• Trent finally felt himself in control of his actions, and he darted to the curb as fast as his legs could carry him. August's hysteric laughter let him know she was far ahead of him.

    "Wait up!" He called and glanced back over his shoulder at the car, then chased after her.

    Once he caught up, he prepared a couple more questions.

    "Can you control anything outside of your dream world?" He asked hesitantly, but she just smiled at him like it were a totally liable question.

    "Only certain things and people I allow close enough to bring here." Was her simple answer.

    "But you controlled me back there, when we were in the crowd and you told me to go to the alley. I felt it." Trent felt proud of himself, but August's grin just grew broader.

    "That is correct."

    "So if we left right now, you could control me just like you could here? You could push me in front of a car but you wouldn't be able to stop it."

    "That is correct." She turned away and continued her walk across the grass. Each step she took seemed to brighten the grass to a perfect green that matched her smiling eyes.

    "Here's another question: Could you bring other people that you used to know here?"

    "What kind of question is that?" She looked back with amusement on her face.

    "I guess what I'm asking is... Could you bring back the deceased?"

    Her sure step faltered a bit under his gaze, but Trent didn't make much of it.

    "I... haven't exactly tried." She frowned as she concentrated on the grass beneath her feet that had slipped a shade.

    "Could you try?" He asked quietly. She looked away from him but had halted in place.

    "I guess so. It's not like anything could go wrong, right?" She chuckled nervously, then held her hand out in front of her, opposite her and Trent. She momentarily closed her eyes, and a short spark appeared about five feet off the ground. The spark grew and became an elastic-like orb. It slowly stretched and shrunk, then grew some more in what seemed like random patterns. Yet soon, the tall, slim figure of a man made of the pearl-colored elastic remained.

    Color was quickly draining from August's face as her eyes remained closed, focusing on some reference that existed only in her head. Trent reached out protectively, but stood back with upmost fascination.

    Features stood from the blank face, and soon color was washed over the form.

    "Daddy." August breathed and collapsed in Trent's arms. Trent watched the serene landscape flicker with the real world, but held when the figure looked down at the girl in Trent's arms.

    "Augustine?" The man whispered, examining his tanned hands.

    Recalling August's final words, Trent looked up. "Are you her father?"

    The figure paused from his examination to answer Trent's intent stare.

    "Yes." He finally answered, looking at the small girl in Trent's arms. "How did... How am I here?" He looked back up to Trent, who shrugged.

    "Whatever she did, she fainted from the work. You want to take her?" Trent stood with August in his arms and easily passed her to her father.

    The man had tanned paper-looking skin and greyed hair that was slicked back, revealing the balding temples. He wore a simple grey work suit with a long crimson tie and a white shirt. His eyes matched August's, the curiously grassy green.

    "My name is Trent Bryan, by the way. Do you at all know what happened while she was in the labratories?" Trent frowned in concern, but the man just stared at him blankly.

    "So they did take her." The man muttered into August's hair, gently stroking the girl's reddish-gold ringlet curls.

    "They, sir?" Trent asked quietly, and the man's green eyes flickered back to Trent's face.

    "My name is Ossian Trilffe, in case you wanted to know. How is she here, if she was at the labratories?" The man leaned his cheek against his daughter's head in a sign of affection.

    "She escaped somehow, sir. I have no idea how she even found me." Trent shrugged and sighed deeply, shuffling his feet uncomfortably under Ossian's glare.