1-

Two days ago, I looked out my window and saw a living collage of animal, mechanical, and architectural pieces morphing and merging, towering like an oak. I couldn't tell where its head was, or if it even had one, but I could feel its hateful gaze.

A cacophonous wall of sound filled the air, reverberating inside my head. The colors surrounding me began to shift, objects blending into each other. With each inch closer the creature dragged itself to my window, reality twisted further.

Paralyzing fear gripped me, accompanied by a sense of utter hopelessness in the face of something that defied existence itself. The pain I felt as I stared at it etched itself deep in my memory.

In that horrendous chaos and the terror, I saw her.

Breaking through the unnatural darkness of the sky, she descended gracefully in front of the creature. In stark contrast to the madness that consumed us, her vibrant form remained untouched. With the grace of a ballerina, she evaded the creature's grotesque limbs, dismantling it with bolts of intense light that emanated from her bow.

Mesmerized by the bizarre spectacle, I found myself hypnotized by her fluid and elegant movements — a delicate dance set against the creature's frenzied convulsions. The fight ended abruptly when she unleashed a searing beam of light, causing the creature to crumble before my eyes, like a grotesque house of cards collapsing upon itself.

She stood triumphant as the world around us returned to normality. Finally, I could get a better look at her: She was young and slender, her form accentuated by a fitted bodice dress. Long white gloves enveloped her arms, extending from her wrists and complementing the delicate shades of pink in her attire. The fabric shimmered with a radiant glow, lending her an air reminiscent of both a ballerina and a fairy-tale princess.

Immobile throughout the entire battle, I felt weak and heavy, but I needed to see what else would happen. Opening the window, I met her gaze. I took in the gentle contours of her face, perfectly framed by her cherry-blossom hair. And then, she smiled.

When I woke up, I found myself sitting below my window, feeling surprisingly refreshed. My parents greeted the morning with radiant moods, but aside from that, everything seemed perfectly normal. Vivid memories of that dream lingered, the horror of the creature etched in my mind. But there was also the memory of her, her face, her confident and beautiful smile.

The food tray nearly slipped from my hands when I saw that same girl buying lunch at the school cafeteria.

There was a stark contrast between the plain school uniform and the strikingly vibrant attire she wore back then. Even her hair had changed drastically, no longer adorned by rose pigtails, but instead, plain jet-black bangs. Despite those changes, there was no mistaking that face.

Our eyes met. A part of me struggled to believe it, but the shared astonishment in our silent connection confirmed the truth. Her eyes moved across my face, and for a moment, the entire world faded away as I approached her, half expecting to wake up once more.

Standing before her, she seemed small and fragile. "I didn't know you studied here too," she murmured awkwardly.

My mind was racing with thoughts and questions, but there was only one thing I could say:

"Thank you."

Her stunned surprise melted into a warm, almost motherly smile. She clasped her hands in front of her.

"I'm glad you're okay," she replied.

Time seemed to stand still. I could have remained there forever, captivated by her prescence. But she shattered the enchantment, her gaze shifting away from mine, her face turning as red as a tomato.

"P-please take care from now on, alright?" she stammered before turning around and hurrying away, leaving me behind with the gawking crowd that had gathered around us. Half of our classmates' eyes followed her, the other half fixated on me.

The remainder of the day passed as any other, but within me, something had changed. Countless questions about her and the monstrous creature plagued my mind, yet in the end what I wanted to know most was her name.

School ended, and I slowly made my way to the exit, hoping I could see her again. The world felt strange and unfamiliar now. My classmates left in droves as the sun receded in the horizon covered by towering buildings. Beyond the school gates, people came and went, cars rushed by. My hopes of seeing her again, at least for today, grew dim. I sat down for a moment on a bench, wondering how many more living nightmares were hiding out there.

"Hey there!"

A soft, familiar voice broke through my thoughts. I turned to my right and was greeted by a pair of onyx eyes.

"H-hey!" I replied, my voice tinged with surprise.

"So... how are you feeling?" she asked, concern evident in her tone.

Seeing her so close now, so ordinary, I still felt as if I were trapped in a dream, uncertain of what was real. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about, you know..." I answered, struggling to find the right words.

Her eyes widened a bit, a blush coloring her cheeks. "If it's about what happened in the cafeteria,"  she began, her words stumbling over each other,  "I-I'm really sorry about that. I didn't mean to make it weird! I didn't know you studied here too, I never get to see people again after I save them, and-"

She stopped herself, realizing she had said too much. An awkward silence hung between us, and I seized the opportunity:

"What's your name?"

Her lips curved into a gentle smile. "I'm Hannah," she replied, her voice soft.  "Hannah Williams, and you?"

"I'm David Taylor. Thanks again for... everything."

Stretching out my hand, she gripped it momentarily before quickly letting go. We were getting a lot of curious gazes from passersby. She looked very uneasy, clearly not up for a talk in front of so many people. Normally, I would have been too nervous to say anything at all, but things were different now. I didn't even give myself the time to think of the "right words" or to consider if I was being pushy or not.

"Can I get your phone number?"

I said it loud enough to get some heads to turn. I could feel my own face turning red under the scrutiny of all those eyes. "To know more about what happened the other day, I mean-"

"Of course!" she said as she pulled out her phone from her bag, trying to get it done as fast as possible. "Give me your number, and I'll add you."

