The Boy Who Knows My Name

Chapter 5: Something I Dreamt Before

I dreamed of him that night.

Not the kind of dream that fades when you wake up. This one stayed with me, like I had actually been somewhere else.

I was standing in a place I didn’t recognize. Everything looked soft and washed out, like the world had lost its color. The sky wasn’t really blue, and the ground didn’t feel solid. It was quiet in a way that felt unnatural, like even sound was being held back.

And then I saw him.

He was already there, standing in front of me like he had been waiting for a long time.

“Lila,” he said.

My name sounded different in his voice. He said it like it meant something important.

I should’ve been afraid. I should’ve questioned how I got there. But instead, I just stared at him, feeling something strange in my chest.

Familiarity.

“Where am I?” I asked.

He didn’t answer immediately. His eyes stayed on me like he was trying to remember every part of my face.

“Between,” he finally said.

“Between what?”

“Between what you remember… and what you were forced to forget.”

I frowned. “I didn’t forget anything.”

He gave a small, sad look like he had heard me say that before.

“You always say that first.”

A soft wind moved through the empty space, even though nothing around us was moving.

I took a step closer without thinking.

“Tell me your name,” I said.

Silence.

He looked down for a moment.

“I can’t,” he said quietly.

“Why not?”

“Because if I do,” he said, “you’ll remember too much.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It does,” he replied. “If remembering hurts.”

That made something tighten in my chest.

“Hurts who?” I asked.

He didn’t answer.

Instead, his hand lifted slightly, like he wanted to reach me, but stopped halfway. Like something invisible was standing between us.

Something I couldn’t see.

Something he couldn’t cross.

“I feel like I’ve met you before,” I said softly.

His eyes flickered.

“You did,” he said.

“Where?”

He hesitated.

“Before you woke up here.”

I shook my head immediately. “That’s not possible.”

“You keep saying that,” he said gently. “But you’re still here.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but I also didn’t want him to stop talking.

Because the more he spoke, the more my chest ached in a way that felt… old.

Not new.

Like something I had lost a long time ago.

“I keep hearing your voice,” I said. “Even when you’re not there.”

His expression softened.

“That’s because you’re remembering me on your own.”

“I don’t want to remember something I can’t explain.”

A pause.

“You already are,” he said.

The space around us began to shift.

Like the dream itself was fading at the edges.

He noticed it too.

“It’s ending,” he said quietly.

“Wait,” I said quickly. “Tell me what this place is.”

“You already know,” he replied.

“I don’t.”

“You do,” he insisted softly. “You just buried it.”

My heart beat faster. “Buried what?”

He stepped closer, but stopped again at the invisible line between us.

“Me,” he said.

The word hit harder than it should have.

The world around us started breaking apart, like it was dissolving into light.

“No,” I said. “Don’t go.”

“I never left you,” he said.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It will.”

The space between us flickered.

I reached forward—

But my hand passed through nothing.

Just empty air.

My breath caught.

“Lila,” he said softly.

I looked up quickly. “Yes?”

He looked at me like he was holding something back.

“Don’t forget me again.”

For a second, I couldn’t speak.

Then everything disappeared.

I woke up gasping.

My room. My bed. My ceiling. Everything normal.

But my heart was racing like I had just been running.

I sat up slowly, pressing a hand to my chest.

And then I heard it.

Not loud.

Not clear.

Just a whisper at the edge of my mind.

“Lila…”

I froze.

Because it didn’t feel like a dream anymore.

It felt like something trying to come back.

I whispered into the empty room, “I don’t know who you are.”

But even as I said it…

It felt like I was lying.