Chapter 1908: A Nightmare That Felt Real

"HOLY SHIT!"

Lackey shot backwards so violently that he nearly lost his balance. His heart seemed to stop for several seconds before suddenly pounding against his chest as he stared at Lily’s opened eyes.

For a few moments, he simply stood there, completely frozen, and his eyes wide with disbelief.

Lily did not move.

She simply stared upward with her lifeless eyes, the faint reflection of the stars still visible within them.

"Lily?" Lackey called cautiously.

There was no answer.

He slowly approached her again, his expression becoming increasingly confused. After hesitating for a moment, he carefully raised his hand and gently closed her eyes.

Her eyelids shut immediately, just as they would on a dead body.

Lackey released a long sigh, placing one hand against his chest as his heartbeat gradually settled.

"Sigh... Must be a muscle reflex," he muttered, remembering that even after death, certain muscles could still contract or produce involuntary movements.

However...

Clck!

Her eyes suddenly flung open again.

"..."

Lackey’s face became completely blank.

For several seconds, he stared at her as though his mind had simply stopped functioning.

He then crouched down and checked her pulse, just to be absolutely certain.

Nothing.

Her body was completely lifeless.

"Yeah... you definitely died," he muttered, staring at her with an increasingly uncomfortable expression.

He decided that it must still be some strange muscle reflex. There was no point in allowing himself to overthink something he could not explain.

Without hesitation, he began pushing the soil back into the grave.

Shhh... shhh... shhh...

The sand and earth slowly covered her body layer by layer.

Her hands disappeared first.

Then her shoulders.

Then the rest of her body.

Even as the soil reached her face, her lifeless eyes remained open, reflecting the countless stars scattered across the night sky.

Then the earth covered them as well.

Once Lackey had completely filled the grave, he remained standing over it.

For a while, he simply stared at the freshly disturbed ground.

His expression became slightly lost, as though some part of him had remained behind with the person he had just buried.

The wind gently passed over his face.

Ssshhh~

Lackey slowly raised a hand and brushed his hair back as the breeze moved through it.

"I wish... I could have protected you better," he murmured.

His voice carried no anger.

Only disappointment.

Disappointment in himself.

Shaking his head quietly before turning around.

His shoulders seemed slightly heavier than before as he began walking away from the grave, his footsteps slow and burdened by thoughts he could not escape.

Ssshhh~

The small tree beside the newly filled grave gently fluttered in the night breeze.

Then...

Something moved beneath the earth.

A thin white whisker slowly emerged from the ground.

It slithered upward with an eerie, glowing light surrounding its body.

For a moment, it hovered above the grave.

Then the strange white whisker suddenly shot toward the sky.

It moved with incredible speed, streaking through the darkness like a shooting star.

It passed through thousands of towering buildings, crossed streets and districts, and continued beyond the boundaries of one division before entering another.

It moved between enormous towers and futuristic structures without slowing down, its glowing trail disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared.

Finally, it reached an apartment building.

The glowing whisker passed effortlessly through a window and wall before entering a quiet bedroom.

Inside, a thirteen-year-old girl slept peacefully beneath her quilt.

The room was cool from the heavy air-conditioning, and everything around her remained perfectly still.

The white whisker suddenly struck her forehead.

For a brief moment, her entire body glowed with a faint white light.

Then the light disappeared.

The girl continued sleeping for another second.

Then her body suddenly trembled.

Her peaceful expression tightened as her brows furrowed, as though she had suddenly fallen into a terrible nightmare.

Her body shifted from side to side, unable to find a comfortable position beneath the quilt.

"N... N... n..."

A broken voice escaped from her parted lips.

Her fingers twitched as her body began wriggling beneath the quilt. She gasped heavily, her breathing becoming increasingly frantic as though she were running from something she could not escape.

Sweat began covering her skin.

