Lucid - In My Dreams

 Do you understand? Fate is unyielding. No matter how hard you try, you cannot escape it

           Lucid 01

In the quiet embrace of night, as the moon cast its silver light upon the earth, I found you. You stood there, bathed in its glow, nothing but the pale luminescence to veil you from the shadows.

Your hair fell in waves of endless darkness, framing a face that bore the weight of a thousand untold stories. Bruises and cuts adorned you like cruel reminders of a battle fought in silence, yet there was something unbroken in your presence, something almost sacred. I couldn’t help but wonder—what had the world demanded of you to leave you like this?

Your eyes fluttered open, and in that instant, they met mine. The world seemed to still, but then you stepped back, as if my very existence frightened you. I reached out, a hand meant to reassure, but you recoiled, trembling like a leaf caught in a storm. When I moved closer, you pushed me away, a mix of fear and despair written across your face, before you turned and fled into the night.

And now, I stand here alone, the memory of you lingering in the air like a ghost. Tell me—have we met before? For there is something about you that feels familiar, as if you’ve lived in the quiet corners of my heart long before this moment

◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ 

"What is that sound?" I whispered to myself, my voice trembling as I stood in the dim hallway.

It had been a week since I moved back to my late parents’ house. The city had become too expensive, and this house—isolated in the heart of the forest—was my last refuge. But now, the timing of this... this sound was just cruel. It was late, and I was alone, the silence of the forest only broken by the occasional rustle of leaves.

Steeling my nerves, I tiptoed toward the source of the noise, my heart pounding louder with every step. The creak of the wooden floor beneath my feet felt deafening, like it betrayed my every move. As I reached the door of the room where the sound had come from, I paused, hesitated, then slowly pushed it open.

The moonlight streaming through the window illuminated the space just enough for me to see him. A man.

He was lying on the floor near the window, unconscious. His long, dark hair was a tangled mess, and his face was streaked with cuts and bruises. He wore a white poet’s shirt, torn and stained with blood, hanging loosely on his slender frame. He looked otherworldly, like something out of a tragic tale.

"Hey... are you okay?" I asked softly, stepping closer.

He didn’t respond.

Concerned, I knelt beside him, hesitating before gently brushing the tangled strands of his hair away from his face. My fingers trembled as I touched him, and I gasped softly.

He looked familiar. Unnervingly so. But I couldn’t place where I had seen him before.

For a moment, I just stared at him, trying to piece together my racing thoughts. Then, his eyes shot open. They were wide, panicked, and filled with something I couldn’t quite read. Before I could react, he moved.

With surprising speed, he pushed himself up and stumbled toward the window. He crouched low, almost like an animal ready to leap, his body tense as if prepared to escape into the night.

“Wait! Don’t leave!” I cried out, my voice shaking.

He froze, one hand gripping the windowsill as he turned his head slightly to glance back at me. His expression was wary, like I was the threat and not the other way around.

“Who are you?” I asked, forcing the words out despite the lump forming in my throat.

He didn’t answer. He just crouched there, half in shadow, watching me in silence. His presence was unsettling yet oddly magnetic.

“Just... who are—” My words faltered as a sudden wave of dizziness washed over me. My vision blurred, my head spinning. The room tilted, and then everything went dark.

◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ 

Zzzap!

"OUCH!" I cried out, clutching my arm where the blow landed.

My mother, once a loving and kind woman, had become unrecognizable. Ever since my father left us, her warmth vanished, replaced by a cruel, bitter shell of the person she once was. Alcohol had consumed her life, and with it, our home.

"GIVE ME MONEY OR ILL KILL YOU!"she screamed, her words slurred but filled with rage. Her hand gripped a jagged piece of a broken alcohol bottle, and she swung it toward me.

I raised my arms instinctively, shielding myself from the attack.

"AHH!" I gasped as the glass tore into my skin. Blood trickled down my arms, staining my shirt. The sharp sting was unbearable, but fear pushed me to my feet. I couldnt stay any longer. I had to get out.

