Chapter 3: Shards of a Nightmare

Mia jolted awake, her chest heaving as the remnants of her dream faded into the dim light of the apartment. Sweat clung to her skin, and her breathing was shallow, as though she'd been running for her life. She sat up, clutching the blanket close, and tried to steady herself. The dream was already slipping away, like smoke through her fingers, but the raw feeling of fear clung to her.

In the dream, she had been standing somewhere vast and empty. The ground beneath her cracked and splintered, glowing red like molten glass. The sky above wasn't a sky at all but a swirling, chaotic void that seemed to pull everything upward. And then… an explosion, blinding and deafening, as the entire world fractured like a mirror being smashed.

She ran a hand through her hair, trying to shake the image loose. "It was just a dream," she muttered to herself, glancing over at the clock on her nightstand. 4:12 a.m. The quiet hum of the apartment did little to soothe her, and she could still feel the phantom tremor of the explosion rattling her bones.

Sliding out of bed, she padded softly to the kitchen, her bare feet cool against the hardwood floor. She poured herself a glass of water, leaning against the counter as she sipped. The faint glow of the city lights filtered through the blinds, casting stripes across the walls. The stillness of the apartment usually comforted her, but tonight, it felt suffocating, as if the silence was watching her.

She shook her head, trying to laugh at herself. "It's just because of that stupid movie," she whispered, setting the glass down. "All that over-the-top destruction nonsense. It got in my head."

But even as she said it, she couldn't fully believe it. The dream had felt so visceral, so real. She closed her eyes, willing the images to fade, but they clung stubbornly to the edges of her mind. The ground cracking, the sky imploding, the overwhelming sense of helplessness.

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Morning came too quickly. Ryan was already up, humming softly to himself in the kitchen as he prepared coffee. Mia dragged herself out of bed, still feeling the weight of her restless night. She forced a smile as she joined him, taking the mug he handed her.

"Rough night?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mia shrugged, taking a sip of the coffee. "Just a bad dream. Probably from that movie we watched. You know how overdramatic they make those things."

Ryan chuckled, leaning against the counter. "Yeah, Hollywood loves blowing things up. You okay now?"

"Yeah," she said quickly, brushing it off. "It's nothing."

But as they went about their morning routine, Mia couldn't shake the unease that lingered. She found herself glancing at the apartment's little details, as if expecting something to be out of place. The cracks in the ceiling, the faint hum of the old refrigerator, even the plants by the window—everything seemed sharper, more vivid, as though the dream had altered how she saw the world.

Later that day, she busied herself with errands and work, trying to bury the lingering dread beneath a pile of tasks. But when evening came, and the apartment was quiet again, the unease returned.

As she sat on the couch, flipping through the small stack of DVDs they kept on the shelf, she hesitated when she reached the movie from a few nights ago. The case felt heavier in her hands, the glossy cover reflecting the dim light. She turned it over to read the description on the back, and her stomach tightened.

Beneath the bold text summarizing the plot, there was an image she hadn't noticed before—a blown-up Earth, jagged pieces of the planet floating in a void of black and red. Above it, in small, almost imperceptible text, were the words: "Do you really have time, or is it already gone?"

Mia stared at the case for a long moment, her pulse quickening. It felt like the dream had reached out of her subconscious, planting itself into reality. Shaking her head, she put the DVD back on the shelf and stood up.

"It's just a coincidence," she said firmly, as though trying to convince herself. "Just leftover thoughts from the movie."

But as she turned off the lights and headed to bed, the weight of the words stayed with her, lingering like a shadow in the corners of her mind.