1 | me...sss...enger

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Amelia

I knew it had to be a dream, but my gut screamed the opposite.

The floor felt genuinely cool under my bare feet as the dreamscape materialized. Hypnotic ribbons of moonlight cruised across the smooth marble, reflecting down from a ceiling rippling with ocean waves.

I marveled at the body of water defying gravity.

As a wave rolled through the oceanic sky, droplets fell. Instead of making quiet splashes, each landed with grace and without losing shape. They dotted the floor like small beads of glass.

One drop kissed my bottom lip. It was warm, but the taste was devoid of salt. It instead had a subtle hint of sweetness to it like a diluted peach — yet, with a metallic aftertaste.

I touched my lips in strange wonder.

Where in a normal room four walls would have closed me in, only darkness extended beyond each side. Even the ripples of moonlight had no effect on the extending void. The longer I stared at it, the emptier it felt. I stood on a lone platform supported by seemingly nothing.

Ominous...

I crossed my arms, rubbing my triceps therapeutically as goosebumps rose. "Is anyone there?"

The question felt silly, but a sixth sense gave off the impression I was somehow trespassing - like this place, this dream didn't belong to me. Yet the setup felt intentional. Like a trap.

Then all thoughts dissipated the moment my attention locked on like an unloaded sniper to a small portion of darkness twisting at the edge of the floor directly in front of me.

I took a step back as a cobra slithered into view.

Slivers of the tide's light glided over its radiant, opal-white form. Tendril-like wisps of umbrage clung onto the cobra as if the darkness refused to let go. But the abyssal tendrils thinned, converting into an inky mist.

I had never been particularly scared of snakes growing up, but this snake was glowing. Glowing! Okay, not glowing-glowing like a neon sign or anything crazy like that. The word radioactive came to mind.

The urge to run coursed through me. But where would I run to? Not the darkness, obviously. For all I knew, there could be an entire family of snakes lurking around out there.

I eyed it, uneasy by how it watched me. For now, my only option was to keep my distance and hope it lost interest and slithered on back to its shadows. And hope more wouldn't join it.

The snake neared closer, and I took a couple steps back. "Woah, don't." I pointed a finger at it. "You won't like what I'll do if you get near me—h-holy hell!"

The cobra's radiant body suddenly amplified in size, going from zero to anaconda in a matter of seconds.

The once small and manageable snake was now big enough to be my sparring partner. And I've never taken a sparring class in my life! Why didn't I have a weapon? Or, I don't know... wings to fly away with? A pair of shoes would have been nice! Actually... I looked down at myself, horrified. I didn't have a single lick of clothing on. If this was truly a dream, shouldn't I be able to conjure up whatever I wanted? Ugh, why wasn't it working!

The giant cobra hissed. Its opalescent hood fanned outwards like a bird would with their wings.

My shoulders trembled, but I couldn't bring myself to move. Fear utterly paralyzed me as its bright white, vertically slit eyes studied me like prey, calculating its next move.

The air in the room took on an almost physical weight.

My heart battered against my chest, followed by an instant cold sweat that caused my skin to crawl.

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