Chapter 8

There was a unknown place with red roses, dark green bushes and green trees everywhere. That was the only she could see when walking in a path covered with grass which led closely to nowhere. The girl raised her head to raise awareness to where she was. The sun slowly disappeared from the deep purple sky and soon it was turning darker and darker.

The air was filled with the sounds of crickets and other night insects. There was also a deep, calming sound of falling water. As Regan glanced around, she couldn't see any waterfall but she assumed that they were just nearby.

Is this place even real, she thought. As much as beautiful it was, it was also scary. She felt a wave of awe and fear wash over her, shivering slightly.

Looking down at herself, she realized she was wearing a long red gown, leaving her pale shoulders bare and with it's sleeves reaching up to forearms.

She didn't own dresses like that.

Her hair wasn't even black. It was red and it was hanging loose over her shoulders. She still had her necklace hanging on her neck.

As she walked into the endless, obscure path, the pure beautiful scent of red roses filled her nostrils, making her feel dizzy.

The night had already taken the place and she didn't even know where to go. Everything felt so peaceful and serene.

Panic and fear spread over her, her body trembling. She didn't know how she came here, didn't know the place, didn't know what she was wearing and didn't know how to get back home.

As she kept on walking like a lost puppy, she saw a black shadow from far, standing in the middle of the dark woods.

The silhouette was masculine. It stood still and quiet. Suddenly, Regan backed away, when she noticed it was coming nearer.

As it approached, the moonlight fell on the shadow's features.

The man which we don't know the name of, wore a black cloak but his tall height and muscular body was overly visible. His unruly black hairs shone from the moonlight, moving messily from the wind.

Regan's eyes widened as soon as she realized who he really was.

"S-sirius...." she mumbled, shivers running down her spine. The shadow was coming closer, a smirk on his face.

The girl was glued to her spot trying to move. She did, but it was really slow, really clumsy, and really unforgiving.

She ran and ran to nowhere never turning her head back, scared of who she would see.

But it didn't last longer, because the clumsy girl hit a tree, and it blocked the path. The trees were straight long, towering miles above her, without any branches where she could climb.

Regan turned back only to see the man who was awfully close. He was so much taller than her, his height being like a tower, his dark hair falling down on his face, making him look even more dangerous. She felt her heart pounding faster and faster.

She tried to run past him but it was no use, instead she walked back finally hitting the tree and realizing this was her final place.

The man's features came fully noticeable. He had a very pale face. His eyes were siren-like, cold blue, narrowing and piercing, holding the sea of secrets and mysteries. He had notably sharp, high cheekbones and a beautiful jawline. His raven bangs hung unruly in his forehead, creating shadows over his eyes. He was gorgeous but our girl didn't care of that as much as she cared to get out of the place she was stuck.

Out of nowhere, he moved his hand close to her neck, and grabbed it but not strong enough to choke the girl.

"You won't escape girl," said he through his deep and melodic voice. His hand tightened around her neck and Regan tried to struggle, but it was futile. She felt helpless and terrified, trapped.

As Sirius held her captive, he took in her features. Her long crimson hair, her pale skin, the scar across her cheek and her beautiful azure eyes, where he could see fear and defiance. She didn't dare to speak, didn't dare to look away. She was trembling, not believing how this was the way she was going to die.

His handsome smirk grew even bigger at seeing her miserable state.

She finally tried to look behind him and saw large flames, dancing and twisting. They started to grow larger and nearer until they circled them both.

Regan felt trapped and struggled to move but nothing seemed to work. She wanted to shove away, yell, cry, run but nothing came out from her. Her heartbeats were quick and out of place.

Her mind ran with the worst possible scenarios and she only wanted him to choke her and end the struggle. His grip hardened and loosened again but she didn't know what happened then, because it ended.

The flames seemed to disappear and she was no longer trapped. The guy was gone, she could feel the cold breeze caressing her face. It was peaceful, silent and she felt no pain.

As she opened her eyes, she was back in her bed, the covers all tangled around her. She was drenched in cold sweat and chilly shivers, just like in the dream.

"N-no," she mumbled.

The room was pitch black and she couldn't see anything. She turned on the bedside lamp, her hands trembling and

throwing something else that she thought to be her phone. The room turned dimly lit, and she tried to collect her breath.

She felt cold and chilly, noticing the balcony door opened. A surge of alarm spread over her as she remembered well enough that the door was closed before she fell asleep.

