on top of the hole and they were shrouded in darkness.

Lily started to get nervous from how pitch black it was, but it wasn't a second later before a bright hue of light filled the room. She looked down to where the source of the light was coming from and saw that the girl was holding a flashlight towards her. Lily squinted from the sudden beam of light.

"It's going to be okay," the girl tries to reassure her while climbing down the ladder. "Just don't think of him and he won't find us."

Lily furrowed her brows. "What do you mean don't think of him?" She shook her head. "I don't understand. Who are you? Who is he?"

"I'll explain everything once we get down here. Just think of stuff that makes you happy right now. He is your monster and he can sense when you're afraid."

Lily was even more bewildered. What did she mean that he was her monster?

"I know you have questions, but just focus on staying calm," she says as she reaches the very bottom of the ladder.

She and Lily both dropped from the ladder and they were now in a sewer. They could hear the Boogeyman's loud booming footsteps from above and Lily began to worry.

"I don't think he can get down here, but I can't be too certain," the girl said. She saw that Lily was staring upward listening for the man's footsteps with an anxious look on her face.

"Hey," she attempts to grab her attention and Lily turns to her, "it's gonna be okay. How about I start off with telling you who I am."

At this moment, Lily took the time to study her. She looked to be around ten years old and she had hazel brown eyes along with straight dark brown hair that flowed down slightly past her shoulders. The girl had fair skin and she was wearing a dark red long sleeved buttoned up shirt with dark pants and she was barefoot. The outfit she was wearing looked familiar to Lily as if she had seen it or maybe worn it before, however, she wasn't certain.

Lily spotted a name tag pinned on the top right of her shirt with three little stars on it, but the letters were too small for her to read. She squints and tries to read it and it said-

"Alice," the girl spoke. "My name is Alice Smith and...I'm here to help you."

Lily could only figure that she meant to help her with getting rid of the Boogeyman. Still she was confused. Was this girl just another imaginary person in her dreams?

"And..." she continues, "I am what you would call...a spirit, or a ghost, but I don't wanna scare you with that word, so we'll just stick with spirit."

Lily furrowed her brows in confusion. Was she actually real?

"What do you mean by spirit?" Lily asked as she was trying to process the situation.

Alice sighs and tries to find the right words to start off with.

"Lily...you have...special kinds of dreams. They reflect your well-being and..." she pauses, "Basically I am a spirit that was sent to you in order to help you conquer your fears."

Lily blinked rapidly becoming even more puzzled by the minute. Did she hear her correctly?

"I know it sounds crazy, but the things that you just saw me doing, you can do them too. As...a spirit...I am supposed to guide you on how to use these powers-"

"Wait, wait," Lily interrupted her, "I...I have super...powers...?" She says with a bit of unease, but she was also curious to know more.

"Well technically I'm the one with powers and I provide them to you, but...yeah. Super powers. We are both connected."

"I don't understand. What do you mean by connected?" Lily's light voice squeaked out.

Alice sighs knowing this wouldn't be easy to explain.

"Lily, your dream state, which is where you are now, is the only way for you to fully see me. You see..." she cradles her hands together out of a nervous habit. "I can communicate with you in real life too."

Upon seeing Lily's wide eyed dumbfounded expression, Alice quickly interjected, "But please keep in mind that I'm not here to hurt you-"

"Wait..." Lily says to herself when she came to a sudden realization.

As she was listening to Alice talk, she knew her voice sounded somewhat familiar.

And then that's when she remembered.

When Lily was talking to Kidman that day she and Joseph had come by the house, she thought it had been Kidman who had said the word, "Right." She could also recall all the times she felt a presence over her.

And thats when it clicked.

"You're..." Lily pointed at her, her arm slightly shaking, "You're the one I've been hearing." She wasn't sure if she should be scared or somehow relaxed knowing this girl has come to help her, but still she didn't just trust anyone, so she remained cautious.

Alice opened her mouth but didn't say anything at first. She was afraid she'd scare Lily and that was the last thing she wanted for her own sake.

"Yes," she mentally winced, "but, I'm here to help you. Your dreams are getting out of control and-"

"Wait, how are you in my head? What's...what's going on?!" She exclaimed frantically. She's a spirit? Sent by who? Why was she having so many crazy dreams lately?

"Okay, okay," Alice spoke quickly. "Let me start from the beginning. I..." she places her hand on her chest, "am a spirit that was sent to help you with these bizarre dreams you've been having these last few weeks. They have been getting out of control and these powers are supposed to give you a sense of confidence in order for you to stand up to creatures such as the Boogeyman."

