Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - First encounter
Due to the deaths of Fern and Henry, many of Yana's classmates stopped attending school. However, some of their classmates continued to attend despite feeling anxious and terrified.
Meanwhile, Yana told her friends in class to set an alarm every 10 minutes as a precaution. Even if it meant losing sleep, she saw it as the best way to avoid another horrific incident.
"I'm scared, Yana. What if I'm next?" Lexa said, almost in tears.
"Don't worry. Just follow what I said and set your alarm." Yana replied.
After class, they went to Henry's wake. His parents and friends were emotional and sorrowful. Despite their fear, Yana and her classmates tried to stay strong, not knowing if there would be another incident or who might be next.
When Yana got home, she briefly reviewed for their quiz the next day. As she started to feel sleepy, a sense of dread and fear began to well up inside her, but she tried to fight it off.
She set the alarm on her phone and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Yana found herself sitting on a swing in a dark playground. She wondered why she was there until she realized she was dreaming.
Feeling anxious, she stood up from the swing and walked around the playground. It was dark, foggy, and she kept looking around nervously. She had only been dreaming for a few minutes and was desperate for her alarm to go off to escape the terror she was feeling.
As she continued walking, she saw a human figure standing by a post. Despite the darkness, she could tell it was a man due to his body shape—tall and large.
She stopped walking, her heart pounding with fear as she stared at the man standing by the post. The light on the post flickered on and off, and in one of the flashes, she saw the man grinning menacingly. He then started running towards her.
Yana's eyes widened, and she began running, tripping in her panic. She screamed for help.
"HELP! WAKE ME UP, PLEASE!"
Yana screamed loudly as she ran, hearing the man's laughter behind her.
There was no one else in her dream. She felt it was the end for her, as she estimated that ten minutes had passed, but her alarm had not gone off.
All she could do was keep screaming, her throat burning from the effort. She slapped and pinched herself, hoping to wake up.
Suddenly, a man on a horse appeared in front of her as if he had fallen from the sky. She nearly ran into them in her haste.
The man extended his hand to help Yana up onto the horse. Panicked and trembling, Yana grabbed his hand, and he pulled her up with all his strength. Finally, she was on the horse behind the man.
The horse ran quickly, leaving the mysterious man behind. Soon, the figure chasing them disappeared from sight.
Yana was gasping for breath.
She felt like she was going to collapse from exhaustion, fear, and nerves.
"Thank you for saving me. I thought it was the end for me." Yana said, catching her breath.
"Good thing I saw you." the man replied.
"Yeah, that man is dangerous. If he kills me in my dream, I die in real life too. It's a good thing a superhero character like you appeared in my dream." Yana explained, still panting.
"He almost got me earlier." the man said.
"W-what do you mean?" Yana asked, puzzled.
"I'm not just a character in your dream. I'm a real person. We probably just met here in this dream. That man has been appearing in my dreams for several nights, trying to kill me. The other day, he wounded my arm, and when I woke up, I really had a wound on my arm. That's when I realized he can hurt and kill people in dreams." the man explained.
Yana could hardly believe she had encountered a real person in her dream.
"I-is it really possible for two sleeping people to meet in a dream?" Yana asked.
"Yes, I think so. We met here, didn't we?" the man replied.
"But you said he's been appearing in your dreams for several nights. How do you escape from him?" Yana asked.
"I can control my dreams. It's called lucid dreaming. Sometimes when I see him, I change the dream's setting or teleport to another place. I thought he only appeared in my dreams, but now I know, thanks to you, that he shows up and hurts others too." the man explained.
Yana was amazed by his ability to control his dreams.
"R-really?" Yana asked.
"Yes, what food or place do you want?" the man asked.
"Food? Do you think I still have the appetite after what happened? Hmm, just make the surroundings look like we're in the clouds. Can you do that?" Yana challenged.
The man smiled, as if it was an easy task. He snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the surroundings changed from a dark, foggy road to a bright, cloud-filled scene.
Yana was awestruck, her neck craning to look around.
"Wow, amazing! Is this horse flying? Are we in the clouds?" Yana asked, amazed. The man nodded.
"Wow, you're incredible." Yana said, playfully hitting his arm. In her amazement, she didn't realize she hit his wounded arm.
"Ouch!" the man shouted, and Yana noticed his arm was bleeding.
"Oh, sorry. What happened to your arm?" Yana asked.
But before the man could answer, the surroundings started to blur, and Yana could no longer hear him. The scene turned completely dark.
Yana woke up, squinting in the sunlight. She realized it was morning.
She recalled her dream and how she was almost killed. Thankfully, the man had saved her.
When she checked her phone, it was shut down due to a low battery, which explained why the alarm didn't go off. She was still filled with fear but tried to live normally. She went to school as usual.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone