{ CHAPTER - 1 } THE START OF NIGHTMARES

In a pitch-black, desolate setting, encircled by numerous large trees and bushes, where nothing can even be seen.

Someone flees from the "unknown," someone who wants to scream but is unable to, someone who is running for their life.

He noticed a blue light up ahead, and as he ran toward the light, he saw the area up ahead opening up in the pitch-blackness where he couldn't even see the ground beneath his feet.

!pant!pant!pant!

He was getting tired from running, and the bushes had scraped his knees.

He emerged from the shadows and is now standing in the blue light. He turned around to face where he had come from but couldn't find anyone.

He finally regained his composure and turned to face the source of the blue light.

He gasped when he caught sight of the sky. The moon was the only object in the clear sky, casting a blue glow across the rest of it.

Just as he began to feel safe, a very large black shadow figure appeared and quickly covered the sky, his darkness even obscuring the moonlight.

The shadow figure attacked him in a fit of rage, wanting to eat him whole as they made eye contact.

"AAAAAAA!!!!"

!rustle!

Karma woke up uneasy and spoke in a sleepy tone as he made rustling on the bed.

"!Sigh... Again with the same dream, does this make it the 4th time? "

He said while holding his hair in place with his hand on his head. "I simply can't sleep like this, if it continues, my health may deteriorate"

He gets out of bed feeling angry and checks himself in the mirror on the dressing table.

"Yup, not enough sleep"

He thinks to himself as he notices that it is almost 7:00 a.m. and glances at the clock. "I need to prepare for school."

After saying this, he gets up to go downstairs and get ready for school.

A voice calls from behind as he is about to open the bathroom door. "Oh, son, are you awake?"

"Good morning, mom," he said before turning around.

His mother approached him and exclaimed when she got a good look at him. "Oh my, what happened to your eyes?"

"Well..." he hesitated.

But she was aware of it too, just like every mother is aware of her child. "I wonder if it's happening again. That dream you described to us"

His worried mother gave some advice. "Why not visit a doctor or a psychiatrist to have yourself examined?"

He dismissed his mother's concern and said "Come on, mom, don't worry too much, it's not that bad,"

They claim to have entered the bathroom after opening the door. He observes himself in the mirror as he stands in front of the sink. He rinses his face with water and then brushes his teeth.

"Done!"

He enters the living room after washing his face and teeth and finds his father reading a newspaper on the couch there.

As soon as his father saw him enter, he said, "Oh, you're awake, son,"

He answered in a gruff tone. "Yup, awake and alive."

His father remarked, "Sounds rough."

His mother entered the room and addressed his father. "It is the dream that he mentioned"

Once more, he dismisses his mother's concern by saying "It's not a big deal, Mom, you worry too much, I told you."

In mid-conversation, his father jumped in to calm them down. "Now now, stop it, you two"

His mother scowled at the remark. "Humph, who cares?"

After that, his mother left to make breakfast, and as she did so, the father and son both stifled a small laugh in jest at her.

From the kitchen, his mother yells, "Come here, breakfast's ready." After finishing his breakfast, he headed off to school.

He announced his departure before heading to school.

As he left, his mother said, "Be careful."

He resides in a large city in the northern part of India known as "Kami" in the states of the U.K. (UTTARAKHAND).

This region is also known as the "land of the gods" because, according to the majority of Indian mythologies, this is where gods were either born or had some connection to. Besides that, the population here is quite large too.

The "Indian Metropolitan School" is where Karma attends school. It's one of the largest institutions in the world, and only a select few people can roll in here.

Karma is from a wealthy family and is considered to be the "chosen one" because of his good looks and intelligence.

However, it's not always a good thing since he is constantly subject to high expectations from those around him because of his appearance and marks.

Someone hit him behind the back as he was walking along the side of the road, and a voice started speaking.

"What's up, man? How are you doing?"

He noticed that one of his friends had come to welcome him when he turned around. "I'm just somehow still alive."

"Wow, why the negativity, especially so early in the morning?" the person exclaimed.

He casually retorted, "Well, this is the normal me though."

"The guy sighed and said, "I'll go ahead and meet you at school."

After saying as much, he left with his friends as the school bell began to ring.

He went home following the end of the school day.

He greeted everyone by saying, "I'm home," but received no response.

He searched the house for his parents but was perplexed when he couldn't locate them.

"Where did they go? Considering they didn't tell me about it in the morning, I assumed it was urgent"

No one answered the phone when he tried to call them. He questioned why they left without informing him. "I guess I'll watch some TV."

He felt sleepy as he was watching TV and dozed off on the couch.

After a brief nap, he awoke sometime later and was a little taken aback to discover that it was now dark outside the window.

"When did it get so dark? They still haven't come back, so I guess I should get started on dinner preparation"

He was about to begin dinner preparations. As he hurried outside the house, his jaw dropped and his eyes were about to burst.

As soon as he left the house and looked up at the sky, he experienced a chill throughout his entire body. He saw a blue moon shining in the clear but dark sky at that precise moment.

In terror and disbelief, he murmured to himself, "This—this is."

He could not believe what he was seeing. In disbelief, he walked through his neighborhood, ringing the doors of his neighbors. The scene before him was exactly like the one from his dreams.

!Buzz!

"Hello, is anyone home? "Nobody, huh"

He tried several homes, but none of them responded.

He was wandering around aimlessly when suddenly, he hears a voice out of the blue, but he is unable to understand what it is saying.

!SCREECH!

He hears a very loud, excruciating scream as he begins to move toward his house. Although it wasn't a human or animal scream, the noise was so loud that it gave him a headache.

He cries out in pain, "Argh, what the hell," and holds his head.

He was suddenly faced with the same shadow figure from his dreams when he looked up at the sky.

!SCREECH!

In a rage, the shadow figure dashed in his direction to attack him.

"what–"

He started running in a panic but was unable to outrun the figure and was thrown into the shadows.

He could not see anything in the total blackness, but he could feel his body being torn apart as if the shadow figure was trying to eat him while he was still awake.

"AAAAAAA!!!!!!"

He screamed, but it was helpless as he was now completely engulfed in the darkness and soon he couldn't even scream.

"NOO!!!"

As he was now completely enveloped in darkness, his screams were helpless, and eventually, he was unable to even scream.

"NOO!!!"

He panicked and thought he was dead when he jumped.

!pant!pant!pant!

He was there, panting like a dog, on his couch.

"That was—"

It is 5 o'clock when he checks the time. He looks out the window, and the outside is still bright.

*Blaa...blaa..blaa...*

He was a little relieved to see that the television was still on.

"Just a dream, huh?"

"I'm sick of this. Maybe I should see a psychiatrist. It's better than doing nothing, I suppose."

Having said that, he entered the bathroom to wash his face.

As he was dousing his face in cold water from the faucet, he began to consider.

"Why do I have the same dream over and over again? Does it mean anything? I haven't read or heard of anyone having dreams that felt this real. Do I have a disease or am I ill? "

He was talking to himself when he felt a gaze on him. Confused, he looked around but saw nothing. He extended his hands after closing the tap, but he felt someone in front of him.

He saw his reflection in the mirror as he turned to face it in fear. But he makes an effort to get close to the mirror to confirm it.

He was shocked to discover a monster in the mirror and jumped back in terror.

"WOW!!"

!Blink-Blink!

When he opened his eyes, he was shocked to see nobody there.

"Am I finally going crazy?" he murmured to himself when suddenly the doorbell rang.

!ting!tong!

CHAPTER - 1 - TO BE CONTINUED