The dreams were recurring and frightening, to say the least.
Every night, she'd smother herself in layers of blankets, the lights in the hallways on to maximum brightness and dreamcatchers surrounding her - dangling from her ceiling, from the door handles, from the walls. The webs were rumored to trap nightmares, but they never worked. At least, never for her.
She was scared of sleep. Terrified, even. She dreaded falling asleep - for it was when she would dream the same events in her nightmares. Again and again.
It started the same way.
She was walking along a trail in the woods. Boughs of willows bowed their drooping heads to the floor and dangled gently in the breeze, and ferns and flowers bloomed on the path, as if welcoming her. Welcoming her home. The sun was setting in the distance, beyond the peaks of a purple mountain range, giving off a lovely golden glow as it slowly sank. The sky was splashed with an array of colours: blood-red, golden-orange, violet, pale blue, dusty pink. Vivid. Serene. Beautiful.
She kept walking along the path. And walking.
She had to meet someone. She didn't know who, but he was important.
He?
She kept walking.
She finally emerged from the forest to a desolate, decrepit grey stone building. No smoke puffed out from the chimney flue. The nearby pond had dried up, leaving behind a hollowed, shallow dip. The small, rectangular entrance of the building gave way to a dim room beyond.
She got chills down her spine simply looking at it.
But she kept walking. Past the building and around the corner.
Behind the building was a small, dark shed.
He was in there. She knew it.
She kept walking.
What she didn't expect was there to be two men along with him. She inhaled sharply and ducked behind a nearby tree, peeking out.
No. No, no, no! They couldn't be here. Not right now. She had unfinished business to handle, and they had come before she could deal with it.
One of the men was tall and lanky with a pallid complexion, his skin deathly pale, with an assortment of knives and guns attached to his weapon-belt. The other was squat but his arms and bare torso rippled with lean muscles from a lifetime of battles and wars. He gripped a rifle, and the barrel was aimed right at the third man's forehead.
As she caught sight of the third man, her heart contracted almost painfully.
"Damien, stop playing around," snarled the second man. "Tell us what you know."
Damien's hands shook. "I told you. I don't know anything."
The second man casually cracked his knuckles, his lips stretching into a predatory, almost feral grin. "Shut the hell up, Damien. We know she told you where she hid it. Tell us now and nobody needs to get hurt."
Her breath caught in her throat. If Damien told the men, she was as good as dead. Both of them were as good as dead.
To her relief, Damien insistently shook his head. "No! I don't know anything! She never spoke of it!"
Bang!
A shot rang through the silent clearing and her hands automatically flew to cover her mouth, muffling the gasp as Damien fell to the ground, blood seeping from his leg.
The man cocked his gun at Damien's head. "Consider this as a warning, fool," he growled. "We will be back tomorrow. If you don't tell us by then... We'll kill you."
With that final, ominous warning, the first man departed with a furious snort. The second man glanced down at Damien with contempt, then booted him in the stomach, causing him to cough out blood. A small smirk curled the corner of his lip as he followed the first man and left.
She slid her hand into her robes.
She waited until the men's footsteps died away before stepping out from her hiding place. She walked carefully, deliberately into the shed.
Damien lay on the ground, a pool of crimson staining the ground as he lifted his head weakly. His eyes clouded with relief and love as he saw her.
"Delilah," he rasped. "Delilah, you're safe."
Her hand tightened.
"Of course I am," she whispered, crossing the room and caressing his cheek lightly. "Worry about yourself, Damien...not me."
Pride was evident in his green eyes. "Delilah, as long as you're safe, I will never worry about my own safety. I didn't tell them your secret. Are you proud of me?"
She lifted her hand slowly. Ever so slowly. "You don't need to ask," she chided. "I love you, you know that?"
"I know," he said peacefully, his gaze faraway.
"Shh. Don't interrupt," she crooned, placing a finger on her lips. Her heart thumped rapidly against her ribcage. "I love you, Damien, and that is why you must die. You understand that, don't you?"
Damien's gaze snapped back to her, instantly alert. "Delilah-"
She extracted a knife from her robes and plunged it into his chest.
His throat made a gurgling sound as blood splattered her robes. "Delilah!"
She shoved it deeper and he choked. His green gaze bore into hers, full of betrayal and heartbreak. "I sacrificed everything for you!"
She scoffed. "It wasn't enough!"
Damien gave a final, strangled cry, before falling limp to the ground.
She leaned over him, waving her fingers under his nose, ensuring he was dead.
