「Tokyo, Japan」

「 Risveglio Akasaka Hotel – 3:51 A.M.」

The yellow lights cast dull shadows on the walls of the hotel room. The dim luminescence gave the place a warm and pleasant atmosphere, but the silence that reigned in the room made the scene more somber.

To one side, a girl with long black hair stood anxiously waiting. The electric kettle in front of her turned off with a ‘clack’, indicating that the water was ready. She grabbed the handle with trembling hands, pouring the hot liquid into a disposable paper cup. A column of white mist danced in the air, giving off a strong smell of black tea.

Ciel inhaled the bitter smell deeply, feeling her body relax and the haze in her mind gradually clear. However, at that moment, there was someone else who needed to be appeased. She held the hot cup and approached the three people who were huddled on one of the two beds in the room with careful steps.

A brown-haired girl was sitting in the middle of the queen-sized bed, with her back hunched and both arms tightly wrapped around her legs. Her head was resting on her knees and her short, messy hair fell in waves. Even though none of the other three people in the room could see her face, her labored and shaky breathing showed her agitated state.

“Dre... just a... real…” An almost inaudible murmur left her lips; incoherent words were repeated over and over like an old broken record. Sabrina dug her nails into her skin because she had the feeling that her own body was twisted in a strange way, but it was all her imagination.

She was flanked by two people: Sofia, a girl with tawny skin and reddish hair, and Joel, a tall boy with warm beige skin and curly, tousled hair. Sofia silently rubbed her back, while Joel gently stroked her head, trying to comb her tangled hair. Their faces looked fatigued, but their eyes revealed their growing concern. 

The three of them had been like this for about ten minutes, maybe more, but they still hadn't managed to completely calm Sabrina down. The sound of feet dragging on the carpet drew their attention to the woman who had a steaming disposable cup in her hands.

“Drink this,” whispered Ciel as she slowly brought the hot tea to her. “It will help you relax,” she added in a soft tone, searching her friend's face with her hazel eyes.

Sabrina slowly raised her head, revealing an extremely pale and exhausted face. Her left cheek was red and swollen, as were her eyes, either from holding back tears or from lack of sleep.

“Thank you,” she replied hoarsely, receiving the disposable cup with trembling hands. In the process, she surreptitiously touched Ciel's hand, seeking to feel the temperature of her skin, and then carefully distanced herself.

They all noticed how Sabrina's tense face softened with relief, and believed that the tea had done its job of calming her down a bit. When, in fact, her relief was due to something entirely different. 

At times, Sabrina felt that the people around her were not real, or that her surroundings themselves were part of a dream. Her numb body seemed to be floating above the bed, and even though her friends were next to her, there seemed to be a great distance between them. Their muffled voices echoed in the distance as if there was a wall blocking them.

Sabrina slowly brought the rim of the cup to her lips, ignoring the high temperature that made her skin burn. The mist swirled, the intense smell of tea entering her nose. She sighed heavily before taking small sips, feeling her chaotic thoughts slowly settle.

The tea burned her tongue slightly and slid down her throat, warming her chest and stomach, while the temperature that passed through the cardboard to her hands gave her that long-awaited feeling of realism. Her numb body and senses were revived, and the surroundings began to regain color. 

Meanwhile, everyone waited in silence, watching her carefully in case she had any unexpected reaction. Only when she lowered the almost empty cup did they proceed to cautiously inquire.

“Does it hurt a lot?” Sophia began hesitantly, her black eyes fixed on her friend's swollen cheek. Seeing Sabrina shake her head in response, she continued. “Sorry. We had to hit you to wake you up because-” She suddenly stopped, shuddering at the memory of the piercing screams that had made her jump out of bed in the middle of the night.

“Has this happened before?” Joel interrupted them. His brow was deeply furrowed with a mixture of anxiety and bewilderment. “This is no longer normal. To be honest, it's unsettling. I still have goosebumps.”

“This is the first time I've seen her react like this,” Sophia firmly denied. “When she has a nightmare, she usually mutters nonsense or wakes up agitated, but nothing like this has ever happened,” she explained while looking askance at the brunette, remembering the time they had lived together. “But in the last few months, the number of times she has suffered nightmares or insomnia has been increasing. And… you already know the rest of the story.”

The gloomy silence once again reigned in the room as everyone was lost in thought. The phone on the coffee table in the living room suddenly rang. The reception number appeared on the digital display. No matter how insulated the walls were, with the chaos that had broken out inside the room minutes before, it was no surprise that the hotel employees had inquired about the situation and called once they identified where the disturbance was coming from.

