In the darkness, the nightmare returns.

Everything feels disturbingly vivid—the air thick with the stench of blood, the ground beneath my feet soaked in crimson, staining the earth.

I’m standing still, unable to move. Before me lies a lifeless body, but I don’t know who it is. My heart races, a sinking weight pulling me down, but my body is frozen.

I slowly walk towards the body, each step heavy, as if the blood-soaked ground itself is trying to drag me down.

The body is still, unmoving. I crouch beside it, my hands trembling as I reach out, hesitating to touch the cold, pale skin.

Then, I see the girl’s face. She’s lying there, as if she’s just fallen asleep, but her skin is icy to the touch.

My heart skips a beat. It’s the same girl I’ve seen in the nightmare before, the one who’s always dying.

Her face…there’s something about it that feels painfully familiar. I want to run, to wake up, but I can’t. My body doesn’t respond to my panic.

I force myself to look at her, to see more than just the mole that I’ve noticed before. This time, I focus harder, my eyes scanning her face, her features.

Slowly, realization crashes into me like a tidal wave. It’s her—it’s Rafa. But not the Rafa I know. She’s older, more mature, her face bearing the marks of time, but there’s no doubt. It’s her.

My voice is barely a whisper as I speak the first word that escapes my lips,

“Why?”

Rafa’s eyes flutter open, and she smiles softly, a bittersweet expression that only deepens the dread in my chest.

“This is all for the good,”

 she says, her voice as calm as a gentle breeze, yet it cuts through me like a blade.

I stare at her, my mind racing, but nothing makes sense. I have so many questions. I lean closer, my voice shaky.

“Why are you here? What’s happening?”

Her smile fades slightly, her eyes looking distant, as if she’s not really here with me.

“I was always meant to be here,”

 she replies softly, her voice echoing around me.

“We were always meant to meet like this.”

I feel a lump forming in my throat. The blood on the ground, her lifeless body—it’s too much.

“Is this real?”

I ask, my voice almost cracking.

Rafa’s gaze softens.

“What is real, Azer? What you feel, or what you see?”

She reaches out weakly, her hand cold against my skin.

“We’ve been connected all along.”

I don’t understand. Everything is spinning, the weight of her words crushing me.

“I don’t want this,” I whisper.

“I don’t want to lose you.”

She looks at me, her smile returning, but it’s filled with sadness.

“You can’t lose me, Azer. I’ll always be with you.”

I feel tears sting my eyes. My heart aches, but I don’t want to accept any of this.

“Rafa…”

Her lips tremble, and she speaks softly, almost too quietly for me to hear.

“I love you.”

The words hang in the air for a moment, before everything around me shatters.

As the words "I love you" leave Rafa's lips, the ground beneath me begins to shift. At first, it feels like a small tremor, but then I realize something is pulling me-pulling me down.

The blood-soaked earth clings to my legs, dragging me into its depths. I try to take a step back, but the harder I struggle, the stronger the pull becomes.

"Rafa!"

I shout, my voice cracking with panic.

"No. please! Don't let this happen!"

But she remains still, her eyes closed now, peaceful, as if she doesn't even hear me anymore.

The blood around my feet thickens, climbing up my legs, pulling me down like quicksand. I howl in terror, my hands clawing at the ground, trying to grab anything to hold onto.

But there's nothing- nothing to stop this force dragging me deeper into the crimson abyss.

"No! Stop! Please!"

I scream, my throat raw with desperation. My hands slip through the blood and dirt, powerless against whatever is pulling me down.

The sticky warmth reaches my chest now, drowning me in the nightmare.

I thrash violently, trying to resist, but my body won't respond the way I want it to.

My arms feel heavy, my vision blurs, and as the blood rises up to my neck. I start to choke on the thick, metallic air around me.

I manage one last gasp of breath before the blood covers my face, blinding me completely. Darkness swallows everything.

I can't see. I can't move. I can't breathe. I feel myself sinking, deeper and deeper into the bloodied earth.

Then, just as I feel like I'm about to be consumed forever. I snap awake.

I jolt up in bed, my chest heaving, my breath frantic. The nightmare still lingers in my mind.

I don't remember the girl in the nightmare. But I remember her voice, of an adult woman, her words, her face-they're all slipping away.

I remember the mole. Yes, the mole but who was it. I can't remember now the nightmare I saw, but the terror remains.

I'm drenched in sweat, my heart racing as if I'd been running for miles.

But it's over. I'm in a hospital bed, my body aching, but alive.