Short Crime Stories.

The dream.

It was just a dream, she kept telling herself. But the images lingered and the fear was still present in her body. She couldn't shake the feeling that what she had seen was real, even though she knew it wasn't possible.

Natalia had always been a vivid dreamer, but this was different. This dream felt more like a memory than a fantasy. She had seen a crime, a robbery, in intricate detail. She could still see the masked intruders breaking into the jewelry store, smashing the glass cases and grabbing the glittering gems. She could hear the sound of shattering glass, the alarm blaring and the screams of the terrified customers.

But what was the most haunting, was the image of the lone security guard lying motionless on the floor with a pool of blood spread around him. She could see his face clearly, the desperation in his eyes, the realization that he was about to die. And then she woke up, gasping for air with her heart pounding in her chest.

Natalia tried to shake it off, to convince herself that it was just a nightmare. But the details were too vivid, too real. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had witnessed something that needed to be stopped. She couldn't just ignore it and go on with her life.

As crazy as it seems, she decided to do something about it. She contacted the police and told them everything she had seen in her dream. They were skeptical at first, but after talking to her for a good amount of time, she started to persuade them. They thought of checking the jewelry store, just to be sure and found that it had indeed been robbed, just as she had described. The security guard had been killed, exactly like in her dream.

Natalia became obsessed with finding the culprits, she was pouring over the security footage and talking to witnesses. It became an all-consuming passion for her, a quest for justice. But as she got closer to the truth, the danger increased. The robbers became aware of her investigation and they didn't like it.

Natalia found herself in a dangerous game of cat and mouse, constantly looking over her shoulder and wondering if she was being followed. But she didn't give up. She was determined to see justice served for the security guard and the store's owners, who had lost so much in the robbery.

In the end, Natalia's persistence paid off. She was able to identify the robbers and provide the police with enough evidence to make an arrest. The perpetrators were brought to trial and got convicted of their crimes and the security guard's family finally had some closure.

As for Natalia, she at last felt a sense of peace. She had proven to herself that her dreams could be more than just random images in her mind. They could be a force for good, a way to help make the world a better place. She still had vivid dreams, but now she knew that they could be used for a purpose, to fight crime and bring justice to those who needed it the most.