Secrecy

Chapter 6: Nightmare

I'm guessing most of your nightmares are the ones where you go to school in your underwear or something scary like a creepy ghost stalking you in a haunted house. No? We'll that goes to show you how stereotypical I think since I don't really interact socially as much as I should. I got two words for you: Guardian's Fault.

This dream, on the other hand, wasn't like those dreams. It felt like I already saw it before, like one of those déjà vu sort of dreams. At first it was like I was watching those silent old black and white films where people in a city goes on with their normal lives. One woman was carrying groceries in one hand while holding her young daughter's hand with the other. A couple was sharing an ice-cream cone. People were eating outside of a popular café. There was even a hotdog vendor on the corner. Taxis zipped down the street but are soon stopped by traffic. There are concrete buildings everywhere towering their reach toward the skies.

I didn't care for such a poor black and white film that was grainy in some places but I went along with it. It felt familiar... too familiar and, in my case, 99% of the time familiar was never good. Ever.

I look over to see someone pointing to the sky. I craned my neck to see what it was but it was like I can only see what was in front of me. Like when you're watching a movie you can't see what the character sees until the camera is pointed that way. A huge shadow started to cover everything. Now everyone was looking at the sky. Some of the drivers stuck in traffic got out of their cars to see what was going on.

Suddenly people started running.

At first, it was just a few people staggering backward before breaking into a run, and then it turned into a domino effect. Their mouths opened in silent, terrified screams. I still couldn't see what they were running from. With no warning, it was as if someone, unpredictably, turned on the volume on the highest setting. And with it came the pure emotions: shock, confusion, and ultimately fear. I closed my eyes feeling an emersion with their emotions.

My head felt like splitting open. My heart raced the beating uneven. My lungs ached. Everything hurt. Every breath was a sharp knife going up my nose. In my mind I felt myself thrashing around. "Stop! Stop! It hurts too much! Stop!" I screamed in my head. The screams still blasted around me. Never ending.

Instantly, it stopped. The pain. The emotions. The screams. It all vanished into thin air. I felt myself go limp. My breathing staggered to calm down. I could hear the beating in my ears. I felt drained. Then the voice entered into my head.

"You can't stop it..." its malevolent voice whispered.

"W-w-who are you?" I managed to ask, my throat burning.

"When we meet, the world as you know it will end!"

"N-not if I have something t-to do about it," I tried, not sounding to convincing. Every word was a struggle, lodged in my throat.

"It will be the apocalyptic force that even you can't stop... Lynn."

What made my skin crawl more was having the alien voice call out my name. That shock made me have a heart attack. But the voice didn't stop there. It left one last departure message.

"Say you're goodbyes, while you can..." I could almost see it smiling sadistically, its voice coated with malice.

My eyes were wide with fear. I slowly realized I've been staring at the ceiling fan turn steadily for a while. I was back. My face was raked with tears. I started to feel light headed and realized I didn't take in a breath. When I tried it was fast shallow ones. I felt like I was on fire. It was hot and my body was damp with sweat. The bright moonlight cascaded over me, illuminating the bed. I sat up shakily, my body heavy as lead as I shivered pathetically. I gasped for deeper breaths but it turned ragged.

No matter what I did to calm down my body didn't respond. I was totally freaked. The menacing voice repeated over in my head, a broken record, causing more chills down my back. I got up to close the window. When I looked down, Resident Control had set up a tight perimeter around the building with powerful plasma rifles close at hands. I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. Across from me were snipers on the opposite roof. The muzzles of their firearms were ready to shoot at any given moment. Luckily, given the distance, they weren't able to see my pitiful thrashing.

I went to the conjoining bathroom. Like everything here it was high-tech and fancy. A huge power shower in the corner with many built in shower heads was able to blast water in every direction. The throne of all toilets was in the opposite corner. A huge vanity built into the wall could be voice activated. And of course the biggest bathtub/ Jacuzzi/ swimming pool right smack dab in the middle of it all.

Worn down and too tired to be disgusted with all the lavishness, I pressed every option on the touchpad that controlled the tub. Immediately, steaming water poured in with soothing oils, petals, and bubbles. Scented candles appeared on the walls of the room automatically lit, sending soothing waves of incense everywhere. A bare wall turned into a calming waterfall, clear water cascaded in thin everlasting sheets. Classical music came on with no noticeable source.

I slipped my clothes off and gratefully lowered myself in the water. Progressively, I regained control as the initial fears left me. Soon I felt like I was in heaven, the hot water cradling me. I started to sink into it the bubbles covering over where my head was. In that warm space I felt calm, in a sense, happy. But I knew I couldn't stay like that forever. My head came out of the water and I slowly breathe in and out.

That was no dream, I reflected.

It was a nightmare. And it happened twice. The first time was on the beach and then again just now. Kent said if you saw a person once, no problem, just a passerby. See them twice it's a coincidence. See them three times, warning!

So if this happened twice it's just a coincidence? Just something my subconscious repeated right? My eyes narrowed. No, I thought, Stop fooling yourself! This is something more worrisome then just seeing the same person twice. Besides, Kent also said this: There is no such thing as a coincidence.

Great...

I just realized something else. Another nightmare is about to commence. Tomorrow.

The first day of school.

Just my luck...