He was. She stood, preparing to leave.
A hand grabbed her leg.
She screamed and whirled around, falling to her knees. Damien's eyes flew open, glowing a vivid, toxic green, full of maliciousness and hatred. And anger. So much anger.
His cold hand grabbed onto her throat and began to squeeze. Delilah began to choke, and cough, under Damien's poisonous, intense green glare -
Sienna awoke with a scream.
She sat up fast, fear coursing through her veins. The same dream. Again. For years and years, this nightmare had plagued her, causing within her a deep fear of sleep. These few weeks, it had been getting especially worse.
She checked the clock on her desk and groaned. 4:45 AM. Of course she'd wake up at this time again.
She tried to go back to sleep again, with no avail.
Sienna finally gave up. By now, it was daybreak; the earl grey light of dawn had filtered slightly into her bedroom through her gossamer window curtains. Sienna picked up her phone. She had received a total of 19 texts - all in the middle of the night, and all from her best friend, Lynne.
Wake up!
I've got it!
Call me, now!
What's taking you so long, dammit?
I know why you've been having these dreams!
Sienna rolled her eyes and pressed the call button.
"Hello? Lynne?"
"Sienna, there you are!" her friend's voice was tinged with frustration. "I thought you'd never wake up!"
Sienna groaned. "You can't expect me to respond in the middle of the night! What do you want?"
There was a sound of shuffling papers on the other side of the phone. "I've been mulling this over for a long, long time and I've done my research... I know it seems to be impossible, because it is pretty unbelievable, but this was the only result we could conclude from our studies-"
Sienna's eyebrows rose and she cut her friend off impatiently. "What?"
Lynne sighed. "It's not unheard of for a person to have the same dream about a death over and over again, in someone else's bodies. And most of the time... the people they dream happen to have existed, and died in the same way. I've got no other conclusion that that... you are somehow... the reborn version of another person."
Sienna let out a small cry.
"Sienna, are you okay?" Lynne fretted anxiously. "Do you need me to come over?"
Sienna took a few quick breaths.
"No, I'm fine," she said lowly. "So you're saying... I'm this person, Delilah, whoever's reincarnation?"
"Yes!" Lynne confirmed. "That's what I'm saying!"
Sienna slammed down the phone.
Her eyes were wide.
--------------
"How was your day, raccoon?" teased Jake as Sienna walked in with heavy dark circles under her eyes.
Sienna shrugged. "Nothing, much. My insomnia's kicking in again."
She looked troubled, but Jake decided not to pursue it.
Jake and Sienna had been dating for five years now. They had met in high school and this year was their last year in college.
Jake preferred to think himself the luckiest man in the world.
"Sienna, go on a date with me tonight?" he asked hopefully.
Sienna laughed. "Sure."
Jake dropped Sienna off at her home after the date, leaving her with a house with dark windows and nobody home.
Her father was away on a business trip, her mother an alcoholic. Nobody was home.
Sienna sighed. Another night of restless dreams.
It was the same.
She walked along the pathway again. Around the building, to the shed. She hid behind the tree and watched as the two men shot Damien once again.
She went into the shed, and watched as Damien's eyes filled with relief upon seeing her.
The look of betrayal etched on his features as she stabbed him.
And as she stood to leave, the cold hand grabbing her leg. Pulling her down. The hand seizing her throat.
His glowing green eyes. Glowing with hatred and poison and rage. Those eyes, oh, those terrible green eyes -
Sienna screamed and awoke again.
--------------
Sienna was deliriously happy. Two years had passed, she and Jake had gotten married, and Sienna's dreams stopped altogether. They lived happily ever after.
Not.
Sienna picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, slipping on her high heels. "Be back at seven, Jake!" she called. There was a faint echo of "Okay!" from the bathroom where Jake was getting ready.
She headed out to the streets. It was a cool, crisp February morning, with a chilly breeze blowing her way. Sienna shivered and hugged the coat tighter to herself.
She arrived at work and headed to her usual spot.
Terrence, her partner, waved her over. "Hi, Sienna. Had a good night's rest?"
Sienna smiled. "Pretty good. You?"
She watched Terrence's blue eyes darken. "Not really. Weird dreams."
Sienna arched an eyebrow. Terrence was surprisingly curt.
"Maybe you just need to get out more," she suggested. "What was the dream about?"
Terrence looked down. "It was... confusing, to be honest. It felt like... I was somebody else."
Terrence was quiet for a while, before he shrugged. "Sorry. We've gotten off track. Now, where were we yesterday...?"
