Plip...plip...plip...

Shaunna stirred, placing her hand to her forhead and then rubbing at her eyes. The sound of dripping water called her from sleep. Plip...plip...plip... She sighed and rolled off the bed onto her feet, following the sound into the kitchen. She yawned and stretched a hand above her head. She intended to turn the faucet completely off, but it wasn't dripping.

Plip...plip...plip...

The sound wasn't coming from the kitchen...the bathroom? The dripping continued, but it wasn't in the bathroom. She made her way to the living room but the sound became faint, leading her back into the bedroom. Plip...plip...plip...ploit. The dripping stopped with a soft echo, as though the ripples of the water continued the sound. Yet, she could see no water here...

"Strange," she whispered into the silence.

"Shaunna..." it answered, calling from far away, barely audible. A shiver tip-toed up her spine, quickening to tingle in her fingers and chill her flesh. The urge to run finally convinced her feet to move and she left the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She turned to stare at the door, backing away until she was touching the opposite wall of the hallway.

It had to be a dream...it was too much for the imagination. Shaunna swallowed and reminded herself to breathe. She squeezed her eyes closed. If she concentrated...she could control it, lucid dreaming...

Plip...plip...plip...Shaunna...

She barely heard the ghostly voice, still calling out. She wasn't waking up. She opened her eyes to find that her bedroom door was no longer shut. She saw it, a vertical pool of dark water hovering over her bed. The water dripped again, ripples dancing in the pool.

Shaunna!

Her heart jumped and she sucked in a breath of air, her feet carrying her toward the pool. She felt dazed, unable to think clearly as though a dense fog clouded her mind. I don't want to go... but her feet didn't listen as she approached the pool, stretching out a long, delicate finger to touch the surface, creating her own ripple. The water sucked at her finger and slowly, she pulled it back. The pool filled her vision and nothing else seemed to exist, just the water and the voice, calling to her. Unable to even protest in thought, she stepped forward, letting herself be pulled in as though grabbed by desperate hands. Submerged in the warmth that held her fast she remembered a name, so familiar and yet unknown, it was the only thought in her mind. Again the voice called her and without thinking she said the name in her mind, calling back.