The heavy air-conditioning continued blowing cold air throughout the room, yet her body became drenched in sweat. The quilt twisted around her legs as she struggled against something that existed only inside her nightmare.

"N... N... N... N..."

Her expression became increasingly tense.

Fear slowly spread across her sleeping face.

Her body twisted violently beneath the quilt as though she were desperately trying to escape whatever haunted her dreams.

"N... No..."

Her voice trembled, barely audible.

Images she could not understand flashed through her mind.

Pain.

Deaths.

The familiar voices.

And then the feeling of falling endlessly into something cold and empty.

Her breathing became even more frantic.

Then, suddenly...

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Her eyes shot open.

She jolted upright with a violent gasp, her chest heaving as she desperately dragged air into her lungs.

For several seconds, she could not understand where she was.

She looked down at her trembling hands.

Her breathing gradually became slower, but the fear remained etched across her face.

She was certain she had died.

She remembered it.

She remembered the feeling.

She remembered the end.

And yet... ℴ𝒗ⅇ𝑙.

She was alive?

Her trembling fingers slowly moved toward her chest as she felt her heartbeat pounding beneath them.

"W-What happened?" she whispered.

She swallowed hard, still struggling to understand what she was seeing.

"W-What... happened to me?"

Her eyes widened as fragmented memories began flashing through her mind.

Then one name surfaced through the confusion.

One person.

The only person who had held her with that broken smile even when everything else had fallen apart.

Her lips trembled.

"Ae-Aether...?" she whispered.

Thud!

"Dear?"

"What happened, Lily?"

The door suddenly opened as Emily and Allen hurried into the room after hearing Lily’s scream.

The moment Lily saw her mother, her eyes widened. Without saying a word, she immediately threw herself into Emily’s arms and began crying, her sobs breaking into soft, uneven sniffles.

Emily was confused by her daughter’s sudden reaction, but she did not question her immediately. She simply wrapped her arms around Lily and gently patted her back, trying to calm her trembling body.

Allen stood nearby with a worried expression. He glanced at his wife and gestured silently, asking what had happened.

Emily merely shrugged her shoulders, just as confused as he was.

Neither of them understood what had frightened their daughter so badly, but they decided to wait quietly until she had calmed down.

After several minutes, Lily’s sobs finally began to fade.

Emily gently brushed some of Lily’s hair away from her face and asked with a worried tone,

"What is it, dear? Did you have a nightmare?"

Lily looked at her mother and forced a small smile, but there was something broken behind her expression.

"I hope so..."

Emily’s expression softened immediately. She hugged her daughter tightly again and gently rubbed her back.

"It’s alright, dear... Mommy is here."

Lily’s eyes trembled as she buried her face against her mother’s chest. She could feel the warmth of her mother’s body, the familiar scent, and the gentle rhythm of her heartbeat.

It was a warmth she had thought she would never feel again.

For some reason, that realisation made her eyes burn with tears once more.

Just then, a pair of hands gently touched her shoulder.

"That’s why I told you not to eat at night," Allen said, trying to lighten the mood.

Instead, Lily slowly turned toward him.

She stared at her father blankly.

There was something strange in her eyes.

For the briefest moment, a faint and almost dangerous glint passed through them.

"..."

"??"

Allen tilted his head, wondering why his daughter was suddenly looking at him as though she were seeing a stranger.

"Lily? Is everything okay?"

"..."

Lily did not answer immediately.

Then...

"Waa..."

A soft, sleepy voice suddenly came from behind them.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw Noah standing there, rubbing his sleepy eyes while holding a fluffy toy tightly in his small hands.

"Looks like he woke up too..." Allen began, turning toward his son.

Before he could even walk over to him, Lily suddenly moved.

She rushed across the room and immediately wrapped her arms around her little brother.

"Noah!"

Her voice cracked as she hugged him tightly.

Noah blinked in confusion.

"Waa?"

He looked at his older sister, unable to understand why she was crying.

But when he saw the tears running down her face, his own eyes began to tremble.