Lily was a bit taken aback, but being the ten year old child that she was, she believed what the young girl in front of her was saying because of everything she has been experiencing. She was itching to ask more questions, but Alice was quick to talk over her before she could get a sentence out.

"As for how I'm in your head, ghosts have many abilities that would be considered...well out of this world. When I was led to you, I became part of your mind which caused us to be connected. I'm meant to serve as a guide in order for you to properly use your powers when you should and shouldn't."

"So..." Lily was still trying to process everything, "you're here to help me?"

"Yes, that's my job," Alice says while trying to give her most convincing smile.

"I don't understand. Why is the Boogeyman after me? Why does he want a picture of me so badly?"

"The Boogeyman is a part of a hidden side of your memories and inner fears. He may be someone you made up, or he could be based on something you saw in real life. That's what we're here to find out, but you first have to get rid of your fear of him and I don't expect you to do that right away. We'll go through it one step at a time."

As Lily was trying to grasp every bit of information the ghost girl was telling her, she started to notice little bits of light surrounding her. She examined herself and found several tiny bright dots similar to stars emerging from her body as they were swimming upward.

"What's happening?" Lily says, feeling slightly panicked.

"You're going to wake up soon," Alice explains with a sense of urgency in her voice. "Listen to me carefully, I'm going to communicate with you in the real world and you'll hear me in your head...so to speak. Try not to panic when you hear me."

"Wait, why do you-"

"There's no more time for questions here. I'll explain more when you wake up," she spoke as quick as possible. "I'm also aware that you're with your dad right now. I know that because when I contact you in the real world, I can see everything you can."

Lily was a bit spooked by this and Alice was quick to catch on to it.

"Just keep in mind that I'm here to help you. To protect you," she chose her words carefully. "When you wake up, go straight to your room and I'll explain the rest," she noticed that more beads of light were beginning to gather around Lily and she quickly hurried along. "Don't wake up your dad or say anything to him for that matter. Just go straight to your bedroom."

Normally, Lily would have disliked this idea and she would have told her dad about all of this right away, but yet again this girl had saved her from the Boogeyman and she hasn't done anything to harm her. The girl actually came off as timid to Lily. Certainly what all Alice had to say to her had to be important since Lily has been having several bizarre dreams for a while now.

She didn't make a decision to tell her dad or not right away since she was too focused on the increasing amount of the tiny white floating dots now clouding her vision of Alice. She could faintly hear her say, "Remember what I said."

Lily jolted awake with a sharp inhale of breath, her eyes only taking a second to process that she was sitting on the couch in the living room. She noticed that her dad's bulky arm was still lazily draped around her. She gazed up at him and saw that he was still sleeping. His head was tilted back onto the couch and his body was relaxed in a reclined position.

She watched him for a moment, contemplating if she should wake him up, but thats when she felt that prescence again and thats when she knew that the girl was there. So she was real. Lily shouldn't have been as surprised as she was, but she couldn't help but be shocked.

"It was all real?" She repeated the thought to herself while trying to process it.

Alice must have heard her thought because a second later, Lily heard her voice come through.

"Lily..." she spoke quietly and carefully. Her voice, which sounded like it was coming from all around her head, caused Lily to jump in surprise and her sudden movement didn't seem to phase her dad who was still sound asleep.

Lily's heart was beating rapidly as she felt a bit nervous of the whole idea that this girl was somehow connected to her mind. Still, she froze in place anticipating Alice's next words just to be absolutely sure that she was real.

"You can hear me. Good," she says as Lily tries to adjust to her voice. Lily even found herself glancing around as to find out where exactly Alice's voice was coming from.

Lily was about to open her mouth and speak, but Alice was quick to stop her.

"Don't say anything," she says sounding rushed, "I mean...you don't have to say anything out loud. I can hear your thoughts. As I said before, just go straight to your room and we'll continue our conversation."

As she began to adjust to her voice, Lily peeked up at her dad with a worried look.

"But what about-"

"Trust me, Lily. It's better that you don't say anything to him and I'll explain why. Just let him rest."

Lily continued to stare up at his sleeping stature, feeling bad about keeping this from him. She and her dad were always open with each other about nearly everything. She hardly knew this girl and to have her instruct Lily right off the bat to not tell her father about her whole escapade while sleeping was mind boggling, but deep down, Lily knew this whole super power thing had to be serious judging by the anxious tone in Alice's voice.

