My dreams were of being a princess in a faraway castle. It felt like I was experiencing them as a small child, but at the same time as if I was observing the scenes as my current self.

I found myself in the middle of a flower garden, on one side of an immense castle. I ran through the dirt, chasing a boy who was about nine or ten. He was significantly taller than me, so I must have been pretty young.

His clothes were fairly modern, given that we were at a castle. I would've expected different attire. I was wearing a dress that was also more current than I would have expected.

The boy turned around and looked at me…with the same eyes that I'd been staring at all evening at the dance.

He grinned wide. "Marguerite, now it's my turn to chase you."

Marguerite?

I giggled, sounding like a toddler, and turned around. I ran in the other direction taking paths along the enormous garden. I looked back to see that he was close behind. Those were eyes that loved me deeply.

As I tired of running, I dove into a pile of leaves. He jumped in next to me. He piled them over me. I shrieked and threw some at him.

I heard adult voices not too far away.

"He would go to the ends of the earth for her."

"She's devoted to him. Already, everything she does is for him."

"They're going to lead with a strength that hasn't been seen in thousands of years."

"They are exactly what our kingdom needs."

"I hope that they're able to bring peace."

"According to the prophecies, that's exactly what will happen. It looks like Clifford and Marguerite will be the ones."

I turned to the boy. "What are the grownups talking about?"

He jumped up and held an invisible sword. "Someday we're going to fight battles and beat all the bad guys. Pow!"

"Really? How are we going to do that?"

"We'll spend years training and we'll develop our special powers." He swung his invisible sword at imaginary people all around him.

"What are our special powers?"

"Nobody knows yet," he told me. "The powers will start coming out when—"

"Children! Time to come inside."

"Oh," I complained. I got up from the pile of leaves anyway. The beautiful, brown-eyed boy and I walked out of the garden to where the adults were. They were beyond gorgeous.

"Alexis. Alexis!" My sister's voice pulled me from the beautiful castle scene.

"Go away." I pulled the covers over my head.

"Alexis. You have to wake up—I think Hailey did something to your car."

I forced myself out of bed and looked out the window. Something was all over my car, but I couldn't tell from so far away. "What's that?"

"Let's go down so you can see for yourself," Natalie said.

As we were about to leave my room, I stopped in my tracks. My homecoming dress had the exact pattern as the dress in the dream. The dress itself was completely different, but the pattern was identical.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Let's see the damage to my car."

Dried raw eggs and shaving cream covered my car. It would take several washings to get it clean.

"Can you believe her?" Natalie exclaimed. "She has some nerve. We've got to get back at her. Maybe we could TP her house or stuff something gross in her locker."

"I have something better in mind."

Her eyes lit up. "What?"

"It'll be good. But first I need to figure out how I'm going to clean this car."

"I'm sure Dad has some good cleaners in the garage."

"Right," I said. "Hey Natalie, can I borrow an outfit tonight? Cliff's taking me out for dinner."

"He is?" she squealed. "I have the perfect outfit. I can help you with your makeup and hair if you want."

"That would be perfect." I headed for the garage to get supplies to clean my car.

After I finally finished, I was sore from the combination of dancing the night before and washing the gunk off my car. I decided to go lay down for a while before studying.

I fell back to sleep and found myself back at the castle. This time it was night, and I was lying in a luxurious bed. I'd been awakened by some noise followed by hushed conversation. I pretended to be asleep.

"We've got to be extremely careful. No mistakes."

"I won't make any mistakes. Are you sure the people will be where you say?"

"It's all set. Don't worry about my end of things."

"What if she wakes up?"

"She trusts me. It'll be flawless."

There were some shuffling noises and then someone picked me up out of the bed. I didn't know what was going on, but I did know one of the people, and I trusted her. I was scared, but didn't say anything.

Before I knew it, we were outside, and I could hear the sounds of the leaves rustling below and twigs snapping. I heard some animals in the distance and birds nearby.

They sounded like crows.

"How much longer?"

