Dream Trapped

~Introduction~

Raika Caddel, a young, quiet, and seemingly ordinary twenty year old girl. To the outside world, she is simple, such introverted soul, just another face in the blur of everyday life. But beneath that normal carefree life she loves to put, lies an restless spirit. A mind haunted by her dreams she cannot understand neither can explain to anyone.

Though for her, they're always her nightmares-vivid, unsettling and terrifying. Each dream feels like echoes from places she's never been, yet somehow she knows. Every night, she finds herself trapped in those strange, twisted realities that blur the line between sleep and something far deeper. Why those dreams? And why her? She desperately wants to seek answers but nothing leads her to anything so far.

Raika's P.O.V

It was just like any another day, though, my college lectures had been cancelled today giving me an free afternoon to myself. As I walk back home, my footsteps echoed softly down the streets. It was peaceful to just walk alone, it didn't mean I lacked friends, I have them. Kind souls who cared but sometimes solitude just healed. Within minutes I reached my home.

Nestled between two tall, ivy-clad buildings, it stood modestly. A quiet structure of dusky blue walls and a roof that creaked with age. The wooden gate, slightly crooked, opening with a familiar groan welcoming me like an old friend. Soon, I open the front door with my key and step inside the living room, I gently throw my bag on the couch as I settle down on it closing my eyes. Slowly sleep crept in. It must have been hours till I feel someone shake me.

"Raika," a voice whispered, I jolt awake as I feel someone shaking my shoulder and calling out my name. With my drowsiness leaving, I watch as my mother gently holding my shoulders. I groan, "Mom! Why would you? You know I barely get sleep at night anyway, you should have let me sleep!" My words low though filled with annoyance reaches the room. And I'm just more annoyed when she shakes her head and laughs. "You and your dramatics, but c'mon get up and eat, then you can sleep all you want," my mother replies calmly to me.

With a sigh, I get up and move to the kitchen, the smell of food making me hungry. I watch as my mother sets up plate for me with concern in her eyes. She knew I had sleep problems but god forbid if I ever tell her about my nightmares. Some things were better buried in silence as they say. As the last bite was done, I rose up from my chair offering her a 'Thank you' before slipping away to my room upstairs. I open my room door and just hope or pray like every other day to have a normal sleep but it's like hoping to find a life in cemetery. I lay down on my bed, my room dark as I pull blankets on me and close my eyes.

~The Dream begins~

"Huh?" Where...am I?"

The words slipped from Raika's lips in a breathless whisper as she stood in the middle of an unfamiliar street, the world around her painted in silence. She looked around, her steps slow and uncertain. Buildings towered on either side, unfamiliar and distorted. The streetlights flickered faintly, casting long, eerie reflections on the damn pavement. She cursed her mind, "Damn it! Back in this hellhole again?"

As she walked further down the street taking in her surroundings, the people, everything felt so real. It's always been like this, she feels like she knows the places, the familiarity of it yet she can't grasp it in her mind. Despite the unease clawing at her, she kept moving forward and at a distance she saw something.

A cafe-tucked into a corner lane. It's windows were fogged, but golden light spilled out onto pavement in warm pools. The wooden sign above the door swung gently in an unseen breeze. It looked like it was the middle of night yet this place seemed crowded. Raika hesitated, "What is this place really?" as she whispered to no one. She knew better than to trust anything in here, this hell of her dreams. And yet, something pulled her forward. Before she processed it better, she entered.

Inside, the place was alive. The scent of coffee and baked pastries filled the air, mingling with the murmur of hushed conversations. The cafe, filled with faces she didn't recognize yet oddly couldn't bring herself to fear. Her gaze swept the room in search of refuge and there was it. A small table tucked into a quiet corner, she moved towards it and sank into the chair. Her mind drifted, Questions, fear of the unknown.

"Can I sit here?" The voice startled her.

Calm, low, yet carrying a strange resonance. She looked up quickly and standing before her was a man--tall, with striking features that held both sharpness and softness. His hair was dark and tousled, his coat slightly damp as if he'd just stepped in from a rain that hadn't happened. His eyes though were the most peculiar thing, intense and searching. Raika hesitated. Her instinct was to say no, to guard herself. But something about his gaze and his demeanor just made her nod.

He smiled, polite and gentle at first and slid into the seat across from her. She watched him quietly, uncertain. He didn't immediately speak again. Instead, his gaze drifted around the cafe, scanning faces, corners, shadows. Almost as if he were looking for something or someone. Minutes passed. He didn't say another word. Just...watched, Waiting.

Then, something in his posture changed. His shoulders squared. His breath steadied, like he'd finally found what he was searching for. Without a word, he stood. His chair scraped lightly against the floor, the sound barely audible beneath the cafe's gentle hum. Raika's eyes followed him instinctively as he moved through the crowd--graceful, silent, unnerving. He approached a table on the far side of the cafe where a man sat reading, completely unaware of what was coming. A quiet tension gripped Raika's chest and then-

A flash of silver.

Time seemed to slow down as the man--the same one who had sat across her table--reached into his coat and drew out a gun with terrifying ease. There was no hesitation, No warning.

*BANG*

The first sound rang out like a thunder inside a cathedral. The man at the other table collapsed instantly, crimson blooming across his chest like a terrible flower. Screams pierced the cafe. Cups shattered. People froze then bolted. Raika sat frozen for half a second too long, her mind struggling to process what she had just seen. But it wasn't over. Not even closed.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

The gunman turned on the crowd. His expression was hollow--no rage, no glee. Just cold detachment, like a machine following it's final command. He fired into the chaos with terrifying precision, his movements calm, controlled, inhuman. People screamed and scrambled over chairs, knocking over tables, crashing into one another in a desperate bid to survive.

The cafe, once glowing and warm, now trembled with horror, blood smearing the checkered floor tiles, cries echoing off the walls. And soon...his eyes found Raika's.

Even amidst the screams, the chaos, the overturned chairs and broken glass, I felt it, that weight. His gaze. Cold. Calculated. And worse...familiar like he'd been watching her long before he even asked to sit down. He smirked. That same calm, but now twisted at the edges. And slowly, he raised his gun--pointing it directly at her.

Raika's breath caught. Her body locked in place, paralyzed by a strange mix of dread and disbelief. Was this it? Was this how she will end? Stuck in her dreams forever?

But fate twisted once more.

A blur of motion slammed into him from the side. Someone--one of the cafe's patrons, maybe, or someone tackled him hard to the ground. The gun skidded across the floor, clattering to a stop beneath a table. Then came the shouting. Uniformed officers stormed in, forced his arms behind his back, and slammed him into the ground. He struggled like an animal caught in a snare but there was nowhere left to run. Handcuffs clicked into place. The danger was contained.

But the panic inside Raika didn't. Flooded with relief and fear she slumped back onto her chair, trembling. As the officers dragged him away, something slipped from his coat and landed with a soft thud on the floor. Drawn by instinct or curiosity she couldn't explain--she stepped forward and picked it up with shaking hands. Unfolded, it revealed only two words, scrawled in a hurried but clear hand.

"Jake Carter."