Dreams And Secrets
761 Words
Chapter 3 – Dreams and Secrets
Ava woke again before sunrise.
Her dreams had changed.
No longer just fire and voices — now there were faces, places, and moments she couldn’t explain.
A man — tall, with silver-gray eyes — stood in a garden she didn’t recognize.
He was looking at her, sadness and longing in his gaze.
“Ava… please don’t forget me…”
She sat up, clutching the blanket around her shoulders.
Her heart pounded.
She didn’t understand what it all meant, but a strange certainty grew inside her:
She had known him before.
At the café, Adrian was already waiting.
He had a stack of papers in one hand and a coffee cup in the other.
He looked up when Ava arrived and smiled faintly.
“Morning,” he said. “You look tired.”
“I didn’t sleep well,” Ava admitted.
She didn’t tell him about the dreams.
How could she? They sounded insane.
“Bad dreams?” he asked softly, noticing her dark circles.
Ava shook her head. “Nothing important.”
But Adrian wasn’t convinced.
Something about her made him uneasy — familiar.
Every time he looked at her, he felt a pull he couldn’t explain.
A memory buried deep in his soul, waiting to surface.
That day, a minor mishap happened.
Ava dropped a tray of pastries right on Adrian’s shoes.
“I’m so sorry!” she cried, bending to pick them up.
Adrian knelt with her, helping. Their hands brushed.
The warmth shot through her, sudden and sharp.
“Stop,” he said softly, but his voice trembled.
“Stop what?” Ava asked, confused.
“Stop looking at me like you already know me,” he whispered.
Ava froze. His words hit something deep inside.
Because… she did know him.
That night, her dreams returned, stronger than ever.
This time, it wasn’t fire.
It was a village. A celebration. Music, laughter, and her younger self — tall, proud, wearing a simple tunic.
And a man — Adrian, though she knew him differently.
He laughed, holding her hand.
“I’ll never let anything happen to you,” he said.
But then… darkness.
He fell to the ground, clutching his chest, screaming her name.
And she realized: she had tried to save him, but failed.
Ava woke, shaking.
She didn’t know what to do.
She wanted to run from the dreams — but they felt like truth, not imagination.
The next day, Adrian seemed distracted.
He kept glancing at her, as if he remembered something he couldn’t place.
“You okay?” Ava asked nervously.
“Yeah,” he said quickly. “Just… tired.”
But when he looked at her, his eyes softened, full of unspoken regret and longing.
And Ava realized something terrifying:
She was falling for him.
For the man who, in another life, had caused her death.
Meanwhile, Clara noticed the change in Ava.
“You’re in trouble,” Clara whispered during lunch. “You can’t stop staring at him. And he keeps staring at you too.”
“I… I don’t know why,” Ava admitted, feeling her cheeks burn.
“Maybe it’s fate,” Clara teased, nudging her.
Ava shivered at the word.
Fate.
The word felt heavy, like a promise and a warning at the same time.
That evening, Adrian called unexpectedly.
“Hi… can we meet?” he asked, his voice unusually soft.
“Uh… sure,” Ava said, nervous.
They agreed to meet at a small park, where the early evening sun painted the city gold.
When she arrived, Adrian was already there, leaning against a tree.
“I need to ask you something,” he said. “Do you… ever feel like you’ve lived before?”
Ava blinked. The question sent a chill down her spine.
“Yes,” she said slowly. “I… I have dreams. Strange ones. They feel like memories.”
Adrian’s face went pale.
“I have them too,” he whispered. “Dreams… of a woman I lost. A woman I—”
He stopped, shaking his head.
Ava’s heart thudded.
Could it be true? Could they… be the same souls from another life?
Before they could speak more, a child ran past and bumped into Adrian. He stumbled, grabbing Ava’s hand to steady himself.
Their eyes met.
The connection — undeniable, deep, and electric — burned between them.
And in that quiet park, under the fading light, two souls began to remember a love that had once been broken.
A love that would not stay buried again.
- Writer
