All throughout the next day the boy went about in a haze. Who was this girl? Why was she all alone? He hurried to bed that night, barely brushing his teeth and throwing on pajamas before laying his head down. He wanted to get back to his dream world as soon as possible.

When he finally fell asleep, he materialized in the same spot that he had the night before, at the beginning of the garden. This time though, he ran through, past the trees and the stream, past the swing, heading for the trees. It was only when he was somewhat deep inside them that he realized that he was lost. He looked around for a sign, a light, anything, but there was none. So he stayed still for a bit, listening. It was then that he heard the singing.

Come little children,
I'll take thee away,
Into a land of enchantment.

Come little children,
The time's come to play,
Here in my garden of shadows.

In an instant, he was on his feet; he knew it had to be her. Who else would be singing in this lonely world? Her voice was haunting, and from where the boy was, it was very quiet. He followed the soft strains, letting them guide him to the strange girl. 

Follow sweet children,
I'll show thee the way,
Through all the pain, and the sorrows.

Weep not poor children,
For life is this way,
Murdering beauty and passions.

The very trees seemed to gravitate towards the sound of her voice. The boy didn't know if he was even heading in the right direction, but something in the air made it feel as if it was. 

Hush now dear children,
It must be this way,
To weary of life, and deceptions.

Rest now my children, 
for soon we'll away,
Into the calm, and the quiet.

The boy knew he was getting closer when he could see some sort of silvery glow coming from the trees. He didn't know what it was, but again there was that feeling in his bones.

Come little children,
I'll take thee away,
Into a land of enchantment.

Come little children,
The time's come to play,
Here in my garden of shadows.

The boy reached a clearing, where there was a huge fallen tree. Sitting on that tree was the girl, who had a crowd of all kinds of animals clustered around her, listening. He was awed; her voice was beautiful, and obviously he wasn't the only one who thought so. He started forward, but stopped, speechless, when the animals all turned--in sync--to look at him.

He had thought them to be pretty at first; all silvery and glowing slightly. It was actually them that were causing the glow he had seen through the trees. But when they turned to him he gaped. They had no eyes.

It wasn't that their eyes were taken out; no, they just didn't have any. Where there should have been eyes there were just black pools. As if that weren't enough, the pools were filled with shadows, shadows that spilled out and down their faces. 

Every single eye was on him as he walked to her. There were a variety of animals, everything from wolves and a bear, to deer, to rabbits, or birds in the trees. He sat down on the trunk next to her.

"Hi. Again."

"You shouldn't be here." The girl looked at him with her curious eyes. "It isn't safe, nor do I want company." 

"And yet, here I am." The boy smiled his casual--and kind of cocky--smile. 

"And yet here you are," the girl muttered exasperatedly.

"It's not so bad to have company...why don't you try it?" The boy scooted closer to the girl, and was surprised to find she didn't move away.

"Do you really think that I haven't tried?" The girl smiled wanly, letting true emotion shine through.

"Well of course you probably have," the boy smiled brightly, "Just not with a person like me." 

The girl threw her hands up, and stood up, walking away, "For the love of Hades, why this one Zeus?" She turned back to look at the boy, crossing her arms. "Fine."

"What?" The boy looked perplexedly at her.

"Fine, you can follow me around, and learn about me. We'll see whether I'll tolerate your presence," sighed the girl. Then she walked away, fading into the dark, "Until tomorrow."

"Wait, tomorrow?" The boy asked, starting to follow. But the animals closed in, and even though they had no eyes, the boy could see the malice in them. They forced him back, until he was pinned to a tree, vicious faces on all sides. And even though the boy had not been afraid at first, fear began to gnaw at his stomach. Just as they leaped at him, just as he closed his eyes and waited to feel their teeth on his skin, he heard a beeping. It was then that he opened his eyes to the walls of his room, the beeping his alarm for the day. 

A/N: The song above is called Children of the Night, or Come Little Children, and is totally the theme song for this story.