“I'll handle it,” Sophia said, getting up from the bed and quickly heading towards the phone.

No one objected since, among the four, Sabrina was the only one who could speak several languages ​​fluently. However, it was obvious that she was in no condition to take the call, so Sophia, who had an average level of English, was the best option to deal with the situation. With a space now free on the bed, Ciel took the opportunity to sit down and hug her friend who was still frightened and nervous.

Firm, warm caresses ran down Sabrina's back, letting her know that she was not alone; it wasn't a dream, this was her body, and these people were real. Feeling the comforting warmth emanating from the black-haired woman, her cold, trembling body gradually relaxed, until the beating of their hearts synchronized. Once Ciel felt that the girl in her arms had stopped trembling, she then encouraged herself to speak.

“Hey, look at me,” she called her friend's attention in an affable tone. Her voice was almost a whisper when she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Sabrina hesitated for several seconds, but in the end, she refused. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about it, but that she didn't remember the content of her nightmare very well. Places, noises, objects, voices; it was all a disastrous and confusing jumble of images and sounds without context. The only thing that had remained in her mind was the overwhelming pain, as if she had received a terrible beating, and a great grief that suffocated the rest of her emotions.

“Let's postpone the visit to the shrine for another day,” Joel suggested as he examined the situation. “We have a few free days, so it wouldn't be a problem to take a break. What do you think?”

The four of them had arrived in Japan that morning after leaving South Korea, their next destination being China. After years of planning this trip through Asia and Europe, they had finally saved enough money and booked all the flight and train tickets, and hotel rooms necessary for the course of their trip. Although they had a tight schedule full of places to visit and foods to try, they had left a margin of free days in case any inconvenience or emergency occurred. However, Sabrina refused.

“No, I'm good.” After receiving reproachful looks from her friends, she decided to correct her words a little. “Well, I'm not so good, but I feel better. I don't want to stay in the hotel,”  she admitted with complete honesty. “I'd rather go out and have fun.”

In situations like this, it was better to entertain herself with other things and forget about the horrible nightmares. If she stayed at the hotel, she would surely fall asleep and dream again. 

What if it happened again? She didn't even want to imagine it. On the other hand, she also did not want to waste time or money, neither her own nor her friends'. After distancing herself from Ciel, she lightly hit her cheeks to wake up once and for all.

“Ugh!” A painful sting ran down the left side of her face. Only then did she remember that she had been slapped before.

“Sorry about that,” Ciel apologized when she noticed her grimace of pain.

“Don't worry. Let's go to sleep, tomorrow will be a long day.”

Just in time, Sophia returned from the living room. The kind staff understood the situation and had even asked if anyone needed medical attention, which she politely declined. After apologizing several times and hanging up, she returned to the room to find that the previously gloomy atmosphere had disappeared. The four of them talked a little more and decided to proceed with what they had planned, although they would get up a little later to catch up on lost sleep.

Sabrina drank another cup of tea while her friends moved some furniture and pushed the beds closer so they could sleep together. Needless to say, the arrangement was only for that night. The next morning they would have to return everything to normal before the employees noticed and reprimanded them.

Sophia and Joel occupied the outer sides, while the other two girls remained in the center. The lights went out and the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. Placid and slow breaths floated through the silent place, yet only one person was unable to fall asleep. The person who caused the whole mess was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. 

To be honest, Sabrina was scared to dream and experience that terrifying pain once again. What if she woke everyone up again? Not only would it ruin their friends' trip, but it would also get them a warning from the hotel, and in the worst case, they would be forced to vacate.

Several images raced through her mind; some violet petals that danced in the air, a loud crashing sound, a long flight of red-painted steps, and terrified voices. She could even swear she could smell a musky fragrance in the air.

‘Why is this happening to me now?’ thought Sabrina while cursing how untimely her nightmares were. Tears that she hadn't cried before watered her eyes, but they didn't fall. Suddenly, she was startled to feel something touch her right hand.

“We're here,” Ciel whispered as her warm hand firmly squeezed hers.

“Sleep,” Sophia added sleepily from her left, patting her belly as if she were a child.

“Do you want me to leave some lights on?” asked Joel thoughtfully.

Sabrina chuckled, exchanging a few words with them before finally closing her eyes and falling asleep. Luckily, there were no more nightmares.