Oftentimes a dream is only a dream--memories mixing together into a mesmerizing, if rather bizarre, movie. But Anni knew, too, that sometimes a dream meant something special; sometimes it was a vision sent from heaven to give comfort or guidance, or sometimes it was a small view of what the future held. Distinguishing which a single dream may be can be rather difficult. But if you have the same dream for sixteen consecutive nights, it means something. It started with a horse. It always started with a horse. Her name was Grace. Anni jumped the small stream and raced over the short, green grass to leap onto Grace's back. With her passenger safely aboard, Grace took off sprinting (true to her name) gracefully across the prairie. In the distance Anni could see the wood, trees growing so thickly she wouldn't be able to peer in even when she stood at the edge. Shortly Grace would reach that tree line and stop, then wait for Anni to dismount and enter the forest alone. A part of her wanted to know what it all meant. Having the same dream so many times, it was apparent she was being given a message. She just wished she knew what she was being told. Then a much larger part of her simply raised her hair in the wind, spread her hands wide, and laughed. Riding a horse--feeling Grace's strong body galloping beneath her, muscles flexing in beautiful harmony; basking in the chill morning whipping across her face as she flew across the plain far faster than her own legs could carry her; relishing the sight of everything flying past as barely more than a blur of color--riding a horse really was the greatest. All too soon the trees loomed and the ride was over. Anni dismounted, eyeing the forest warily. Before entering, though, she turned back to give Grace a hug. Wrapping her small arms around the horse's powerful neck, Anni whispered a soft, [color=ff4500]"Thank you."[/color] Stepping back slowly, loathe to depart her majestic equine friend, Anni paused a moment longer to nuzzle Grace. The mare accepted her affection, waiting for Anni to take a step back before shaking her head with a happy whinny. [color=00bfff]"Now go; she's waiting for you,"[/color] Grace said. Then she galloped away. Anni's eyes grew larger than saucers. By the time she found her voice again Grace was far, far away. [color=ff4500]"You just... talked,"[/color] Anni mumbled with apparent shock. That hadn't happened the first fifteen times. Was this time going to be different? AnnMarie turned back to the wood with new resolution. She would find what she was looking for this time. With that determination, she started into the dark forest. She didn't know exactly what she was looking for, per say, but Anni new she was looking for it. She had this overpowering sense that she needed to find it, and it was somewhere among these trees. For fifteen nights she had been searching, sometimes here and sometimes there. Tonight she turned neither to the righthand nor to the left. She kept her path straight, her eyes straight ahead, her feet never swaying. Each time she drew near a tree, Anni repeated her determination and refused to step aside; and in a miracle most only considered possible in a dream such as this, the tree stepped aside instead. Some minutes in--at a place Anni would poetically declare the center of the forest--Anni found it. Laying atop a stump was a mask--a white mask with red eyes and a frighteningly large mouth. Reaching for the mask, Anni had the strongest impression it was like a fox. Looking it over she couldn't see too much of a reason for that; granted, it had triangular ears and a small nose, but its overall appearance said nothing of the kind. Yet she could feel some sort of foxiness in her hands. Holding the mask in her hands, Anni debated within herself whether she should put it on or not. She could feel it asking to be put on, but something in her thoughts told her to wait. Maybe if she- A soft alarm on her phone pulled AnnMarie from the dream and back to reality. Her consciousness slid away from the vision and back to her body laying in bed. Try as she might to hold onto that moment, it vanished like a puff of smoke. Anni was mildly upset at whomever had just texted her and interrupted the dream. Who on earth would be texting her at this time of night, anyway? It was... just after eleven, Anni learned with a glance at the clock. She grabbed for the phone on her night stand to find out. Pulling up her inbox, Anni found a string of texts had been sent from an unknown number. She started reading from the oldest one: [indent]I'm the one Grace asked you to help. I need you to meet me on the subway. Please. P.S. Don't put it on yet.[/indent] Staring at the screen, Anni was two parts baffled and one part chillingly certain. Who was it? How did they know her dream? Which subway? All these questions tried to crowd Anni's thoughts, to tell her she didn't know enough to go anywhere or do anything. But at the same time, she knew all the answers. She could pretend not to, but in her heart she knew: this was [I]her[/I]. The one in all the rumors. The Ghost Girl on C-route. Putting her phone down, Anni's mind whirled through everything. She understood most of what was happening, if not why. There was still her post script, though. Of course Anni remembered the mask she had found, but that was back in- Anni blinked twice. Sitting at the foot of her bed was the mask. It was propped against the footboard, leaning up just enough to smile at her. A shiver ran down Anni's spine. Something frightening was happening. Yet at the same time, it was something momentous. Something fantastic. Something life-changing. And something she needed to pursue. Right now. Anni jumped out of bed and changed out of her pajamas as quickly as she could, throwing a red skirt over shorts and finding an orange blouse that would help her be visible in the dark night. She paused at her desk to write up a quick note for her mother, which she left on the bed. Sliding a pair of sneakers on, Anni slipped out the door and into the quiet streets, hustling to reach the train in time. The home settled back into a perfect silence, Ms. Parkinson undisturbed by the muffled noises Anni had been making through her departure. On the now vacant bed sat the hastily scrawled note, almost forlorn in its solitude. [indent]Mom, The dream happened again, but different. I have to go find it. In the subway. I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you! Anni[/indent]