Chapter 1 Nightmare

"Braille, I had a vision," Shin whispered, then scooted over to the window and curled herself up, afraid that other people might hear the crazy things she was saying on the phone.

"...", There was a pause on the line, maybe not knowing what to answer.

"No, this is not an ordinary dream that we always talked about, this time it's a repeated vision," Shin hurriedly explained in a flustered manner, afraid to be misunderstood by the other party.

"...", There was still no answer on the other line. Shin panicked, and her body trembled, feeling her clothes soaking with sweat on her back.

'Ah, maybe she was thinking about what nonsense I was talking about.'

She took a deep breath and said, "In that scenario, the sky was bloody red, and the moon was painted in blood. The world was full of desolation and ruins. It was really vivid, as if I was really standing before that place."

"I think that a lot of people are gonna die, we all are gonna die." Her voice cracked, signaling that she is about to cry. She tried to calm herself down and force her tears to stop to stabilize her bearing. She was even more nervous now, so she gripped the phone even tighter.

"Then there was this dream I was having recently, I was standing before a burning corpse. I was watching him being burned as I remained indifferent. He kept on begging me to stop the fire, he asked for my forgiveness and mercy, but I just kept on ignoring his pleas."

The feelings came dominating her again-the feeling of intense hatred, anger, and emptiness. It was so vivid that she felt stuck in that place, unable to extricate herself. She was really there in the scene, standing there, watching the scenes unfold.

"..."

"I...and I remember you asked me in the dream why would I do that? I mean, that's a foolish question. Do you think I was willing to be a villain? In their eyes, I was a villain." The voice grew smaller and smaller and stuttered, but it could still be understood by the person on the other line.

"You know what, my answer at that time really surprised me," her voice rising, signaling that she was not in the right state of mind.

"I said that even if you gave me a second chance, I would still kill him again." Her heart pounded faster and harder. Her state was beginning to be manic and excited. There was a hint of anger and hatred in her voice, like everything was so real to her.

"..."

"It's strange these days, it's as if I was not myself. Though, I kept on feeling this intense hatred bubbling inside me that I can't explain." After calming down, her voice became normal, but there was still a hint of despair and helplessness.

"Braille, I...I've gone crazy. Perhaps I've really gone crazy...it's killing me." She was confused right now and afraid, afraid that she was not able to snap back to reality and realize what is real and what is not.

"I'm going to the capital in two days' time. I hope I will be able to talk to you personally regarding this, and I hope you will wait for me and don't do anything stupid. You have to pull yourself together until I get there." There was finality in this voice, like there was no need for further negotiations.

"NO! Don't! I...No listen to me, don't come here anymore. I'm alright," Shin panicked but forced herself to calm down.

"Braille, I was..."

"..."

