CHAPTER 1

At the start, there was only Alexis. Like all of us, she had dreams. But she was just a girl. Not a princess, not a model, she wasn’t special. Only she was special. She just didn’t know it yet. Her parents were nice and so were her siblings. The only thing that made this girl stand out was that she got along with almost everyone. She was never rude unless provoked and never disliked anyone without good reason. In a word, she was Sweet. But in her world sweet didn’t get you very far, so she often went unnoticed. The girl didn’t mind though. Being left to herself meant she could do things like read, draw, and write. She loved to write. Though sometimes writing was something she had to do. You see the girls’ imagination was bright, colorful, and active, that often meant she had a hard time falling asleep. And every once in a while, her dreams would wake her up and the only way she could go back to sleep was if she wrote down what she had dreamt about.

            In her time alone, she had written many short stories and hundreds of poems. They came so easily to her. It was almost as if the words would just come floating in front of her eyes. All she had to do was put them on paper and then she hid them. She had a special place where she kept all of her writing; a place that no one else would ever find. Because in her world only royalty and very highly educated people were allowed to write; and that was the way it had always been. Not everyone agreed with this law but everyone followed it. The girl really had no reason to hide her writing. There was no penalty for writing only for publishing. And as we said before the girl was not a princess, or any royalty at all, and she was too young to have the education that was needed. No, she hid her writing because she was afraid someone might enjoy it so much that they would try to have it published; and that would be a disaster. So, she kept to herself and wrote when she was alone and no one knew of her gift; except for her English teachers. They of course had glimpses of what her imagination was capable of. They often looked forward to their poetry and essay assignments when it came to her. They knew this girl had talent and that one day, if she kept to her studies, she would be a very successful writer. But as much as she loved to read and write she hated school much more. She felt that education could only take you so far, and that life’s little experiences were what really mattered.

            One day the girl was with her friend who loved to gaze at the stars. He loved it so much that he would often sneak onto his roof while everyone was asleep. Just so he could be alone and forget about everything but the stars. He loved the stars like she loved to write and because they each had something they loved so much they were best friends. She would often sneak up onto his roof with him so that they could just be with each other in the quiet beauty. He would lie on his back and gaze up while she would sit beside him and write. When they were on the roof they never spoke. They talked at school and when they went on little trips together but never on the roof. Most people thought she was his little sister, or some little girl he took pity on and let follow him around. No one seemed to understand their friendship, which didn’t bother them at all. But the others didn’t like it. He was royalty and of age to be married and she was just a common girl about 4 years younger than him. He was just as kind as the girl though, so their families understood the bond that they shared; and never tried to keep them apart.

“Alexis, Alexis? Yo! Havens to Alexis!” said Kar.

“Huh? Oh, sorry Kar, what were you saying?” replied Alexis.

“Never mind, it wasn’t that important. Where were you?” asked Kar.

“Right here, I never moved.” said Alexis.

“No, what were you thinking about?” Asked Kar.

“Oh. The usual, homework, the new book I’m reading, sleep.” said Alexis.

“Not sleeping again?” asked Kar.

“Do I ever?” asked Alexis.

“Actually, yes you do. You fall asleep on the roof all the time.” said Kar.

“Yeah well we haven’t been on the roof in a while!” Alexis said.

“I know. But the storms should clear out soon.” Kar said.

“Can’t wait to shut me up huh?” asked Alexis.

“Lex, you know better than that. I enjoy being around you because you talk.” said Kar.

“Kar, it was a joke. Don’t take things so seriously.” said Alexis.

“I knew it was a joke. It just wasn’t a funny one. And besides that, I don’t need to get you on my roof for you to be quiet, lately you don’t talk at all.” said Kar.

“I talk.” said Alexis.

“Yeah, only when I start crap with you. It’s like pulling teeth! What’s wrong?” asked Kar.

“Nothing is wrong. I’m tired! You know I don’t talk as much when I’m tired.” said Alexis.

“It’s more than that. I’ve known you since we were kids. And I know it’s not just you being tired.” said Kar.

“Yeah well, even if there was something else I’m not gonna tell you. You’re a boy.” said Alexis.

“Great we’re gonna start this again?” asked Kar.

“I guess so.” said Alexis.

“Fine! Call me when gender doesn’t matter anymore!” yelled Kar.

“U huh.”, shrugged Alexis.

            Gosh, I wish Kar could understand. It’s because he’s a guy that I can’t tell him. Stupid boys, think they can fix everything. If he only knew the dreams I’d been having lately; then he might understand, but I can’t tell him. He’d freak out and take me to the doctor. He’d probably even say “Don’t worry Lex, we can fix this, you’ll be all better soon, I promise!” If he only knew, I’m pretty sure you can’t fix my problem. But one thing's for sure, I can’t fall asleep around him. If I have one of those dreams around Kar I’d die of embarrassment! And he’d probably think I was gross or sick or both.

