Night Terrors
1497 Words
Sleep did not come easily.
It lingered at the edge of Aria Vale’s consciousness, just out of reach—like something watching her instead of embracing her.
She lay still on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, her hands resting lightly on her stomach. The room was quiet, but not peaceful.
Not anymore.
Since the disappearance… everything felt wrong.
The academy had returned to its usual routine on the surface. Students went to classes. Teachers spoke as if nothing had happened. Conversations resumed.
But beneath it all—
Something had shifted.
Aria could feel it.
Like a crack beneath glass.
Invisible.
But ready to break.
She turned slightly on her side, pulling the thin blanket closer around her.
Her thoughts refused to settle.
Ethan.
The boy who had spoken to her.
Gone.
Just like that.
No explanation.
No search.
No panic from the academy.
Just silence.
It happens.
The words echoed in her mind, unsettling in a way she couldn’t explain.
How could something like that be normal?
Her gaze drifted toward the window.
The night stretched beyond it—dark and endless, the faint outline of trees swaying gently in the distance.
The forest.
Even from here…
She could feel it.
That same pull.
Soft.
Persistent.
Calling.
Aria’s fingers curled slightly into the fabric of her blanket.
“No,” she whispered.
She wasn’t going near it.
Not after what she had heard.
Not after what happened.
And yet…
Her chest tightened.
Because a part of her didn’t feel afraid of it.
A part of her felt… connected to it.
She shut her eyes tightly.
“Stop thinking about it,” she muttered.
But her thoughts only shifted.
To him.
Kael Draven.
Her jaw tightened slightly.
She could still hear his voice.
Cold.
Final.
You are not my mate.
The memory stirred something uncomfortable in her chest.
Confusion.
Frustration.
And something else she didn’t want to name.
Why did it matter?
Why did he matter?
He had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her.
And yet…
Her body still reacted to his presence.
That strange pull.
That awareness.
It didn’t make sense.
Nothing about this place made sense.
Aria exhaled slowly, forcing herself to relax.
She couldn’t keep doing this.
Overthinking.
Questioning.
She needed sleep.
Even if it came reluctantly.
Even if it came with whatever strange unease had settled over her.
Her breathing gradually slowed.
Her thoughts began to blur.
The silence deepened.
And slowly—
Without her realizing—
Sleep took her.
At first, nothing felt different.
She was still lying down.
Still aware.
Still thinking.
Then—
Something shifted.
The air changed.
Colder.
Heavier.
Aria frowned slightly.
Her eyes opened.
But she wasn’t in her room anymore.
She was standing.
Her breath caught.
“What…?”
Her voice echoed.
Not softly.
But sharply.
Like the space around her was too large.
Too empty.
She looked around.
Stone walls.
Dark.
Ancient.
Stretching endlessly in both directions.
The air smelled faintly of dust and something older—something she couldn’t quite place.
Aria’s heart began to race.
“This isn’t real,” she whispered.
But it felt real.
Too real.
The cold beneath her feet.
The echo of her breathing.
The weight of the silence pressing in around her.
She turned slowly.
The space resembled a corridor.
Long.
Narrow.
Lit by faint, flickering torches mounted along the walls.
But the light they gave off was weak.
Barely enough to see.
Shadows clung to every corner.
Watching.
Waiting.
Aria swallowed.
“Okay… definitely a dream,” she muttered.
But her voice didn’t sound convinced.
A soft sound echoed in the distance.
She froze.
It wasn’t loud.
Not clear.
But it was there.
A whisper.
Barely audible.
Her name.
“Aria…”
Her breath caught.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
“Who’s there?” she called.
No answer.
Only silence.
Then again—
Closer this time.
“Aria…”
The sound sent a chill through her entire body.
It wasn’t threatening.
But it wasn’t comforting either.
It felt… knowing.
Familiar.
Aria hesitated.
Every instinct told her to leave.
To run.
To wake up.
But her feet didn’t move.
Instead—
She stepped forward.
Slowly.
Cautiously.
The corridor stretched endlessly ahead of her.
The flickering light cast shifting shadows along the walls.
And the deeper she walked—
The stronger the feeling became.
That pull.
The same one she felt near the forest.
The same one that whispered to something deep inside her.
Calling her.
Drawing her in.
“Aria…”
The voice echoed again.
Guiding her.
She followed.
Step by step.
Her movements slow.
Careful.
