Have you ever had a dream within a dream? It's the weirdest feeling when you wake up the first time.
I was in my bedroom, reading some scary story on the Internet. I heard a voice calling for me from outside my door.
"Jessie?"
Must have been my roommate, but... The clock on my computer's desktop read 2:23 AM. Why was she even up this late?
Approaching the door, I listened for a minute. Nothing. Sighing, I sat back down at my desk. The clock read 7:42. Not even time for my first class yet.
A little annoyed, I clicked the play button on the video I had been watching before the interruption. The girl on the screen was talking about some book she read. In the middle of her rant, she suddenly glared into the camera.
"Jessie, I'm sorry." The voice crackled through the old speaker. Did she just say my name? I turned the radio off and stared into the darkness.
When I opened my eyes, a blonde-haired, hazel-eyed girl was staring at me. I stared back, frozen in fear and thoroughly confused. She spoke again.
"I'm sorry I left you alone. I was... Scared..."
I blinked. She was scared? Slowly the events prior to my dream came back to me. I was still in a dream. And she brought me here.
"You're scared? Scared of what? You trapped me in this nightmare!" I let myself fall back onto the bed. I knew it wasn't Lily's fault, but I needed somebody to blame at the moment.
"I know, Jessie, and I'm sorry. I might have made a mistake. I hope you can forgive me." Her cheery tone was gone, and despite my mood, I missed it. It had been a ray of sunshine amidst the horrors of realizing I was trapped. I let out a long sigh, and sat up to look at her.
"No. I mean, yes, I forgive you. It's the Queen I'm after. She sent you to get me, right?"
Lily frowned. "Well, no... It's my job to find someone I think will be a good Citizen. So it was me. And now I'm not so sure I'm good Bunny material after all..."
She looked to be on the verge of tears, and the pain in her voice was killing me. I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to hug her and tell her everything would be okay. Before I knew it, she was in my arms, sobbing. This dream world teleporting and stuff would definitely take some getting used to.
I gathered my thoughts and spoke softly as she cried into my shoulder. "Lily, I don't understand most of this. I don't even know what a Bunny or a Citizen is. What I do know is that you're a sweet girl who's doing her best, and that's all that matters."
I always knew I'd make a good counselor if I tried. I gently pulled away from her so I could see her eyes. "I can see that. So don't be sad, okay? I'm not mad at you."