By the time the sunlight started bleeding into the building, Rachel was already up and awake first, staring out through the windows.

She hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep ever since she came into this land. Whenever she tried, when she was able to doze off after several minutes of tossing and turning, she'd end up getting a cryptic dream that she could not hope to even comprehend. The only thing she remembered was that she was walking somewhere, treading on endless white ground[s]---[/s]snow, perhaps, regarding circumstances. Either way, it always ended with a sudden pang of fear and then another episode of migraine that has kept her up in these darkest hours.

Ever since she was a young girl, Rachel has believed her dreams to be predictive in nature. She would talk to her friends and family about what she saw, and every time they all unanimously agreed it to be a sign of the future. These recent ones however have been so vague to her that it filled her with both confusion and apprehension. What could they possibly mean? How does it relate to this entity that had been guiding her these past several days?

She looked to the sky in deep thought. It was a dull grey, easy on her eyes but no less comforting than the thick fog covering the woods that she had been lost in. 

[i]Lost.[/i] 

The biggest question that had been nagging at her mind finally occurred to her in earnest. Why is she here? What is her purpose here in this place? She's overheard from the guards of names she didn't recognize, whispers of something lurking beneath the frozen surface that surrounded this land, talks of gold being rewarded as opposed to giving them away and finally the bells ringing through the walls. The more she tried to fit in and understand, the more disconnected she felt. She's survived thus far, but she already had a bad feeling about today, and all these thoughts along with her sleepless nights did not help her case.

She shivered from the abnormally cold wind that hit her and quietly retreated to the bed she took. 

Resting on it was a stone, the same one she'd taken from Andrea, a small reminder of kindness in a place of indifference, foolhardy and greed. What others may not see however was that on its side, there were crude lines forming runic symbols that may have been recently carved with a sharp edge while no one was watching. 

Holding it, she still wasn't completely sure what all this was about and where it came from, but the image lingered in the back of her mind from when she 'communicated' with that presence from the fireplace, and looking at it gives her a small feeling of connection.