NetherWorld: A Dream You Cannot Escape

Chapter1

CHAPTER 1:

Divena woke up drenched in sweat when the alarm went off like a siren.

Her breathing came in little gasps, and she struggled to get it back under control.

She fell back into the covers, closing her eyes and having slight flashes of what could or could not have been a dream.

Finally, she was able to take a somewhat normal breath again and let out a heavy sigh.

It was just a bad dream, she concluded.

A very real and very awfully realistic dream.

But it was over now.

She was awake and she felt somewhat better.

She wiped a heavy hand across her forehead, grimacing as she noticed the clamminess of it.

Getting up, she grabbed a steamy morning shower, only getting out after she felt better.

She got into a pair of cut-off jeans and a red tank top that complimented her reddish brown hair and green eyes beautifully.

She grabbed a scarf at random, not knowing what the weather predicted for the day, and skipped down the hall towards the kitchen in a much better mood than she had when she first woke up.

"Morning, Mom," She sang and kissed her cheek good morning. Her mom smiled and gave her a 'one moment' signal with her finger.

Noticing the phone in her other hand, she smiled and nodded, heading over to the fridge and pouring her some lemonade.

"Are you kidding me? I told him I wanted nothing. Nothing at all."

She could hear her mother talking low, probably so that she could not hear the conversation, which was very unusual since they usually shared most things, no matter how complicated or bad.

That only made her perk her ears more.

"He is making a mistake. Tell him I want nothing. Tell him SHE wants nothing. He made her life... Yes, how long until the problem actually strikes? It is his fault, and now he wants to swoop in and help?" She frowned again, trying to figure out what this was all about.

"Tell him to go to hell."

Divina's eyes grew big.

Her mother was generally a very nice lady, so whoever pissed her off, did a really, really great job at it.

"I've got to go. Yes, that's why. Bye. Okay, bye-bye." Her mother rang off and turned to face her.

She gave her a tight smile, and Divina raised her eyebrows as if to ask 'what was that all about?', but she only shook her head slightly, letting some of her pinned up hair fall across her forehead.

"It's just another very moody customer," she said, and Divina knew she did not believe her mother at that moment.

She was lying to Divina.

But why? Why would she lie?

Divina lived on her own, she had been for the last six months, finally deciding to spread her little baby wings and get some freedom to decide what it was exactly it was that she was wanting to do with her life...

Unfortunately, that included random house arrests by her mother, who decided she was dropping in at the most random of times to check on her only daughter.

Also, that meant that sometimes Divina also dropped in on her mother during the week to just kind of...even the scale.

Either way, she could basically still be staying in the same house. There was literally no difference.

She didn't get any chance to ask her mother what upset her, because before she could bring up the subject, the bell on the front door rang loud and shrill through the entire house.

Her mother put some toast, bacon, and eggs on a plate and pushed it in front of her.

"Finish up while I get to the door, you don't want to be late today," her mother suggested, and then left her to eat while she went and answered the front door.

Divina grabbed an extra piece of bacon before grabbing her bag that she slung over the dining chair.

Divina passed her mom and the visitor on her way out.

She placed a quick peck on her mother's cheek.

"Bye, Mom. See you later."

She glanced at the guy and nodded her head in his direction.

"Good day," she mumbled politely, and tried to figure out why she felt like she has met this person before, even though she knew for a fact that she had never seen this man before.

He was gorgeous, unlike any other guy she'd seen before. He was tall, and she figured he had some muscle under that coat.

She was unsure what color his eyes were, but the shape of them was mesmerizing. His hair and most of his face was hidden so she couldn't make out much of his face, but those eyes...

A warm feeling gripped her and she parted her lips slightly. She felt a very odd sense of de ja vu towards this person, but she knew for sure she had never met him.

"Well, I suppose it is a good morning," the guy said in a low seductive voice, making it even more difficult to place if she has indeed not met this man before.

She spared him a longer glance- basically openly staring at him, with a voice that it was hard not to, and she was surprised to see that his face was hidden completely under a scarf.

She looked over to the open door and realized that it was indeed a cold day out that day.

She shrugged and pulled her own scarf tighter around her like a cloak.

"Grab a jacket, Dear, you don't want the cold day to be even colder without some sort of protection," her mom said, looking her over.

"I'm okay, thanks, mom. I don't want to be late, and I will be if I grab something now." The mysterious guy's eyes caught onto mine and, for a moment, I lost myself in those deep pools of eyes.

"Here, you can take mine. I brought my car, so I will be fine in the cold." His voice, she now realized, was deep and smooth.

Like a chocolate river running through her entire system. Or something. She was not very poetic, but you got the point.

He made her want to sit up and drink him in, all of him.

And that irritated her like nothing had ever irritated her.

She glanced at her mother, who was shooting fire out of her eyes projected at this mysterious man.

"Thank you, but I'm good. There is nothing that the good old wind will do... that is said, for a local," she said with a little more spunk than she intended to.

