Chapter Three- Nightmares
�Noooooooooooooo!�
Sapphire shot up and looked around in fear. Having heard someone scream she�d woken up at what had to be sometime around three in the morning. It was very dark out, and for a moment it didn�t quite register in her mind who it had been that had screamed. She heard a muffled crying sound coming from the next room over and realized who it had been.
Scrambling out of bed, she ran towards the connecting door and into Nema�s room. Sure enough, there she was, quietly sobbing into her pillow. Strangely enough, Serrenia could not be heard from her room below, coming to investigate the noise. Quickly she rushed to her side, trying to comfort her friend. After what seemed like hours, Nema calmed down enough to talk.
�I� I saw people dying�� she managed to choke out. �It was so horrible�and�� she paused here, unsure of what to say. �They reminded me of you Sapphire.�
�They what?�
�The two people I saw dying, a guy and a girl, both looked a bit like you. But they were older, at least 20 years older than you were. The woman was very pretty, whoever she was. But they were both so scared�. They were seated in these chairs that were in two plastic bubbles that had a small tube that connected them both�. And there was a big metal thing shaped like an axe� and they both watched a machine lift it up and then it dropped between them, cutting off the tube that was connecting them� and then they both died� they just disintegrated into thousands of particles� somehow�. And then I heard someone screaming very loudly and I woke up. I was screaming too, I couldn�t help it,� Nema recalled with great difficulty.
�Is that it?� Sapphire asked, hoping that there was nothing else. She�d been unable to look at her friend as she had been describing it. The whole idea of that was frightening to the point of loosing your mind. Of course, she couldn�t see how something like that could kill people. There had to be something different about them to make that metal knife thing kill them.
�Yes� wait� no, there was something else� there was someone with a deep voice, laughing,� Nema frowned. �That�s sick, who would laugh at something like that?�
�I don�t know, but they�d have to be either very sick minded and/or very evil.� Sapphire commented. �That is one disgusting dream. I hope I never have something like that.�
Nema sat in thought for a few seconds, then said,
�I�m not all that sure that it was a dream��
Surprised, Sapphire spun around to face her again.
�You don�t? Then what do you think it could be? Was it a premition�premitition�premi-?�
�Premonition?� Nema asked, and she nodded. �No, I don�t think so� It didn�t feel like one.�
�Then what was it?�
�� It felt like a memory of some sort� maybe it had to do with the dream I had before that.�
�Another dream? About what?�
�Well, it was really weird. It was like someone, or maybe even two people, I don�t know, showed me a memory of wandering around different places.�
�That doesn�t sound too weird.�
�I know, I haven�t gotten to the really strange part yet. Well, I was wandering around downstairs in the living room when all of a sudden I got this urge to read a book. So I for some reason followed this formula to find my book and I pulled it out and the next thing I knew I was on the other side of the bookcase looking into what looked like perhaps it was an old study or something. But it was really huge, over two times the size of the house.�
�It must have been enchanted or something,� Sapphire commented.
�That�s what I thought. But anyways, so I looked around and saw two beakers full of liquid. And I was suddenly curious to find out what would happen if I mixed them��
�You didn�t��
�Yeah, I did. Nothing bad happened though. It just made a small silver key. I snapped my fingers and then the mess cleared away too. I looked around for a door and I didn�t find one though. And then I saw a space in the wall where a door could be. So I walked over there and then found a keyhole and stuck the key in. Then the other dream started.�
�Did you see what was on the other side of the door?�
�No� but I think I might have an idea. I think that�s where I can find someone�s memories� I think they might have been telling me to go find them.�
�Why would they do that?� Sapphire asked her.
�I have no idea. All I know is that I think it�s important,� Nema replied softly.
�But why would Serrenia have them?�
�I�ve been wondering that myself. Maybe she knew them well.�
�But why wouldn�t they be given to a relative or something? Wouldn�t they need to have those as kind of a lasting memory of them?� Sapphire argued. A look of comprehension appeared on Nema�s face.
�Wait a second, you don�t think that maybe� maybe those are our memories down there, do you?� Sapphire guessed.
�No, I think we have ours in our heads, we just can�t get at them. There�s definitely a locked door in my mind that I can�t get at, and I know that my memories have to be in there. No� I think that perhaps maybe they�re someone else�s memories, someone that might have known what happened to our parents.�
Nema had touched a subject that had been off limits to them for years. They had asked and pleaded with Serrenia to tell them how their parents had died, but she had refused, telling them that when they were much older and wiser, she would tell them. They�d asked other people that they�d known, but they�d all given them the same answer. Finally, they�d given up hope of ever finding out.
�Really?� Sapphire whispered, awed that the key to the past might lie in that very house. �Wow, if that�s really true, I can�t wait until Serrenia lets us see those memories.�
�What do you mean, until she lets us see those memories? Who said anything about waiting?� Nema voiced.
�No, you can�t be serious. You wouldn�t dare try and break into there� what happens if Serrenia catches you in there?� Sapphire breathed, paling to the point that she was as a ghost.
�I most certainly am. I�m sick of being sheltered from the truth, and if it means that I break rules to find it, then so be it,� Nema stated bravely.
�Oh please don�t. I don�t want you to get in trouble. That�s the last thing we both need right now. Besides, it might not have been someone�s memories. For all we know, it might even be some sort of evil creature that is trying to lure you down there for some reason,� Sapphire reasoned with her. �I don�t think it�s such a good idea until we get a better idea of what�s down there, ok?� Nema sighed. She loved her friend dearly, but sometimes she was a little overprotective. But she could not think of a time before this that she�d been wrong about this sort of thing, so she decided that there was only one thing that she could do.
�Oh all right� but only until we figure out there for sure,� Nema agreed.
�It�s getting late, I�ll see you in the morning,� Sapphire said, stifling a yawn. �Goodnight.�
�Goodnight Sapphire,� Nema called as she nestled into the warm covers once more. Hearing the door click, she knew that she�d gone to her bedroom. Shutting her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep.

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