Despite her uncertainty of this whole situation, she was willing to give Alice the benefit of the doubt. Lily was always one for believing in magical beings and maybe this was a good thing for her. Regardless, she was willing to hear her out.

Lily watched her dad for a moment to make sure he was still sleeping and hadn't noticed her shift under him. Slowly, she shifted herself foward, being careful not to move his arm. As she quietly attempted to get off the couch, she suddenly heard him shift causing her to freeze in place. She tilted her head sideways to see if her dad had woken up, but she was relieved to find out that his eyes were still clamped shut and his head was angled more toward the left.

After viewing him again, that same small twinge of guilt had crept up on her again, but she tries to brush the feeling off as she hopped off the couch and quietly tiptoed over to her bedroom. As she was making her way upstairs she couldn't help but get anxious about the sort of thing she was getting into. She knew that Alice was a spirit, but who exactly sent her? Was it a God of some sort? Was there something wrong with Lily?

"You're going to be okay," Alice's soft voice startled Lily once more.

Yeah. This was definitely something she had to adjust to.

"Is..." she paused, "Is there something wrong with me?" She spoke aloud as she walked a bit slower while heading towards her bedroom door.

"No," Alice reassured her. "This just means that you're special."

"Special how?" Lily asked as she made her way into her bedroom.

"As I said before, your dreams reflect your well-being, which means that this Boogeyman has been affecting your everyday life. Has he not?"

"Well he has, but...wait you said the Boogeyman is based on my fears? What did you mean by that?"

"Well let me put it this way, he represents your fear as a whole. When you have dreams, what you see says a lot about what you have been feeling and what has been going on in your daily life. It seems like you have been facing a lot of rough things lately haven't you?"

Lily stopped, now realizing that she had just been pacing around the room. She frowned as a bitter, deep familiar pain dwelled in her heart. She knew exactly what Alice meant.

"I've also noticed that you've been hard on yourself," she says her voice sounding softer. "You seem to think that you bother people you love when it comes to your problems and you feel like you need to be brave like your dad, or otherwise you'll fail at everything."

Lily stayed silent knowing that everything Alice was saying was true.

"A young girl such as yourself shouldn't be worrying about things like that, but here you are. That's why these powers were gifted to you. The Boogeyman also represents these bad thoughts of yours and he'll do everything in his power to bring you down. We can't let that happen."

Lily was quiet while processing everything she said.

"So...the powers will help get rid of him?" She asked, her voice sounding a little lighter than prior.

"Well..." she paused, "They're meant to hold him off temporarily, but your fears and insecurities are what is stopping you from fully getting rid of him. You have to learn to let them go, but I know for a fact that you aren't able to do that at the moment. That's why I'm here to guide you."

"So...," she says not really processing the rest of what she had just said. "These powers, what are they? How do I use them?"

"We'll get into that, but you're not supposed to use them here."

She blinked. "Here? You mean like-," she points down to the floor, "here?"

"Yes, you have these powers in real life, but-"

"Oh no. I'm...I'm not ready to be a superhero!" She spoke a bit too loudly in sudden panic.

"Quiet down," Alice spoke in a harsh whisper. "And no, this is not about turning you into a superhero. Please don't even consider doing that."

Upon hearing this, Lily let out a breath of relief.

"These powers...let's just say they're too dangerous for the real world."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked with furrowed brows.

Alice sighs, "Lily, what I'm about to tell you is very serious and you can't tell anyone about me or these powers and I mean anyone. Not even your dad."

"But why not?" Lily's voice sounded almost disappointed.

"Lily, there's a lot of things you can do without realizing it. When you dream, you can use these powers as much as you want, but when you wake up and you're in the real world, you're capable of hurting other people, especially the ones you love."

"But...I would never want to hurt anyone," Lily said.

"I know you wouldn't, but you could lose control of these powers and end up hurting someone if you're not careful. These powers are only meant to be used for defending yourself against monsters such as the Boogeyman in your dreams. Trust me, Lily, it's for the best."

Lily grew confused. "Well then why do I even have powers in the real world? Why not only when I dream?"

"Because we are both connected, so you can't help but have these powers in the real world, but it's very important that you DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT tell anyone about these powers or let anyone see them. Believe me when I tell you that you are protecting your dad by keeping this a secret."

