Saturday morning found Chris waking early in an unfamiliar, lavishly furnished room. He rolled around under the covers of the strange bed in order to stretch out of the bonds of sleep, then slowly opened his eyes to the softly filtered morning sun coming in through two draped arched windows. Upon inspecting his surroundings, he realized everything was foreign to him except the duffel bag resting in a chair in one of the room's corners. His wandering stare eventually made it past the closed door to the room, around to the nightstand beside the bed where he found his wallet.

    His wallet became a riddle to his perplexed state, until he remembered the alley which sent his disoriented thoughts away in a flurry of concern for the stab wound in his gut. He slung the covers away to examine his stomach, shocked to find not only that it was missing, but that he was also completely naked. He quickly sought the concealment of the covers again, then eyed  the door to the room suspiciously.

    The girl, the thugs, the alley, the knife, the change; Chris remembered all of that clearly now, but how he ended up naked in a strange place with no hint of a sure wound was baffling. He eyed his bag again as he slid to the edge of the bed, then wrapped himself up in the bed sheet, and snuck quietly over to his bag. Discreetly, throwing another glance at the door for security, he went into the bag for clothes, which he dressed himself in under the sheet until he was clothed from the socks on his feet to the jeans around his waist. Discarding the bed sheet, he quickly slipped into a  sweater. Wadding up the sheet afterward, he tossed it on the bed and went to the nightstand for his wallet, which after a quick check was found to contain everything it was supposed to.

    Chris eased the door to the room open, stopping when the gap was enough for him to stick his head out into the hallway for a stealthy look at his whereabouts. A quick glance in each direction showed that the coast was clear, so he ventured out, taking an uncertain left and tiptoeing away. 

    As he wandered the quiet manor, he began to take notice of the great house. From it's hardwood floors and dark paneled walls etched with growing vines from top to bottom, to the arched windows and rustic light fixtures hanging from the high ceilings, the house had a strong gothic vibe in it's design.

    He passed an elegant dining hall that boasted a table worthy of a king's feast with an iron chandelier hanging overhead from exposed wooden beams, then he came to a grand staircase at the center of the manor where wide, royally carpeted stairs proudly ascended with smoothly carved oak railing to a mid-level landing. At the landing the stairs branched off to the left and right to continue their ascent to the private chambers of the second floor. Not far from there as he continued his wandering journey, he glimpsed through a wide, door-less opening the ornately adorned living room where all the room's plush furniture was gathered around an expansive rug that was centered under another iron chandelier above. A wide, stone fireplace  anchored the room, while a proud grandfather clock ticked away privately in a corner of the room.

    Chris' wandering search brought him to a comfortably lit, long hallway deep within the manor where the walls were covered on each side with framed pictures of all shapes and sizes. He slowed to take in some of the faces he saw, hoping one might  tell him why he was there. At the beginning of the hallway, on both sides, the pictures were large painted portraits of dignified individuals and families, then they became aged black and white photos, followed by ones in color. No doubt a proud, visual record of lineage that impressed Chris as he continued slowly through the center of the hall so he could absorb both sides evenly with constant sweeps of his head.

    Near the end of the hall of pictures, about head high, Chris noticed the face of the dark beauty from the alley, Shade, in a solo picture flanked on each side by pictures of equal size. He stepped in close to take a look at something that was finally familiar, but was immediately drawn to the picture on the right of Shade's when a more familiar image struck him. Staring at him with a beaming smile from the photo was his late night spectre; the girl who'd haunted his dreams and ultimately led him to the very spot where he now stood. He could only stare back with astonished eyes and a mouth that gaped in disbelief.

    He traced every part of her photographed face with his eyes, then reminded himself to blink. She was real. The proof was inches from his nose, but he still didn't know if she was okay, or how she was linked to the other photos in the hall, or the manor itself for that matter. Her smiling visage was a temporary relief to Chris, but now the mystery he'd woken up to was twisting even further. He looked over at the picture of Shade. That was who the young girl had told him to find, and now he stood before pictures of them both in the same house. Before he could consider the uncanny events that had befallen him, he was startled by a warm feminine voice.

    "You're up sooner than I expected," Gale said from the beginning of the hallway.

    Chris turned with a startled gasp to see a wavy-haired blond with welcoming blue eyes and a warm smile politely observing him. The deep blue sweater dress she wore contrasted with her fair complexion, but accentuated her refined beauty and lady-like posture perfectly.  Caught off guard by her sudden appearance, Chris floundered for words, but was rescued from his mumbling attempt by Gale.

    "My name is Gale Allender."

    The introduction allowed Chris to reset himself with his own introduction. "I'm Chris, um, Chris Lynch."

    Gale's warm smile grew even warmer at the sound of his voice. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Chris Lynch."

    "Yeah...same here." Chris answered, clearly bewildered.

    Gale was slightly amused by Chris' muddled state. She found his lost puppy dog look endearing. He broke his stare on her long enough to steal another glance at the young girl's photo, then noticed the one to the left of Shade's was of the exquisite angel that stood near him now. He turned back to her with a bundle of questions, but one was more pressing to him than any other.

    "Can you tell me who this girl is?"

    Gale approached him with her warm smile and joined him in viewing the pictures, even though she already knew exactly which one he was looking at. She smiled to herself at the image of her youngest sister and answered Chris while looking fondly at the photo.

