Met you through my dreams

"This place looks familiar." I think to myself as I look at the huge mansion in front of me with its formerly magnificent grandeur now tarnished by ruin: the mansion is a remnant of a bygone period. Climbing the walls, ivy intertwines itself with the fractured window glass and shutters. A tarnished brass knocker adorns the worn wooden door, which creaks menacingly as it sways slightly in the brisk air.

To my surprise, when I open the door, there's a long hall that branches out into multiple corridors, each leading in a different direction. Each corridor is lined with similar, faded wallpaper, but they all have slightly different patterns and colors, making it hard to distinguish one from another.

The labyrinthine nature of the manor becomes immediately apparent as I realize there are no clear indications or signs to guide me. A sudden draft causes the door to slam shut, plunging the room into darkness. The silence is deafening, broken only by the pounding of my own heart. I fumble for the light switch, but when the lights flicker back on, I notice that the hall has changed.

Suddenly, a soft, melancholic melody begins to play, emanating from a dusty, old piano in the corner. The keys, untouched for decades, move on their own, producing a haunting tune that sends chills down my spine.

"Oh shit.." I realize that in the previous dreams every time this music played it meant the killers were on the run now, and that means I have to run right now.

"Is there a killer here?"

I look behind me to see the figure who just spoke. I hold eye contact with the tall figure in front of me. His hazel eyes gazing at me in curiosity, waiting for me to answer my question, and his dark chocolate brown hair falling into his face due to the wind coming through the broken windows.

"Who are you?"

"I am.."

"You are??"

"Asking you to run right now because the guy behind you is about to attack you."

My eyes widen in terror as his words reach my ears, setting panic in me. I sprint while frantically trying to search for an exit or at least a place to hide to get away from the killer. The once-familiar surroundings now seem menacing, shadows stretching like grasping fingers as they pass, and the killer seemed to get faster and his footsteps got louder, making it seem that he was about to get me any moment, but thankfully I find an exit in time.

As I look to my side, I let out a scream, getting scared by the guy planted next to me.

"You scared me."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Why are you following me??"

"It seems like you know the way out more than me."

"I don't; I'll get caught."

"It's fine; I'll just run at that time."

"Whatever," I shrug off and leave as I search for the exit. As I look around, I suddenly feel a tap on my shoulder, ignoring it thinking it's the guy, but as I turn around, I look in horror as it's the killer smiling creepily, ready to kill me.

I sprint desperately, fighting to evade death's grasp.

"Why don't you just face it?"

"Face what?" I asked annoyed

"The thing your running from."

"Huh?"

"You're running from your own fears." My heart pounded as I struggled to comprehend his words. The mysterious guys words echoed in my mind as I ran—was I really just running from my own fears all along? But before I could say anything back, he stopped me in my tracks.

"What are you doing?? Let go, he's coming!"

"I know," he says as he pushes me towards the killer, and before I could do anything, my eyes opened. I let out a loud gasp, sensing the cold sweat on my forehead.

"What was that?" I sat up in bed, trying to shake off the remnants of the nightmare that had felt all too real. The image of the mysterious man pushing me towards the killer haunted me, making me shiver despite the warmth of my blankets. I tried to calm my racing heart, reminding myself that it was just a dream, just my own fears manifesting in my subconscious. But the feeling of unease lingered, refusing to let me forget the chilling encounter in my sleep.

"SHOOT IM LATE!" I exclaim as I hurrily get up from my bed and run to the bathroom after seeing the clock on my bedside table. It was already five minutes past eight, and MY ROOMMATES DIDN'T EVEN Wake Me Up.

"Why are you shouting, man?" Says my best friend, Jayce, from outside the bathroom

"Ihehggqhjameghwrjgrlate," I say halfway through brushing my teeth.
"What? You're late?" She asks in confusion as my words come out muffled.
"YEAH, WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT LATE?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN LOOK AT MY CLOCK?"

"YOU IDIOT, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TOLD ME THE CLOCK IS BEHIND."

"I forgot my bad."

.

.

.

.

After the class discussion, as we walked towards the campus cafe, I brought up the strange dream I had last night.

"Today's dream was the weirdest one I've had."

"Jayce remarks, "You always have weird dreams.""

"Shut up. This time there was a guy, and he pushed me towards a killer, telling me to face my fears."

"Perhaps your dream is a subconscious nudge to complete your overdue project."

"Nah, I have a feeling he might be the enigmatic stranger rumored to be haunting people's dreams recently."

"Which guy?" We look back to see who interrupted, and it was our friend Kaia.

"The rumored guy who seems to be appearing in everyone's dreams."

"Ohhh, dude, didn't you hear?"

"Hear what?" both Jayce and I ask in curiousity.

"Yuri and Haneul, intrigued by the mysterious figure, conducted interviews across campus to gather dream sightings. Using these accounts, Yuri, a talented art major, sketched the haunting visage. I can request these sketches for you if you're interested."

"I would love that! Thank you, Kaia." I thanked her with the biggest smile.

"I'm amazed at Haneul's exceptional time management skills, balancing her psychology studies and researches or whatever with her numerous extracurricular activities."

"She's a unique social butterfly."

"Beauty with brains for real."

"By the way, Aylin, doesn't your internship start tomorrow?" asks Kaia

"Oh yeah, it does. I'm kind of nervous. I hope I do well."

"I'm sure you will!" Kaia and Jayce say in unison

"But it's kind of sad how your internship starts a week before school." Jayce responds.

"Well, my dad said the earlier the better, so he made me get an internship at his friend's company."

"I guess it's a good experience though," Aylin replies with a shrug. "Definitely, it will give you a head start in your career," Kaia adds with a reassuring smile.

"Well, at least you have connections," Kaia says and sighs.

"There there." Both Jayce and I patted her back, comforting her.

Our conversation gets interrupted by Kaias loud notification from her phone. She opens her phone to check the message that popped up. She drops her phone as she gasps. I quickly catch the device to prevent it from shattering, confused as to why she dropped it. Her phone is her life, and she cares about it more than us or herself.

"What's up, what did you even see?" 

"Its.."

-CHAPTER END-