Chapter 3

Katelyn's POV

I continued walking in this small kitchen in our old house where I grew up with my parents. I don’t know why I am here or how I got here, but seeing this familiar place makes me remember my memories with my mother.

While walking around the kitchen, I noticed that I was only wearing a plain white silk dress that reached the top of my knee. I also noticed that I was not wearing any footwear, my long hair was neatly loose, and I could feel that I was not wearing anything else except this white silk dress.

“Why am I here?” I asked myself as I continued to walk in this dark kitchen. Then, I noticed a red light coming from the second floor of our house, so I followed the light, hoping to find any answers as to why am I in this old house of ours.

I carefully stepped on the stairs as I walked my way upstairs, and with every step I took, a memory of my mother when I was still young flashed through my mind.

The same thing happened until I finally reached the second floor, where the red light was coming, and when I stood in front of the door where the light leaked out, I noticed that it was my old bedroom, so I slowly opened the door and saw the inside. It looks the same as when I left this house—the same old bed in the simple bedroom with some simple cabinets inside.

I couldn’t understand why, but it felt like something was pushing me to lie on my old bed, so I did. I placed my body on the soft mattress and laid my head on the soft pillow, and as soon as I did that, I felt something strange in my body as it felt heavier and more tired than before.

I tried to look around the room, and when I looked at the door, my forehead creased as I saw a shadow standing at the door while staring straight at me. Then, the shadow started walking slowly toward me, and fear crept inside my body. Nevertheless, I did not get up from bed. It’s because I also wanted to see the face behind this shadow that I have been seeing in my dreams for a long time.

“Who are you?” I asked sternly as if I did not fear the shadow at all. It continued to walk toward my bed, and as it got closer to me, I finally saw the body of the shadow.

The shadow has the body of a man. He’s only wearing black pants. He also has a well-built body, and I can clearly see his perfectly sculpted six-pack of abs displayed right in front of me. But what caught my attention the most was his black tattoo from his right shoulder down to his hand. My eyes went straight to his face. However, even though he was already standing next to me, I could not see his face clearly.

“Who are you? Why do you keep showing up in my dreams?” I asked him again, and at that exact moment, I also realized that I was in my dream again. That’s probably why I’m here now at our old house.

“I knew it. You are a lucid dreamer,” he said, making me wonder. Then, he slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, just beside me, and reached out his left hand for my chin as his thumb caressed my left cheek.

“Aren’t you afraid of me?” he asked while I tried my best to see his face clearly since he was sitting just beside me, but it seemed like something was blocking his face from my eyes, making his face look blurred and dark.

“I said, who are you!? What are you doing in my mind? Where did you come from? Are you an effect of my trauma?” I asked him one question after another even though I sounded and look crazy now since I was talking to someone or something, and I do not even know if it was real or not.

“Hahaha, you guess,” he replied, and I could feel from his words that he was smirking at me right now, even though I could not see his face. Then, suddenly, I felt his hand slowly descending to my left shoulder and arm.

“I’ll ask you again. Aren’t you afraid of me? After all, I am also a man,” he questioned again, and that is when I realized he was right.

How come I am not afraid of him? Was it because I knew this was just a dream, and I am just inside my own dream right now? Or was it because I still could not see this man’s face? I asked myself, but I still could not find an answer to that question.

“I-I don’t know,” I answered in a whisper. Then, I felt his right hand slowly moving its way behind my back, and he placed his hand on my waist, pulling me closer to him.

“Just a few more days, and you will be mine, Katelyn,” he uttered, and I don’t know why, but my body suddenly felt heavy and groggy as my body temperature increased as if I was burning from the inside.

“I will finally have you,” he whispered, using his sweet yet seductive voice that was unfamiliar to me. And for the first time, I felt a man’s hand roaming around my body without complaint from me. I don’t know why, but I can’t complain about his touches. All I am feeling right now is intense heat every time his skin touches mine, especially in those private areas of my body.

His touches feel like burning torches touching my cold skin, making my body melt in his hands, sending a wave of an unfamiliar sensation that fills my head, hypnotizing me to ask for more.

What is this? Why am I not complaining as he touches my body as if he was memorizing each corner of it? Why can’t I refuse his warmth? I asked myself, but even I could not answer those questions in my head.

“I have to go now before I eat you whole. I have to stop for now, or else my plan will be ruined,” he whispered, but I could not understand a single word from him since I was still in a trance of an extremely hot yet good feeling, especially down there. As if he left a spell all over my body that will only seek his touches for the rest of my life.

Then, he let go of me and kissed my forehead, whispering again.

“Good night, Katelyn,” his sweet voice lingers in my ears as he steps back into the darkness. Then, as I closed my eyes in my dream, my eyes completely opened when I woke up. My breathing was heavy, and I could still feel that man’s hand from my dream all over my body. Then, I looked around my room, searching for that man in my dream, but I found no one. Not even a trace of his shadow was found in any corner of my room.

“What was that? Why does it feel so real?” I muttered as I felt my heart beating so fast. I looked around the room again as I felt like someone else with me in this room just a few moments ago, and it felt like I was really talking to that man from my dream.

I swallowed hard to calm myself down. Then, I checked my body by touching the areas where I could still feel the heat from that man’s touches, and my eyes were stuck between my legs. I took a deep breath before checking myself there as well by sneaking my right hand under the blanket and then into my underwear. As soon as I inserted my fingers down there, I was shocked when I noticed that I was so wet.

“What the— wet dreams?” I asked myself in a whisper as soon as I pulled out my hand from down there and saw the white sticky liquid in my fingers.

“Seriously, Katelyn? Twenty-five years of existence, and now you have a wet dream?” I stupidly and unbelievably asked myself.