            So, Alexis went home to find herself alone once again. She did her homework and then she read until she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. She shut off her light and put on her night clothes and went to sleep. As Alexis lay in bed waiting for sleep to take her, she thought of Karsix and of how they would lie next to each other on the roof, and how Karsix would hold her as she drifted off to sleep. They had stopped trying to hide it from their parents when they snuck out to the roof and fell asleep. Now they only kept quiet so they wouldn’t wake anyone.

Alexis was always full of energy the next day. Her core would shine brighter and her eyes would glow the deep brown Karsix had grown to love. She was a rare Haven child. Deep brown eyes, fire red hair, alabaster skin with the faintest of freckled specks. Red hair usually went with tan skin and green or blue eyes were more prominent than brown. Yes, Alexis was rare indeed, right down to her petite frame. Her short stature was the reason everyone thought she was so much younger than Karsix. He was very tall, tan skin, black hair, and blue eyes. Whenever they were in a hurry Karsix would put Alexis on his back. It had always been this way for Alexis and Karsix. And they both had said they hoped they would never change. But change is exactly what Alexis felt was coming; for her anyway. Once a Haven child turned 21 they were done physically aging. And Karsix had just celebrated his 21^st birthday a couple of months ago. Alexis was only 17 and knew that she still had 4 more years of change to come. She didn’t mind it though; as long as she got to spend it with Karsix. And it was thoughts like that, that she couldn’t tell Karsix. When it came to marriage the women chose the men. And Alexis knew that being a common girl meant she was to choose a common boy. Though it was not forbidden for a common girl to choose a royal boy, it was looked down upon. The woman that chose above her station and got the man of her choosing was said to be a witch and the man was under her spell. If the woman chose above her station and didn’t get the man then she was said to be greedy. Both things were very bad and Alexis knew this. Alexis’ grandmothers had both chosen above there stations and gotten the men of their choosing. Most had just dismissed them as being witches and left it at that until Alexis was created. Being so rare and having witches for grandmothers made people wonder. Of course, the royal family saw this as a sign of change. And so, they kept Alexis and her family very close. Commoners didn’t normally associate with royalty until they were married. The King and Queen oversaw every marriage in their territory and no one was ever denied. Divorce was a word they did not know. Once you were married it was for life and death. And no other could or would come between a married couple.

As Alexis slept she dreamed of Karsix. They were watching a meteor shower. Karsix had his arms around Alexis as she tried to keep her eyes open. But inevitably they shut and she was sound asleep in his arms. A dream within a dream was always how it happened. Not Alexis anymore but Aeden and Karsix was now Dean. They were no longer on the roof of the castle but in the bedroom; on their bed looking out the glass roof above. His arms were still around her but it was different. They were different.  Their bodies were full of masses and the energies didn’t exist. And their eyes looked as if they had never slept. But the feel of his body against hers was still the same. As was the way he spoke. But it was more tender, less like a brother and more like a husband. They were still watching the meteor shower only Aeden had a thing called a “video camera” in her hands. Dean said that she should write a story to go with the video, like a documentary. Aeden had told Dean he was the Director/Producer/Actor not her. And they had both laughed. After the “show” they went into a large room called a “kitchen” and prepared food that they ingested.

Alexis knew all the names of things because she was Aeden in this life. So, in this life – like dream she never questioned Dean about these abnormal practices. And each dream always ended with Aeden in Dean’s arms under covers in a very soft bed. When Lex would wake she would immediately look in the mirror to check her eyes and at her chest to make sure her energy still shone brightly. You see where Aeden had a solid form that was full Lex had a hollow form with only the bright ball of energy in the middle of her chest. Her bones were metal cushioned by several layers of living silicon, that formed the necessary parts to either be male or female, with skin stretched over top. “Birth” was a word Lex only knew because of Aeden. In Haven a person was created. But their energy was formed in a similar way to Aeden’s blood. Lex’s parents took a bit of their energies and fused them together to form Lex’s energy. Once it was placed inside Lex’s chest she was then zapped with another kind of energy, and the 3 energies together formed her life force. Like Aeden’s DNA, Lex’s Energy was completely unique to her.

Every time Lex had one of these dreams she would write it in her journal and store it away. And in each dream, she would learn something new and different about Aeden and Dean. This time she learned their professions and how they re-energized their unique bodies. They were so different from Lex and Kar and yet so similar. Kar was royalty but also an entertainer that loved the stars. Lex was a writer and so was Aeden, only Aeden could share her writing freely and profit from it. Something Lex longed for and yet knew would never happen. That was the one thing she enjoyed about the dreams most. Well that and Dean, to be so close with him and have no worry or reservation about it. The love they shared she longed for as well.