Chapter 1

ADRIA’S POV

I was running, and my feet was thumping on the ground as I took each leap in fear. I couldn’t tell what was chasing me, but the atmosphere didn’t seem right. 

I was in an abyss of darkness. Everything was dark, no ray of light. I tried to pry my eyes open but it felt as if a strange, negative force was keeping me down.

The same dark voices continued to loom in my head, making my mind spin like a well-woven web. This was the same gruff voice that haunts me every time. I tried so hard to move my body or wake up but my body was stuck, like I was paralyzed or sort.

One look on this place, I could tell I was in another world or space, I could feel everything like it was real but somewhere deep inside me, knew it was the voice that was toying with my sanity.

My hands and legs were bound as I was shackled down with an unseen force. I was unable to move, but who would feel something this dangerous, and not try to escape. I tried with every strength in me to break off from the unseen force, but it was all futile.

“Oh, shit!” I cursed under my breath, shakily.

“What do you want from me?” I sobbed, feeling completely tired, and scared.

But I got no response, and all I could hear was just a heavy breathing sound. Not even my shadow was anywhere to be seen as it had blended with the darkness, making me feel lonelier, and helpless.

“I'm you.” The voice thundered eerily, making my skin crawl in fear.

I never expected that I would be given a response this time, and that the voice was going to be one that would make my heart jump in fear. It made my head jumble in confusion and fear of the unknown.

“No.” I responded in a low tone.  “No, you are not!” I uttered and shook my head in denial, and started trying ways to wake up from the nightmare.

“I repeat, I am you.” The voice stated again firmly. “Just give me time, and you’ll find out soon.”

I shook my head again, and shut my eyes real tight. This wasn’t possible. There was no way this could be real.

“Please go away. Leave me alone!” I yelled out in frustration.

I heard a low chuckle, and a low rumble as well.  “Adria, you can’t run from me because I'm you and you are me.” The voice repeated firmly, and those words echoed in my head.

Suddenly, I felt a light touch on her arm and I sat up abruptly, and screamed on top of my lungs.

"No!" I voiced out.

My chest was heaving up and down, and my breathing pace had increased. Sweats trickled down my body, and my night gown was quite soaked in it.

“Adria, come on. Take this medicine.” My mother handed it over to me, and sat down beside me with a concerned look on her face.

I quickly took the medicine and gulped it down with a glass of water. This nightmare was a recurrent one, and anytime I had it, I always came down with a disturbing migraine.

I sobbed, and fell into her arms.

“I’m tired, mother. I can’t do this anymore.” I continued sobbing, and then she began to pat me on my back.

“It’s okay, Adria. I understand you. I’m sure this will pass away with time. It’s just a passing phase.” My mother assured me.

“I have been having different nightmares since I was young, mother. Do you think I’m possibly suffering from a condition? Don’t you think I might need treatment apart from these drugs?”

“No, Adria. If we also go to the hospital, all they’ll do is to prescribe a few drugs. It is something which has to go away itself. You just need to calm down.”

My mother patted my head, and smoothened my hair gently to make me feel better.

“Alright my love. I need to get to work; whenever you’re feeling better, you can resume school activities.” My mother said, and placed a kiss on my forehead, then walked out of the room.

I exhaled sharply, and got down from my bed. At least, it was daytime now, and the nightmare might nor re-occur tonight, so it was best to shrug it off my shoulders. 

I wasn’t in the mood to resume school activities yet as I needed to get myself back from the whole holiday stress I had with these nightmares. I had my bath, and then wore a floral dress.

I studied myself in the mirror, and smiled, pleased to see how beautiful I looked in the mirror. With my beauty, and intelligence, I’m sure I would gain more love from the Professors at school.

I just wanted to be a great historian, known for loving history in college, and if possible, gain connections that would help me get to places I would love to go to.

“Adria! I just left.” My mother informed me and I heard her shut the door.

I smiled, and shook my head. At times, she could be funny. I thought she was all prepared for work, but I guess she still had a few things to do.

I picked up the new book which I had gotten from an old library, downtown, and it was about mythical creatures which were now history. Even if they weren’t real, I just loved to read different things, especially if it had to do with history.

I walked out of the room, then headed off to the garden while humming a song. I was feeling much better than when I woke up, and that was a good sign that my day was going to go well.

I got to the garden, and sat down on the wooden bench, and placed the book on the table. I could tell I was going to have an exciting read as this book was based on mythical creatures.

It was the story of werewolves. 

I opened the book, and the first thing I saw was Adria. I shook my head, and rubbed my eyes to look into the book again, but I was interrupted by a phone call.

I glanced at my phone beside me, and discovered it was Stacy. 

“Hey Stacy.” I said as I looked back at the book, but didn’t find my name there again.

I felt relieved that I wasn’t hallucinating now in reality.

“Hi girl. When are you coming to school? We have missed you so much.”

“I have missed you guys too, but I’ll let you know when I’m ready to come to school.” I uttered with a smile on my face.

“Oh, goodness. But you are missing a lot.”

“How am I missing a lot when I can obviously catch up.” I scoffed, and rolled my eyes.

“Well, not in academics. There’s this juicy gist which has made the class go crazy about it, and you shouldn’t be at home or you won’t witness that honorable moment.”

“Right now, you’re speaking in a language I don’t understand, so get straight to the point.” I said sharply as I flipped through the pages of the book, and saw scary werewolves.

“What I am trying to say is that there is this man who had an interview in the college, and we heard that he would be replacing Mr. Jones. And guess what, he is strikingly hot, and handsome.” Stacy informed me, in a tone of excitement.

“Mr. Jones is gone!”

That was my favorite Professor as he was the one teaching us history. Now, I just had to get prepared for school to take a look at who had just replaced the one Professor who could resonate with me in terms of history.