[i]Mira's eyes flew open with a start, her heart racing and pounding thickly behind her ribs. The remnants of her unnerving dream seemed to echo on in her core, chilling her to the bone. She slowly sat up in her bed, only to be met with the sights and sounds of a thick swamp. The buzz of insects invaded her ears, like the white noise of nature. The trees above and around her blocked out most of the sun. Her bed was floating in the muddy bog, but it was still somehow sturdy. Without any sort or preamble, not even a warning of bubbles, a greenish and pale fleshy mass rose to the surface of the water next to her bed like a twisted form of greeting. Boleyk's naked body was bloated and his limbs lolled around uselessly in the swamp water. Algae festered in his long matted hair which trailed behind him in the water like a tail. When Mira had first met him, when they forged their contract, he appeared to be much more frog-like and monstrous. Now when they contact each other, he appeared as a human, sometimes varying in age and states of decay. She suspected that his more bestial form was his true one, but there was no way to be sure. Boleyk's lips breached the water's surface, his cloudy half open eyes remained under water. “I hope I didn't startle you.” He said, his sarcastic voice deep and phlegm ridden. When they spoke to each other, it was always in their native language. Mira rubbed her eyes, irritated. “I was [b]trying[/b] to sleep, Boleyk.” “You still are. Sorry for intruding, as usual.” There was a small movement beneath the surface as he floated slowly closer towards the edge of her bed. Then, he added with a smirk, “Don't go into hysterics.” Mira sat up, relaxing a little and adjusting the shirt and shorts she had went to bed in. Sitting cross legged, she informed the water spirit, “If anyone here is the moody one, I would assume it's the frog thing sitting miserably in his swamp all day who bothers the only person he knows in the middle of the night just for a chat. Boleyk, please, why did you drag me here?” Boleyk frowned and sank back into the still dark water. He soon resurfaced, bringing his whole head out of the water this time and asked, “You were disturbed while you slept. It was that dream again, was it not?” At the sight of Mira's nod, he muttered quietly, “I thought it might be.” “I don't know what it means. But it has to mean something, right?” Mira asked, frustrated. “Why don't you ask a friend about it, dear heart? Tell them your trusted comrade Boleyk sent you.” He grinned hideously, the water lapping at his teeth. “If I had anyone to ask I wouldn't bring you up.” She said flatly before adding, “No offense.” “Why? Oh, I see.” Boleyk adopted a mocking expression of exaggerated shame, pleading, “Do I...embarrass you, sweetie?” Mira scooted back out of disgust as Boleyk breached himself onto her bed, rolling around and getting muck everywhere. He twisted his head to look at her, the toxic sarcasm was almost tangible. “Are you ashamed of me? Why can't you be seen with me in public?” His tongue flopped out of his crooked mouth as he grinned, dead eyes rolling madly. “Introduce me to your friends, Mira! I'm sure we could all get along!” Mira, who was quite used to this kind of behavior after being bound to this creature for two years, simply said, “Boleyk, there are no friends for you to embarrass.” Boleyk dropped the act, now deadly serious. “Then perhaps you should work on that.” Mira was silent as he slid off the bed, trying not to admit to herself that he had indeed struck upon a sort of truth. He floated belly up now, lazily moving in a circular motion. “There are other matters at hand.” “What is it?” She asked, grateful for the change in subject. “You did not get that charm I wanted.” Boleyk said, twisting his hair in his hands. “Well, I got caught. Sorry to disappoint you.” Mira crossed her arms. “No matter, I have something else in mind for your payment. Now, this place you are in, what is it called?” “It is [/i]New York City[i].” She answered dutifully. “I've heard some call it The Big Apple.” She repeated the phrase in English. “[/i]New York City. The Big Apple[i].” Boleyk sounded them out on his blue lips, then shook his head. “I do not like this English, this clumsy-tongue. This city is starting to bore me, it is nothing but noise and rocks. You have been in this large fruit for far too long.” Mira had been afraid of this. She was prepared for it, but she was hoping that he would be satisfied for longer. Mira tried to explain it to him.