There was blood on her hands. She could feel it... Thick, wet and heavier than she had ever imagined. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment as she flexed her fingers slowly, trying to pinpoint just what it was that fascinated her. Was it the way it made her gloves, already snug against her skin, seem to merge with her fingers? Was it the sheen? Was it...

"Don't worry, Dolly. It gets easier."

Her brow furrowed at the sound of the voice and like a predator guarding its prey she growled. The power that was usually cloistered deep within her blossomed until there was a visible aura of dark energy surrounding her, licking at her skin and catching her hair so that raven black curls floated around her face. Eyes once filled with love now seethed with a storm of passionate loathing.

"Psh. I'm not here to steal your kill, Dolly. Kinda hard with the mess you made there. I mean damn. Is there even anything left?"

Again that low growl, plush lips curling back slightly this time so that she could bare her teeth at the boy who, at one point, she had considered a friend. He was different now though... They both were.

"Don't call me that."

"... Or what?" There was a certain air of cockiness in the blonde's voice, his goo-green eyes gleaming just as bright as hers swirled dark. "I'm next? Is the big bad senshi going to steal my starseed too?" He stuck his lower lip out in a mocking pout, everything about his stance egging her on until he brushed it all off with a snort. "Please. Like I didn't teach you all you know..."

Corvus closed her eyes, teetering on the verge of releasing enough energy to obliterate him, and quite possibly herself in the process. As much as she might have enjoyed it the Powers that Be must have had other ideas for her actions. The scenery changed, slowly morphing from the bloody alley scene into something more reminiscent of an actual nightmare as opposed to a memory.

...

Stormy eyes opened to gaze out over the turbulent wastelands. A sea of shadows stretched out for miles below the jagged edges of the cliff she stood on. The balance in this particular world seemed so precarious, just waiting for that one thing that would send it all to pieces.

It came in the form of a young man dressed in a doctored-up version of his own militaristic fashion, lazily twirling a blazing blue glowstick between his fingers. "So this is where you come when you're trying to get away from it all? That's pretty ********' weird, Dolly."

Her eyes remained fixed on the horizon, the dark aura slowly bleeding away from her, seeping into the ground before spreading out through the shadows and up into the sky. She watched on as the clouds changed, the usual gray darkening until they were nearly black. The very air around her crackled until she held her hand out so that the dark energy, the power of her constellation, her star, gathered at her fingertips.

"Do you have any idea... What power like this feels like?" Her voice was soft; the only thing that seemed to be calm within the planes of her mind. "Knowing that this... All of this... Is just gathering inside you. Right. Here." She stepped forward, jabbing her former friend in the chest where, mirrored across from him, there was a hole as black as the void in her own.

The arrogance had faded from his face and had she been herself she could have smirked... Would have smirked. Instead she let her fingers remain on his chest, slowly smoothing out from the fingertips until her palm was lying flat on the front of his jacket, the flutter of his pulse something she hadn't expected to take such delight in. It wasn't joy or anticipation that made his heart race; she wasn't his type. It was something else and that, of all things, intrigued her.

Air that had been still before began to move, tugging at sheer sleeves while causing the airy fabric of her dress to conform to the curves of her body. "Well? Do you?" She murmured as gloved fingers curled to grasp his jacket, face void of emotion as she yanked him closer, their positions rotating so that now he was the one closer to the edge of the cliff.

"This is what it feels like..." Her voice became harsh as she shook him, feeling him tremble as she pushed him back towards the edge. "This is what it feels like, Demetri!" One more shove and he was falling, the shadows devouring him as she stood passively and watched as one by one the last of his outstretched fingers were engulfed by the darkness that seemed to reach all.

"It feels... Like fear."

---

Cordelia snapped awake, limbs tangled in sheets that she now struggled to toss off of her. She was nearly sobbing by the time she stumbled into her bathroom, flicking the light on. The bright, white light still didn't seem to be enough to chase away the lingering darkness; not when it felt as though it had somehow managed to seep into her skin.

She reached out to turn the faucet on, finally bringing herself to glance down at trembling hands. There was no blood, although she could still feel it as though it had just been there. Frantically she thrust her hands under the water, leaving them there before grabbing the soap so that she could scrub them clean. So much blood...

One hand slid out of the water to grab the towel from where she had left it hanging when she had washed her face before bed. She dried her hands off slowly before turning the water off, glancing at herself in the mirror. Nothing had changed. She was still herself, still Cordelia Edena Carden. There was no hole in her...

Brow furrowing she tilted her head so that she could peer down her shirt to check. No, no hole. It had just been another dream. Another nightmare... But why? Why would she dream of that, of all things... And why Demy, of all people?

First thing in the morning she was going to head out to the occult shop; the same one that she had first met Ume in. She was going to pick up the first book she found on dreams and a dream catcher. "Stupid ******** troll..."