We stood up and walked towards the exit together, in total silence, looking straight ahead as if the other weren't there. I thought we'd have another chance to talk once we reached the exit, but three girls were already waiting for her.

"Well, well,but if it isn't the most popular girl at school!" teased a blonde girl with short hair, her tone playfully mocking.  "Who's the lucky guy,huh? I've never seen him before."

"Oh, you should have seen them in the cafeteria!"  chimed in another friend with long dark hair, "I had only seen such passion in TV dramas!"

Hannah's face flushed with embarrassment, "No, it's nothing like that!" she said, desperately attempting to stop their assumptions. I stood there, unsure of what to do, and let out a nervous laugh, hoping to diffuse the situation.

Her other friend in the group, a dark-haired girl with red glasses and braids, observed us silently, expressionless.

"W-well I should get going" I managed to force out of my throat, "It was nice meeting you, Hannah," I said with a polite smile.

She nodded, her eyes conveying a mixture of gratitude and apprehension. "Nice meeting you too, David. Take care."

"What, you're not even gonna introduce yourself?" the blonde continued teasing me as I walked away. I could hear their laughter, their attention now turned exclusively to Hannah.

I walked out of school and got to the bus stop. I took my phone out and realized she got my number but I didn't get hers. I didn't have much time to dwell on it, though.

A hand gently rested on my shoulder and I turned around: It was Hannah's silent friend, the one with the braids, "Hey, David right?" she said,  a small smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah... that's me" I said unsure of why she had followed me.

"I'm Emily," she replied. "Sorry about the girls, they  can be a handful."

"Yeah, don't worry about it" I replied, trying to downplay my embarrasment.

Emily chuckled softly, as if seeing through it. "Hey, I was wondering if you could come with me. I need to talk to you about Hannah, it's important."

Her attitude was rubbing me the wrong way, but I was curious about what she had to say. I didn't know how much she knew, but there was a certain mystery to her voice. We walked away from the bus stop in complete silence; I had no idea where we were going. Eventually, we found ourselves walking along a grassy riverbank with very few people around.

"It must be tough having the entire school spreading rumors about you and her, right?" Emily suddenly said. "Hanna's really clumsy when she tries to talk to people. Tends to say more than necessary."

I kept trying to pretend as if I didn't know exactly what she meant. "I didn't think anything about it. I just wanted to say thanks--"

"Thanks for what?" Emily interrupted and turned to face me, a smug knowing smile on her face. "I've never seen you guys talk before. You're not even in the same class. Have you two met before?"

"What are you getting at?" I asked, unable to keep pretending.

"She saved your life, David."

I stopped dead in my tracks. Emily dropped her smug little smile and looked at me with concern. "Wow, look at you. Really caught you by surprise, didn't I?"

"What is this?" I couldn't hide my annoyance any longer.

"David, I don't think you can even imagine what Hannah's gotten you into. She's terrible at keeping her mouth shut, but I want to think you're better at keeping a secret. Yeah?"

A heavy silence hung in the air as I absorbed Emily's words; a chill ran down my spine. It almost looked as if she were enjoying my discomfort. "No one can ever know about her secret. Not your friends, not your family. Just knowing about it could get dangerous very quickly. I just want you to understand where you're standing right now and how important it is that you keep quiet."

"It was never my intention to tell anyone," I mumbled, trying to keep my composure. "I don't even understand what's happening... I just want to know what that thing was."

"The monster that almost got to you the other day is attracted to extremely negative emotions. I'm just wondering, is everything alright with you? With your family?" Emily snapped at me.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Things definitely weren't alright back at home, but I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea that feelings had brought that thing into my home.

"It's a vicious cycle. Fear attracts them, for example. Since they attack while people sleep, most wake up believing they just had a bad dream and they move on with their lives, but now you know, David. Now you know that they are out there, and you'll have to somehow cope with it if you don't want to bring them back. That's what Hannah's gotten you into. Do you understand now?"

"Why are you telling me this?" I finally lost my temper, something that hadn't happened in a long time. "Who even are you? How do you know all of this? Don't you think it would be better if she told me herself exactly what the hell that thing was?"

"I needed to talk to you, and I need to talk to her first before you two get together again. She clearly still doesn't understand the rules of this game, and you? If you don't tread lightly, you're going to get your entire family killed."

The point had been driven home. There were a couple of blissful moments of silence. I looked at our distorted, elongated shadows on the river, wondering what to say, but then Emily began speaking again.

"Give me your phone number. You're into this now, so might as well."

I reluctantly gave her my number, and I got hers. She looked at me one more time, regarding me with condescension. I looked away into the shadows of the river.

"You've got a second shot at life, don't mess it up."

"Got it" I replied without turning to face her. Her shadow receded from the river.

I walked back to the bus stop and got on the bus home. A horrible, dreadful feeling consumed me as I thought about Emily's words. I still wanted to get to the bottom of things, but I felt hopelessly lost, doomed.

I took my phone out to check the time, and I saw a message.

"Hey David. It's Hannah :) Let's have lunch tomorrow," she had sent the message nearly half an hour ago.

"Hey Hannah. Sure." I sent the message, wondering if I should say anything else, then I received a reply.

"Have a good night :D"

My mind was torn between deep anxiety and the excitement of knowing that I'd see her tomorrow.