04 | Disconcerted

'MAKARI'

I violently rose from my bed, catching my breath with beads of sweat on my forehead and chest. I opened the lampshade to break the darkness in the four corners of my room. When I glanced at the time on my digital alarm clock it was only a quarter past 5 in the morning.

I let out a deep breath before I stood up from my bed. I felt thirsty so I decided to head to the kitchen.

Arriving in the kitchen, Mama Amelia was not there, she was probably still sleeping. It's still too early since she usually wakes up in the morning to cook breakfast later than 6.

With the glass in hand, I went to our fridge and quietly got some cold water that was just right to wake up my mind and body. I don't know if it's still necessary because a while ago my core woke up because of that dream that visited me. Again.

After drinking, I went straight to the veranda. I slowly opened the door and turned on the lights as the dawn was not enough to illuminate the surroundings.

I don't even know if I will be able to recover my sleep or not so I will just stay here to breathe fresh air in the early morning and to while away some time. After all, it's only a few hours before I have to get ready to go to school.

Silence.

Apart from the faint sound of the rubber wheels of the cars screeching on the highway not far from here, I don't hear any other noise near our house.

Wrapping myself in a rather thick robe, I sat down lightly on the Narra-made wooden handrail on the deck. I silently observed the surroundings, even the sky that was slowly waking up. The blue light of the dawn slowly washed away the dark traces in the sky left by the night.

In this silence that embraces me, I can't help but be terrified, especially when the nightmare that I wish every night would not visit me in my sleep but has been kept on disturbing me for three nights now comes back to my mind.

It all started that day, three days ago at the school's forestry.

I thought it was the end of me. I thought that everything I saw was real because everything was so realistic from the surroundings, the feeling it gave me, to the extreme nervousness and fear it left me with that I still carry.

*** Flashback ***

I'm just running, breathlessly and unceasingly. Beads of sweat kept on flowing down through my forehead as the cold disturbing stillness of the surroundings crept up to my wholeness, making my body more numb to run faster, away from the lethal chaser that was now aiming to take the breath out of me.

The surroundings were so dark that even the stars and the moon hid in fear of the arrival of my most loathed monster in this world. I have no companion in this nothingness but the shivering fear and dread that that monster has caused me.

I don't know where I am. I don't even know if it's still part of the school's forestry that I'm running because it seems like I've ended up in dense dark woods somewhere.

In a circumstance like this where you are running for your life, stopping or falling is the most unfortunate thing you don't want to happen and guess what...? That's exactly what happened to me.

Because of the darkness, it was so impossible for me to clearly see my way, so I was not surprised that one of the uprooted roots of the trees that I had been avoiding tripped me.

I tried to pick myself up from the ground with my bottom lip almost bleeding from the pressure of my bite just to restrain myself from moaning because of the pain that assailed me because of what happened.

I could feel the small cuts and scrapes on both of my palms and knees caused by my fall to the ground. But I forced myself to bear it as the pain I could suffer was much greater if the black werewolf that was chasing me caught me. And I am very sure of that!

When I got up, I was about to run again but my legs couldn't do it anymore as they seemed to have completely lost their strength because what I was running for earlier was now in front of me.

Horror crept in along with the gradual death of hope in me as I watched it slowly and deathly walk towards me, licking its razor-sharp bared teeth.

I could hardly breathe and move. It seemed that his bloody-red eyes were already absorbing my strength to fight even though it was not yet doing anything.

There's no proof but from what I can see, I'm sure this werewolf is excited and eager to take my heart just like their race did to my clan.

A few moments of silence. I could hear nothing but the heavy pounding on my chest in impending death. I just closed my eyes as my tears fell. I'm not crying because of what will happen to me, I'm crying because of all the sacrifices we went through, I'm also going to leave Mama Amelia without her even knowing.

And in the blink of an eye, its deafening howl broke the silence and finally decided to take away the few seconds left in me. It ran and pounced on me, fangs ready to devour me.

But a couple of seconds passed, and I didn't feel the pain I expected from its deadly canines digging into my skin, instead, I felt a small and quick peck on my forehead that pulled me to open my eyes and get up from lying down. Because of what I did, the little sparrow that was sitting on my forehead fluttered and flew away. Only then did I know that everything was just a nightmare. And then I remembered to breathe.