I ran.

Ignoring her furious shouts, I stumbled toward the door and bolted outside. But she chased after me, her footsteps heavy and frantic behind me.

The night air was cold, biting against my wounds as I sprinted through the empty streets. My heart pounded louder than my mothers screams, my vision blurred by tears. When I reached the edge of the road, I turned to see her charging toward me, her fury unchecked.

Then, in an instant, it happened.

The headlights of a car flashed in the corner of my vision. The deafening screech of tires pierced the air, followed by a sickening thud.

I froze, my breath catching in my throat. My mothers body hit the ground, motionless.

But I didnt stop.

Guilt and fear tangled in my chest, but I kept running, my feet pounding against the asphalt until my legs gave out. I didnt look back, refusing to acknowledge what had just happened.

It was then, in the dead of night, that I stumbled. My foot caught on something, and I fell, my body crashing to the ground.

"Ugh..." I groaned, lifting my head. And thats when I saw it.

A man.

He was lying there on the side of the road, his body battered and bruised. Cuts marred his face, and blood stained his torn shirt. His long, messy hair caught the faintest glimmers of moonlight.

"Mister! Mister, are you okay?!" I shouted, crawling toward him. My voice wavered, panic setting in.

He didn't respond.

I leaned closer, my hands trembling as I checked for signs of life. His chest rose and fell faintly, but he remained unconscious. Despite the blood and bruises, his face was strikingly beautiful. There was something ethereal about him, even in his battered state. And strangely, his hair though messy , smelled faintly sweet, like fresh rain.

I blinked, my vision starting to waver.

The adrenaline that had kept me going was fading fast, and the pain in my arms and legs grew unbearable.

"No..." I whispered as my head spun. The world tilted violently, and darkness crept into the edges of my sight.

I collapsed beside the man, my body giving in.

And then, there was nothing.

◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞ ྀི◟ ͜ 

Argh!

That same nightmare again. These days, I've been dreaming about him. That man. He's in my mind every time I close my eyes. But why?

I sat up, shaking off the lingering unease. "I just need some water," I muttered, tying my hair into a loose ponytail as I climbed out of bed.

The house was quiet, save for the faint creaks of the old wooden floors beneath my feet. As I made my way downstairs toward the kitchen, I suddenly froze.

Footsteps.

My heart raced, pounding so loud I feared it might give me away. My breath caught in my throat as I instinctively moved toward the storage room near the staircase. Inside, I grabbed a bat, gripping it tightly with trembling hands.

Swallowing hard, I stepped back into the hallway, my ears straining for any sound. The footsteps grew closer. I was about to search for the source when A pair of arms wrapped tightly around my neck.

"Let me go!" I gasped, struggling against the strong hold. Desperation surged through me, and I did the only thing I could think of , I spat in his face.

He loosening his grip slightly to wipe his face.

That moment was all I needed. I twisted out of his hold and swung my bat with all the strength I could muster, the wood connecting with his back. He stumbled forward, clutching at his side, but I didn't stop.

I kicked him hard in the stomach, and he fell to the floor with a loud groan. Before he could recover, I swung the bat again, this time aiming for his midsection. He cried out in pain, doubling over as I stood above him, panting.

I pointed the bat directly at his face. "Who are you?" I demanded, my voice trembling but firm.

He remained silent, his face half-hidden in shadow. My fingers tightened around the bat, my patience wearing thin.

"If you wont talk" I raised the bat again, but as I did, the faint light of the moon poured through the large window behind me, illuminating his face.

I froze.

My breath hitched. My heart felt like it had stopped entirely.

"The man," my heart whispered, recognition washing over me like a wave.

It suddenly rained . The downpour drummed against the windows as I busied myself in the kitchen, baking a cake to share with him.

The soft aroma of vanilla and warmth from the oven filled the air, comforting yet fragile, as if it could shatter at any moment.

