She was wandering through a creepy and desolate version of her hospital. The trolley of her IV drips squeaking against the polished floors of the abandoned hallway. Everywhere she went and every place of this hospital she visited, she could not find a single analog or digital clock to tell her the time or how long she had been here. She silently pressed the elevator buttons and steadied the trolley carrying her IV bag as the elevator ascended to the rooftop. The higher she went, the lighter she felt.
The sky was blurry and void of the sun, but the wind was powerful in this world. Charlotte was exploring a part of her consciousness unknowingly. She had been here a couple of times when she fainted like that. At times, she could be at the train station and the train would move endlessly without stopping. Or she could be laying cozily in her apartment with no one to talk to. This place she travels to once in a while it is eerily quiet, and she deals with it until she wakes up.
Every time she dwelled in this quiet world of her mind, there was not a single clock or calendar to tell her how long she had been waiting to be conscious again. She wanted to know if what she was currently experiencing was a long or short dream.
She stood at the edge of the roof of her hospital, gazing at the empty world around her in a daze.
It was so lonely.
It was always lonely.
She needed someone to talk to.
''Ree-ree?'' She called out for his ever-present presence again out of desperation to feel him. She wanted to apologize to him now for not being strong enough for their movie date night. That she was sorry for being trapped here instead of being in the physical world with him. Laughing at his jokes and admiring the wonders of him and his existence.
She was really a terrible girlfriend. How could she just leave him like that and lie on that bed for more than a day without talking to him?
''Ree-re,'' She pleaded to be heard by him, tears welling up in her brown eyes. Her heart shattered in her chest at his silence.
She would die the moment he leaves her. She was nothing without him.
''Ree-ree?'' She called in a softer, heartbreaking tone.
''Yes, darling,'' he answered so close to her ear, his arms possessively wrapped around her waist from behind.
Her eyes widened and were fuller than the full moon in shock. Heart racing like a galloping horse in her chest at the sound of his voice, and fumbled at his touch.
Charlotte gasped in disbelief as the powerful wind blew across her face and made contact with the tears streaming down her cheeks.
He was real.
She wanted to turn to look at his face, but he tightened his hold around her waist, preventing her from doing so. She tried several times again, eager to see his face now that he had a physical form, but he did not allow her.
Charlotte stiffened. She could feel the feather-light touch of his breath against her skin, and his hold around her waist was electrifying, moving and heartwarming.
All these years that everyone told her he wasn't real. They tried to make her feel stupid for believing in his sure existence and loving him by faith and not by sight.
More tears rolled down her cheeks as her hands quickly found his and held it tight, afraid he might just be a figment of her imagination, and he would go back to being invisible again.
Words can't describe how surprised and relieved she was to have him here with her in this eerie part of her mind, safely in his arms and never alone anymore.
She choked on a sob as her joy couldn't be contained.
He is real.
Her Ree-ree was real and he was not leaving her.
''Why were you afraid?'' He said again, and she had to close her eyes at the feeling of peace that washed over her at the sound of his ethereal voice. It was cool, calm yet deep and seductive. Just as she imagined. ''My lovely god?''
One of his gloved hands took a hold of a strand of her hair and began to play with it, in awe at her perfection. She was too good to be true. Lovely in every way, and his love forever.
Dark eternal eyes of blue and red shined with possessiveness as he inched closer to place a small kiss on her right cheek.
Charlotte melted as her knees gave up on her at his sweet touch. If not for his hold around her, she might have fallen off this building.
She loved it so much. All these while, she had only just been imagining it. It has always been in her head. How would it feel to be kissed by Ree-ree?
But now, she had been answered and she wanted more.
''You've been calling out to me so much that I thought you needed my help.''
''Where am I?'' She asked softly, trying to catch a glimpse of his face, but she couldn't.
The King of Nightmares paused for a while as he thought of how to answer his beloved.
''You are sleeping,'' he whispered like autumn's breeze very close to her ear.
''Sleeping?''
''Yes.''
''You mean like a dream?''
''However you want it.''
So that means he can be more physical in her dream. He is physical in her dream and invisible when she wakes up. Her eyes moved like she had it all figured out. She suddenly had this crazy thought of putting herself in a situation where she would never have to wake up, even though she wanted to.
''You stay here?'' She asked, observing this creepy, lonely world they were currently towering over.
''Yes, but I am not from here. My home is somewhere else, but I love to be a part of your mind.''
All she understood was that he stays here, and she suddenly had this indescribable urge to be stuck here forever. She never wanted to wake up again, if it meant to melt completely at his touch and be held forever like this by him.
She would rather not wake up!
What's the point of waking up from this dream into a world where Ree-ree wasn't visible? She could remain here for a million years and be with him like this.
The smile on her face was short-lived when she started vaporizing like dark particles of ash blazing with streaks of fire. She stared down in horror and began to panic. Holding on to Ree-ree like this was forever.
''Wh…what is happening?''
''You are waking up.''
Her heart started stuttering when his hold around her waist began to loosen, and he was already distancing himself from her once more.
''No, no, no! Please. Please, please, please. I would rather not wake up. I don't want to wake up. Ree-ree make it stop—''
She turned around to be met with nothing. The metal door she'd come out of a moment ago doing a funny dance at her as the world around her began to fold like paper.
''Ree-ree…''
She stared down at her hands and watched in terror when it began to wither away. Just when everything was starting to be alright, and she thought she had found eternal happiness, her body in the physical realm started to wake up. She once dreaded being stuck here, but not anymore now that Ree-ree was physically here, and he could love her better.
''Don't worry, my love. I am always with you no matter what.''