Grace panted. I have to do something! She thought. But what? Grace could feel the last of her fragile breath being pushed out of her lungs. She had to think quickly. Blinking through blurry vision, she spied what looked like a sharpened stick on the ground nearby. Grace went limp and quietly reached for it. As soon as her fingers closed around the end, she thrust it upwards into a chink in Arachne's armor-like exoskeleton. Arachne reared up and roared in pain as golden ichor spewed from the wound.

Grace scrambled away, gulping in deep breaths of fresh air. Her blurry vision disappeared. She was surprised to find her fist clamped around the hilt of a Celestial Bronze dagger. Okay, she thought. I'm armed. Now what? Arachne stood her ground, hatred like cold fire burning in her eyes. "I've waited a long time for this. The time for revenge has come!" With those words, Arachne pounced. Her heart pounding out of her chest, Grace woke up.

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Grace was trembling all over. The dream had been so vivid! Grace could literally feel tenderness in her back where Arachne had pressed her pincers into it. Grace shivered and laid back down in her bed. Why did it have to be SPIDERS! Of all things, spiders?! Spiders were Grace's worst fear. She just couldn't stop shivering. It was just a dream, she kept on telling herself. Just a silly dream. But even as she tried to convince herself, Grace knew that her excuses weren't true. Grace didn't have normal dreams. Grace had dreams that told the future.

Grace gave up trying to go back to sleep and hopped out of bed. I might as well start getting ready for school, she thought. Grace stepped into her closet to pick out an outfit. she turned to her shirt rack. Almost immediately, her eye was drawn to a bright red scoop-neck that would look great with her new hi-tops. However, something told Grace to go with darker colors today. She picked out a slim black tee and paired it with dark-wash skinny jeans and black converse hi-tops.

Walking into her bathroom, Grace spied her reflection in the mirror. Wow, she thought. I look really tired. Her face still milky pale from fear, with dark circles under her eyes, Grace looked like a ghost. She brushed her super long, thick brown hair, and put it up in a ponytail. She decided to spend some time covering up the dark circles under her eyes that had plagued her for months. Spiders and bits of the future had haunted her dreams for about 2 months, and Grace hadn't gotten a good night's sleep since then. Putting the finishing touches on her makeup and outfit, Grace walked over to her desk, set her homework neatly in her binder, grabbed her backpack, and slid down the railing downstairs.