This guy might have mesmerizing eyes and an addictive voice with his face hidden all mysteriously from her view, but he had trouble written all over his person.

By the proud and somewhat smug look on her mother's face, she bit back a profound smile. It looked like she was not the only one who got the trouble vibe from this guy and, judging from the surprised look on his face, he had never been so innocently let down by a woman.

"So, if you will excuse me, I am running late. Have a nice day," she said, then spun on her heel and exited the house in a nonchalant pace.

No way was she letting him see what effect he had on her body or mind.

Just no way.

"Donec-obviam iterum", he said lowly, low enough that she just caught it as she passed him and again she got the impression that she knew this person.

She took a quicker route to the college she was doing her internship at and therefore walked at a much more relaxed pace.

By the time she arrived at the college, there were at least ten more minutes left to spare, so her eyes searched the grounds to find a familiar face in the small groups of people that had to attend classes that day.

Luckily, she did not have to search for long as somebody hugged her from behind.

Quickly spinning around, Divina had a big smile on her face.

"Hi you!" She exclaimed to her best friend since high school, Nick.

Nick - the reason girls tried to befriend her and why guys stayed away.

He was very hot, in a surfer type of way, and with his light locks and his baby blue eyes, he made people look twice, and then made them look away.

Nick and Divina met one late summer in the ninth grade when she fell from a surfboard when the waves suddenly changed with the weather.

Divina, being a superb swimmer, was pulled back by the tide and could not get out, and she didn't have time to call for help as she was too busy to save her own damn life.

It was at that very moment that Fate swooped in and sent Nick to save her.

He jumped in with no restrictions as he exactly knew what he was doing and saved her life.

They have been friends, really great best friends, ever since that day.

"Hi, Divvy. How was your break? Did you finish your project in time?" Nick asked as they walked to their classes together.

They had a lot of catching up to do.

Apart from the fact that Nick randomly leaves every year for a small break and then adorably calls it 'their' break even though she still had to walk to class with every other person she knew and juggle her work schedule as a part-time intern, she wanted to tell him about her dreams.

But how does one tell their best friend that they might be having magically realistic dreams - well, dreams since it only happened once - and not sound like a total fool?

So she smiled and said instead, "Break was great, I got a lot of reading material in and I went to Jane's birthday bash last week. I did finish my project on time, got my marks back and need I even tell you that I got an amazing mark in my exams?" She teasingly asked and bumped his shoulder.

"How did things with your family go?" She asked him as they approached her classroom door.

"Oh same old, same old, Devs. It was good. We basically got all caught up. My cousin is getting married next year to a really nice guy, but her mother hates the guy because she thought that April was going to end up with her next-door neighbour, Aaron, but only because she harbours this great crush on Aaron's father, James."

Wow.

"That... That's pretty hectic. Did all that get revealed at the dinner table?" It sounded like Divina was joking, but in reality she was actually genuinely concerned for the family.

"I'm just pulling your leg, Divvy. But yes, my cousin is, however, getting married." Divina felt like there was something left unspoken and that piqued her interest.

They never had anything left unspoken between them.

But she could be totally on the wrong end and besides, surely he would tell her when he was ready.

Divina waited until after class, when she decided maybe she would tell Nick what was bothering her.

"So, I need to tell you something," She said slowly, keeping a close eye on his reactions.

"Yeah? What's up?" He asked, giving a quick glance at his phone.

"I've been having these dreams," she started with, but realised that Nick had his own thing going on.

He was focussed on his phone when he looked up for a second.

"Hmmm-hmmm?" He mumbled, obviously distracted.

"Anyway, it must be because of graduation, so it's nothing."

Nick turned to her and gave her a bear hug.

"It's just the stress of the exams, you will be absolutely fine," he assured her with a little squeeze to the shoulder.

For the third time that day, Divina got an odd feeling.

First it was the very real dream that had her up in the early hours, then the mysterious guy with the sexy voice, but very distant vibe, and now this.

For a split second, it looked like Nick was going to kiss her.

And the thought of that gave her a very uneasy and somewhat queasy feeling in the very bottom of her stomach.

She really did not like the idea of that.

It's not like she didn't find him attractive. He was probably one of the hottest guys she knew.

No, that was not the problem here at all.

Maybe she friend zoned him from an early stage, but the idea of kissing Nick just did not appeal to her in absolutely any way.

So she gave him an unsure smile and pushed slightly away from him, feeling uncomfortable.

"I need to get going if I want to finish that paper for next week," Divina said neutrally, or what she was sure would be, but came out slightly unsteady instead.

"Sure, of course. Phone me if you need me. I'll see you later this week, Devs."

"Not if I see you first," Divina smiled.

That had been their saying ever since they first met and started being friends, and it kind of stuck.

She followed him with her eyes and couldn't shake the feeling that there was something different in the air.

Or was she just more aware of her surroundings now...?