1THE GIRL IN THE DREAM
CHAPTER 1THE GIRL IN THE DREAM
Ayan was running.
He didn't know from whom he was running, and he didn't know where he was going.
Yet something inside him told him not to stop.
The world around him was unlike anything he had ever seen.
A silver moon hung impossibly low in the sky. Thousands of glowing butterflies drifted between enormous trees, their wings leaving trails of blue light behind them. In the distance stood a palace with towers so tall that their tops disappeared into the clouds.
Ayan had never been there.
At least, not in the life he remembered.
He crossed a marble bridge and entered a garden.
Then he saw her.
A girl stood beneath a white-flowered tree.
Her clothes looked as though they belonged to another age. Her long hair moved gently in the wind, but her face remained hidden behind a strange golden mist.
Ayan stopped.
Every time he saw her in his dreams, he felt the same strange ache in his chest.
“Who are you?” he asked.
The girl didn't answer.
Ayan walked toward her.
“Why do I keep seeing you?”
She finally looked up.
Her voice was soft.
“You promised.”
“Promised what?”
“You promised you would return.”
Ayan's heart began pounding.
“I don't understand.”
She raised her hand.
“Then remember.”
Ayan reached for her.
Their fingers were almost touching.
Then the entire garden shattered into darkness.
Ayan woke suddenly.
He sat upright in bed.
His breathing was fast.
The room was dark except for the faint light coming through the curtains.
Again.
The same dream.
The same girl.
The same words.
You promised you would return.
Ayan rubbed his face.
“Who are you?”
Of course, there was no answer.
He looked at the clock.
3:17 a.m.
For some reason, he felt as though he had lost someone.
Someone he couldn't even remember.