Regan clumsily got up and closed the balcony door.

Her throat was extremely dry and sore, like she hadn't drink water in ages. She grabbed the water bottle and drank like a thirsty camel.

She began to calm down for a bit. Everything was so quiet in the room. She shivered while remembering the dream.

"Red roses,"

"Fire,"

"Sirius,"

"Who's Sirius?" Regan whispered, the mere name itself making her shiver.

Everything felt so vivid in the dream. He felt familiar to her, even though Regan had never seen the guy.

She never meet someone named Sirius, ever.

A thought appeared in her mind, what if he was the one following her? But she shrugged this off. He was just a dream character and nothing more.

"That's nonsense," she muttered.

She ran out of the room not caring if she closed the door or not. She only ran away from it, not even looking back.

The kitchen was warm but as soon as she ended up here, the scent of the red roses hit her nose and her mind spun even worse. She didn't understand why these damn roses had such a heavy smell. And they were just like the ones in her dream that it was driving her crazy. She grabbed the vase and left it inside the bathroom.

Then, she turned back in the kitchen and sat on a chair, drowned in thoughts for a while. It felt stupid that she was fearing a random nonexistent guy, when she never feared anyone in real life.

She didn't want to think about it, the best thing to do was to eat and lose her mind somewhere else.

While, grabbing a glass of fruit juice, she tried to remember when she I fell asleep. She remembered doing her homework and...

Regan looked down at the clothes she wore throughout the day. Once more she remembered the dress in the dream, and she had to admit, it was beautiful. But she'd never get the chance to dress that way.

She wanted to know what the time was but her phone was on the bedroom. Regan wasn't planning to go up there again. She turned on the TV and surfed to a channel which showed the time. It was almost three AM.

Everyone was sleeping, her aunt was sleeping, too and here she was, eating in the kitchen in the middle of the night.

She hoped that Monica wouldn't wake up. Because then the girl would have to explain of why she isn't sleeping.

Regan tried to lose her mind somewhere but she couldn't think anything else except the dream.

Why did he want to kill her?

She shivered again at the thought.

Then the fire came in.

"Fire,"

"Fire on Olivia's hair,"

"Is it linked somehow?"

As she tried to collect the pieces, none of them made sense. She searched for her laptop but couldn't find it in the living room and kitchen. It must have been in her room.

She sighed of why did she have to take it there.

The girl got back on the TV to watch anything but kept channel surfing from not finding anything good to watch. She stopped when she found a movie about a girl who searches for her missing sister.

Regan decided to watch it so she could lose her bad thoughts. But no matter, what she tried, the girl still felt this feeling of something or someone watching her.

It was happening even at her own house. It was inexplicable and was driving her crazy.

Perhaps the dream was the reason she felt like this.

Slowly, she drifted off to sleep in the couch, before she could finish watching that movie.

***

Regan woke up, and struggled to move her neck. It was early in the morning and when she tried to sit, she winced from a neck pain. She realized she had a sore neck, maybe from her poor sleep position. But then, she remembered the dream with the unsettling but beautiful guy and it immediately sent shivers on her.

She cursed under her breath and got up, not wanting her aunt to see she slept here. The tv was left on and she switched to the news network, time was seven AM.

She tried to stretch her neck, but it ached even more. Eventually, she thought to let it be and walked upstairs to get ready for school.

Her aunt suddenly appeared from nowhere in the stairs.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," Regan replied quickly.

Monica went to the kitchen to drink her morning coffee, while Regan wished it was a weekend.

When she was in her room, the vivid dream came like a flashback to her and she tried to shove it away. The girl approached her desk which was full with scattered notes, pens, books etc. A complete mess. Everything a mess. She needed to clean up the room when she could find the time.

She grabbed her bag and started to put notes in and then, realized that the most important essay wasn't there. She couldn't find it anywhere and she panicked. The girl realized that she forgot to do it last night.

"How the heck did I forgot to do this? Why did I fall asleep like an idiot?" She said out loud, "Oh God! I'm a complete loser! I'm done!" She said as she furiously zipped the bag.

A chuckle echoed in her head, and she could swear she had heard it before, but just not where.

The girl sighed in frustration, she had no time to do the essay. She thought of what excuse would give for her irresponsibility.

She couldn't skip the class, literature was important to her.