HE couldn't see her face, but from the way he felt himself shivering and from the intense darkness around him, he felt nervous. Fear. Her presence felt like it was suffocating him and he wanted to know why, but he couldn't even open his mouth to say anything. What was going on?
There was a woman sitting on a throne from what he could see. And he could tell that it was a woman from the long flowing hair she had, the earrings and the dress that showed a substantial amount of cleavage. Normally, he'd be happy to see a woman in his dreams, but now, he felt nervous. A bit intimidated. Like he should runaway. He wasn't able to look at her properly for long though, because the ground started shaking.
"Wh--who are you?"
She laughed humorlessly, her voice deep. He wasn't able to guess whether she was old or young and something told him that she was neither. "Normally, I'd feel insulted, but I'll forgive your ignorance. I'm in a good mood today. After all, you're something quite remarkable."
He felt himself shivering the more. Her voice was like thunder which was weird since she looked like she had fire surrounding her.
"I have a name," she began. "But I'd rather you call me The Oracle."
"O--oracle?" He stuttered. "What do you want from me then?"
"You being alive is an abomination--to certain people,and...you need to be exterminated," she said, frightening Timothy. "That's not what I think of course."
He really wanted this dream to go away soon. Because it was starting to feel too real. He needed to wake up.
"This is more of a normal conversation with me, in case you're wondering," she said. "It's not like you've ever dreamed till now."
His eyes widened. "How do you--"
"I'm The Oracle, Timothy. I always know." She paused. "You should probably look up the meaning."
He stared.
"Now, about your extermination," she continued smoothly. "You're a hybrid and once your powers are activated--which will start immediately the full moon comes--all of the supernatural world will know about you and come for you."
"I--"
"You're basically dead meat...or you're a wonderful addition to the supernatural world." She grinned, eyes glowing. "I'm only giving you a tiny bit of information as I don't know where you stand yet, but know that you're important...and that I could kill you before you turn into something that can't be handled."
Timothy felt himself sweating. He was scared, but not terrified. He could feel that she wasn't bluffing though. He wanted to call for help, but who would be able to hear him?
"Hybrid," she hissed, eyes blazing as she stood from her throne, walking towards him slowly. "I'm disappointed and...impressed."
Timothy took a step back as she took a few steps forward.
"What do you want from me?" He asked bravely.
"Nothing but obedience. Seeing as you're 'innocent' now, you could help me with a few things and then I'll spare your life."
"Spare my life?"
"But of course... I have the power to end it."
She grinned again, this time her eyes were glowing green and her hands looked like claws as she reached out to him.
Timothy took the coldest shower he'd ever taken in his life. He wanted to remain awake.
"Just a dream," he muttered. "Just a weird ass dream."
The woman knew his name and called him a freaking hybrid though, something that he knew only came from myths. He couldn't as well tell anyone because it'd be dismissed as a simple nightmare. It was probably because he was reading that fantasy book and talking about it with Rowen.
Rowen...
There was a knock on the door.
"Timothy? Are you alright?"
Timothy took in and out deep breaths. He wanted to calm himself down and assure himself that nothing happened.
"Timothy?" Another knock. "I heard you screaming a while ago? What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" He yelled, turning off the shower. "I'm good. I'm fine. It was just a nightmare."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." Rowen's sound of worry actually touched Timothy. It made him happy that someone who wasn't his sister cared, though they were strangers. And it was just a nightmare.
He came out of the shower, momentarily awed and impressed for like the second time since he'd come here, that their room had it's own bathroom. Wasn't it supposed to be a dorm? The people who owned it were really rich and impressive. Thankfully, he got in by scholarship, so he wouldn't waste his sister's money.
He got dressed a few minutes later and walked into the small living room slash kitchen that they had--another surprise--and sat down as a quiet Rowen made them both hot chocolate.
"Thanks, but you didn't have to," he said, taking the offered cup. They both sat on the small table facing each other.
"You're welcome. You said you had a nightmare so I'm trying my best to help you in any way I can," he explained. "I'm sure you're not interested in going to bed anytime soon, too."
Timothy smiled wryly. "Yeah."
Despite his shower, he had eye bags which were obvious. He looked like he could fall asleep anytime now. When he woke up, he was unable to go back to sleep, so he spent some time browsing the internet for a name: The Oracle. He got answers of course, but they were too many and confused him each time.
"So...you're not going to explain your nightmare?"
Timothy glanced at Rowen's curious and worried eyes and sighed. "It'll sound dumb and weird. I don't want to."
Rowen raised his hands up as if to surrender. "I accept that. But if you want to tell anyone, I'm still available. Maybe talking about it'll help you out in some way."
"Maybe."
Maybe he'll think it's funny and that my fear is irrational.
***
The morning came and Timothy was relieved. He didn't go back to bed and wasn't planning on anytime soon. However, Rowen took one look at him and told him not to bother coming to class and to go right to sleep before he collapses on the way to or after school. Timothy didn't even have the willpower to fight him, so he agreed.
He fell asleep on the floor.
That was how Rowen found him when he returned.
Timothy woke up on his bed though and he had a feeling that he was carried by his roommate.
Embarrassing.
"Rowen?" He asked a few hours later into the evening when he left his room to his roommate's room to thank him for giving him food and all, and not thinking he's ridiculous for acting the way he was because of a dream. A nightmare...whatever you'd call it.
"Yeah?"
"You remember when I said that I was alright and that I just had an insignificant dream?" He paused. "Well, those weren't the exact words, but you get it though, right?"
He'd stopped eating. "Yeah?"
Rowen was eating his evening meal in his room and was watching something on his laptop which he paused as Timothy sat down.
It wouldn't be so bad to tell him. Timothy decided that if he was laughed at or given any negative attitude, he would keep the rest of his thoughts to himself.
He took a deep breath. "I lied. You probably know that though. The main point is that I'm terrified of going to sleep because of the intense pain that I had while in that dream... nightmare, if you'd call it that."
The white-haired boy looked at him now, concern showing. "What did you see?"
"This might sound funny and weird--"
"I'm listening."
Timothy nodded. "I saw this weird looking woman...she told me I was a 'hybrid'. She told me she was disappointed and said I should help her if I wanted her to spare my life. Before I could say anything much, I had the most intense pain overcome me. She said other things... I... I don't really care about stuffs like this and my day was going well but for some reason, now that it's evening I feel...I--I've been getting flashes of..."
Rowen stood up, expression gentle. "It's a full moon now. It's probably affecting you." He touched his forehead. "What's her name? The woman who--"
"The Oracle." Timothy looked at him in confusion, anxious."I searched online but I got confused with the responses I got. Do you know what that--?"
"Timothy?"
He heard Rowen stand up, but he didn't hear anything else as his head started to hurt.
Then he collapsed, screaming in pain.
"Timothy! Timothy!"