*Author here—please drop your comments, reviews and power stones, my second novel yet so please your support is needed. Enjoy the chapter*
"I think I need to… lie down for a sec…" Julie muttered as she staggered into the house.
"Julie!" a feminine voice called from inside.
"Julie!!" — louder this time, but she didn't answer.
"JULIET!!!"
The roar shook her back to reality.
"…y-yes," she finally responded, barely audible as she sank onto her bed. Her mind was still shattered after the overwhelming flood of emotions.
Heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway until the owner of the voice appeared in the doorway.
"Juliet, no be you I dey call since?!"
A tall woman in her thirties stood there — sharp stance, sharp voice, sharp eyes.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't—"
"You go always get excuse," she hissed, cutting her off immediately. Her brows knotted in disdain. "Abeg take this list — go buy wetin we go cook this evening."
"Please, can I just—"
"E be like say you no wan chop this night, abi?" the woman scoffed again. "Common go buy something for market — osiso!!"
(If I didn't already know, I'd have wondered if she was really my mother…)
Julie thought as the woman turned and walked away.
In the dream world, Julie had been constantly mistreated by her "mother" — so much that she doubted whether the woman was even related to her. Later, she discovered the truth: she wasn't her mother at all… just her eldest sister pretending to be.
Julie sat motionless long after the door shut. Her eyes were slightly red, sweat dampened her skin, and her voice had shrunk to almost nothing. Anyone attentive would've noticed that something was seriously wrong.
But the woman didn't notice. She didn't care. She sent her out anyway.
Because no real mother would send her daughter out in that condition.
It only confirmed the truth — she never saw Julie as family.
Minutes later, Julie approached the market. The dizziness had faded, her steps steady.
"Was what I felt earlier… just a hallucination?" she whispered to herself, the dry sand crunching under her slippers.
"…no. It was way too real."
She walked toward the entrance.
(Maybe it was just a one-time thing. It won't happen aga—)
The moment she stepped inside, it erupted again.
She felt everything.
Boiling rage.
Spine-chilling fear.
Heart-shattering sorrow.
A sudden burst of happiness.
Unwanted desire.
Guilt.
And beneath it all — a suffocating, unbearable loneliness.
"Argh!" she screamed, stumbling as the agony exploded behind her eyes.
This time was worse — a thousand times worse.
The emotions of thousands of people in the market crashed into her all at once — each with their own storms, grudges, grief, secrets, and anger — and she felt every single one of them.
"Please… stop…" she gasped, barely breathing.
"MAKE IT STOP!!!" she screamed, both hands locked against her skull as if trying to silence the noise.
People froze. Some rushed toward her. Others stared in confusion and worry.
But the closer they came, the louder the chaos inside her mind grew.
The screaming emotions collided and multiplied — until Julie's strength simply snapped.
Her knees buckled. She collapsed to the ground. Her eyes rolled back.
Everything went dark.
She fainted instantly.
---
Meanwhile, in Anambra — at Kevin's house.
"Kevin… Kevin!" a voice echoed as his consciousness slowly returned.
"Idiot, I said wake up!" the voice snapped — followed by a sharp smack to the head.
"Ahh! That hurts, sis!" he groaned, jolting upright. Standing over him was the culprit — Sonia, his immediate elder sister.
"See this one, Mister Body Builder," she said sarcastically. "Your mates go do exercise finish, enter house go baff and chop. But you — pfft!" she laughed.
"You just fainted like a sick lady — hahaha!!"
Kevin didn't reply.
He barely heard her.
He was still frozen by what he had just experienced — or rather, what he had just seen.
(…what was that? Was my mind playing tricks on me? Why did I see Nazy like that… crying?)
His eyes stared into nothing.
"Mister muscles, am I not talking to you?" Sonia asked. She paused, waiting for a reaction — nothing. "Ugh! Whatever. Mummy said food is ready. If you like don't come — I will finish your own."
She turned, heading toward the corridor exit.
Then it hit him again — not like before, but sharp and precise.
"...mmmh!" Kevin groaned, clenching his eyes in pain — a single vision burning through his mind.
"Sis! Please stop!" he shouted suddenly.
Sonia halted and turned lazily. "What is it? Oh, so now you feel like talking to—"
"Something is going to fall on you if you pass there right now."
Kevin cut in — voice steady, absolute.
She stared at him. Then sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"You know what? I don't even have your time today."
She turned and walked toward the exit anyway.
"Sis! STOP!!!" Kevin screamed — louder and more desperate than ever.
She froze — her foot just inches away from stepping outside.
"What is your pr—"
CRASH!!!
A massive wine bottle plummeted from the floor above, smashing exactly where Sonia had been about to walk. Shards scattered across the concrete. The shock of what could've happened sent her heart sprinting.
She slowly turned to Kevin.
"How did you—"
"I don't know. I just… knew."
His voice trembled — fear, confusion, disbelief.
Sonia stared at him in silence for several seconds.
He looked just as terrified as she was.
"…thank you," she murmured before walking away.
But her mind wouldn't rest:
(What just happened?… Is he some kind of prophet?)
"Haa…" Kevin exhaled, collapsing on the bench.
"Did I just… see the future?"
"It was just like before… but this one felt less painful than the other one."
(…I've got this feeling that it has something to do with the Dream.)
He held his head in both hands.
(Whatever it is… I hope it doesn't repe—)
"AHHH!" Kevin screamed.
As if cursed, the vision struck again — painful but steadier.
Nazy sat on the floor, back against a wall, school uniform torn and stained, her body bruised.
[ "All because of him…now my friends are... " she sobbed bitterly .]
"…Nazy?! Why? What happened to you?" he gasped.
The vision snapped, throwing him back to reality.
He breathed heavily — but he didn't collapse.
His mind was already starting to adapt.
And then the fear set in.
(…these things that keep happening… they're all connected to that dream. One thing I know for sure is—)
It wasn't just a dream.
-To Be Continued.