I can feel the coldness of my palms, the trembling of my body and the feeling of my heart rolling up to my throat. I feel like I'm going to throw up from being so fearful that I could almost die if it wasn't for the little sparrow that woke me up and now I also owe my life.

The fresh air blew along with the chirping of birds resting from the trees whose leaves were rustling because of the wind. When I lifted my face, I closed my eyes when a ray of sunlight that escaped from the forestry roof kissed my face and briefly dazzled me.

Feeling the warmth of the sun, the wind caressing my cheeks and hearing the chirping of the birds around has been a great help so that I can gradually recover from the overwhelming fear. When I was a little better, I took out my phone and checked the time.

12:54 p.m.

Just over an hour had passed since I came here to take a nap but what I experienced in that nightmare felt like my whole life. Even though I know it was just a bad dream, I still can't help but be afraid because what happened there has a high possibility of happening to me in reality when they finally find me.

***

I couldn't focus on the whole afternoon class because of what happened. I tried to forget it and throw it away when I left the forestry, but what it left behind was so heavy that even I could hardly lift it.

Mama Amelia also noticed how anxious and restless I was when I got home. She asked me if something happened or what my problem was but I was unable to answer her question truthfully.

Since day one in this world, Mama Amelia has strictly taught me that I must tell her all the things that concern me, but that night was the first time I didn't become honest with her.

I do not know. I also don't understand why I didn't include what happened in forestry in my answer to her. The only thing I told her that night was the quick healing of my wound and the first time my seal lighted which according to her was normal although she was also surprised at the speed of my regeneration process. However, according to her, if I don't feel anything strange and the seal stays on me, everything is fine. Maybe it's just because I'm getting older, my body is becoming more adapted to the existing abilities in my blood, she said. Apart from that, I totally hid the black werewolf chasing me in my dream.

For someone like her being a witch, dreams have a lot of meaning to reality but I'm trying to convince myself that they don't make sense. Maybe the big reason why I hid it and decided not to tell her is that I don't want to spoil Mama Amelia's happiness.

In my entire life, I have only seen Mama Amelia so happy in this place. I don't want to destroy that happiness, especially since she hopes that the "safe" place that we have been looking for for a long time would be here.

Whatever that dream was, with all of the negativity it left in me, maybe the only good thing it brought to me was to be more cautious and watchful around me. We haven't seen any werewolves in this place or even any race beyond normal human understanding, so I can say that we are still far from danger.

If the day comes when werewolves arrive here, we will leave this place in the blink of an eye, but for now, we will still stay here. Hoping for much longer.

Since that day, I've been visited by the same nightmare for three nights without missing a beat, but its impact on me is far compared to the first time I fell into it.

I can say that until now I still feel fear and apprehension when that nightmare visits my sleep but I just brace myself. I promised myself that I would never let that happen to me and always be prepared.

I didn't notice the passing of time in my deep and quiet solitude here on the veranda, if it wasn't for the "good morning, Mak" greeting of one of our good neighbors, I wouldn't have noticed that the surroundings were getting brighter as well as the sky because of the sun gradually rising to replace the moon which is now going back to sleep.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took one deep breath. I stood on my feet and once again hid all the things that were bothering me. When I entered the house, I saw Mama Amelia who had just woken up and was about to go to the kitchen but she noticed that I came from outside.

"Oh? You woke up early?" she asked, yawningly and groggily.

I nodded. "Hmm. I just woke up. I felt thirsty so I got up a while ago." I approached and kissed her cheek. She responded the same way.

"I'm going to cook our breakfast. Is there any specific food you want to eat? Tell me so I can cook it for you." She turned her back on me and walked towards the kitchen. I even heard the snapping of her finger and in an instant, all the lights in the house came to life.

I just shook my head while watching her from here in the living area preparing the kitchen for her another magical performance.

"Nothing, Ma. I'm just going back to my room to get ready," I just said to which she answered, "'Kay!" loudly and animatedly.

Another fresh new day has arrived and I wish that everything would be as normal as the people in this place. Whatever happened in the past few days, it will just stay in the corner of my mind and not let it affect me much again.