"Just wait till I get my hands on you!" Kristsi thought angrily as she stalked around aimlessly. She tried once again to tear her way back into wakefulness, but the sleeping pill Kell had given her wasn’t letting go of its grip. "This time you have more than outstepped your duties!" She mentally pounded at the walls of sleep, but they wouldn’t give way. Kristsi gave the wall one more half-hearted punch before she slumped to the ground in defeat. She sighed and looked around in resignation at her surroundings.

It was the first time she really became aware of them. All around her was a dark void filled with countless numbers of tiny glass prisms pulsing with light. Kristsi got back on her feet and approached one curiously. It felt oddly familiar to her. As she touched it with her finger, a golden light flared.

* * * * * * * *

She was in Kell’s dream. She realized that right off. For one thing, she would never wear a dress like this. She brushed at the silver-gray gown as she descended a large curving staircase and came to a stop. Kell was standing in front of her, looking a lot more authoritative then he did in real life. He was dressed in a tuxedo, which Kristsi would have loved to see in real life, but Kell portrayed himself as pretty plain in his dreams. ‘Poor guy doesn’t do himself justice’ she thought to herself. Kell looked up as she reached the last step."You don’t look half bad once you clean up, Enelra." He smiled as Kristsi slugged him in the shoulder.

"Stop calling me that," she said, almost out of habit. She walked past Kell and stopped in front of a mirror that hung over a small table in the foyer. She gasped as she looked at her reflection. It was her, but she had never looked that good on her best days. "So what’s the special occasion?" Kristsi asked as she turned away from the mirror quickly.

"Just a little night on the town to help calm your nerves a bit. You haven’t had a time to relax ever since that night I saved your neck from your neurotic dad."

"Don’t even get started on that Kell. I’m still mad about that."

"Okay, okay. Anyway, you can use a night to just forget about the Game completely."

"Kell, we don’t have time for this! Celly has something up her sleeve. She’s been quiet for too long. I don’t want anyone to get hurt that doesn’t have to."

"Ssshhh." Kell put a finger over his lips. "We’re not going to even think about anything having to do with the Game all night, okay?"

Kristsi wanted to argue her point further, but somehow she found herself agreeing. ‘What’s wrong with me? I’d never let him win that easily! Please Kell, dream me out of this dream!’ she thought fervently.

The golden light flared again.

* * * * * * *

Kristsi opened her eyes after the flash died down. She was back in the immense space filled with the glass prisms. Kell’s prism pulsed beside her, and another familiar prism was right next to his. It was her dad’s. Kristsi hesitated, then reached out and touched it. A green light flared.

Tbc...