"It won't be long. We're nearing the edge of the woods at this speed."

"Shouldn't we change her memories?"

"Have you forgotten? She's a descendant of the Fyrsturae."

"Right. It's impossible to tamper with her mind."

"She also has the mark of the Sonnast. Who knows what could happen if we tried to control her mind? It could backfire on us."

"Let's hurry. We only have a short time to drop her off and to change the memories of her new family."

I woke up in a cold sweat. The dreams were so real. It was as if I had actually been there as a little girl. I got into the shower to get my mind off the dreams.

After getting dressed and having a late breakfast, I got into my sparkly clean car and drove to an abandoned field. I had a box of burned out light bulbs.

Once in the field, I laid out several light bulbs in a row. I hoped they didn't have to be plugged in to explode.

I looked at one and willed it to explode. Nothing happened. I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the light bulb.

Nothing.

"What am I doing wrong?"

I stared at it with such a concentration that I felt my face turn red.

Nothing.

Every time I made a light bulb shatter, it was when I was raging mad. I wasn't mad—that was why it wasn't working.

I thought about times my parents had favored Natalie. Images passed through one by one. Soon I was ready to punch someone. I focused all of my energy on the middle light bulb. I took all of my anger and tried to use my eyes like a laser to make it explode.

It didn't even budge.

"Dang it." Then I heard two explosions from the box of light bulbs. "Are you mocking me?"

I turned my attention back to that middle light bulb. "Explode. Explode!"

Nothing happened. "This is ridiculous. Why can't I control it? It's obvious that I'm causing it."

I tried again, and this time a different light bulb in the row shattered. I wasn't happy, but at least it was progress.

I looked at the red sports car. I couldn't believe that it was Cliff's. I was even more embarrassed by my ugly, old car.

He looked at me and smiled. "Do you think it's a bit much?"

"No, not at all. Was it imported? I've never seen anything like it."

"Yes, I had it imported. Would you like to drive?"

The blood drained from my face. "Are you kidding? I'd be afraid to."

He looked into my eyes. "I trust you. Besides, you strike me as a safe driver."

"I am. I've never even been pulled over. But I don't want to drive it." I couldn't make a fool of myself in front of him.

Cliff held up a key chain. "I want you to drive it. You'll love it."

My heart raced. He threw the keys at me, and I nearly missed them. He opened driver's side door, and then waited for me to sit down behind the wheel. I shook my head and sat down. He closed the door, and I looked around the inside of the car and adjusted the seat.

"How do you like it?" he asked, already sitting next to me. I jumped in surprise. I hadn't even heard him sit down.

"It's extraordinary." I cringed at my choice of words. My level of nerdiness knew no bounds.

"Start it." He actually looked excited.

I put the key in and turned it. The car came to life without a sound. "Whoa." I pushed the gas pedal and nearly gave us both a case of whiplash. "Sorry."

He laughed. "Take it easy. It doesn't take much."

"Are you sure you want me to drive?"

"It just takes a minute to get used to. I did the same thing when I first got it."

"Really? Where to?"

"Anywhere you want. Show me some of your favorite places in Delphic Cove."

"There's not a whole lot."

"Then take me to the park where you met up with Brooke. That sounds nice."

"You mean the lake. That's one of my favorite places to go." I managed to drive to the lake without killing anyone. We got out of the car and walked toward the lake in a comfortable silence.

"You look like you're in your element here," he said, breaking the silence.

"I am. I love how peaceful it is. It really helps me to relax, and forget about everything."

He reached toward me, pulled a strand of hair from my face and placed it gently behind my ear. His hand lingered there, and my heart nearly stopped. I looked into his eyes as my pulse raced.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "You smell amazing."

"I'm wearing new perfume." I squirmed, not knowing how else to respond.

He looked deep into my eyes. He shook his head. "No, it's you that smells incredible."

I tilted my head looking deeper into his eyes, trying to figure out what he meant by that.

He cupped my chin with his hand. "Do you realize how stunning you are?"

