The stranger my dreams remember

The first time I dreamed of him, I woke up crying. The second time, I woke up terrified. By the seventh time, I was starting to wonder if something was wrong with me. And tonight? Tonight, I was beginning to lose my patience with my own mind. I had no idea who this man was or why he kept appearing in my dreams, but I was getting tired of seeing his face every time I closed my eyes. Still, I had no idea that this particular dream would be different from the others. I should have known better. The forest stretched out before me, its tall trees disappearing into a thick layer of mist. The moon hung low in the sky, casting a pale light over everything around me. There was no wind, yet the branches swayed gently. No birds sang. No insects made a sound. It was the kind of silence that made you feel like you weren’t supposed to be there. I stood barefoot in the middle of a narrow path, dressed in a white gown that reached my ankles. I had no idea how I’d gotten there. One moment, I had been in my bedroom, and the next, I was standing in the middle of a forest I’d never seen before. I looked around. “Hello?” My voice sounded strangely small in the silence. I waited, but no one answered. With a sigh, I wrapped my arms around myself and started walking. I didn’t know where I was going, but something told me I needed to keep moving. Then I heard footsteps behind me. I stopped. The footsteps also paused My heart skipped a beat. “Who’s there?” I called, turning around. Nothing. Just trees and mist. I let out a nervous laugh, although there was nothing funny about the situation. “Okay, Clementine. It’s just a dream.” I’d barely finished speaking when a voice answered from behind me. “Is it?” I froze. It was a man’s voice, deep and calm. There was something about it that sent a chill down my spine. Slowly, I turned around. And there he was. Standing a few feet away, partly hidden in the shadows of a large tree. For a moment, I forgot what I was about to say. He was tall, with broad shoulders and dark hair that fell slightly over his forehead. He wore a black shirt beneath a long coat, and there was something about the way he stood that made him look completely at ease, as though standing in a strange forest in the middle of the night was the most normal thing in the world. But it was his face that caught my attention. His features were sharp, his skin pale beneath the moonlight, and his eyes were the strangest shade of grey I’d ever seen. They almost looked silver. He stared at me without saying a word. Not angrily. Not even curiously. He just looked at me as if he knew something I didn’t. I took a step back. “Who are you?” He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his gaze moved over my face, almost as though he was trying to remember something. Then he said my name. “Clementine.” My stomach dropped. How did he know my name? I was certain I had never seen this man before, so there was no reason for him to know who I was. “How do you know me?” I asked. He took a step closer. I stepped back again. “Stay there!” He stopped, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of amusement in his eyes. “You haven’t changed,” he murmured. I frowned. “What?” He seemed to realise that he had spoken aloud. His expression changed almost immediately, and whatever emotion had been there disappeared. “Nothing.” “No, don’t do that.” I shook my head. “You can’t just say something like that and expect me to ignore it. What do you mean I haven’t changed? I’ve never met you before!” He stared at me for a few seconds. Then he sighed. “Oh, Clementine. If only that were true.” I felt a strange ache in my chest. I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand him, and I certainly didn’t understand why looking at a complete stranger made me feel like I had known him for years. It was ridiculous. This entire situation was ridiculous. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but I’m going home now.” I turned around and started walking away. “Clementine.” I ignored him. “Clementine, stop.” Something about his voice made me pause. I turned back slowly. For the first time since I’d seen him, he didn’t look completely calm. There was something in his expression that I couldn’t quite place. “Don’t go where the light cannot reach you” he said. I stared at him. “What does that even mean?” Before he could answer, the ground trembled beneath my feet. I gasped and stumbled. The mist around us began to swirl, growing thicker until I could barely see the trees. Somewhere in the distance, I heard a sound that made every part of me go cold. A growl. I looked at the man. His expression had changed completely. For the first time, he looked concerned. “Run,” he said. I blinked. “What?” “Run, Clementine!” I didn’t move. I was too busy trying to understand what was happening. Something moved between the trees. I couldn’t see it clearly, but whatever it was, it was moving far too quickly to be normal. I let out a scream. Before I could turn around, the man was suddenly standing in front of me, gripping my shoulders. I hadn’t even seen him move. One second, he had been several feet away. The next, he was right there. I stared at him, my heart pounding. “Listen to me,” he said urgently. “Whatever happens, you must never...” A loud roar interrupted him. He turned towards the sound, his jaw tightening. When he looked back at me, his eyes seemed brighter than before, almost silver in the darkness. “Lucian,” I whispered. The moment I said the name, he went completely still. Even the sounds coming from the forest seemed to fade. Slowly, he turned his attention back to me. “What did you just say?” I blinked, confused by his reaction. “Your name.” His fingers tightened slightly around my shoulders. “How do you know that name?” “I don’t know!” I said, growing frustrated. “It just came to me!” He stared at me as though he expected me to say something else, something that would explain everything. But I couldn’t. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know how he knew my name, and I had no idea why I had suddenly known his. Yet something about the way he looked at me made me feel as though this meant far more to him than it did to me. Before I could ask another question, the darkness behind him stirred again. He glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at me. “We will meet again” he said. I shook my head. “What are you talking about? Wait!” He stepped closer, his expression suddenly serious. “When you see me again, remember this. Don’t trust everything you remember, and whatever you do, don’t let them discover what you are.” My heart skipped a beat. “What am I?” For a moment, he looked as though he was going to answer. Then something rushed towards him from the darkness. I screamed. “LUCIAN!” He disappeared into the mist. And just like that, the forest went black.