Byron meets Serena on the set, outside in the yard. She has a frightened look in her eyes: of course she recognizes the place, he brought her here in their dream. But that doesn't explain why she looks so lost & scared. He had a dream here with that strange Odessa character, he should be the one who is frightened of this place, he thinks. But he isn't. "The shoot is upstairs, on the balcony," he says to her as he hugs her.

Byron has his actors run through the scene by daylight, to practice for their night shoot. "Remember, you are Dream. Forget everything except this story & be your character. I know you can do it," he directs Gavin, hoping to turn the sensitive young man he discovered in a cafe into great actor. Astrid doesn't need any direction at all, she has mastered this scene & does it flawlessly everytime.

Tonight's performance is lackluster at best. Byron watches Gavin struggle through it with growing despair. He's not in character at all, speaks his lines without emotion. Gavin's bad performance is affecting Astrid, too. Frustrated with him, there is an edge of impatience in her voice, and she sounds less like a caring sister and more like a bored girlfriend. Byron needs to do something here, but he's not sure what. They do it over & over, but Byron is not happy, and sends them home telling them to be ready to do it tomorrow. He meant to find Serena & talk to her before she left, but she slipped away while he was giving orders to his crew.

He has another dream that night, the strange woman, Odessa, meets him on his set again, this time on the library set his crew is still putting together for a future scene.

"I have 'it', don't I?" she says to him, leaning eagerly forward, squeezing her arms to accentuate her breasts, "I could be a star, I could be worshipped..." This is a nightmare, Byron thinks. Odessa is like some hyped up evil opposite of Serena his mind is torturing with him while he sleeps, he decides.

"I could do so much more for you than she will. She says 'no' to you every time, but I never will. All the knowledge, all the power you crave, I have it. All I want is to be a star..."

Byron wakes up then, shaking. These dreams terrify him: why does she seem so real, when she is so obviously a figment of his imagination?

NEXT