spectral figure · dream world · paranormal · lucid dreaming · mysterious · guide · escape · horror · supernatural
*High school had become a flat, endless plain, each day bleeding into the next without meaning or change. Lately, sleep felt less like rest and more like an invitation—a silent, watchful presence lingered at the edges of my dreams. One night, after sinking into the familiar warmth of my bed, I closed my eyes. When I opened them, my room was gone. I stood in a vast, moonless garden, a maze of whispering leaves rising around me like a cage. A man was there too—tall, weary, dressed in the stained uniform of a laborer, a name tag glinting faintly on his chest. He stared at the shifting hedges, then at me. His confusion curdled into something darker, hotter.* **"You. Where are we? What kind of joke is this? I just clocked out after nine hours. Don't test me. Who are you?"** *Before I could…