Hah...
Wh-t... was that..?
Cold sweat trickled down my back as I straightened my spine.
My hand trembled slightly, as two beads of sweat slid down my forehead.
Haa... was it... a dream?
I could feel my heartbeat slowly steadying.
I lifted my feet, then slowly lowered them to the floor.
The cool floor bit at my bare soles. My legs still felt weak and wobbly, each step slow and careful as I shuffled toward the kitchen.
My trembling fingers fumbled for a glass on the counter, nearly sending it clattering to the floor before I got a firm grip. I twisted the tap, cold water rushing in until it lapped at the rim.
I pressed the glass to my lips and drank greedily. The icy liquid slid down my parched throat, sharp and grounding, and I let out a long, shaky sigh as I lowered it.
A stray drop ran down my jaw, mixing with the faint sweat still clinging to my skin.
I leaned back against the counter, pressing the cool side of the glass to my hot forehead, and tried to steady my breathing again.
"It was just a dream.. Hah.. I should go back. I still have work tomorrow."
I couldn't help but let out a weak, breathless huff of self-deprecating laughter at how skittish I'd become.
Pushing off the cool edge of the counter and setting the glass down in the sink with a soft, hollow clink.
I turned and made my way back to the bedroom, my steps far steadier now.
The moment I reached the bed, I pulled back the blanket and sank back onto the mattress.
I pulled the blanket up to my chest, tucking the edges snug around my shoulders.
The sheets still held a faint coolness where I'd kicked them off earlier, soft and familiar against my skin.
I reached out to tap my phone on the nightstand, double-checking my alarm was set properly for work, then let my hand fall limply back onto the pillow.
The distant rumble of a late car passing down the street; It was just really a stupid, too vivid nightmare.
With that thought, the last faint tightness in my chest melted away completely.
My eyelids grew heavy, my breathing slowed to a soft, even rhythm, and before long I drifted off again.
...
"Captain!"
A desperate, booming shout bursts right where my back should be.
"Snap out of it, Captain!!"
A second roar tears through the air right behind me.
It's like I'm floating three feet above and behind my own shoulders-watching everything play out in third person, but every thud of my heart, every cold prickle on my skin is still mine.
I have no idea what's happening, but the body that is mine moves entirely on its own.
I watch a combat knife rest heavy in my left hand, a loaded handgun firm in my right.
I see myself slice clean through the grotesque, warped human figure lurching forward, then fire point-blank into its skull.
Then it's warm, thick blood splatters across the cheek of the face that is mine, but my body never slows.
I watch myself duck, slash, pivot, fire; every motion sharp, practiced, like I've drilled them a thousand times.
With every strike the body that belongs to me makes, another twisted form crumples, then another.
I can barely make sense of what's unfolding in front of my hazy gaze, when another frantic yell cuts through the noise.
"Captain!! We're surrounded! We can't hold out much longer... we have to retreat!"
The words barely register to the part of me that's watching, but the mouth on my own face is already moving, barking orders sharp and steady before I can even wrap my head around them.
"Fall back! Cover fire, move for the east exit, now!"
After the words leave my lips, the body that is mine takes over once more, slashing clean through the horde.
My head is a complete mess, floating loose and useless, but my limbs never falter.
I watch myself fall back step by step at the rear of the group, covering every gap in their formation; my knife bites clean through flesh, one warped figure after another crumpling before the feet that are mine.
Then...
> How about it, I was still polishing and making new chapter so the day I release no mishap or any problem would arose.
I was reviewing things repeatedly, I don't have any assistant so I do everything myself.
This is just half of the Prologue version, The Dream.