"Here," I said, handing him a cup of tea while we waited for the cake to bake.

He sat silently, his eyes cast downward. For a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to take it. But then, as if drawn by some invisible pull, his gaze lifted to meet mine.

His eyes—intense yet soft—held an emotion I couldn’t quite place. Was it love? Adoration? Whatever it was, it froze me in place. The way he looked at me, as if I were the only thing that mattered, made my breath hitch.

Unable to hold his gaze any longer, I reached out, hesitantly closing his eyes with my hand. His lashes brushed against my fingers, and I quickly pulled away.

"Tell me who you are first, sir," I said, my voice trembling despite my attempt to sound stern. "Don’t harass me with your gaze."

He didn’t reply.

The room fell silent, save for the sound of the rain growing heavier outside. It was almost as if he had fallen asleep. I waited, my heart pounding in the stillness, but no words came.

Then, just as I was about to pull away, his lips moved.

Faintly, almost inaudibly, he spoke.

"Escape."

The word sent a chill racing down my spine.

"What, sir?" I leaned closer, tilting my head to catch his whisper. My hand remained over his eyes, shielding me from that gaze that had rendered me powerless.

"Escape," he repeated, his voice a hollow murmur.

Before I could ask what he meant, the ground beneath us trembled.

The table rattled, the tea spilling over the edges of the cups. The room itself seemed to warp, stretching and twisting unnaturally. My breath caught in my throat as I looked around. The walls bent, the floor buckled, and the world around us became a chaotic blur.

It wasn’t an earthquake—no, it was something else entirely. The space around us shattered into pieces, fragments of the familiar falling away to reveal a dark, endless void.

Objects floated around us—random, nonsensical things: a clock ticking backward, a chair spinning in mid-air, books flipping through their pages as if possessed. It felt like I had fallen into some bizarre dream, like a world straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

The man sat still, unfazed by the chaos around us.

"Sir, what is happening?!" I cried, my voice barely audible over the cacophony of sound and movement.

But he didn’t answer.

And then, everything went black.

  ⠀ ۫𓏲𝄢 𓏴𓏴

I opened my eyes, and there he was—his face still the same. That face, one I couldn't quite place, one that seemed like he had done something terrible to me. Sadness hung on his features, yet when our eyes met, there was a glimmer of something—something unsettling, something that flickered like a dim light in the darkness.

I rose slowly, his hand offering support. As I stood, I saw the devastation around us. It wasn’t just the forest—it was everything. The trees, the sky, the very earth beneath our feet—all of it was gone. In their place was nothingness, an endless void of pitch blackness that swallowed everything.

A chill gripped my heart as panic surged through me. I tried to steady my breath, my voice trembling. "What is going on, sir?" I asked, my eyes wide with confusion and fear. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill, but I fought them back.

He didn’t answer immediately. His gaze locked onto mine, cold and unfeeling. Then, without a word, he stood, turning his back on me. He started walking, each step echoing in the silence.

"Wait!" I screamed inside, but the words didn’t leave my lips. I could feel the anger rising within me. "Don’t just leave me here, don’t act like I don’t deserve answers!"

I could barely think straight, the rush of emotions clouding my mind. I moved without thinking, my feet carrying me forward. I ran, fueled by a desperate need for understanding, and when I reached him, I raised my foot, ready to kick him.

But in the blink of an eye, he turned. His hand shot out, catching my leg mid-air with inhuman speed. I gasped, but before I could react, he pushed my leg gently, causing me to stumble forward.

I tried to catch my balance, but his voice—low, cold, and detached—stopped me dead in my tracks.

"This is the price you have to pay."

The words pierced through me, colder than any wind.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. My throat was dry, my thoughts scattered.

"Follow me." His command was final, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

And there was nothing else.

The silence, the darkness, it pressed in around me, leaving only his presence. I had no choice but to follow him into the unknown.