Cursed Demon Kissed 2 Page 0,10

vision. It's not really sleep. It just kind of knocks me out."

She nodded, saying, "Try lying down. Can't hurt. Nothing can hurt at this point, Ivy."

She tossed me a throw pillow. Before I flopped onto my back, I tucked the pillow under my head. Now I had to wait. I closed my eyes and listened to the noises of the room. I couldn't hear any of the sounds on the street. After a while the only sound I heard was my own breathing, and the tension washed away from my shoulders. I remembered this feeling. It's the place between slumber and wake; the place where dreams feel vivid and nightmares seem real. Lingering in that relaxed mental state, I wondered what I was supposed to do. I knew that sleep wouldn't come. Sleep wasn't required anymore, but this was different.

Warmth slid down my arms and caressed my back. I felt like I was floating downward, light as a feather. Then it was black, and the sounds of the room changed. A thin shroud of black mist dissipated revealing the vision had started. Dripping water was around me, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. Moisture tickled my nose and coldness chilled me to the bone.

But, where was I? Too afraid to speak, I tried to focus on something. Seeing anything would be great. Although the mist cleared, the space was covered in a darkness that my eyes could not penetrate. I knew I was somewhere else. This wasn't the Villa. That place was warm and bright, and quite the opposite of where I was now.

I felt my way through the darkness. This wasn't the same as my other visions. Nothing came into focus, and the black mist that usually blocked my view surrounding the vision wasn't there. It burned off almost as soon as it appeared. There was only utter darkness with the constant drip, drip, drip of water.

I moved slowly through the space expecting to find something or someone, but nothing was there. Slowly, I followed the sound of the dripping water uncertain of what else I was supposed to do. It felt like I wasn't anywhere, lodged in utter darkness and surrounded by frosty air. It was the most whacked vision I'd ever had.

Where was I?

Following the sound of the water, I moved across the blackened space touching nothing, until I saw something glimmer in the darkness. Moving towards it, I reached out and slid my hand across a pane of glass - black glass. Its surface glowed a dim mixture of blues and blacks. Its reflection contained me and the nothingness behind me. When I reached out and touched the pane again, the glass moved under my fingers. The surface felt like gelatin - thick and cold - with just as much give. Moving cautiously, I slid my finger down the glass watching it ripple beneath my touch.

Suddenly an image began to form within the black pane, and I could see the place where the water dripped. I gasped, not expecting to see him there. Collin was sitting in the corner of a cell that was carved from stone. Water dripped down the walls, staining the rocks with colored streaks. When I gasped, he looked up. His eyebrow arched, as he rose to his feet, walking towards me with a perplexed expression on his face.

My heart raced in my chest as I put my hand on the glass and pushed. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not go through. The dark mirror had hardened. "Collin..." I spoke into the glass as my fists hit the unyielding surface.

"Ivy?" he said softly. He stood in front of me, and finally shook his head. I watched him for a moment trying to understand what I was seeing. It was the place where Collin was trapped. He'd walked right in front of me, but he didn't seem to see me. But, how did he know I was there? He shook his head and mumbled, "I'm losing my mind," before he sat back down in the corner.

I beat my fists into the black glass screaming his name, but it didn't give. It didn't let me pass. It wouldn't let him hear me. It was the cruelest thing I could have imagined. I was so close, and I couldn't do anything. What was happening? Was this the past or the present? It seemed like he knew I was there, but he thought he imagined it. And this black