It is easy to get an idea to write, it's near impossible to put that idea to paper. At least for me. This story has been at least 14 years in the making, that's older than my oldest nephew. This is about the third or fourth time I've tried writing it so we'll see how it goes.  This story is possible from writing while listening to Breaking Benjamin, It wouldn't  have a name without them either. So thank you to them.  Anyway, I'm not quite sure what I'm really supposed to say in the introduction, so I'll finish with this. If you're reading this book and you like it? You're the best person ever.

    ​From day one, I have never felt pretty or wanted in my family. When my parents had kids, they got twins. My perfect sister Mia and me. I got the short end of the stick when it came to looks. My sister got my mother's golden locks, and I got a mousy brown from our father. She's petite, curvy, and beautiful; and I'm a stick figure with hair.

    My sister has always gotten the best of everything. She got the more expensive presents on holidays, the bigger room in the house, and the better choice of schools. But I guess I'm thankful for that. She chose a boarding school far away from me, so no one at school met Ms. Perfect.  Not that it mattered, no one even knew I existed in that school. I don't even think my parents knew I was there.

I wish I could be happy like my sister, but I can't. Not while I'm here. 

    I'm constantly dreaming about this world I've never seen. About this life I've never led. And I wake up in a state of envy that it isn't my life.  The dreams are so vivid, I sometimes wake smelling of rain that fell in my dream. Wiping sand out of my sheets like I was actually sitting on the beach I saw. I've woken up with bruises from falling in my dreams. I don't know whether it's real or if my mind is just fracturing from living such a lonely life.

    I've been having these dreams for over a month now. They started out as glimpses. The steeple of a shining court, glowing lanterns on the shore of a fog-shrouded island. A hazy desert island covered in rocks and trees, and a city protected by towering walls.  

    I walk the same way to school every day without question. But today I felt drawn to a different path. 

    Walking through a quiet street through town, I heard a door jingle open behind me. I'd just started to turn when everything went to black.

This is it. What the movies warned me about. I'm going to die right here. I can hear voices around me. Two men whispering to a woman.  They're taking me somewhere.

My heart drowns out what they're saying. 

They're probably going to take my kidneys or something. I'm going to die in a bathtub with no kidneys and no one will even miss me. Just some transient teen, bury her in the mass grave and move on.

"Are you sure it's the right one this time? Last time we did this, she screamed and then promptly drowned."

I open my eyes and see cloudy skies. And I can smell ocean air. 

Oh great, they're going to feed me to sharks. That's how I want to die.

"Don't sit up too fast Hun, I'm afraid K might've been too forceful knocking you out."

    I lean forward slightly to see three people in the boat with me. In front of me sat a tall thin man with olive skin and dark hair wearing a scowl.  Next to him was a short wisp of a woman with long grey hair and pale skin. And lastly was the most mundane looking one of the bunch, a man of average height and build with blond locks and milky skin. They looked like a bunch of weirdos.

"Are you going to kill me?"

The woman stifled a laugh. "Kill you? No no no, that is not our aim in the slightest."

"It just seems to be a pesky side effect of opening the gate."

"K! Why would you say that?!"

"I don't know George, why are you and Nena so keen on keeping that fact to yourself?"

They must've seen the terror on my face as they turned toward me again.

"Oh honey, please don't be scared. It's just- We need you to open the gate so we can get back home."

"And how can I do that? I don't exactly have a key."

"Well, you are the key." K growled.

"Wait, what?"

I didn't have time to say any more than that as K grabbed me by my shirt and threw me from the boat. 

    I squeezed my eyes shut in preparation to hit the water but the impact never came.  I opened my eyes to realize I was float at least ten feet above the water and the boat.  I screamed in surprise and clutched at the air.

"Stop struggling and just calm down. You're not going anywhere."

I sucked back a sob and looked down at my captors. "What do I do then?"

"Just hold still, if you're a match, we'll know in about ten seconds."

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky and ripped a hole into the horizon. 

"What's happening?"

"That means it worked. You're going to fall now."

"WhaaaAAAAAA"

    I gasped as salt water rushed into my lungs and thrashed against the current that caught me.  A moment later I was plucked from the icy water and thrust back into the boat. 

"Wh-where are we going?" I gasped.

"To Neverland." George chuckled.

"Really?"

"No, he's an idiot." K huffed.

    I stared up at the abyss drawing closer to the boat. I didn't know where I was going, I'm not sure I wanted to at that moment. I was suddenly regretting my wish of disappearing. Nena placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring look, but all it did was make my stomach tighten.  I braced expecting an impact from the black void, but as soon as we passed its' limit I felt sun shining on my face.

