The air in the room was thick with tension, and Mikel's heart beat faster with every passing second. He had asked for answers, but now that he was here, in the presence of Naira and the innkeeper, he wasn't sure if he was prepared for what they might reveal. Naira's eyes were still fixed on him, her gaze calculating, as if weighing something invisible in the air between them.
The innkeeper, Callis, was silent, watching Mikel with a strange, inscrutable look in his dark eyes. There was something unsettling in the way he observed him, like he was studying the very essence of Mikel, trying to decipher some hidden truth.
"So, what now?" Mikel asked, his voice rough. The silence had become too heavy, and he needed something—anything—to break it.
Naira's lips curved into a faint, knowing smile, but there was no warmth in it. "Now, we wait for the dream."
Mikel frowned. "What do you mean, 'the dream'?"
Callis stepped forward then, his voice low but firm. "It is something that happens to all who stay here for long enough. A vision, a revelation, a choice. The inn does not give answers directly; it makes you find them for yourself. The dream is how it begins."
Mikel felt a chill run down his spine. "A vision? A dream?" His voice wavered slightly as he spoke, and he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of dread. What kind of dream? And why was it tied to this place?
Naira's eyes softened for a moment, and she looked at Mikel with something like pity. "It's different for everyone," she explained gently. "For some, it's a memory, something from the past that they must face. For others, it's a choice—a choice that will shape their future. For a few…" She hesitated, her voice dropping to a whisper. "For a few, it is the moment they truly understand why they were brought here."
The way she said it made Mikel's stomach twist. What could that mean? What choice? What past?
"Will it hurt?" Mikel asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.
Callis didn't answer immediately. Instead, he walked over to the fire and stood there for a moment, his back turned to Mikel and Naira. The flickering flames danced in his eyes, casting an eerie glow over his sharp features.
"No," Callis said at last, his voice distant. "But it will change you. The inn has a way of revealing things you've long hidden from yourself. It shows you the truth, whether you're ready for it or not."
Mikel swallowed hard, his hands trembling slightly at his sides. The idea of facing the truth, especially if it meant confronting things he wasn't ready to deal with, terrified him. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to stay here, in this place full of strange people and strange happenings. But as he looked from Callis to Naira, he knew deep down that there was no turning back.
He had already made his choice when he stepped through the door, seeking shelter from the storm. And now, the inn was making sure he would face what he had been running from.
"How long does it take?" Mikel asked, trying to steady his breathing.
Callis turned, his eyes narrowing slightly. "It will come when it's ready. You'll know when the time is right."
Before Mikel could say anything else, the innkeeper turned back to the fire. The conversation seemed to be over, and the weight of the silence descended again. Mikel stood there for a moment, trying to decide what to do next.
But before he could speak, he felt an odd pull—a heaviness in the air, like gravity itself had shifted. His body went cold, and the walls around him seemed to blur, fading into darkness. His vision swam, the room warping as if the very foundation of the inn were bending, folding in on itself.
"Wait…" Mikel whispered, but his voice sounded distant, lost in the shifting air. His heart raced. What was happening?
Suddenly, the room was gone, replaced by an endless field of black. Mikel felt as though he were falling, but there was no ground beneath him, no way to stop. It was like he was suspended in some vast, empty void, and for a long moment, there was nothing—no sound, no light, no direction.
Then, slowly, the darkness began to shift. Colors bled into the void, forming vague shapes and figures in the distance. The scene before him started to take form. He was standing now, his feet on solid ground, but everything around him was blurred, distorted.
In the distance, he saw a figure—a woman standing alone in the field, her back to him. She wore a flowing white gown, her hair swirling in the wind, but her face remained hidden in shadow.
Mikel couldn't move, couldn't speak. He tried to call out to her, but the words wouldn't come. The world around him felt surreal, as if he were trapped in a dream within a dream. And yet, everything felt too real, too vivid.
The woman turned slowly, and when she faced him, Mikel gasped. Her face—her eyes—were not like any he had ever seen before. They were hollow, empty, as if something vital had been drained away. Her mouth opened, but no sound came from it.
Instead, Mikel heard a voice, but it wasn't hers. It was a voice that echoed in his mind, speaking not in words but in feelings, in emotions that made his chest tighten.
"Remember me," the voice whispered, low and haunting. "You must remember… or all is lost."
The world around him began to crumble, the ground beneath his feet shaking violently. The sky above darkened, and the wind howled, louder than the storm outside the inn. Mikel's heart pounded in his chest, but he couldn't move, couldn't escape.
The woman's figure dissolved into the blackness, and the void consumed everything—Mikel's sense of time, of place, of self. There was only darkness now, and the feeling of something terrible approaching. Something he couldn't escape.
Suddenly, Mikel's body jerked awake. His eyes snapped open, and he gasped for breath, his heart racing. The fire in the hearth was still burning, the room still dim and quiet, but the weight of the dream—the vision—hung over him like a cloud.
His mind raced, the images still vivid in his thoughts. The woman with the hollow eyes. The voice. The words: Remember me.
What did it all mean? What was the inn trying to show him? And why did he feel like he had seen that woman before?
The air in the room felt heavier now, as though the dream had left a lingering presence. Mikel could feel it—the pull, the unease, the sense that the inn was watching, waiting for him to understand.
And somewhere deep inside, he knew that this was only the beginning