But determined.
The corridor eventually opened into a larger space.
Aria stopped.
Her breath caught.
The room was massive.
Circular.
Its ceiling arched high above, disappearing into darkness.
The walls were covered in markings.
Symbols.
Ancient.
Carved deep into the stone.
Some glowed faintly.
Pulsing with a soft, eerie light.
Aria’s heart raced.
“What is this…?”
She stepped further into the room.
The air here felt different.
Charged.
Like it was alive.
Like it was aware of her.
At the center of the room—
Something stood.
A structure.
Stone.
Old.
Its surface etched with the same glowing symbols that lined the walls.
Aria felt it instantly.
That connection.
Stronger than before.
Her chest tightened.
Her breathing became uneven.
She didn’t understand it.
But she knew—
This place…
This thing…
It was connected to her.
She moved toward it slowly.
Each step heavier than the last.
The closer she got—
The stronger the feeling became.
Her pulse quickened.
Her hands trembled slightly.
“Aria…”
The voice was right behind her now.
Soft.
Close.
She turned sharply.
But no one was there.
Only shadows.
Only silence.
Aria’s breath came faster.
“This isn’t normal,” she whispered.
But she didn’t stop moving.
She couldn’t.
Something pulled her forward.
Something she couldn’t resist.
She reached the center.
Reached the structure.
Up close, the markings were clearer.
More intricate.
They shifted slightly under her gaze.
Like they were alive.
Like they were reacting to her presence.
Aria’s hand lifted slowly.
Almost without her control.
“No…”
She hesitated.
Her fingers hovering just inches from the surface.
“I shouldn’t…”
But the pull was too strong.
Too overwhelming.
She touched it.
And everything exploded.
A sharp pain shot through her chest.
Aria gasped, stumbling back slightly.
Her vision blurred.
The room spun.
A surge of energy rushed through her body—
Wild.
Uncontrolled.
Her heart pounded violently.
Her breath came in short, uneven bursts.
Images flashed through her mind.
Too fast to understand.
Too quick to grasp.
Voices.
Shadows.
Blood.
A throne.
Chains.
A howl that didn’t belong to her—
But felt like it did.
Aria cried out, clutching her chest.
“What—what is happening—?!”
The markings on the structure glowed brighter.
The entire room seemed to pulse.
The air grew heavier.
Darker.
Something shifted in the shadows.
Aria froze.
Her breath caught.
She wasn’t alone anymore.
She could feel it.
Something was watching her.
Not from the light.
But from the darkness.
Waiting.
Her pulse pounded.
Her instincts screamed.
Run.
But her body didn’t move.
The shadows twisted.
Something moved within them.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Aria took a step back.
Her breathing uneven.
Her chest still burning from the energy that had surged through her.
“Who’s there?” she demanded.
Silence answered.
Then—
A low sound.
Not quite a growl.
Not quite a voice.
But something in between.
It echoed through the room.
Deep.
Ancient.
Aria’s heart nearly stopped.
Fear shot through her.
Sharp.
Immediate.
The shadows moved closer.
Reaching.
Stretching toward her.
“No—”
The voice called again.
Louder now.
Urgent.
“Aria.”
The room trembled.
The light flickered violently.
The shadows surged—
And everything shattered.
Aria woke with a gasp.
Her body jerked upright.
Her breath came fast.
Uneven.
Her heart pounded violently against her ribs.
She looked around.
Her room.
Dark.
Silent.
Real.
Her hands trembled slightly as she pressed them against the bed.
“…Just a dream,” she whispered.
But it didn’t feel like one.
Her chest still hurt.
A dull ache lingered where the energy had struck.
Her breathing slowly began to steady.
But her mind—
It raced.
The corridor.
The symbols.
The voice.
The thing in the shadows.
It had all felt too real.
Too vivid.
Too… connected.
Aria swallowed.
Her gaze drifted toward the window again.
The forest stood in the distance.
Dark.
Unmoving.
Watching.
Her chest tightened.
The same feeling returned.
That pull.
Stronger than ever.
She clenched her fists slightly.
“That wasn’t just a dream…”
The words left her lips before she could stop them.
Because deep down—
She knew.
It wasn’t.
Her heart beat faster.
Her thoughts spiraled.
One question rising above all the others.
Unsettling.
Impossible.
Terrifying.
What if that wasn’t a dream… but a memory?
- Writer
