Prologue: Martin

Martin woke up in a cold sweat, heart slamming against his chest. Again. That same nightmare. His hands lifted to his throat, remembering the sensation of the water rising and rising, flowing into his mouth, invading his lungs.

It wasn't the only thing he remembered. The voices of his friends mingled together, echoing in the cave, full of confusion and terror. The dream never let him pick out the individual words – just the overreaching sense of suffering and fear that formed a clangorous uproar in his mind.

I'm not there, he reminded himself. I'm home. My mother and father are in the kitchen; my sister will be getting ready for school.

Not him, though.

Rolling out of bed, he joined his parents in the kitchen just in time to watch his father gleefully flip a pancake without getting it stuck on the ceiling.

The usual good mornings followed, and he sought some orange juice, a last-minute stretch.

"Here." His father thrust the plate of pancakes in his son's face. "Enjoy. Afterward, your mother and I want to talk to you."

"Talk now then," Martin said, his appetite instantly souring. He'd not be able to enjoy eating until hearing whatever they wished to say.

His parents glanced at each other. Both parents had incredible heads of reddish-orange hair, though his mother's hair tended more toward the curly side, while his father's was long and straight. Both parents now conspicuously hid their faces from view as they whispered to each other.

What the hell do they want to say to me?

"Okay." His mother cleared her throat, turning to face him. "We were just wondering… when you'd be returning to Dreadmor."

He froze. "When I feel ready."

"Honey," she said, somehow managing to look both pitying and exasperated at the same time, "it's been five months. We're worried. It feels like you're slipping away from us. You haven't been the same since…"

He took a deep breath, fighting the urge to shut down the conversation or exit the room entirely. He knew they meant well. But he hadn't quite finished what he wanted to do.

"I know. I'll return to the academy soon. I just need… a little longer. Can I have that?"

Again, his parents glanced at each other before a grudging nod passed between them.

"We'll be checking up on you. This can't go on forever."

"Sure."

He picked at his pancakes afterward. Even with honey drizzled over them, they didn't hold quite the same attraction as before.

But he couldn't stop now. Not when there were still missing pieces of the puzzle. Not until he figured out how people drowned in a place where no water existed.