I followed Richard as he moved toward the elevator. Escaping those four walls where I had been held captive—even if it was just a dream—allowed my soul to breathe again.
As the elevator jolted downward, I began to study Richard as if he were an experiment. I had learned a lot about him since the day I was kidnapped.
The most crucial detail was that Richard obsessively repeated the same plan every single day. His routine ran like clockwork:
He would prepare my breakfast in the morning and wait half an hour for me to eat. Then, he would head to school and return about ten hours later with dinner. After watching me for two hours without uttering a single word, he would leave the room.
For someone as controlling as Richard, having such an unshakeable routine was actually his greatest weapon... and perhaps my only way out.
When I looked at Richard's face, I instinctively focused on his eyes. My blood ran cold.
"No! No! I've seen this look in his eyes before... but when?"
A flash of memory struck my mind, and those bloody images on the school roof came to life.
"Damn it! What are you going to do this time, Richard? God, I hope I'm wrong."
These words echoed like a storm inside my head. I had to be seeing this dream for a reason. In my first dream, I had relived the day I was kidnapped; so what was this dream trying to tell me?
The storm in my mind subsided when the elevator doors opened with a shrill screech.
"Breathe, Lily... Calm down and just follow."
The moment Richard stepped out of the elevator, everything began to fade into darkness.
"Is it over?" I whispered.
Was I wrong? Did this dream have no meaning?
However, shortly after, the darkness tore away, replaced by a piercing brightness. Richard was standing right in front of me. As I looked around carefully, I realized I was in front of the school. Slowly, ghostly figures of people began to appear.
"What does this mean? I feel like I'm losing my mind! Someone help me! Hear my voice!" I screamed, but no one heard me.
Everything was moving forward like a pre-choreographed stage play. Students entered the school, whispering to one another. That familiar feeling weighed heavy on my chest again: I was like a puppet.
I had no choice but to watch this game until the end. I followed Richard into the classroom, and he took his seat. When the bell rang, the person walking through the door was Joe. It felt like I hadn't seen him in years; seeing a familiar face made my heart ache.
The first lesson was History.
A few minutes after the lesson began, a girl secretly texting under her desk caught my attention. With a sudden burst of courage, I drifted over to her side. I glanced at the date on her phone screen, and the numbers I saw left me shaken:
26.06.2024
Was I seeing the future, or what was happening outside right now? If today was June 26th, it meant nearly a month had passed since I was kidnapped.