The muffled cry mingled with the noise of the alarm clock. Yoshi's body jerked as he opened his eyes, drenched in cold sweat. His breathing was ragged, his heartbeat pounding in his ears like war drums.
-Thank goodness... -he whispered as he turned off the alarm on his mobile phone with trembling hands. Good thing I had prepared myself beforehand....
He sat up in bed, exhausted. He could still feel the coldness of that presence, that deformed creature that had emerged from the darkness of sleep. A faceless female figure, covered in dense fog, moving as if guided by hatred.
"That thing... was created by Kyria."
I knew it. I felt it. There was no other explanation. This creature was not a figment of his imagination. It was a tool, an extension of someone. And he knew whose!
-So... She was there too! -he muttered, his voice thick with fear.
If that thing had found him, it was only because Kyria was already in the dream world at the same time. She could not enter at will, he knew from the nature of her ability. That meant that she had slept at the same time as him and that, by chance or intention, they had coincided on the same dream plane.
"And if the monster found me first... then she must already know. She knows I was there. She knows I was asleep..."
The thought made him shudder.
He staggered to his feet, walking to the sink in the room. He splashed cold water on his face, staring at his reflection. His face looked pale, with dark circles under his eyes. It was the image of someone who had survived by sheer stubbornness.
And the worst thing was that I couldn't be sure of anything. Kyria was an unpredictable presence. He knew they were in different grades and that, at least within the school, he had no way of seeing her easily. They didn't share classes. They didn't share routes. Even her name didn't appear in the visible listings. And that made it all the more terrifying!
"If he's really looking for me in his dreams... then he'll do it when he goes back to sleep. Only then will he be able to reach me!"
Yoshi sat back down on the bed, staring up at the pale dawn sky. The sun was just rising. He knew he couldn't let his guard down. Not now that he had confirmed Kyria was still active. If she hadn't found him the entire week before, it was because she hadn't matched his sleep schedule.
"So, I just have to keep avoiding sleeping when she sleeps..."
It was easier said than done. Every night it got heavier. His body was no machine. His mind was beginning to crack under the weight of wakefulness. But he had no choice.
-I won't sleep today either," she said with almost exhausted determination.
He got up and began his routine of preparing for a new day. He poured himself a cup of bitter tea, opened his revision books and kept his mind active with memory exercises. Everything to avoid closing his eyes. Everything to stay one step ahead.
"If I had enough mana, I could temporarily seal this ability... or at least protect my mind. But I don't. I'm trapped. If I use 'Mastery' for anything less, I'll be sucked dry. And if I'm attacked in my sleep, I won't be able to defend myself..."
Impotence was a slow poison.
He watched the clock. The hours passed like an agonising parade. Every time he blinked, his eyelids felt heavier. His mind seemed to flee.
Until finally the voices from outside began to emerge: students heading for class, murmurs of footsteps in the corridor.
"At last," he said to himself. It was already the edge of dawn the next day, he decided he had endured enough. Despite his exhaustion, he felt he had gained at least one more night's respite.
-OK... just a few more minutes from now. I have to be there before they get there. If I don't... I'll ruin everything.
He leaned back, covering his eyes with one arm. His breathing became slower, slower. Darkness began to invade his vision. First as a soft shadow, then as an enveloping veil.
And, once again, his consciousness was absorbed by that place.
A world without rules.
A world without escape.
Where dream and nightmare walked hand in hand... and Kyria could be waiting for him around any corner.