The Reincarnated

Chapter 5: A Nightmare to Remember

She was walking towards the main hall, stamping her high-heels to the solid white marble tile. Seeing the scenery before her through a mask, she went inside with her head high. Everything was a haze and she was enveloped by a disturbing humid atmosphere. She looked around, searching for familiar faces. Everyone was busy with other people's company. Some were in groups. Girls were wearing elegant dresses of different colors, men were wearing their black tuxes. Cheshire didn't recognize anyone in the room.

Loneliness crept into her, and she walked deeper into the wide hall. Jill was the first one who came into her mind. She searched for her friend, but found no familiar face to help her. Her parents weren't in the room, and no one was paying her any attention. The search felt like hours as her eyes continued to roam around the wide big room. It seems as though she was totally transparent to them, and they can see through her. No one even spared her a glance. She felt insignificant. Cheshire never felt so neglected in her life. It was supposed to be her birthday, but nothing feels right to her. Everything seems wrong.

Her solitude suffocated her, and she finally decided to leave the hall. She turned around, stumping her way through the busy crowd when she noticed a familiar figure near the corner of her eye. She stopped and turned to the direction where he was standing.

Damien was facing her, his face blank with complete seriousness, a rare and somewhat disheartening sight. He blended with the crowd, wearing the same attire as most guys in the hall. She waited for him to approach her, but noticed that he kept his distance from her. Cheshire was bothered that he can see her but didn't want to come to her. Damien finally opened his mouth to say something, and she faintly heard what he said.

"Do what you have to do," his voice came out with monotonic tone. His face was completely expressionless. But she somehow felt that his voice was pained. Those simple words confused her. It didn't make any sense. Then she felt eyes around her. The busy crowd looked at her with a dangerous scowl burning dark gazes at her direction. Shadows were lurking in the room behind the crowd of angry teens. She looked back to Damien's direction, but he was gone. Her guts were telling her that something wasn't right.

The scenery before her suddenly changed, and the hazy atmosphere whirled around her, replacing the light filling the hall with complete darkness. Black painted the scene. The people disappeared before her and in one blink of an eye, she was running down the dark forest. Dead trees passed her view, and she was sweating. The moon shone before her and she was running, fast. Someone or something was after her. The place was unfamiliar to her and her heart was beating rapidly. Whatever she was afraid of, it was making her frantic.

She looked over her shoulder, glancing at her back, hoping nothing was following her. That simple distraction tripped her to a branch and she scraped her knee, tearing her white nightgown. She felt every scratch, and she howled both in pain and in her frustration when suddenly, a shadowy dark figure appeared before her, floating in mid-air. The shadow grew darker and bigger and she felt eyes looking down on her, amused. The figure slowly shifted into a form of a man, landing its feet on the ground and her heart beat faster. She was breathing hard at the sight before her. The shadow had a hold on her that she can't point out. The shadowy dark creature reached its broad arms to her, taunting her to reach it out.

Cheshire was gasping for air. She was trembling in fear. She felt breathless, like she just ran a a long marathon. The suffocating feeling was still there. And every part of the dream was still clear to her. It was too realistic to be a dream. She felt every pain she experienced in the dream. It was a nightmare...

She instinctively switched on her lamp and looked at her clock. It was still 12:13 am. She sat up on her bed, refusing to go back to sleep. Cheshire thought about her dream.