As Terrence explained his idea for the campaign and the advertising strategies, Sienna couldn't help but think that under the bright blue lights of the office, Terrence's eyes looked strangely green.
Later that day, as Sienna switched off her tablet and left her work building, she noticed Terrence lurking strangely in a corner of the dim streets.
He was speaking in urgent, hushed whispers into his phone. Sienna walked up behind him with silent feet.
"...the place I... it is not... the path... are you sure?" Sienna strained to pick up his words.
Terrence paused for a few moments.
He began to walk, gesticulating furiously all the while. "You found her? Who is she?"
He abruptly stopped, and Sienna nearly crashed into him from behind. She hastily backed away to a safer distance.
Terrence cursed loudly and swore. "I will kill her!" he slammed his phone shut.
He paced for a moment, muttering under his breath.
Then he looked up, a catlike gleam in his eyes.
"So she is the one..." he mused lightly, running a finger across his chin. He whipped around and strode away with dignity, a startling contrast to the furious man who had been speaking on the phone a few moments ago.
Sienna stared after him.
What was that all about?
--------------
Nighttime.
Sienna's phone rang and she picked it up, to see the caller's identity was Lynne.
She held the phone to her ear. "Lynne?"
"Sienna!" Lynne's voice rang with alarm. "I don't mean to alarm you, but... we've found the exact place you've described. With the path of willows, the grey building, the shed and all."
Sienna felt like she was going to choke.
It seemed like her nightmares were catching up to her again.
She didn't want to ask. But...
"I'm Delilah, aren't I?"
"We think so."
Sienna took a deep breath.
"If I'm Delilah, then who's Damien?"
It couldn't be him, could it?
"What is it, Sienna?" came Lynne's tentative voice.
Quickly and swiftly, Sienna recounted the day's strange happenings to Lynne.
When she finished, there was a long silence.
"There are too many coincidences for him not to be Damien," Lynne declared. "That sketchy phone call, his own odd dreams... He's definitely the guy we're looking for."
Sienna let out a breath, still pensive.
"What next?" she asked, her hands gripping the edge of the table. Her knuckles gleamed white. "I can't just demand the truth out of Terrence. If he isn't Damien, he'll think I'm barking mad!" Sienna let out a dry laugh, her voice cracking. "I just... Just when I thought I was done with all this drama..."
"Hey, it'll be alright," Lynne comforted, although Sienna detected the slight quiver in her voice. "Terrence can't outright do anything to you. Just... be careful, Sienna, alright? There's also-"
Then Jake stuck his head out of the bedroom door. "Raccoon!" he called. "It's almost twelve. Are you going to sleep or what?"
"Wait, wait, I'm coming!" Sienna yelled back. She quickly placed her phone back to her ear. "Sorry, Lynne, this'll have to wait. I'll call you back tomorrow morning, alright?"
"But, Sienna, there's something you haven't-"
Sienna ended the call.
She took a shaky breath. She did not want any more bad news.
She closed the bedroom door softly behind her and climbed into bed, snuggling up to Jake. She tried not to think of Terrence, and how his blue eyes had almost seemed green under the lighting.
"Good night, Jake," she whispered.
He laughed. "Good night, Raccoon."
It was there again.
No! No! She wasn't supposed to dream again! She hadn't dreamt for two years - surely the dreams wouldn't come back for her now?
She saw it again. The path of willows.
She tread gravely, with light, solemn steps as if it was her last time walking this path. She saw the old, ramshackle building again. And the shed.
And Damien.
She froze, her heartbeat quickening. The men were there, too. They threatened him. They shot him and left.
She entered.
He loved her.
She killed him.
She turned to leave -
A hand grabbed her leg.
She screamed and fell. Once again, Damien's eyes flew wide open, glowing with all-too-familiar poisonous green, full of malevolence and wrath.
His cold hand grabbed onto her throat and began to squeeze. Delilah choked, all the while, his glowing eyes bore into hers with hate -
Sienna's eyes flew open, wide awake, and she stared directly into glowing eyes, toxic green full of venom and anger.
Terror engulfed her.
The dream. It was actually happening in real life. It was coming true.
She choked.
Her attacker had his hand clamped around her throat and he was squeezing, squeezing so hard she couldn't breathe - his green eyes - toxic green eyes, oh, his eyes -
She screamed.
Her attacker screamed as well and let go, eyes fading back to their original color. The two sprang apart, staring at each other.
Then -
"Sienna?"
"...Jake?"