A Premonition: Beware!!

Athana knew she was dreaming. Waking up somewhere other than her bed from the headquarters did not faze but rather perplexed her. She has started to have this strange dream since last week when their two agents went off the radar three weeks ago. She did not want to think of the worst-case scenario but these dreams could not be ignored anymore. She turned her head, hearing lustful wail from afar, yet it was so clear and thick in volume that she feared it was near to her. She followed the noise against the darkness that blanketed the entire place, blindly walking as the voice continue its haunting call.

Suddenly it stopped. Then, she heard it, a different one, it was echoing footsteps vibrating against the hard floor. She remained silent.

Human footsteps? Doubt plagued her in the dark. Who?

She waited in the shadows, standing vigil and alert of any attack. Then it stopped too. This is getting ridiculous. Athana listened with keen ears for another disturbance in the air, muscle taut, fingers curled tightly into fists.

No sound. Pure silence.

Then it came. A shift in the atmosphere was all she needed as she jumped backwards, landing noisily on the water, splashing it around and drenching the hem of her once dry sweats. Water? Here? A whistle of wind passed right through her and then another. She whipped her head, trying to find it, ears strained, and eyes closed to concentrate on detecting the presence she felt earlier.

She is not really alone in her dream.

Someone invaded her subconscious.

Why?

To kill her?

She tripped forward when a hand pushed her from behind but she thrust both of her arms forward, breaking her fall. Shit. She barely felt it until it attacked her.

This was the first time a direct confrontation happened inside her dreams. Others are all visions of the past or memories she never remembers having or a premonition of the future, but right now if this unknown entity kills her inside her subconscious, she'll never wake up.

She swivelled her body, readying an attack when the scenery changed. What is wrong now? A juggling red light exited the now visible forest and disappeared as it neared her. And now a forest? She frowned but kept her focused in front, lips tight in anticipation. Then same set of footsteps, but light as the wind bounced around her. She prepared herself when scream followed the said footsteps, bounding right straight to her. She tensed as the sound scratched against her sensitive ears. She tried to cover it with both arms, causing the sound to sharpen even more as it moves closer and closer.

Stop! It hurts.

But it never ceases to release its scathing sounds. She moaned in pain, kneeling, her vulnerable folded into foëtal position. Then a presence appeared behind and leaned against her.

'ODESSA!' a throaty voice whispered against her ears, dragging every syllable as it spoke, nearly made her jumped out of her skin. She whipped her head towards the sound when another voice spoke through the building noises. She winced against the many sounds entering her ears, but one voice stood out from the rest. Foreign. Ancient. Malevolent. Hissing. Without completely breaking her concentration, she eyed the white, faint smoke in front of her, slowly taking shape.

'Who's there? I called out. My voice echoed softly through, the now black thick fog, the white wisps nowhere to be found. Where is it?

'Cas do cheann ....' The voice said. Then her body started moving.

....No....No. Don't.... but her it seemed to understand the command.

Slowly, she turned her head. She gulped. Her hands trembled as dread crept over her. The sight that greeted her next had her frozen on the spot. A pair of blood-soaked feet entered her field of vision: covered in rotten flesh and gaping wounds, drops of blood seeping out as worms ate its skin.

Oh my! She can't take it. Bile started building up inside when it was revealed to her.

'Ah.....' Followed by a sound of bones creaking. Long black hairs hanged loosely from its shoulder, stained white dress, now grey in colour covered its body. She was almost at her head when she noticed the tilted way it was moving.

Words caught in her throat, even her feet won't move, completely paralysed by fear. This is only a dream. It's not real. She kept on repeating the same, exact word. Over and over. Cold comfort but she knew that if she stayed longer inside her mind, she will be under the mercy of this creature who invaded her dream. She needed to face it, and fight back. She swallowed hard, body shaking and gathered every ounce of resolve she has left in her to looked up, slowly trailing every body part revealing itself. Without thinking, she scrambled away, when it started talking.

'Odessa.....' That name again.

'.....Fuair mé tú foai dheireadh.....'

'What?'

'...Odessa...mo ghaoil...'. Its hands started caressing her face. Where did it come from? Slowly, softly, and reverently.

'Cén fáth ar thug tú feall orm? '....Odessa mo ghaoil...' Then the touch became more forceful, eyes staring fiercely at her, bulging.

'Cén fáth ar thug tú feall orm? '....fingers digging onto the skin of her face.

'Cén fáth?'

'What? I.do.not.understand.you!!! Let me go!!!' She struggled hard in removing the tentacle-like grip on her when it started choking her, really hard.

'Maróidh mé thú. Die!'

'Die...Die...Die...!!!'