She! She hung up on me!!

~~~

A thin, pale-looking girl with dark circles under her eyes held a hot chocolate drink as she walked on a crowded street. Pedestrians passed by: fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, couples, and friends, all seemingly happy and carefree. Amidst the bustling crowd, she felt small and fragile, as if a strong wind could blow her away anytime.

As the street signal light turned red, her tired mind began to wander, and she stared at the skies. It was a beautiful day with clear and blue skies engulfing the encompassing earth. It looked so peaceful, leaving people in a good mood.

'But not for me.'

"A calm before the storm," she thought, startled as her body became uneasy with goosebumps all over her. She didn't know why, but she was sure of this feeling. The weight of this foreboding was slowly crushing her.

'These people will be dead in no time, and no one can stop this from happening. It is set in stone no matter what people do to stop it, no one can escape this fate.' This thought led her into the abyss of despair and fear.

'The world will be painted in blood, death, and darkness. This catastrophe will take lives, and people will be lambs waiting to be slaughtered.' She thought long and hard about her vision that kept on bugging her.

'I don't know what kind of catastrophe will be coming, but it will be a lot worse than countries waging war against each other or calamities recurring globally. I'm really sure it will happen, and it might be tomorrow or today, but sooner.' She questioned her morality every now and then. Is she hopeful for this to happen so as to prove herself not crazy? But she knows she is unwilling for this to happen, so she keeps on clinging unto this small hope that she is just going crazy and the final exam is just going unto her brain and screwing her.

'But I can't go around telling people my vision. No one will believe me anyway.'

"If I were asked about it, could I even tell them I know all of this because of a stupid vision? No, it's a nightmare." A lump stuck in her throat, helplessly accepting the situation she is in.

"Could I really have gone crazy?"

These past weeks were never good to her. She always feared the unknown, keeping her mind restless, and the feeling of dread overwhelmed her day after day.

There were so many things Shin didn't tell Braille, apart from that intense dream that morning, that there might be an apocalypse coming, but she did hint her, but who really knows the truth? She thought it might be because of the upcoming exam that she was having delusions, or everyone might call it "exam fever," but she had the same nightmares over and over again.

"I really want to drink coffee right now." She mumbled. She knew for a fact that coffee might make the matter worse, so she could only settle for a hot choco drink.

Absent-minded, she was able to walk to her destination, although she forgot how she safely arrived in front of her classroom.

At this moment, Shin felt lonely. The endless chatter, flipping of pages, and notes seemed so far away, but near. It echoed through her ears like it had a world of its own.

"The surroundings are very lively, but such liveliness has nothing to do with myself."

"Remember..." The call of the void whispered like a devil. The impulse to do its bidding echoed repeatedly in her ears. Giving in to the sudden urge, she engraved everything in her memory and didn't dare to miss even the tiniest details. There won't be peace like this in the future, her intuition told her. Her intuition is pretty accurate these days as she was able to guess what will happen next as if she experienced it in the past like déjà vu.

'It won't be long before chaos comes, and how this peace will last, no one knows.'

"Hey! Why are you dawdling here?"

Suddenly, someone grabbed Shin by the shoulders. Startled by the sudden touch, she reluctantly stared at the person who touched her.

"I'm fine. I just stayed up late," she fought the urge to say, 'No, I'm not fine. In fact, I've gone crazy enough to be sent to the asylum,' silently rolling her eyes in her mind.

A carefree smile escaped from her lips to make it believable, although there was still a gloom in her eyes no matter how she hid it. Shin patted the person lightly on the arms.

"I swear I think you are not yourself these days."

"You know the finals are coming, so I have to prepare well."

"Liar," Shin stiffened at this sudden outburst.

"Tell me what's really happening," the speaker squeezed Shin's hands.

"I..." Looking intently into her eyes, she could see an undisguised concern. Guilty, she averted her gaze to the hands that were grabbing her. She wanted to tell her, but what if she didn't believe her?

"I won't ask you anymore, but you have to tell me which bastard did this to you!" Seeing her hesitation, he didn't ask anymore but was still fuming.

"Of course," a twitch escaped from the edge of her lips, but she could only smile to reassure her.

'Let her misunderstand, then. It's hard to explain anyway.'

The day ended uneventfully. She didn't know how the day ended as her mind had been on overdrive lately, or maybe she just couldn't be bothered anymore.

Lying on her bed, pondering what to do next, kept her mind from being distracted and not thinking about her nightmares and worries.

'I have to prepare a lot of food with a long shelf life that will last longer.'

'Water, medicine... ugh, I need to warn them too!'

'If they ask...' Shin couldn't help but roll in bed in frustration, hugging her pillow tightly.

'I have to make up a white lie that is believable enough.'

'Yes, that's it!' She could only convince herself half-heartedly.

A call interrupted her thoughts. She checked the caller ID. 'Mum'

'I think I have a phobia of phone calls right now.' The caller kept ringing, and on the second ring, she mustered a little bit of courage and answered the phone call.

"Hello, Mum, you called? Ah, I just got back from the bathroom, so I didn't answer immediately." Shin was a nervous wreck but tried to keep her composure normal.

"The holiday is just around the corner. Will you be able to go back home on your own?" A worried tone could be heard from her mother's voice, and Shin couldn't help but feel a soreness in her nose.

"What do you mean, Mum? I'm not a baby anymore." Shin tried to be funny by acting coquettish towards her mother.

"I'll just text your mama aunt to send you to the terminal, at least." In the other line, her mother rolled her eyes because of her words.

"Well, that's fine too! Mum, I've got something to do, so I'll just see you during the holiday season." Hanging up the phone, Shin lay exhausted in bed. A while later, she fell asleep.

~¤~¤~¤~

Shin opens her eyes to the smell of burning flesh. There were gunshots and screams in the background. People are obviously killing each other.

She saw the burning corpse. He glared at her with burning hatred as if he wanted to kill her through his glares. His eyes were red, and a string of curses could be heard from him. But that was not her concern as her body moved automatically, heading to a place that is familiar to her, as her body always takes her to this place.

She was here again, forced to serve as a spectator. She couldn't move her body to move according to her mind. She is trapped in this body, forced to spectate.

She didn't like where she was going. She didn't like that place. It made her uncomfortable. Every time she was there, she wanted to escape.

They walked for a couple of minutes and arrived at an abandoned house. 'She' paused for a moment and stared at the house in a daze.

They've come here several times, and every time they are here, 'she' will stop for a moment and stare into nothingness. She got bored as time passed and no longer paid attention.

They've arrived at the back of the house. The weeds and wild plants are trimmed and neat. She frowned at the sight that welcomed her. She didn't like this place, but this body kept on going back here.

'You have a weird hobby. Now that you've shown it to me, let's go back.'

'Let's go back now. We have no business here' Shin tried to persuade again, maybe 'she' will hear her.

'She' crouched down and weeded the growing weeds.

'No, stop! Stop! Let's go back!' A sudden uneasiness and panic suddenly overwhelmed her. She didn't want to stay here longer.

She could feel her chest becoming painful and heavy, as if having heart attacks. The body didn't even react much. The body did feel it, but it didn't show much. She felt it deep through her soul-a wound that is hard to heal and too deep that even time can't heal. She cast her eyes down in horror, and there it was-a big headstone, enough to fit a dozen people or more.

She had some guesses, so she closed her eyes painfully.

Headstone message:

Darkness casts its shade,

In God's embrace, may peace find them,

In the future's embrace,

Love and regret intertwined, may their spirits find grace.