    "That's my youngest sister, Lydia."

    "Is she okay, I mean, is she alright?" Chris urgently inquired.

    "Yes, she's fine." Gale answered, allowing Chris to breath a sigh of relief.

     Another feminine voice, more brash, entered the hallway and added: "Yeah, she's chompin' at the bit to come down here and meet you."

    Gale and Chris turned to see Shade entering the hallway. She walked up next to Gale with her confident stride, exchanged a brief glance with her, then focused her dark eyes on Chris, who was growing even more confounded by her words.

    "I...I don't...understand," he confessed, pleading with his voice for some answers. He offered a half smile to Shade and said: "I'm very glad to see you're okay, but how did I get here, and how did I wake up without a knife wound that I know was in my stomach?"

    "Perhaps you should join us in the dining hall where I've prepared some hot tea and coffee. There we can discuss what brings you here to us, and seek the answers for all of our questions," Gale cordially suggested, offering her arm to Chris to escort him to the dining hall. "Lydia will be down later, once we've finished our conversation," she added.

    He studied the two dissimilar beauties curiously for a moment, then accepted Gale's arm with a glad resolve to get to the bottom of the mystery he'd found himself in. They started off toward the dining hall together, with Shade trailing behind after she looked at Lydia's photo with a pleased smirk at the result of her kid sister's efforts to return their long lost brother.

    Two silver serving trays, each with steaming pitchers surrounded by small teacups on saucers, waited near the end of the large table in the dining hall of Allender Manor when Gale led Chris to a chair at the table. Inquiring if he preferred tea or coffee as he sat down, Gale poured him a cup of tea at his answer, which he took with a genuine offer of thanks, then enjoyed a soothing sip of the warm brew.

    Gale poured another cup, this time from the pitcher of coffee, and placed it in front of Shade as she took a seat across from Chris; then Gale poured herself a cup of tea and went to the vacant chair at Shade's side. They each took a sip from their cups while staring strongly across at Chris, making him feel like some interesting exhibit on display for their viewing. The air in the dining hall beckoned for questions, but was filling with silence until Chris finally broke their trance on him with the sound of his first question.

    "So, where exactly am I?"

    "You're in the grand dining hall of Allender Manor, about twenty minutes from Ridgeville," Gale answered.

    "Allender huh, so this is a family house?" He surmised.

    "Yep, built by our parents," Shade confirmed.

    Realizing from Shade's words that the two beings sitting across from him were sisters, Chris was surprised at how little they favored. Shade's olive skin and dark allure were contrary to Gale's fair skin and radiant warmth. Even their postures exemplified their uniqueness, with Shade slouching against her chair and Gale composed like a queen upon her throne. They were very different, but somehow the same.

    Gale took Chris' moment of silent comparison as an opportunity to start with her own inquiry. "And where might you be from? I take it from your travel bag that you're not from the Bergstad area."

    "Oh, no, I'm from a little speck called Torrell. It's about a day's journey south of here."

    "So are ya visiting someone, family maybe?" Shade asked, covering her eagerness for his answer by taking another sip of her coffee. Gale listened closely.

    Chris frowned a bit, then admitted openly: "I don't really have any family. I was adopted when I was five, and I've never really fit in with my foster family."

    "What do you know about your birth parents?" Gale probed.

    Chris frowned again, longer and sadder this time. "Nothing, nothing at all. I've searched for answers all my life, but I've never found out a thing about them."

    Gale and Shade exchanged glances, confirming the first clue to Chris' alleged identity without arousing suspicion from him. 

   Shade decided to step up the pace of their inquiry. "You came here because of Lydia, didn't you?"

  "Yes." Chris answered excitedly, leaning forward in his seat. His fervor to grasp an understanding of what was happening to his life urged him to boldly present his hostesses with the bizarre reason of why he impulsively came to Ridgeville, despite his apprehension that they would think him crazy.

  "You see, several weeks ago I started having this weird dream with her in it. Now I've never seen her before in my life, but she's been coming to me in this dream every night, silently seeking my help against some threatening force until the other night, when she finally spoke and told me to come to Ridgeville and seek Shade."  

    Chris stopped there, afraid to reveal anything more until he could gauge the two sister's belief in his testimony. To his pleased relief, they didn't seem put off by his extraordinary confession, but rather he found that they calmly considered his story with another exchanged glance between them, a deeper one this time. He was starting to feel that he was being kept from shared secrets about his situation.

    "How is that possible?" he asked with an imploring tone.

    "It is her gift," Gale answered fondly.

    "Her gift?" Chris questioned with a raised brow.

    "Yeah, like the one Gale used to heal you with last night when I brought you here from the alley," Shade revealed, reminding Chris of his phantom wound.

    He looked down as he rubbed his stomach through his sweater, then back at the sisters. "I'm really grateful for whatever you did to heal me, but how is such a thing even possible?"

    Gale looked at Shade with a silent request. Shade nodded, then got up from the table and walked away into the adjoining kitchen at the far end of the dining hall. Chris was watching her leave when Gale summoned his  curious attention back to her.

    "I think it best if we demonstrate how you were healed. It may help you to understand more fully the things we'll talk about afterward."