The air shimmered, not with heat, but with a cold, alien light. I was floating, not in the familiar confines of my bedroom, but in a vast, echoing space. Flickering shadows danced around me, twisting into grotesque shapes that seemed to writhe with a malevolent hunger. A piercing scream echoed, swallowed by the emptiness. Then another, and another, each one fading into a guttural moan.
My hands, instinctively, reached out. They felt… different. Stronger, almost electric. I could feel the raw, primal fear emanating from the shadows, a tide of terror washing over me, pressing against my very being. I was part of it, somehow. The shadows were not just images, but feelings, raw and visceral, the echoes of a terrible thing that had happened, or was about to. But it wasn't complete. The scene fractured, dissolving into a kaleidoscope of colours before reforming into a blurry image of panicked faces and a deafening roar. Then, nothing.
A harsh jolt. My eyes snapped open, the dream-space dissolving into the familiar, sterile white of my bedroom. My breath hitched. I was still clutching a phantom hand. My heart hammered against my ribs. The room was filled with the smell of Dad's coffee and Mom's faint perfume.
"Lynn! Breakfast is ready!" Mom's voice, sharp and urgent, cut through the lingering dread.
A wave of relief, so sharp it almost hurt, washed over me. I was home. Safe. The dream was gone. Just another nightmare.
"Coming!" I mumbled, pulling myself up in bed. This was the normal world, the world I knew, the world where I was… just Lynn. A normal girl, a normal student. I wished my dreams would disappear too. They're the only place I could feel... something, something different.
I forced a smile as I got out of bed, the dream still a hazy echo in my mind.
Dad was already at the breakfast table, the aroma of bacon filling the air. He kissed my forehead, a quick, warm press. "Ready for school, sweetheart?" His smile was reassuring.
"Yeah, Dad," I replied, trying to sound normal. "Just need to get dressed."
I quickly threw on my uniform, my mind racing. The dream, the terror, the power...I had to be careful. It was an odd feeling and it seemed to happen every night. I had to find out more without letting my mother know something was wrong. I'm just a normal student, that's all I am, I told myself again and again as I sat down at the table.
I took a bite of bacon. It tasted normal. Just like it always did.
Later, as I walked out of the house, hand in hand with Mom, I tried to place it somewhere, this strange urge to reach out and grasp something, to feel the pain and fear of something I didn't understand. Maybe, just maybe, it was just a very vivid dream.
"Lynn, darling, you're going to