Now Lily was conflicted. On one hand, she wanted to race downstairs, rapidly shake her dad to wake him up, and ramble on and on about how she had just met her new ghost friend who gave her superpowers. On the other hand, however, she didn't want to end up accidently harming him, Kidman, or anyone for that matter.

"You don't need to stress either. You can still carry on normally as you are now," she explains, her voice starting to sound agitated. "You can still play and have all the fun you want. The only difference is that it will be different when you go to sleep now. These powers are to help you feel better and you have to promise that this stays between us. Keeping this a secret is the only way to protect everyone you care about."

Lily was silent while fiddling with her fingers out of nervous habit. Would she really go through with keeping such a huge secret from her dad? She has witnessed what the Boogeyman can do and it seemed like Alice was capable of doing similar things to him. The way Alice didn't even need to touch an object just to pick it up and the fact that Lily could do the same was a little unsettling.

But yet again, her dad has always been understanding and supportive when it came to any problem that she was dealing with. It would be wrong for her to keep such a secret from him since they both trusted each other.

"Lily," Alice listened to her thoughts, "I know this sounds wrong to keep from your dad, but do you really want anyone to get hurt?"

"No, but-"

"Do you also want people to be afraid of you because you hurt them, even if you didn't mean to?"

Lily's rushing thoughts had stopped dead in their tracks upon her hearing what Alice had just said. She never thought about it that way. Thinking back to how terrified she was of the Boogeyman and the extent of his powers made her realize just how scared everybody else could possibly be of her. Just imagining the possible scenario of her dad's horrified face when witnessing Lily doing such bizzare acts made her heartbeat quicken.

"I...well...no..." she trailed off.

"Then you can't involve your dad or anyone with this problem. Thats what I'm here for, to guide you and support you. So it is extremely important that you keep this a secret, okay?"

Lily stayed silent for a moment as she gulped and took a deep breath.

"Okay," she sighs with clenched fists. "I...I won't say anything."

"It's for the best, Lily," she said once more. "You're doing the right thing."

Lily sighed while reassuring herself that this was the best thing to do.

"So, that stuff you did with your hands, how do I do that?"

"As I said before, I will show you that when you go back to your dream session."

"But why not right now?" Lily proposed. "Won't the Boogeyman show up when you are trying to show me?"

"Well just don't think of him."

"I probably will think of him when I go back to sleep and besides my dad is sleeping," she spoke as she became eager to see what she could do. Despite these powers being potentially dangerous, as long as nobody witnessed her using them then she was fine.

Alice was silent for a moment before releasing a sigh.

"Close the door," she instructed. "Just keep in mind that this isn't something to do often."

"I know," Lily said as she hurried over to the door and shut it.

"Okay," Alice scanned the room for any potential objects that Lily could safely lift before spotting her mother's doll sitting on top of her dresser. "You see your doll up there?"

Lily glanced around the room for a second before remembering where she had placed her doll. Once she saw it, Lily nodded.

"Alright, stand directly in front of the dresser," she said and Lily did what she said without hesitation. "Now stick your hand out in front of you as if you're trying to reach for something."

Lily stretched her petite right arm out towards the doll making sure to mimic what Alice had done in her dream by keeping her distance.

"Okay, now try your best to focus on that doll. Think about it lifting in the air and make sure to directly focus on nothing else in the room but that doll."

With a sense of determination, Lily followed through with what Alice said and she began to have a staredown with the doll all the while making sure to keep her hand positioned. She imagined the toy magically floating in the air and she made sure she wanted it to float in the air.

And just like that, the doll slowly but surely shook as it began to lift itself and lightly wobble in the air. Taken by shock and surprise, Lily gasped as she quickly retreated her hand back.

Did she really just do that?

"Woah..." she muttered while viewing the doll that was now plopped sideways on top of the dresser. She then stuck out her hand and with much more ease this time, she manipulated the doll into floating in the air once more. She even experimented a little bit by shifting her arm left to right and the doll followed in sync while dangling in midair.

This made Alice become anxious and regretful about the decision to allow Lily to discover one of her powers in the real world.

"Okay, that's enoug-"

"Wait," Lily lets go of her grip on the doll allowing it to fall back into place again before asking, "Can I move big objects too?"

Before Alice could even answer that question, Lily aimed her hand towards the dresser without really thinking of what she was doing, and without hesitation, the dresser was quick to lift itself up in the air not too far from the ground. The wooden piece of furniture began to rattle as Lily was still trying to process the fact that she indeed was the one causing it to float like this.

