When I said dreams, it felt more like a nightmare. Bright images I couldn't make out flashed through my mind, what sounded like a symphony of thousands of voices screeched through my head. It was like my brain had decided to blast a horror movie soundtrack at full volume while someone played a chaotic slideshow of images I couldn't understand.
Then - silence. The calm before a storm... anticipation built up in my chest.
I stood on a wooden bridge, the kind that looked like it belonged in an old fantasy movie, stretching over a river so unnervingly still. It gave me the creeps. The air was thick, humming with an energy I didn't like, pressing against my skin like a warning.
That's when I noticed him.
A boy.
He stood at the far end of the bridge, staring at me like I was some kind of puzzle he was trying to solve. I couldn't see his face, but something about him made my stomach twist. Maybe it was the way he didn't move. Or the fact I couldn't see his face. Or acknowledge the fact that staring at people like a serial killer isn't exactly normal behavior.
"Uh... hey?" I tried, my voice coming out a little more shaky than I planned. "You good? Am I allowed to like...leave? I don't really like this horror-movie-vibe going on."
No response.
Cool. That wasn't creepy at all.
I look a step back. He took a step forward.
Okay. Nope. Absolutely not. I'm not scared.
"Alright, listen," I said, holding up my hands. "I don't know what kind of mysterious, weird thing you've got going on, but I'd really love to wake up now."
The air had changed, something dangerous had dropped the atmosphere, warning me to run, move and wake up.
I continued to stare at the boy, my breathe hitching. He then did something unexpected:
He lunged straight at me.
And before I could do anything, I felt cold hands shove me - hard. My stomach dropped, my feet left the ground (or bridge in this case... whatever), and I was falling.
I barely had time to process the betrayal (seriously, what did I do to deserve this?!) before I hit the water.
Except... it didn't exactly feel like water.
It felt like sinking into a giant, inescapable hug from the void. Not cold, not warm - just dense, suffocating, awful. Immediately, panic kicked in. I thrashed, tried to swim, but it was like moving through cement. My limbs felt wrong, heavy, slow.
I tried to kick to the surface, but my body had other plans - like, I don't know, sinking deeper into the abyss instead. I really hated how my body doesn't cooperate sometimes.
My lungs screamed for air. My brain screamed "I TOLD YOU THIS FELT LIKE A HORROR MOVIE." I opened my mouth to gasp - a huge mistake - because the second I did, the water (or whatever it was) rushed in, filling my lungs with what felt like 'liquid nothingness'.
Yep. Definitely dying.
My chest burned. My vision blurred. The world was definitely fading.
Somewhere in the distance, those same eerie voices whispered through the water. Sound warbled and distant.
Let go, they whispered, crawling into my brain as if they were whispering straight into my skull.
Oh, sure! Great idea! Maybe I'll also send a thank-you note to the creepy dream gods while I'm at it!
I fought harder. But the more I struggled, the heavier I became. Every cell in my body was screaming for air. The darkness started creeping in at the edges of my vision. My body went numb.
I was slipping,
Drowning.
Fading.
And then-
I woke up.
I gasped, shooting up so fast I nearly launched myself off the bed. My lungs burned like I had actually inhaled a gallon of water, my hands shook, and I was soaked in sweat. My blankets were tangled around me like they'd tried to strangle me in my sleep.
For a second, I just sat there, trying to convince myself that, no, I hadn't actually been shoved off a bridge by some mystery boy. That, no, I wasn't actually drowning in nightmare water.
Sadly, my brain isn't cooperative either. I refused to believe that it was only a dream. I couldn't stop guessing who the boy was and what he had to do with anything...