Recognition
They say dreams are weird, that dreams are windows to the soul. But we have different types of dreams, what we call altered states of consciousness.
The most common is sleep paralysis. The second one is lucid dreaming. And the most dangerous of all…
“Astral projection.”
My mom disappeared one night without leaving any clues to her whereabouts. I woke up without her by my side. I learned to live by myself at the age of eighteen.
As for my father…He left when I was a baby. I never really knew his identity.
I’m graduating from college soon.
Ever since my mom left, the silence she left behind never really disappeared. It follows me every night. Sometimes it turns into insomnia, sometimes into nightmares I can’t shake off.
I’m a scholar, so nothing comes easy. I work and support myself, saving whatever I can. Tutoring students at Clause High University helps. It pays well.
It has to.
This isn’t just a normal university. It’s for the elite. Children of politicians, heirs… what people call “nepo babies.”
I don’t judge. I can’t afford to.
I’m just here. I’ll finish what I started and leave quietly.
Kiara Reve Vexaris. Twenty-two. 5’2, but I’ve never needed height to be noticed. Shoulder-length dark brown hair frames my face, with russet eyes and tan skin that carry more than they show.
Two months ago, I went to my psychiatrist, Dr. Tiana, who the university assigned to scholarship students like me, to help manage insomnia with medication so I can sleep at night.
During her initial assessment, she asked me to describe my most recent dream.
I cleared my throat and told her everything.
Every night, I experience different types of dreams. But the one that terrifies me the most is astral projection.
It happened again last night. I was pulled into something like a dream plane. It felt like I was floating… like I was out of my body.
“Floating?” Dr. Tiana asked. “What kind of floating are you referring to, Reve?”
“Like my body was being pulled away from itself,” I answered. “Like I wasn’t fully inside it anymore.”
In that dream, I saw my two cousins. I was with them.
One of them suggested we explore the back of an abandoned private school. She said it was haunted. I agreed.
At first, we were just happy exploring.
Then my cousin said we should go home.
But I saw a door with a glass window. I got curious. I wanted to go in.
That’s when I felt it again… that floating sensation.
Slow at first. Then when I fell, it felt fast like I was being pulled hard into the ground.
Still, I stood up and opened the door.
I closed it quickly behind me.
Inside was dark. Dust floated in the air. Vines, like veins ran through every corner of the room. There was a hall that looked like it led somewhere important, but I ignored it.
I turned to the glass window.
Outside, it was snowing slightly.
I could feel the cold with my eyes, but my hands were warm.
And then I suddenly had an urge to touch the window.
I paused and looked at my hand, then back at Dr. Tiana.
“What happened next, Reve?” she asked.
The moment I touched the window with my warm hand, it broke but not normally. It cracked slowly, like it was being undone piece by piece.
Then suddenly, two girls appeared on both sides of me.
They had pale skin not normal pale, more like something unnatural. Their veins were visible beneath their skin, dark purple or black.
I was shocked when I saw them.
I looked at the girl on my right. I could feel how cold her hand was when she touched me.
Then she placed her hand on the window… and it repaired itself instantly.
Like it was never broken.
I looked at her, but she just gave me a cold, dead stare.
I looked back at the window. I got curious again, so I tried once more.
It broke again.
She fixed it again.
That’s when I saw people outside trying to hunt me down.
I panicked and ran.
I ended up inside a different area—like a shopping district. There were stores, clothes, but almost no people.
An old woman saw me. She gave me a suspicious look.
I ran again. And again. And ag—
I stopped. My heart started racing as I continued telling Dr. Tiana.
“Take it easy, Reve. We can continue next session if you want,” she said.
I shook my head. I needed to finish this.
Then I said I ended up in a clothes store and got cornered.
That woman pointed at me like they were going to take me.
Then suddenly… time stopped.
Everything slowed down completely.
A voice whispered, “Psst.”
When I looked at the door, I saw three figures wearing hoodies—two men and one woman.
They helped me escape.
The blonde-haired man held my waist and told me to stay still and focus.
I was too shocked to understand what was happening.
I looked at him and asked, “Like… we jump?”
He nodded.
The others nodded too.
So I agreed.
The first jump felt strange. We got stuck in a pitch-black space. I heard the girl’s voice telling me to focus or I wouldn’t get out.
It felt like we were inside a well, and the exit was the opening above.
I closed my eyes.
We jumped again.
And we reached the top.
The girl was holding my hand.
I looked around. I could see machines everywhere. Metal grinding. Bright lights everywhere.
She told me I was safe now… and that I should go back.
Then the dream ended.
When I woke up, I felt cold and pain in my body, like I had actually been there.
It was 5 AM.
I woke up gasping for air, sitting upright on my bed—not lying down.
Still, I went back to sleep.
But the feeling stayed.
“When you woke up, what did you feel after that?” Dr. Tiana asked.
“I still felt the cold and pain,” I answered. “Like I was really there.”
She asked if it happened often.
I hesitated… but I told her the truth.
“Yes. It happened before… the night my mom disappeared.”
She stopped.
“Reve… this isn’t the date your mom went missing.”
I froze.
Maybe I was thinking too much.
“Am I overthinking it?” I asked.
Dr. Tiana sighed softly.
“If I’m honest, maybe yes. But if you really want answers, you should see a hypnotherapist. Though it might be expensive.”
“That’s all I can suggest for now. I’ll study your case further.”
I nodded and thanked her.
I left her office, still unsure of what was real anymore.
One month later… I was back at Clause High University.
