"Ugh... mhm... no, no, no! MUM!!!" A voice suddenly shouted aloud as a figure shot upright from her lying position on the bed.
Her face was drenched in sweat, breathing ragged, and soon enough, two women burst into the room in panic.
"Lizzy! Lizzy! What happened to you?" Camila asked in pure panic as she rushed toward her daughter and immediately sat down beside her.
"I... I don’t know." Lizzy huffed and panted, trying her best to calm her wildly beating heart. Sweat drenched her entire body as though someone had poured a bucket of water over her.
"You don’t know? You just shouted for your mum out of the blue," Mia said, trying to calm her own racing heart.
"Is it the same again?" Camila suddenly asked, as if she had just remembered something, causing the young girl to nod weakly.
"Mum! Is there something you aren’t telling me?" Lizzy suddenly asked, turning toward her mother with a face full of dread.
"Meaning?" Camila asked with a raised brow, feigning calm but her voice slightly trembled.
"For... for the past two years, I keep having this same dream, and when I wake up, you always tell me not to worry, that everything is going to be alright. How are things going to be alright when the dreams have suddenly become recurring?"
"What do you mean by recurring?" Mia asked, her brows furrowed in concern.
"Earlier, I usually had the same dream maybe once a month, but now it’s become continuous—about four times a week. Something is wrong." Lizzy’s tone shook as she stared at her mum with weary, pleading eyes. "Please, mum, is... is there something wrong with me that you aren’t telling me?"
Camila didn’t reply. Her head hung low for a long moment, teeth grinding back and forth as she struggled with her thoughts.
"Camila, is everything okay?" Mia asked softly, noticing the woman clenching her fists tightly against the bedsheets.
"Mum?" Lizzy called again, her voice trembling slightly.
"Lizzy, what kind of dream do you say you keep having?" Mia asked, her tone calm but curious as she turned to the young woman.
"I... I... I see flashes," Lizzy muttered, her body trembling slightly. "Faint images of me standing in the middle of a burning wreckage, eyes brimming with an unseen anger.
The wind howls around me while people writhe in front of me, crawling as if trying to run away. And with just a flick of my wrist, they all disappear. Then I wake up in fear. I don’t know... it’s scary. So scary and all too real."
"And you say you’ve been having this same dream for the past two years now?" Mia asked, watching the young lady nod slowly.
"How old are you again?" Camila’s voice suddenly cut through the silence as she lifted her head to stare directly at her daughter.
"Huh? Don’t you know my age again? I’m nineteen," Lizzy replied, blinking in confusion.
"When is your twentieth birthday?" Camila asked again, her tone low, almost unreadable.
’Huh? Where is she headed with this?’ Mia thought, her brows furrowed deeply as tension filled the room.
"In two months?" Lizzy replied with her brows furrowed when Camila just let out a tired sigh.
"What’s wrong? I... is there really something you aren’t telling me?" Lizzy asked again, unease creeping into her tone.
"I feel like it’s time for you to know the truth," Camila sighed as she stood up from the bed, her expression carrying both exhaustion and resolve.
"The truth? What truth?" Lizzy asked, her confusion deepening as she looked between her mother and Mia.
"You were supposed to learn of this on your twentieth birthday, but I fear it might be too late. You need to know what you are going to be getting into," Camila replied firmly.
"Meaning?" Lizzy pressed, her voice shaky but insistent.
"Get out of bed. Let’s go," Camila said as she turned around and began walking away.
"Let’s go? Go where?" Lizzy asked, but regardless of her confusion, she followed along, watching her mother’s back slowly disappear around the corner.
Puzzled and a bit anxious from Camila’s strange words, Mia followed as well. Soon enough, the trio arrived at the room Camila and Mia shared.
"Huh? Wh... what are we doing in your room, mum?" Lizzy asked, causing her mother to halt.
"You want to know the truth, right? Why you keep having the same dreams over and over? Then keep quiet and follow along," Camila said calmly, her tone sharp yet motherly. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novᴇlfire.net
Without hesitation, she bent down and pulled off a thick rug from the wooden floor. Lizzy and Mia exchanged puzzled glances as Camila bit her index finger, letting crimson drops of blood fall to the ground.
With practiced precision, she began to draw strange signs and symbols across the floor. The air grew heavier with every stroke, and a faint hum echoed through the room.
Within a minute, the markings lit up with a dull red glow before a small trap door appeared in the center of the floor. Lizzy’s eyes widened, her breath caught between amazement and disbelief, but she stayed quiet, choosing to watch her mother in silence.
The trap door creaked open, revealing a narrow wooden staircase that led into thick darkness below.
"Let’s go," Camila ordered quietly, her tone leaving no room for argument.
With sheer reluctance, both Lizzy and Mia followed behind her as they descended the stairs. Each step creaked under their feet, and the air grew cooler with every level down until, finally, their boots touched solid ground.
Right on cue, the lights flickered on, revealing what lay beneath.
The space they found themselves in was far from cramped. It was a wide and surprisingly neat basement. Stone walls surrounded them, each one reinforced and lined with glowing lanterns that gave the room a soft, golden hue.
To the left stood a small library—a sturdy oak shelf filled with a modest collection of books. Some were old and brittle, their leather spines cracked with age, while others looked newer, their titles written in clean, bold ink. A small wooden table and chair sat nearby, giving the sense that someone often studied here in quiet solitude.
On the opposite side stretched a weapon wall that immediately caught the eye. Spears, swords, daggers, and axes hung neatly in rows, their metallic gleam reflecting the lantern light. A finely crafted bow rested against the wall, its quiver of arrows neatly arranged beside it, each fletching perfectly aligned.
The center of the room was clear, spacious enough for movement—whether sparring, training, or deep thought. Everything about the room carried a sense of preparation, a mix between knowledge and danger.
"Wh... what is this place, mum? Wh... what is going on?" Lizzy asked with a shaky voice, her gaze fixed on the weapons that adorned the walls.
"It’s time for you to learn our family secrets, I guess," Camila said with a quiet sigh, her eyes reflecting both sorrow and pride as she looked around the room.