"Lily, wait!" Alice cried out. Her voice startled the young girl to the point where she abruptly let go of the dresser causing it to fall with a loud thud.

Lily stared down at the palm of her hand with complete shock and amazement, but it was short lived as she jumped at the sound of another loud noise. She looked back up in front of her and noticed that her lamp had just tipped over and fell to the floor as a result of the dresser crashing downwards.

Unbeknownst to Lily, Alice was mentally wincing at the booming sounds the two objects made. There was no doubt in her mind that her dad would wake up from the commotion coming from upstairs and just about thirty seconds later, her prediction came true.

"Lily?" They both hear his distant tired voice from downstairs which causes them both to panic.

"Ummm...ummmm what do I say?" Lily whispered frantically while practically flapping her arms around.

As much as Alice was trying to control her now heavy breathing, she knew she had to remain calm as much as she could in this situation since she was the one in charge. If she would panic then Lily would also panic even more than she already was right now.

So she came up with the best excuse to give Lily.

"Just tell him that you were reaching for something and the lamp fell."

Just then Lily could hear him approaching the stairs, or she could only guess thats where his footsteps were headed considering that she could pick up on many sounds that she never knew she could reach. She wasn't sure how her hearing became so accurate, unless this was another one of her powers. She'd have to ask Alice about that later.

Lily didn't have much time to think as her heart began to pound rapidly, the rhythm matching her dad going up each step. Alice remained silent since she didn't want to risk Lily blurting something out loud that her dad could hear. She only hoped that Lily would follow through.

Lily remained glued to the spot she was standing in as she watched the door knob turn clockwise. Her door was swung open with a slight creaking sound and she was met face-to-face with her dad.

Small pieces of his raven black hair were dangling across his forehead and his wrinkled eyes were practically squinting while trying to adjust to the sunlight beaming through the window. Once his tired eyes encountered his daughter's baby blue ones, she was frozen, gazing up at him like a deer caught in headlights.

"Are you okay?" He asked out of concern, his voice sounding hoarse from just waking up. His ears didn't manage to pick up the full extent of the loud noise, but his mind could register it just enough to know that he heard at least one of the noises.

Lily continued to stare up at him without a word leaving her mouth. She was still trying to maintain her rapid breathing and she was back and forth on whether she should tell him that she had literally just used her mind to lift her own dresser, but she still kept in mind the potential danger he could be in if she did so.

Alice grew unsettled by Lily's lack of words and her opposing thoughts. Her stomach began to turn from her festering anxiety and she prayed to whatever God there was to not allow Lily to tell her dad about her powers. She knew all too well what would happen if she did.

Sebastian was quick to notice her purple butterfly themed lamp resting on the floor which made him all the more curious.

"I was, trying to get my doll off of there," she points towards the top of the dresser while attempting to keep her composure, "and I accidently knocked over my lamp with my arm."

He glances back and forth between Lily and her fallen lamp before letting out a relieved sigh. He deeply chuckles, "I just can't leave you alone, can I?"

As Lily was letting out a hidden breath of relief, Alice released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

Lily stayed in place, trying to appear as calm as possible while her dad kneeled down to inspect the fallen object.

"Luckily it's not broken," he notes while observing the neatly shaped lightbulb. "Still sounded pretty loud though."

Lily stayed quiet for a few seconds before asking cautiously, "Did the noise scare you?" Her question causes Alice's anxiety to spike again, but regardless, Lily needed to know. She needed to know how her dad would feel about such powers his daughter possessed.

Sebastian turns towards her upon hearing her question, his eyes still a little fizzy as he attempts to study her.

"Kinda," he says. He could admit that the noise did catch him off guard, especially if a small lamp was capable of producing such a harsh sound, yet again, he was in the process of fully waking up, so he didn't pay too much attention to the details. He was just happy that his daughter wasn't hurt.

His response caused Lily's spirits to spiral downward. All of her hopes of informing him about her ghost friend and new found powers went out the window at that very instant. She watched him intently as he stood back up and yawned.

"How long have you been up?" He questioned her as he stretched his arms out to get his blood flowing. "I didn't hear you leave."

Lily twiddles her fingers together, "I just got up," she answers while trying to sound like her normal self.

"Alright," he says, not seeming to have any idea that Lily had done something suspicious. "I was thinking we could go out for breakfast in an hour or two. Sound good?"

Lily only nods, still feeling a little disappointed.