'Hahahaahahhhaha!!!'

'Ithfidh mé beo thú!' And it widens its already open mouth, stretching it to its limit.

Oh my god. No. No. No. She pushed the head with the palm of her hand as she wrestled to free her head from its grip.

'Let .Me. Go!'

Then she felt wet organs coiling around her fingers and arms. She caught a glimpse of it and she screamed bloody murder realising what touched her.

Oh God. No... No...Ugh!....Let.....go....!!!!

Hundreds of snake-like tongue came out upon rows of pointed teeth around it.

'No...No...No...!!!!!'

' .....Bí mar chuid díom. Odessa. Lig dom tú a ithe....'

'No.' She renewed her effort, moving her head side to side but the hands clasped her head tightly, not budging an inch. Her heart sunk as reality dawn on her. She is going to be eaten alive! It slowly approached her as she moved her body violently, back and forth, side to side.

'No!!!!!!!!' The mouth was closing on her, leaning faster and faster and faster.

'....Tiocfaidh mé ar do shon...Odessa....mo ghaoil.....'

'NO!!!!!!'

*********

'No!!!!' She woke up, heart pounding against her ribcage. Her chest felt too tight like it's going to burst any moment now, head's fuzzy and vision dim to stay conscious from waking so suddenly. She hastily opened her eyes again but the bright lights that escaped through the open window assaulted her deprived eyes, brought a wave of dizziness as she tried to get up, forcing her to lie back down.

Her door was suddenly opened as two shadows came in a hurry, barging inside her room but that was the least of her worries. A few seconds passed, until mild throbbing remained, she swatted the nudging finger persistently poking at her side. She felt her head. It's still there. She released a shuddering breath, clutching her hair hard. What was that? An icy sensation slowly spreads throughout her body when she tried remembering what she dreamt of. An uncomfortable feeling lingered. What happened? Why can't I remember? She has this thought that whatever she dreamed was important. Remember Athana. Try to remember.

'-----thy?'

'Athy?'

'Athy!'

'ATHY!' Someone's calling her name. Yes. She was Athy, not Odessa. Odessa? Where did she hear that name?

'ATHY!!' A deep voice shook him out of her reverie. The fog immediately lifted from her mind when a voice was registered. 'What?' she asked defensively, eyes narrowed when she noticed Ivo's face in front of her. Too close. She blinked, once, then twice. It was Ivo. Okay.

'Get out of my face, you man-woman wearing face.' Then shoving him away but he stubbornly refused to move. This guy. 'Do you want me to remove your face permanently from your head?' He's now only a breath away from her. Exasperation soon replaced the throbbing dull ache. She slapped his face hard, then pushed it aside and jumped out of the bed, skipping a few times, balancing her body, when she noticed how soaked her shirt was. She frowned, contemplating. Great. It seems like Ivo got an eyeful of her chest. She gave him a hard stare.

'What are you doing here so early in the morning? He merely shrugged in reply. 'Did I forgot to mention that you are NOT allowed to enter?' and proceeded to give him 'you-better-starts-explaining-or-else glare'.

He looked at her, eyes serious, for once. 'We heard you screaming bloody murder. We thought you're under attack. So we came running, Killian and I, and found you sitting and wide awake. Right, Killian?' She stared at Ivo, trying to detect any lies but Killian barked, confirming his story. Why am I considering Killian as a reliable witness, I do not know. So she nodded, giving him the signal to continue.

'I kept calling your name yet you never responded,' he continued. 'You have this creepy look in your face, you know?'

'What do you mean?' she asked, confused. Creepy look. Her?

'Hmm. Pale face, eyes wide, unseeing, shaking at the same time and mumbling,' he said. 'I thought you're going to bash your head on the bed. You're holding it too hard. Creepy. I was calling your name like a hundred times. You just looked at me, right through me, I mean. I thought you saw a ghost.' She tuned him out. An odd feeling washed over her at the mention of ghosts. It started as small goosebumps on her skin then a chill settled on the pit of her stomach, making her feel sick and breaks out in sweats.

Ghosts.

Something about ghosts.

What about them?

Think. Just think..... Ivo's deep baritone voice broke through the haze beginning to cloud her mind, reminding her of their conversation.

'Ah, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.' Then he shivered dramatically. 'Right, Killian?' And once again, Killian barked followed by whipping off his tail.

She narrowed her eyes. ' Oh, by the way, it's already past one o'clock in the afternoon. You were sleeping half of the day and the Boss wants to talk to you so he told us to fetch you and that's when we heard your cry for help,' he said and winked at her. 'Was it a cry for help? Hmmm? Never mind but aren't we amazing?' He rubbed Killian's head when he failed to follow through with his antics. And as expected Killian barked. 'By the way, are you perhaps, you know, on drugs?' he added as an afterthought.

