Magic Unbound

I could always sense when Macy fell asleep. It would start with smoke—soft, drifting tendrils that slowly melted into images from her day. I was nothing more than a passenger in her subconscious, watching from the back seat of her mind. Her dreams were one of the most peaceful places I had ever been. I had been drifting into them for almost a year now. I didn’t know why I had this gift. My grandmother used to tell me stories about our family when I was a child—stories that always felt too surreal to be real. But then it started happening. I began slipping into people’s dreams, seeing fragments of their lives play out like memories that weren’t mine. I never understood the full extent of it. All I knew was that something—something about her—kept pulling me in. Macy. I could tell you everything about her. Her wild red hair, long and curling down her back. Her big blue eyes, flecked with gold. The kind of curves women would pay for, but on her, they were effortless. Natural. Perfect. And yet… I had never even spoken to her. I’d come close once. She walked right past me on the street, close enough that I could have said something. Anything. But what would I even say? Hi, I’ve been watching you in your dreams for a year? No. I couldn’t lie to her either. Not ever. So I said nothing. And still… I knew I loved her. It was insane—being completely in love with someone you had never met. But it didn’t change the truth. She deserved better than me. I wasn’t a good man. I’d spent years drowning myself in women, using them as distractions from the thing inside my head—the darkness I called my demon. Dream drifting only made it worse. Every emotion, every trauma, every fear I witnessed… it stayed with me. I never truly slept. Alcohol helped. Drugs helped more. Until her. She pulled me out of all of it… without even knowing I existed. She gave me purpose—without ever looking my way. Tonight, I could feel it again. She was pulling me in. I moved through my usual routine, the one Gran had taught me. Calm space. Clean sheets. Soft music. Peaceful surroundings made for a clearer drift. As I lay back, it started. That familiar pull. Like a vortex dragging me between worlds—half here, half somewhere else. But tonight… Something was wrong. There was no light. Her dream was dark. Heavy. Wrong. A nightmare. Macy lay on a couch, struggling to move, like something was holding her down. Around her were pictures—faces watching her. Her mum, Pam. Her grandmother, Edna. The same striking auburn hair in all of them. But there were others too. Strangers. All staring. One picture caught my attention—a man. He looked… off. Like he didn’t belong in this time. His lips moved silently. I stepped closer. His eyes snapped to mine. “Protect her, Samuel.” I froze. He could see me. Before I could react, every single face turned toward me. Watching. Then, just as quickly, they all snapped back to Macy. My chest tightened. Something was coming. Behind her, a dark mist began to form—shifting, twisting into the shape of something not quite human. My panic spiked. I had never felt fear like this inside her dreams before. She was in danger. “Who are you?” Macy screamed, her voice breaking through the darkness. The mist moved closer. “Samuel…” The voice drifted like smoke. “You can’t save her.” Something inside me snapped. I ran toward her. I had never tried to interact with her before—never crossed that line. But tonight, I didn’t care. “Macy, take my hand.” The mist sharpened, forming into a woman—twisted, unnatural. In her hand, she held a staff with a black stone, eerily similar to Gran’s. “Macy, take my hand!” She did. Her touch— Soft. Warm. Real. And then— The woman struck. The staff grazed Macy’s neck. Rage exploded inside me. How dare she touch her. I threw my hand forward on instinct. Fire erupted from my palm. The sound was deafening—an explosion tearing through the dream as the flames slammed into the creature, launching her across the room. Silence. Darkness. Gone. ⸻ I jolted awake. Back in my room. Breathing hard. I stared down at my hand. The faint red glow faded quickly… like it had never been there. But I knew what I saw. This wasn’t just a dream anymore. Something had changed. And there was only one person who might have answers. I grabbed my phone. “Gran, I need to see you. Something happened—I can’t explain it.” There was a pause before her calm voice came through. “Alright, love… put the kettle on. Come over.”