She turned off the television and headed to her room.
Slipping under the sheets, she closed her eyes. Sleep came swiftly, like a fog rolling in over a tired mind.
She slept through the entire day, until evening fell.
Then—
DING-DONG!
The doorbell rang.
Emily was too deep in sleep.
DING-DONG!
DING-DONG!
The bell rang twice more, snapping Emily from her dream.
"A-a-a..."
She woke up, yawning.
Stretching lazily, she rose from bed. The bell rang again.
DING-DONG!
"Coming!"she shouted groggily, stumbling toward the door.
Peeking through the peephole, she saw—it was John.
A little smile touched Emily's face. She opened the door.
John looked completely exhausted. The moment he stepped inside, he slumped onto the nearest chair.
Emily, too excited to hold back, opened her mouth.
"Da—"
But John cut her off.
"Can you bring me a glass of water?"
He already knew what she was going to ask and was teasing her. And, truthfully, he was parched.
Emily sighed dramatically and stormed off to the kitchen, grabbing the glass like it was about to explode.
She filled it with water, came back quickly, and handed it to him.
John smiled inwardly. He took the glass and downed it in three big gulps, then placed it on the table.
Emily couldn't contain her curiosity anymore.
"Dad... did you buy the tickets?"
John pulled out his phone, tapped a few times, and handed it to her.
Emily's face lit up like a lamp. The ticket was on the screen.
"You're the best!" she shouted, hugging him tightly.
John hugged her back with a smile.
When they pulled apart, Emily stepped back and grinned.
"I can't wait for tomorrow!"
John chuckled.
"I'm tired. I'll be heading to sleep. Wake me up early tomorrow—I'll book the taxi, and we'll head out."
"As you order, captain!"Emily saluted.
John laughed softly and made his way upstairs, entering a room next to Emily's.
He flipped on the lights.The first thing he saw was aphoto—framedandstanding tall.
In the picture stood asmiling womannext to John.
It was Emily'smother.She had died giving birth to Emily.
John had never told Emily the full truth about her mother's death.
Since that day, he had tried his best to fill the void, to give Emily all the love and warmth he could—but deep down, he knew a mother's love could never truly be replaced.
He walked over, picked up the picture, and stared at it silently for a while.
Then, gently, he placed it back and turned off the lights.
He collapsed onto the bed like a fallen log.
Sleep wrapped him in silence—until something cold yanked him out.
He wasn't in his room.
He was somewhere else—somewhere that looked like Eden, but felt different.
A group of monsters were attacking a bunch of students.
The area looked like a wide, cave-like tunnel that shifted into a massive camp.
In the middle of it all was a boy.
He wasn't like the others.
He rushed out of a room, crushing monsters with bare hands. His movements were violent, raw, monstrous.
To John, he looked like the real monster.
One of the creatures was flung toward John.
He flinched—
—but it passed through him like smoke.
The boy paused and looked directly where John stood.
"Is someone there?"he asked, his voice wary.
John turned. There was no one behind him. Just an empty field.
The boy could feel him—but couldn't see him.
John was just about to respond when—
"Gra-aah!"
A massive, muscular monster charged the boy from the side.
John watched in awe as the boy fought back—not just surviving, but dominating.
At moments, he even seemed stronger than the beast.
John opened his mouth again to speak—
Time froze.
Everything stopped.
A shadowy figure appeared in front of John, radiating power.
"You shouldn't be here," it said in a deep, commanding voice.
Suddenly, John felt something tearing through his chest.
"AHHHH!"
He screamed and woke up.
It was all a dream.
Or was it?
THUD-THUD!
A knock came at the door.