“Boleyk, I was doing well. I've had interviews-” “And now you can have interviews and do well somewhere else. We'll speak again soon.” “But-”[/i] In a flash of light, Mira suddenly found herself sitting upright in her normal, clean bed. She was in that now familiar large room, and hers was just one of many beds, some were occupied and some were not. Dim light from the windows crept in as Mira grabbed the backpack that was next to her bed. Not wanting to waste time, she exited the room quickly and quietly, leaving to get changed and start the day. --- Mira strolled through the warm, clean lobby of the shelter, dressed in a pair of black sneakers, worn blue jeans and a simple gray hoodie. She was seen by William, one of the assistants who volunteered at the shelter. He quickly waved her over to his desk. “Klara, hey!” She approached him, wondering why Will had decided to start volunteering at such a young age. When she had spoken to him these last few months, he seemed like a sweet man, if a little slow. She thought perhaps that he genuinely cared about the rest of people staying here, though he did not seem to know what to say to her when they talked. It was an odd discrepancy. When she made it to his desk, he asked, “I heard you had an interview yesterday, something in customer service? So, uh, how did it go?” Mira shook her head. “Not good. The man, he kept looking at my head. He said too that he could not understand me, which is...” She searched for the right word. “Bullshit?” Will offered, then he quickly looked around to make sure no one else heard him. “Yes, bullshit. I'm understood enough.” Will jumped in his seat a little, as if remembering something. “Oh! I totally forgot!” He rummaged through the tray on his desk then pulled out a plain envelope with her name written on it. “Someone left a message for you late last night. I don't know who, I just saw it on my desk this morning.” Mira's brow furrowed as Will politely handed over the letter. The curiosity was plain on her face, the only one who might contact her was her family, but they didn't know where she was. She opened it and read the letter, a knot tightening in her stomach as she did so. She recognized the sender's name. It was one she'd heard in the company of other people who were...magically inclined. And if someone of that importance was sending for her... “...um, Klara?” “Ah, I'm sorry. I need to go.” Mira said quickly, stuffing the letter in her pocket hurriedly and heading towards the door. “Uh, okay, well make sure to come back in time for curfew!” Will called after her as the door closed behind her, leaving him in awkward silence and the uncomfortable thought that he still had six more hours of work to do. --- It had been a bit of a struggle for Mira to find Station 7 even with the directions in the letter, but now it stood before her. Or rather, a bulky bouncer did. Mira waved at her as she passed by, impressed by the other woman's bulk. She pushed her way through the maintenance door and stepped smoothly down the stairs, eventually finding herself in a softly lit bar. Mira almost never found herself in places like this. She didn't have the taste that her fellow magic users seemed to have. She couldn't begin to imagine the terrible mark on the world that a powerful drunk would leave. After glancing at the older man in the corner, she pulled the crumpled letter out of her pocket, just in case anyone questioned why she was here, and made her way to the back rooms. Mira stepped into the only room that seemed occupied at the moment only to see two people sitting at a small table. One of them was an older woman who carried herself as if she was sitting on a throne. The other was a man closer to Mira's age, perhaps older, and he was draped in a blue trench coat. The older woman met Mira's eyes as she made her entrance, her gaze freezing Mira in her tracks. She held up the letter nervously, staring back at the woman with mixed fear and curiosity. “Hello, I have this letter? Did you send it?” The Madame smiled warmly at the girl and waved at one of the chairs. "Have a seat dear. And I did." Her demeanor was notably nicer towards Mira then towards Johnny. Johnny for his part, eyed Mira. "Hello Mira. Seen a man in black lately?" He asked, trying to play his own paranoia down. Mira stuffed the letter back in her pocket clumsily and sat down as she was told, the older woman's smile putting her at ease somewhat. As Johnny asked if she'd seen the man, Mira looked up in surprise at him. "Yes, yes I have. As I slept. I don't know why." She reached out the table with the offer of a handshake. "I don't know your name, uh Mister..." "Rune. But most call me Johnny. And we met, albeit briefly. I believe you wanted to steal one of my charms at the time? Something like that." He shot her a wry smirk. Mira rubbed the the back of her neck, embarrassed. "Ah, I thought you were, uh, familiar. I'm sorry about that, sometimes I must do these things. My contract is...annoying at times." She hissed something vulgar in Ukrainian under her breath. "No hard feelings" Johnny assured her as Madamme raised a eyebrow at him. "What? I can't be mad with everyone trying to steal things from me. I'd end up constipated." Mira smiled a little at Johnny's joke, though she wasn't sure what 'constipated' meant due to her unfamiliarity with English. Here eyes wandered to the empty chairs at the table and she asked Madame, "How many others?" "I sent out a few" She said, less warmly. "I expect less then that three or four others." She eyed the empty chairs as she said this. “I see...” Mira said to herself. The thought of all of them sharing that disturbing dream was a bit frightening. She was new to this world of magic and wasn't sure what was normal and what wasn't. Mira supposed that the only thing left to do now was wait.