Chapter 9 – The Dream That Wasn't a Dream
"In your dreams?" I repeated.
She didn't answer.
Just looked at the rain-soaked street, her eyes distant… almost lost in another world.
"Explain," I demanded, stepping closer.
Aika's hands trembled slightly. "You were standing in a field. The sky was blood-red. There were… broken towers, floating ruins… like something from a fantasy world. You weren't wearing this—" she glanced at my uniform, "—you looked different. Stronger. Dangerous."
My breath stopped.
That wasn't a dream.
That was home.
The Vampire Realm.
"Tell me more," I said sharply.
She flinched but continued.
"You stood alone. Your eyes glowed red. And around you… shadows. Creatures. Like they were following you. But not because they were forced. Because they feared you."
"Every time I have that dream," she whispered, "I wake up… crying."
My heart pounded.
Not because of fear.
But because…
How?
How could she see a world no mortal should ever know?
Unless—
No. That's impossible.
I turned away from her.
The rain had stopped, but my mind was a storm.
If she truly saw my realm, if she somehow connected to it… then there was only one explanation.
Someone—or something—was opening a gate.
And Aika?
She might be the key.
Or the bait.
That night, I couldn't sleep.
Her voice echoed in my head again and again.
"I've seen you before."
"In my dreams."
She didn't just carry negative energy.
She carried a connection.
A link to something bigger.
Was she chosen?
Marked?
Cursed?
I didn't know.
But I had to find out.
Because if someone from my realm was reaching through her dreams—
That meant they knew where I was.
And they were coming.
The next morning, I arrived early.
Too early.
Students hadn't even started pouring in yet. But she was there—sitting alone by the window in the classroom.
Aika.
She looked tired. Like she hadn't slept either.
"You saw it again, didn't you?" I asked as I approached her.
She didn't look at me. "Yes… but this time, it was worse."
"…Worse how?"
"There was blood. A crown in your hand. And bodies… so many. But you—" she finally turned to face me. "You weren't sad. You looked… empty."
I froze.
Because that wasn't a dream either.
That was my past.
Before I was summoned here.
Before I lost everything.
The crown.
The war.
The betrayal.
She wasn't dreaming.
She was remembering.
She might be the key.
Or the bait.