Through the corner of her eye, Celia thought she could see a man standing outside the window, but when she turned to look at him there was nothing. Strange, she thought, as the memory kept playing, the others not taking note of her distraction.
“Yesssssss,” James called, making grabby hands towards Gemma, who groaned. “You’re very welcome to stay at my hotel, Gemma, but not without paying”, he said. As Celia stared at the window, she could have sworn she saw something, someone, there. This wasn’t part of the original memory.
The voices faded as she stepped away from the game, leaving a distorted version of herself in the memory. She looked back at her friends before opening the door, leaving the memory behind.
Celia stepped out into darkness, determined to find out who was visiting her dreams. She found herself floating, realizing she was submerged in water when she tried to breathe, instead filling her mouth and lungs with saltwater. Celia felt the panic rising in her chest and looked around for a light to guide her to the surface.
A hand grabbed her arm, Celia struggled against it until it pulled her out of the water onto sharp rocks. Celia coughed, struggling to find her breath. Two hands reached out to steady her.
Celia found herself facing an unfamiliar man. His face was grim, Celia thought he somehow looked young and ancient at the same time. This is new, she thought. She couldn’t remember having dreamt about the man before.
“You don’t know me yet”, he said, as if reading her thoughts.
“Who are you?”, she asked.
“You have something of mine”, he said instead of answering her question. Celia didn’t feel very charitable towards someone who wouldn’t even introduce himself. The man didn’t get a chance to elaborate before a large wave crashed against them. The man pulled Celia into a cave, saving her from being pulled back into the waves. Celia started as she noticed there were doors in the cave walls.
“Who are you?”, Celia asked again, turning back to the man. She crossed her arms over her chest, flinching when she accidentally touched where she had scraped her arms against the sharp rocks.
“I have many names, Celia”, the man said, exasperated. “You’re in my realm now”, he continued. “Presently I can only travel through dreams – I need my ring back”.
Celia looked at him in confusion. “What ring? Why would I have your ring?”, she started. “What the hell are you talking about – your realm?”, she continued, realizing what he had said. “What- What does that even mean?!”, Celia questioned.
The man took a step towards her, and she stepped back. She turned around to look at the doors lining the cave. There were twelve doors, in total. The one closest to her was mahogany, with a stained-glass window.
“You’re not listening”, the man said, agitated. Celia reached for the doorhandle on the mahogany door. “Not that one”, he said then. Celia turned to look at him, curious. She didn’t bother asking why not, instead opting to open the next one, a plain wooden door painted green. Her favorite shade of green, in fact.
Celia woke up in her bed, wet, lungs still aching from the lack of oxygen, scrape marks on her arms and legs. Dreams didn’t leave physical marks.
Celia leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes, taking slow breaths. The next time she woke up her hair was dry and breathing felt like normal, but she still had strange scrape marks.
