There were a lot of voices. In the dark. Underwater. Again. It was a nightmare on repeat. The difference this time was that a silhouette with glowing eyes held her tropical crystal. Coming closer this time, their voices were louder. Clearer. “Go away,” was repeated by almost every speaker, not quite in unison. The one with the crystal was their leader.

As glowing eyes and shadows stalked her and chanted, she wondered if the nightmare was what put her to sleep in the first place- if it somehow caused her migraine just to engulf her when she tried to sleep it off. It was an agonizingly boring scene to relive, but still better than the pain she’d felt when she was awake. She began to wonder if she’d have any control this time- like how she’d been able to skip around before.

“Who are you?” Unexpectedly, the question on her mind spilled out of her lips. It sounded. She could speak. All the other voices went quiet, and the eyes became curious. The figure holding the crystals leaned in closer, gaining a few details with proximity. There was a flat, buff chest and a blurry face- like a bad photo. Darker and less focused than the upper body, a tail swished- a mermaid tail, or in this case, a merman tail.

“I belong,” he whispered, his head just far enough past her face for him to talk into her ear. “You don’t.” He waved the crystal before her eyes only to pull it away and back off a few feet. “Leave my world,” he said, in an almost amiable tone. His voice was flawless, like that of a singer. She felt no need to listen, no matter how persuasive he should have been. Besides, the headache and shark incident earlier had put her in a mood.

“You belong, but who are you?” She asked again, not satisfied with the answer. “Where is this? Where is your world and how am I in it?” The figure recoiled, floating wherever the current pushed him. He was surprised.

“Well?” She turned to face the many sets of eyes. Her confrontation was alarming everyone. She kind of liked the sense of power it gave her. The merman returned.

“A good woman listens,” he reprimanded her softly. He came from a time when that was normal, she supposed.

“Not since the seventies,” she informed him. “Now, no one listens.” It was her own nightmare- she was entitled to a snarky remark.

Somewhere behind her, there was a chuckle. It was another masculine voice, but less commanding. The merman circled her, a sense of anger emanating from the hazy image that marked his presence, but no more words escaped his mouth. In fact, none of the shadows were making a sound anymore.

A new silhouette swam past the merman with her crystal, smacking his head with a powerful sweep of the tail. A glowing ball, less of an abstract orb and more like a gazing ball, was cradled in this individual’s arms. “Ya be here ‘a help us.” He sounded warm, loving and optimistic despite the pirate-esqe dialect. It was a stark contrast to the other man.

She expected to wake up in time for her shift. The alarm should have been going off, the numbers on the clock instilling a sense of urgency before she would hurry out the door. When she instead awoke to silence, her stomach churned. Then, there was an impact. Force came down in one small spot, and as she jolted in shock, a sticky sensation slapped across one of her wrists. A purr followed several more sharp jabs up her torso until a fluffy face leaned in to sniff hers. Of course even a ghost cat was heavy. But it was almost a relief to have her big, awkward Octopuss back. Almost.

Wheezing, Hazel pushed her visitor off her chest and sat up. The object adhered to her arm peeled off with a slight tug and a crinkling sound. A sticky note over the screen of her clock explained that her mother had called the park for her- it was officially a sick day.

She reached for her phone only to be deterred by a powerful headbutt from Octa. In the sheets beside the cat was a chewed up, crumpled pad. “Why…” she lifted it with two fingers to dispose of immediately. On its way into the trash can, the pad opened, revealing a print she didn’t recognize. “Whose even…” The cat mewed and thudded onto the floor, where a small bone laid, wrapped in blue ribbon. “Where have you been?” she exclaimed.

Octa rolled over, as if to request a belly rub.