"Okay," he grabs Lily's doll from the dresser and hands it to her. She takes it and cuddles it in her arms. "You coming back downstairs, or do you need me to watch out for you?" He says jokingly with another chuckle.

Lily tries to give him her sweetest smile knowing that what he said was a harmless joke.

"I'll be fine up here," she says with a nervous laugh.

There was a slight edge to her voice, which Sebastian noted as he listened to her. He would have thought something was wrong, but yet again she has been going through a lot and he didn't want to push it. She also could have just been startled by knocking over her lamp. Regardless, he'd give her some time alone.

"Okay," he smiles warmly, his partially wrinkled eyes beaming down at her. He ruffles his hand briefly through her dark hair as he always did before walking out of her room.

Lily watches him closely by peaking her head out from the door as he makes his way back downstairs. Once the coast was clear, her tense shoulders sink and she relaxes herself. Alice, who was on the edge of her seat, manages to release the tension building within her, but she was still a little shaken up.

"You can't do that again," Alice spoke, her voice sounding a little shaky, but she manages to contain it in order to sound mostly clear.

"I know," Lily says in a hushed voice. After seeing her dad visibly caught off guard, she now understood the importance of keeping the powers a secret. The last thing she would want is for her own father to be afraid of her.

Lily couldn't help but gaze down at her hands once more, still in awe of what she could do.

"I can't believe I did that," she breathed out.

"It's shocking, I know, but you have to wait until you fall asleep again in order to use them. Got it?" Alice attempts to speak with ease, but she was still on edge.

"Yeah," Lily trails off when she suddenly felt the need to go to the bathroom. "Um...Alice? I...I need to go to the bathroom," she spoke awkwardly.

"Oh," Alice said just realizing that she had forgotten to inform Lily of what would happen when she would need privacy. "I can phase in and out from your mind, which is how I can see everything you can, to your dream world where I can't see what you're doing. I can do it right before you go to the bathroom."

"What do you mean by phase? Are you in my brain or something?" Lily asked, getting weirded out by the idea that that could be a possibility.

"Well not exactly. I can just see everything from your point of view and what I mean by phasing is," she paused trying to find the right words to properly explain this to Lily. "You know how I can teleport, right? It's like that, but just going in and out of your dream state. I can still hear you when you speak from there, so you can let me know when you are done."

"Ohhh, okay," she says, now understanding what she meant.

"If I leave, you know not to use your powers right?"

"Yeah," she said as she began to hop both of her legs frantically in desperate need to rush to the restroom.

"Okay," Alice would have chuckled in this situation if it wasn't for the risk she was taking by leaving Lily alone. "I'm going to leave now."

"Alright," Lily spoke while getting a bit impatient.

It took a few seconds, but Lily started to feel a weight lifted from her head. Her mind was now clear and she no longer felt like anything was hovering over her. Now she suddenly felt like she was out in the open.

As she was trying to adjust to Alice's prescence being lifted and how alone she felt at the moment, she made her way downstairs toward the bathroom. She was practically walking around on eggshells as she attempts to casually walk by her dad, who was on the phone with someone as he sat on the couch. He didn't seem to notice her walk by, which Lily was grateful for since her mind was spiraling out of control at the moment.

Once she got done, she made sure to retreat back to her room before signaling Alice to come back out. Much to her surprise, it only took half a second for Alice to return and that same familiar prescence surrounded Lily once more. Lily's eyes widened by how quick she came back.

"Woah," she was caught off guard.

"It probably feels weird, but you'll get used to it," Alice tells her.

Lily wondered what Alice was doing back in her dream world until she suddenly gasped upon realizing who was lurking around there.

"Was...He after you?"

"No," she answered quickly. "He is not after me, so he doesn't show up when it's just me around there. This also means that I can't hurt him, even with my powers. Only you can."

Lily felt a little disappointed, but she understood why since this man was created by her mind. Still, she wondered why her fears and insecurities would cause this specific man to show up in her nightmares. Who was he? Lily couldn't recall ever seeing this man in real life, but if he was just made up, then how did she dream up such a thing?

It was too much to think about and she should probably take her supernatural companion's advice by taking one step at a time when resolving her internal issues.

Throughout the day, Lily made sure to remain as composed and natural as possible around her dad. Afterall, it wasn't everyday that she would encounter a ghost girl in her dreams and then be granted with superpowers, so naturally she was still trying to adjust to everything.

Regardless, this was something she had to get used to.