Stupid, Katelyn. How can you be so wet just because of some sexy and hot man with a badass tattoo and a blurred face from a dream? Are you really that curious about sex life? I thought to myself as I shook my head in disbelief.

I looked outside the window and saw that the sun was almost out, so I decided to fix and clean myself instead of going back to sleep. I stepped down from my bed and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

After cleaning up the kitchen and having breakfast, I jogged my way back to my bedroom and grabbed my toiletries before I went into my bathroom to take a cold bath so that I could wash away the thoughts of the hotness that I am still feeling after having that sensual dream.

Well, due to my trauma and fear, I am not sure if I will be able to have any experiences concerning my sex life. And it looks like I will only have that kind of experience in my dreams, and sadly, the man in my dream does not even have a face—poor me.

“This is so frustrating! I thought I could avoid thinking about those kinds of dirty thoughts! But I guess it was my body and mind already seeking any experience about that, huh,” I whispered to myself as I washed my hair with my shampoo.

After taking a bath, I changed into a simple white polo and paired it with a black pencil skirt. Then, I moved to my vanity table beside my bedroom window and put my long hair into a ponytail. After I neatly tied up my hair, I put light makeup on my face to make myself look presentable.

When I finished preparing myself, I stood up from the chair in front of the vanity table and checked the weather outside the window to ensure that there were no rain clouds in the sky and that there was no sign of possible rain. But then, I suddenly noticed that the dream catcher I hung up beside my window was gone, so I quickly checked on the ground floor by looking outside my window to see if ever the dream catcher had fallen on the ground, but I found nothing. I also searched all around my room but still couldn’t find it.

“Don’t tell me it fell yesterday when I forgot to close my window?” I sighed and decided to grab my bag for work, and walked out of my room.

I went down to the ground floor, and luckily, I saw my landlady in this small building that I was living in; she was sweeping the front yard, so I immediately approached her and asked her if she saw my dream catcher that fell from my bedroom.

“Good morning, Mrs. Lim,” I greeted her first, and she quickly greeted me back.

“Good morning to you too, Ms. Hernandez. You’re leaving already? Isn’t it too early to go to school yet?” She asked curiously, and I just gave her an awkward laugh before responding.

“Ah, hahaha, I still have some important things to do in school, that’s why,” I lied since I couldn’t really tell her the truth that I woke up earlier than before just because I had a wet dream last night.

“Ah, I want to ask if you saw a dream catcher yesterday. It’s a brown dream catcher with some beads and feathers,” I asked the landlady, and she looked around.

“Ah! Yes, I saw one yesterday. Was that yours? I’m sorry, but I already threw it away when I swept it up yesterday morning. Since I noticed that the string was worn out,” she answered, which confused me.

Worn out? How come? I mean, it has only been hanging on that window for a long time. Besides, that dream catcher has been with me since I was young and has never been broken. Was it really because it was that old?

“I see. Thank you, Mrs. Lim. I’ll go ahead now,” I replied, and she just nodded her head as I went to my car parked in the parking lot of this building.

My mind was occupied by the dream catcher the whole time I was driving to school and while working in class. That dream catcher was not just a simple matter to me since it was a gift from my mother. That’s why I handled it with care and importance. But now that it was broken and gone, I can’t stop myself from feeling down and sad for losing it.

“Are you alright, Katelyn? I noticed that you have been in deep thought since this morning. Is everything alright?” Aimee asked me while the two of us were waiting for our break time to end.

“I feel like today is a bad day for me. First, I did not get enough sleep. Then, I lost something important to me,” I answered her and sighed sadly as I recalled my dream catcher.

“Yes, I can see the tiredness on your face. Do you want to go home for now and rest?” Aimee worriedly asked as she looked at me, but I just shook my head as an answer and gave her a small smile. Then, the bell rang, and we both went back to work.

When afternoon came, I thought I would have a normal and simple way of ending this day at work, but something strange happened to me after I went to the grocery store.

As soon as I went out of the grocery shop, having finished purchasing food supplies and stocks for my own use for the next few days after forgetting to do so the day before, I planned on driving my way straight to my house so I could rest earlier, but then someone called my attention, and when I turned to the direction where the voice was coming from, I saw an older woman sitting on the sidewalk just near the grocery store’s parking lot. I saw her sitting behind a table with different kinds of handmade accessories and some other charms.

“Miss, wait!” the old lady called again, and since I did not want to be rude to her, I decided to put my groceries in the trunk of my car first before approaching her.

“Yes, grandma? Do you need anything from me?” I asked her even though I had a feeling that she only called me to sell her charms and accessories.

“Is there a man snooping around you lately?” She asked while staring straight at me, which made me wonder, but I immediately shook my head as a no to answer her question. But she’s still staring at me with full seriousness, which is slightly creepy.

“Are you sure? Because I can feel that your life will be more burdened once he entered your dream,” when the old lady said those words, I could not stop myself from taking a step away from her as intense fear surged into my body, making my heart beat so fast.

How did she know that there was a man in my dreams!?

“You have to be careful, Miss. That man is not an ordinary man; once he takes a liking to you, he will do everything to have you all to himself. You will not be able to get away from his grasp anymore until you’re left with nothing,” the old woman warned me, but I quickly shook my head and brushed her words aside by turning my back on her.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said and strode back to my car while hugging myself to stop myself from trembling.

“Be careful, Miss! You need protection against that man! Here! I will give you a twenty percent discount if you purchase these charms! It’s very effective!” The old woman yelled as I kept walking away.

I knew it. She was saying those words to sell her items to me! I shook my head in disbelief. Then, I quickly opened my car, stepped inside, and drove to my house.

But even though I am already far from that older woman, her words still echo in my mind, and those words of hers are even the same as what was disturbing me today.

“Was it just a coincidence?” I asked myself while thinking of the older woman’s words and the man from my dream.