'How to tell...How to tell...' Aaron muttered to himself as he walked down the hallway, wringing his hands in exasperation. 'I mean its so absurd. Gosh! She will think I'm mental! I mean seriously...demons? Aargh! How do I tell her?' He grumbled in complaint and helplessness as he made his way out of his school building.He took huge strides as his mind raced for ways to break the news to Charlene. Then, a way opened itself up to him. 

'Aaron!' a familiar voice called out. 'Wait up!' Aaron spun around to be greeted by a scene that lifted the worry off his face ever so slightly. The ever-neat Charlene was in a mess, running at top speed towards him, her bag half opened and hair out of place. Aaron did not normally smile, but witnessing such a scene, he could not help but allow a smile to play on his lips. It was a small smile, but one nevertheless. What could cause Charlene, who greatly valued neatness, to be in such a mess? Charlene came to a stop beside him, panting heavily and out of breath. Her long hair was plastered on her forehead by beads of sweat that adorned her face. She looked at him with slight weariness in her eyes than crossed her arms over her chest.

'You could have walked slower, you know. I called you so many times, didn't you hear?' Charlene asked. The smile on Aaron's face disappeared. Had he been thinking so hard about how to break the news to Charlene that he had been deaf to her calls? But...now that she was in front of him, should he tell her? His eyebrows furrowed, forming deep lines in his face as he pondered over the many questions that presented themselves to him, that raced through his mind. How was he to break the news? Would she believe him? Deep in thought, Aaron was once again oblivious to his surroundings until he felt hands caressing the deep lines etched in his forehead.

'Tsk,tsk. Don't frown like that. You'll get wrinkles,' Charlene's words were like that of a mother attending to her child. Aaron looked at her in surprise but Charlene was too busy easing Aaron's frown lines to notice.

'What are you worried about?' she asked as she started massaging his forehead gently. Aaron felt a sudden warmth in his heart as he looked at the girl in front of him. Then, he took a deep breath in as he was reminded of what he had to do. It was time to tell all. 

'Charlene,' he said, a serious tone taking to his voice. Charlene looked at him with a stunned expression, her hands dropping to her sides, at the sudden change in atmosphere. She could sense that something was up, something important.

'What is it?' she asked carefully. Aaron's face took on a frown yet again. He pursed his lips as he considered how to best phrase his answer. Then, he spilled all. He told her everything, from the two dimensions to the existence of  mind contact to the issue concerning Charlene and Ah Sa. Hearing what Aaron had to say, Charlene visibly paled. She stumbled backward, reaching for something she could support herself with. Her knees were shaking and she stared at Aaron, a flabbergasted expression on her face. She was dumbfounded by what she had heard. She did not believe, could not believe her ears. Everything that she had just heard from Aaron's mouth was absurd, was unbelievable, was impossible. But yet...her dreams... Furthermore, Aaron wasn't one to lie.

'I...I..I got to go. See you tomorrow,' she stuttered before breaking into a run. She ran and ran, her head in a mess, trying to escape from the foreign things that were slowly but surely invading her life.

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'Ahhhh---------' her scream rang loud and clear through the night before it was silenced by a great buffy hand. She had a hand of one of the many figures over . His hand stank and she felt as if she could not breathe. She wriggled in his grip and sounds of shuffling and struggling could be heard as she put up as best a fight as she could. But finally, silence followed and all was still.

'Charlene!' her parents called as they rushed into the room upon hearing their daughter's scream. But it was too late. The room was devoid of a single living soul, save for themselves. Charlene was nowhere to be seen and without its mistress there, the room seemed ghostly empty. The window was wide opened, pillows, stufftoys and books were strewn all over the room . The room was in a huge mess. Not a single thing had been left untouched, not one in its original position.

A tear drop hit the floor, the sound resulting from the impact reverberating off the walls of the quiet room. Then, as Charlene's parents recovered from their initial shock,more tears flowed. Charlene's mother looked around the room frantically, screaming her name again and again. Seeming to have totally lost control over herself, Charlene's mother screamed herself hoarse until Charlene's father rushed up to her, bringing her into a hug.

'Charlene..Where are you?' her mother murmured as she  cried into her husband's shoulder.

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