"No, no, no!" Emily’s expression immediately turned horrified. "Don’t cry, dear!"

She quickly moved toward them and wrapped both children in her arms.

It took several minutes before they finally managed to calm Lily down again.

Once she had stopped crying, Lily rubbed her runny nose and lowered her head.

"S-Sorry, Mom. I just... I-I..."

"It’s fine," Emily reassured her softly. "Sometimes nightmares can feel incredibly real."

Lily quietly stared at her little brother, who had already fallen asleep in their mother’s arms.

She watched his peaceful expression for several seconds before leaning closer and gently kissing his forehead.

"Yeah..." she whispered. "It feels very real."

Emily and Allen exchanged a confused glance.

There was something unusual about the way Lily had said those words.

It did not sound like she was talking about an ordinary nightmare.

For a moment, they wondered whether they should take her to a doctor.

Allen stepped closer and crouched beside her.

"Lily... it was just a dream. Take it easy, okay?"

"..."

Lily remained silent for several seconds before finally nodding.

"Can you sleep now, or do you want Mommy to stay with you?" Emily asked gently.

Lily shook her head.

"I’m fine, Mom. You can rest in your room."

She pulled the quilt back over herself and settled beneath it.

Emily and Allen nodded, though Allen still wanted to remain beside her and ask what exactly she had dreamed about.

But every time he looked at her tearful face, he hesitated.

Pushing her to explain it now would probably only make her cry again.

He decided he would ask her about it in the morning, once she had calmed down and felt more comfortable.

Emily carefully picked up Noah and carried him out of Lily’s room.

"Remember, dear, Mommy’s room will be open if you need anything. Just call me, okay?"

Lily nodded with a small smile.

"Okay, Mom."

Emily smiled back before leaving the room with Allen.

She carried Noah to his own room and gently placed him in his bed before the two of them finally returned to their bedroom.

Once they were lying in bed, Allen glanced at his wife, who was resting against his arm.

"Do you think we should take her to the doctor?" he asked worriedly. "She has never cried like that before... and the way she looked at me earlier..."

His voice trailed off.

There had been something different in Lily’s eyes.

Something he could not explain.

Emily shook her head gently.

"Don’t think too much about it. She’s still a child, and the dream must have frightened her badly. Once she wakes up in the morning, she’ll probably feel completely normal again. Who knows? She might even laugh about it."

Allen could only nod at his wife’s words.

"I hope you’re right."

He closed his eyes, but even as sleep slowly began to take hold of him, he could not completely shake the strange feeling in his chest.

The way his daughter had looked at him...

There was definitely something different about her.

And just like that, both of them slowly drifted into sleep.

The room became completely silent.

Outside, the night continued peacefully.

Then...

A shadow stepped into the room.

It moved quietly through the darkness without making the slightest sound.

Slowly, it crossed the room.

One step... Then another.

Until it finally stopped beside Allen’s side of the bed.

The figure stood there motionlessly, staring down at the sleeping man... it did not even glance at the woman who was resting in his arms.

Not a word was spoken.

Not a single breath disturbed the silence.

Just stood there staring at the man.

Then, suddenly...

CRACK!

Lightning flashed across the night sky.

For the briefest moment, the entire room was illuminated by the pale light.

And in that single second...

The Shadow became visible.

Lily was standing beside the bed.

Her eyes were filled with something broken and unfamiliar.

Tears still clung faintly to her face.

And in her trembling hand...

She held a knife.

The blade caught the lightning and glinted dangerously in the darkness.

_________

[A/N: I’m terribly sorry, guys, but there won’t be a Chapter tomorrow due to some personal issues. I’m also really sorry for the irregular updates this month. I know the updates haven’t been as consistent as they should have been, and I sincerely apologise for that.

I promise I’ll do my best to make sure this doesn’t happen again from next month onward and bring you more consistent updates.

Please forgive me and give me another chance. ??]