Jessie tosses the phone and watches it bounce off the table. What is the point of calling? She should have known her mom wouldn’t tell her anything. Jessie kicks a nearby chair across the room. She had hoped her mother would have been willing to shed some light on her childhood, or mention if she remembers a boy with bright green eyes and black hair. But no, her mother told her to go through her yearbooks and to keep her ‘crazy’ in Solace. She was also reminded to not call unless it is an emergency. The catch her mother fails to mention is the lack of yearbooks, or any pictures for that matter, of her early childhood. There’s nothing from before she is eight and she can’t really remember anything before that either.

The phone call had turned into an hour-long torture-call as her mother laid out why it has been so hard to raise her. Tarnishing that perfect family image her mother had always envisioned. Jessie tried to imagine how hard it has been on her parents. They’ve always denied that she could see ghosts or anything supernatural. In their mind their daughter is psychotic. Disturbed. She has heard all kinds of labels growing up. To them her powers are imaginary. But does that really give them the right to abandon her in the ass-end of nowhere on a mountain? Apparently her mother thinks so. It is obvious she isn’t welcome to call.

A sigh escapes Jessie’s lips. She needs some kind of distraction to calm down. No reason to let her mother make this day even worse. Between the dream and the ghost in the bathroom at school she is enough of a nervous wreck already. She somehow managed to not run out on school, which is no small accomplishment. It still isn’t clear to her what had happened. The ghosts just came out of nowhere and continued to hang around her until she got out of Solace. Like a floodgate suddenly opening. It reminds her of that awful nightmare from last night. What is changing here in Solace? All the cities she’s lived in and the ghosts have never played peak-a-boo before. The whole presence of the ghosts here is different. Hungry. A chill runs down her spine.

The woods. Maybe Jessie could put this whole nightmare behind her if she can prove to herself that reality isn’t like in her dream. That red hands really don’t pop out of the ground and trees don’t duplicate by themselves. It is worth a shot, better than sitting in the house going crazy. This type of activity had always worked with Sarah. Even if it is more intense here there is no reason why the same logic wouldn’t work. And if she does find any of those things…well maybe she could prove to others she isn’t crazy once and for all. Though she really doesn’t want to find any of those things. Part of her would rather be crazy.

First things first: warm clothes. She heads to the closet, digging around for something warmer. No luck. The jacket from her uncle will have to be enough for now. It doesn’t have a hood but that should be ok, there are a couple scarves she could use to protect her ears. Checking her pockets, she makes sure she has her phone, and that it’s charged. Since she is near the back of the house anyway she decides to slip through the back door. For a moment she debates whether she should lock the door. Who would really come out here? Besides, this would make it a quick entrance if she does find trouble out there.

Once outside she wonders where she should enter the woods. She fights the feelings of being foolish for chasing after her nightmares. Part of Jessie feels crazy for even entertaining this trip. Pushing all other thoughts aside, she tries to remember where the whole thing started. It is most likely somewhere in the middle of the forest. She hopes that it is even this patch of woods. In the nightmare the only path she was able to see was the one the ghosts used. As if all the other paths had been wiped out by the forest. Or no other paths existed; it doesn’t appear as if this patch of woods is well traveled.

Staring out at the forest, she finally decides to enter the woods near the east side. It seems like a good place to start. If she walks to the west, in theory, it should cross with the northward path she had taken in the dream. If it exists. A beach-like path in the mountain woods seems unlikely. But this is what the trip is for - regaining her sanity. As she wanders through the woods, she realizes how beautiful the mountains are. The leaves are still falling full of color. And they still make that satisfying crunch sound as she shuffles along.

After a few minutes into her hike Jessie finds the strange sandy path. Complete with the shells. She bends down, and runs her hands through the sand, making sure it is real. A branch snaps in the distance. Jessie jumps up and spins around. She’s still alone. Must be a lone animal. She focuses back on the strange path. What is it for? There has been no path going into the woods to lead to this point. Not even the remains of a path. And without any type of clearing there wouldn’t be space to have another small house or building. Halfway up a mountain there’s definitely not a beach, yet here is a path made of sand and seashells. The whole area feels wrong. She shouldn’t have come out here.

Jessie tries to swallow. If she is going to see this to the end she has to go deeper. The meadow is somewhere away from the path. After finding the path there is no doubt in her mind that the meadow is in here somewhere. The problem now is remembering which way she had darted off the path in her nightmare. Think. She had darted up and to the right. She stops for a moment looking around to make sure she goes in the right direction. Does she really want to know? Her luck is going to run out. And there isn’t really a reason to tempt fate.

Instead of leaving, she starts to veer towards the meadow. Jessie’s feet have a mind of their own, leading her towards a destination. She is unable to stop moving forward, towards the meadow, like something there is drawing her in. Calling out to her. She fights the urge to scream. The trees seem to become thicker and thicker. Cutting her off from the safety of the real world. Soon all that’s beneath her is tree roots and darkness. The ground is slippery. The darkness surrounds her. Suffocating.

She slips her phone out of her pocket, the backlight not beating back the darkness. She finds the flashlight app by memory. She needs to have some light. She needs to regain her composure. Nothing seems to be happening. Is it broken? She flips it around. Holding it up to her hand. The light is on but unable to penetrate the darkness. A sense of dread washes over her. If the meadow really is here, there’s no way she is going to find it.

Her instincts tell her that she isn’t meant to find the meadow today. A secret she isn’t meant to crack. Her body starts to feel heavy, like a huge weight fell on her shoulders. Maybe it is all the stress she’s dealt with the last twenty-four hours. Jessie starts to shuffle her feet, trying to turn around without tripping over anything. Once she is pretty sure she is facing west again she starts to walk forward. She is still holding the flashlight in front of her, not caring about how useless it is. Maybe she can get a better flashlight at the hardware store. Maybe one of those big floodlights could break this darkness.

It seems like an eternity before she feels the warmth of the sun once again. The sandy dirt path coming into view once again. She flips the flashlight off. It is easy to know where to go from here. To escape the woods. She sprints the last hundred feet back to the house. Jessie chides herself for letting a nightmare affect her so much. At this rate, she’ll be a nervous wreck before the week ends. Back in another home. And this time her mother might not let her out. But she couldn’t deny, things in her nightmare really do exist in the woods. A little too accurately for her taste. But dreams are still dreams. Ghosts don’t haunt them. She glances back one last time at the woods. It is calling her.

Shaking her head, she goes inside. That is enough nonsense for one day. She slams the door behind her, throwing the deadbolt back in place. Closing that chapter for good. No more trips to the woods. Or chasing around her dream world in the real world.

But going down the hallway there is a weird sense of dread coming over her again. Part of Jessie knows there is some truth to the dreams. It feels like something she had gone through before. Something deep inside seems to be screaming that this isn’t the first time her powers flexed their muscles. That this is how her life is really supposed to be. Shaking her to her very core.

Could Solace truly be awakening her lost childhood memories? Is there more to the ghosts than she thought? Impossible. Her powers are already beyond anyone Sarah could find. And it’s not like she had been to Solace before. No déjà vu possible. She slides onto the couch closing her eyes, still wrapped up in her winter clothes. Her muscles ache and a headache is beginning to form from all the stress.