I opened my mouth but couldn't find any words. I put my hand on his arm and noticed how unbelievably smooth his skin was. "You're many times more remarkable than I am."

He took my hand and kissed it. There was a tear in his eye. "I've dreamed of this for so many years. You've been gone too long." He pulled me close and held me in a strong embrace.

I knew that what he spoke of was as real as the lake next to us, but I didn't know where or when we had known each other. Unless my dreams were real. Was it even possible that he was the boy from my dreams? Had we grown up in that castle together before I was adopted?

It couldn't be…or could it?

We were in the back corner of a fancy restaurant that I'd never been to before, and again I'd had Cliff order for me.

"How did you get the crows to obey?"

"You probably won't believe that I'm the crow whisperer?"

I nearly choked on my iced tea. "The crow whisperer? No way. Who would want to get inside the mind of those gross birds?"

His face showed hurt and disappointment.

"Oh, please don't tell me you're serious."

"I was just teasing. Do you have any idea why they're stalking you?"

I sighed. "I don't know if I want to know. I did some digging, and when I saw that crows represent death, I stopped."

"Representing death?" he asked. "I haven't heard that before, that's very interesting."

"You think the possibility of my death is interesting?" I gave him a fake scowl.

He smiled. "That's not it. You're going to live a very long time." He had the same grin as the boy in my dreams.

"Now you know my future? You're a man of many talents."

He laughed and nearly choked.

After the food arrived, he looked at me. "When did the crows first show up?"

"It was the same day that I ran into Brooke. They showed up right after she left."

"Did anything else that was strange happen around that time?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" I asked.

"I'm only trying to help."

I took a deep breath and then explained the shattering light bulbs to him.

He didn't act as though it was weird. "Has there been anything else?"

I debated whether or not to admit hearing my sister's thoughts or Brooke and Steve's conversation from all the way across from the house.

He was looking at me intently while I had my internal debate. I looked deep into his eyes and heard his voice say, You can tell me, Alexis. His lips hadn't moved.

The blood drained from my head, and my mouth fell open.

It's okay Alexis. I've been through this too.

"So, how's your dinner?" I asked, purposefully ignoring the voices in my head. "Mine dinner is divine. It's at least as good as the meal that you suggested last night, and that was outstanding. Did you know that—?"

"I'm not trying to upset you. I know it must be extremely confusing. I can't imagine going through it without knowing anything about it."

"What is going on, Cliff?"

"That is a long story," he said, "and you deserve to know everything."

"So, tell me," I said.

"First, I need you to tell me everything," he said. "You've got the crows after you, some mind reading powers and object manipulation. Anything else?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You haven't seen my new temper."

"You'll learn to control that in time," he said. "It's part of the process. What else have you experienced out of the ordinary?"

I thought for a moment. "I run so fast that they want me on the track team. I heard Brooke and Steve having a conversation all the way across the house, when it should have been impossible for me to hear them."

"Any dreams?" he asked.

"How did you know that?"

"Brooke purposefully chose the same pattern from your favorite childhood dress," he said. "She was hopeful that it would trigger your memories. What did you dream about?"

"I was in a big, beautiful castle nestled between some mountains and forests," I said. "A boy about ten years old named Clifford and I were running through a flower garden. He told me we would use our powers to fight bad guys when we got older."

"You remember?" he asked excitedly. "That's one of my fondest memories. It was no dream—it was real," he said. His face saddened. "That was the last day that I saw you before yesterday. You were taken from us that night."

"I dreamed about that too," I whispered. "I was so scared."

He reached across the table and placed his hand on mine. "I'm just glad that you were kept safe in a loving family."

I snorted. "I wouldn't exactly call them loving, but yeah, they've kept me safe."

"I have much to tell you," he said cupping my chin in his hand. "I would love to blurt it all out here, but I think that it would be best to go back to the house where we can explain it to you with the others."

"You're going to make me wait until after dinner?" I asked, dejected.

"Let's enjoy the rest of the meal, and then we'll go there."

"This is going to be the longest meal of my life."