<strong>Chapter II: Dawn and Sunlight</strong><br/><br/>Esther floated in darkness for a long time, but she was at peace.  Despite the chaos in the stadium, she could take a measure in the calm in the fact that nothing could hurt her anymore.  And so she transitioned into wakefulness seamlessly, feeling rested.<br/><br/>She found herself lying in her bed at home, with no idea how she had gotten there from the stadium.  She might have dismissed the whole thing as a dream... except that the changes she had felt in herself, the feeling of untouchability and the death of her bitterness, were still evident.<br/><br/>A quick glance at her window told her dawn was just breaking.  It was almost time to get ready for school.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Mike's sleep was tormented by dreams - visions, maybe, or half-formed memories.  Spiders crawled all over his body, and a man made out of spiders promised him power in exchange for his soul.  Billy was there, then, taunting him, calling him small and weak; then Billy was his father, gloating that he'd never make him pay for his actions.<br/><br/>Mike woke all of a start, still pulsing with anger.  He was surprised to find himself sitting upright in his bed, dawn just starting to creep through his window.  Had it all been dreams and nightmares?  But then something caught his eye and, pulling up his sleeve, he saw it:<br/><br/>A strange, serpentine tattoo ran all along his right arm, the head coming to rest nearly at his fist.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Olivia, too, was tormented by nightmares - but hers bore no resemblance to visions.  She saw Billy burning alive, and then sometimes it was Mike instead of Billy.  Snakes chased her through dark alleys and a feeling of loneliness, of being the only living being in the whole world, wracked her body.<br/><br/>And then a voice, feminine and reassuring, pierced the veil of nightmare.  "It's okay, Olivia.  It's just a nightmare."  She looked around in her dreams but couldn't find any source of the voice - it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.<br/><br/>She felt a pressure, like a comforting hand on her shoulder.  "Wake up, please.  I don't want to see you scared anymore."  The voice was calm and rational, but tinged with genuine worry for her.  And just like that the nightmares faded away into the emptyness of sleep.  The hand on her shoulder shook her, and she awoke feeling rested and wakeful despite her earlier torment.<br/><br/>"Thank goodness.  I was so worried about you, Olivia."  Even awake the voice seemed to come from all directions - she attributed it to her quickly-vanishing sleepiness.  She took stock of her surroundings.  She was in her bedroom, safe and sound, with no evidence of the previous night's events.  Sunlight was just barely visible through her window.  It was a new day.  She started to smile...  And then a sudden thought hit her.<br/><br/>She was alone in her room.