"Are we dead? Are we in heaven?"

"No hun, but we are home."

    I opened my eyes and gazed around at the new surroundings.  At first, I could only see fog but as my eyes adjusted I could see a crystal blue sky above me.  In the distance ahead of us was an island jutting out of the dark water. On the island was a building made out of bricks that shined like starlight. It rose to a high steeple that pierced the clouds.  I'd seen it before in one of my dreams.

"What... is that?" I whispered.

"That, my dear, is the High Court. That is where we hold court, host balls, and just generally meet others." Nena explained. 

"Is that where we're going?"

"For now. Until we figure out what comes next." K sneered.

    I swallowed the lump in my throat and stared down at my white knuckles. This was the world I saw in my dreams.  Would I wake up any minute now and be back in my bed?  Would I ever see home again? Did I even care? I tried to think of anything worth going home for. 

    Maybe it was real this time. Maybe I could find something to keep here. I shivered against the breeze that cut across the water.  We stepped off the boat cautiously onto the rocky shore.  The High Court loomed above us like an immense god.  

"So where are we exactly? What is this world?"

"It runs alongside yours in a kind of pocket. You can only get there by piercing the veil. And as you can see, it's kind of tricky. Before we found you we'd been waiting 5 years to get back." George stated.

"So how did you get through in the first place?"

"Oh, it's very easy to leave." Nena responded.

"Extremely difficult to get back." K retorted.

    I nodded, hiking up the steps behind them. The steps seemed to go on forever and I started to wonder if we would ever reach the top. When I glanced up again, we were standing at the top. I stared over at the others curiously over to find them studying me. 

"What?"

"I guess she is the one. If she can bring us to the top of the steps so easily." Nena smiled.

    I should stopped being surprised at how weird this day has been. I'm expecting to wake up at any time now.  We reached the imposing doors of the High Court within a few minutes of walking and stared up at the colossus. K threw open the massive doors with ease. The corridor behind the doors was even more massive than I could comprehend. There were massive chandeliers hanging from deep grooves in the ceiling and grand candelabras lighting the pathways through the hall.  I could hear voices in one of the rooms up ahead. 

"It's been five years. How do we even know the boat out there belongs to them? It could very well be one of Seamus'.  Do you really want to sit around and wait?" A male voice growled.

"Do you really think Seamus would use whatever kind of boat that is out there? He would use a warship you dimwit." A female voice declared.

"And are you a goddamn psychic now? I didn't know they trained you to steal inside people's minds now. " The male voice seethed.

"Don't speak of things you don't understand. You may as well wear the skin of the beasts you become." 

"Honestly. You two are still the suckling brats we left behind those five years ago. If we were Seamus, your throats would already be spilling your blood." K exclaimed.

    We stepped into the chamber that held the arguing pair who were now glaring at K. The woman and man both had dark skin but where the man had dark hair like K's, the woman had hair like rich earth. Their eyes shifted to where I stood and suddenly I wished I was invisible again.  I felt like their gaze would incinerate me where I stood.  I tried to sidestep behind Nena, but she snaked an arm around my shoulders and pushed me out in front of her. 

"This is the young girl who finally opened the gate!" She grinned.

"And how many did you actually burn through?" The woman replied.

"Thirty Four."  K grumbled.

"I suppose that's not as bad as it sounds?" The man scowled.

"Well, most of them died quickly if that helps." George shrugged.

I just stared between all of them in horror. 

"You killed 34 girls trying to get back here? You killed 34 girls trying to find me? I feel sick." I collapsed to the ground gasping.

"If it makes you feel any better, nobody missed them."  Nena frowned.

"Oh, great. So they were just like me. Hopeless, unimportant, and invisible to everyone around them." 

    I bolted into the hall , tears racing down my cheeks.  I only made it a few yards before the man from the room grabbed me and pulled me back a foot. He grasped my  shoulder and studied my face. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and glanced up at him.  He gave me a small smile to reassure me.

"We're not going to hurt you, ok? No one here really thinks before they speak." 

He gave my shoulder a pat before putting his arm around me and walked me back to the room. 

"Let's not do that again, ok Firefly? The man whispered.

I furrowed my brow and stared at him. "Why did you call me Firefly?"

"Cause that's what you are. A lightbringer." The woman replied.

"I'm Merrick." The man remarked.

The woman sighed. "And I'm Avalon."

They all gawked at me inquisitively. I stared back at them before I realized for a minute why they were.

"Oh, now you ask. My name is Nadia."