She gave him a completely unimpressed look. A tick appeared in her forehead and she pinched the bridge of her nose, a sign of her annoyance and incoming headache that threatened to surface from just talking to Ivo. She hasn't been awake that long and she's so tired. She inhaled deeply, restraining the urge to slam his head, hard. Ivo means good. He's always cheerful which is good but his tactless approach even in a situation like this is undesirable to tolerate any further.

'Ivo,' she interrupted his tirade.

'Yes, ma'am!' There's an amused gleam in his eyes when he shifted it to her.

'Get out.' Her patience wearing thin by the minute she spent talking to him.

'But.....'

'Ivo?' she called him again, smiling sweetly.

'Y-yes?' he answered warily, leaning away from her, the gleam in his eyes now replaced with uneasiness.

'Take Killian with you and get the hell out of my room before I rearranged your beloved face to an unrecognizable one. Would you like that? Hmmm?'

'T-the B---,' he wasn't able to finish his sentence when a fist came flying at him, missing an inch next to his precious face. He paled, stumbling backwards, and covered his face with his large hands.

'Brutal lady. Not the face,' he mumbled silently which she still heard but she ignored it.

'That's the message. Tell him that, would you be so kind?' then pinned him with her 'get-the-hell-out-or-else glare.'

'Y-yes. Right a-away, right, K-----,' and another punch before he uttered Killian's name, now to its opposite side. The dog expectedly turns his puppy eyes to Ivo, waiting for his name to be called.

'Finish that sentence and you will be flying out through the window,' she whispered coldly and offering no chance to reply, she shoved him out and slammed the door to his stunned, but equally frightening face.

She sighs, dropping to the floor, exhausted.

Alone at last. She heard a knock moments later. Or not.

Irritation flared as she wrenched the door violently, kick poised at him where the sun doesn't shine.

'Oops...Not there. Women will definitely cry,' he said while grinning mischievously at her as he caught her leg, aimed at him. Disgusted, she tried punching him to the face, which he easily dodged, released her captured leg, and stepped backwards, sidestepping her another roundhouse kick. Tch.

'Stop.Stop.Stop. You're so hype. Chill. Darling. Okay?' Palms up, trying to stop her attack which she did.

She's reasonable so she listened. She lifted a brow and crossed her arms.

'I told you to leave me alone?' Scowling at him.

'I know! But I wanted to check up on you. You were so pale and frightened earlier. I thought I can lighten up your mood and all,' eyes intensely focused on her. She averted her eyes. Of all days to be a pain in the unmentionable. A really Ivo-like strategy. She smiled tiredly after hearing him said that. Stupid man-woman wearing face.

'I'm fine. Now go away. Really!' Exasperated, she shoved him once again.

'Nu-uh. Says the woman who screamed 'help' -- and he said it with a high pitched voice. She chuckled lightly.

'Ivo, really?'

'Athy, yes!' she pinched him, hard. He jumped, lets out an undignified yelp.

'Ouch. Stop doing that. Seriously. What are you? Five?' Swatting her hand away from his abused arm.

'Kidding aside, Athy?' his tone changes. Ugh. So tiring. So she leaned back on the door, tilt her head, and with all the energy she could muster, butt in, cutting him off.

'No, seriously, I am fine.'

He lifted a brow, disbelief marring his effeminate face. She nodded. 'Yes. I'm okay.I will go meet the Boss later after I shower. How about that?'

Please go...

'Hmmmmm???' Thinking, contemplating.

'I will treat you with dessert later?' she added for good measure.

'Deal!' Tch. What a greedy bastard.

'And yes, you should definitely shower. You stink.' Covering his nose. She smelled herself. She didn't smell.....that bad, did she? She heard Ivo's obnoxious laugh, prompting her to punch his arm. The jerk. Teasing her. 'And by the way, I thought it'll grow, but I see now. No matter how long I wait it never did. Such a waste.' Shaking his head with such a straight face. She frowned when she failed to understand what he means but noticed him staring at her chest.

Self-preservation kicked in.

'IVO! You perverted bastard!!' she screamed, face red, and chased him down the hallway and out of the house. With a quick motion, he ducks when a projectile was thrown at him. Ivo only laughed his arse off, retrieved her slipper and ran, while Killian, the ever-faithful dog that he was, followed him outside with an excited bark.

Idiot Ivo.

Pervert Ivo.

My slipper.

But thanks to him, the heavy feeling she felt vanished, even for a short period of time he was here.