Chapter 2: Nightmares

¶It was dark.

There was no single door to escape from.

The room was suffocating even though it was large and spacious.

Karma was at the center of the room, struggling to break free from their captivity.

They were on black hoodies and their faces were hidden behind a monstrous mask.

They were five in numbers...all of them circled Karma and were laughing at her powerless form.

Karma didn't stop struggling. She continued even when it was obviously a complete waste of time.

One of them stepped closer towards her and dropped their hand on her shoulder, pressing her down with so much force and strength.

Karma screamed at the top of her voice and fell down on her knees, breathing heavily. She stopped. She stopped fighting. She stopped struggling. There was no way out of here. The darkness were overpowering her. The people were overpowering her. She was no match for them. Even in the darkness, they could make their way around without tripping over or something.

How is that even possible?

Her heavy breathing and the sound of a dripping water filled the dark room.

She shut her eyes close, ready to accept her fate which was in the hands of this unknown people.

All of them were quietly approaching her ready to devour her when a voice out of no where said;

*Is this the fate you want for yourself, Karma?*¶

(A/n: This sign ‘¶’ signifies a dream, nightmare or vision...so pls don't get confused.)

****

Karma snapped her eyes open, waking out of the nightmare.

Her pillows were soaked with sweat which were from her body. She was shivering in fear.

What kind of a dream was that? Who are those people? Why did they capture her? What was that room? *Is this the fate you want for yourself, Karma?* Who owns that voice? And what does the person mean by that?

Her heads were going in circles at those unanswered questions.

She has never dreamt of something like this in her life until now.

Yes she has been feeling weird as she turned eighteen (Which was last year July, the night of her eighteenth birthday) but it started growing worse by the day as she approached her nineteenth birthday _Of course she didn't tell her dad and thank God she didn't, who knows maybe he would have sent her to heaven if possible and not that stupid academy_

She looked around her dark room, reminding her of the room in her dream and the people.

In that moment she heard a sound from her window and sighted the shadow of someone who left immediately they noticed her awake. Karma jumped out of bed and quickly turned on the light, grabbing the first thing her hand came in contact with, which was a hair brush _Tsk, bad choice_ She dropped the hair brush and grabbed the hair straightener _Damn, she has no weapon around_

She needs to make a list of things to get in her room and number one thing will be a GUN.

Karma wrapped her fingers around the hair straightener and quietly stepped closer to the window, praying silently for the protection of God, Buddha or any deity that cares to save her from this....

On getting close to the window, a loud bang came across her door, scaring the living day light out of her.

She flinched, dropping the hair straightener in her hand on the floor, making a loud noise.

“KARMA, WHAT'S GOING ON IN THERE!?” As she heard her father's voice, she quickly unlock the door and opened it up, revealing her worried father.

“Dad_”

“What happened? I heard you scream.” He looked around. “Is everything okay?”

Karma gaze laced at the window,,,she knew for sure she saw someone's shadow over there,,,the room could have been dark but the shadow was quite visible. Who could have been by her window at this time of the day?

Could it be the people in her dreams...? Nah, not possible.

Why was she even concern about the stupid dream? It was only a mere dream which won't come to pass. Besides she have dreamt about driving the latest car in the world but no, it never came to pass.

Maybe it was a tree which shadow reflected like a human figure.

“Karma?” Liam called out, watching his daughter closely.

Karma sighed, staring over at her dad. “I'm fine.”

“No you are not.” He argued. “I'm sure I heard you scream. And why were you staring at the window like that?” He asked.

“I...” Karma gulped. “I just had a nightmare.” She picked up the hair straightener and dropped it down on the dressing table. “I'm totally fine.”

“Nightmare?” Liam repeated. “What about?”

Karma thought for a while, contemplating whether or not to tell her father about it.

There are two options here to do; One, tell him. But if she tells him, he might take it very seriously and probably force her to go to that lame academy. Two, don't tell him. If she doesn't tell him anything, he wouldn't know about it and definitely won't force her to go to the academy and they will live their life without any stress or...magic.

She will go with the latter.

“I dreamt about falling off a cliff.” She feigned fear. “You know how much I hate height.”

Liam raised a brow at her, not believing what she just said.

“Karma?” He called softly, indirectly telling her to be honest with him.

“Dad, I'm honest. Do you think I will lie to you about it?” She asked.

Liam sighed. “I don't know. But please_” He held her shoulder, making her look him in the eyes. “Promise to be honest with me about anything going on with you.”

“Dad_”

“Karma, promise me.” He said almost pleadingly.

Karma hesitate for a while before nodding her head. “Yeah. I promise.”

He smiled and placed a kiss at the top of her head. “Good. Now go to bed, okay?”

She smiled back and nodded. “Yeah. I'm sorry for disturbing your beauty sleep.”

He laughed. “Nothing is more important than my little rose.” He stated. “But,” He narrowed his eyes at her “Are you sure you are okay?”

Karma chuckles. “Trust me dad. Damn, you worry too much.”

“If I don't then who will?”

“Fair enough.”

“Alright then. Go to bed, okay?”

“Yeah.” Liam pressed a kiss on her forehead then turned to leave when Karma spoke again, stopping him. “Dad,”

He partly turned to her. “Yes?”

“Did you...did you bring that center table over to the front of my door this afternoon?” She questioned.

“No. I was even surprise to see it earlier today. I had to take it back to where it belong.” He sighed. “Don't you think...”

Karma knew just what he was going to say so she quickly cuts him off. “Don't talk about magics, please.”

“Kar...”

She cut him off again. “I should go to bed. I need to be up on time to make it early to school. Humans school.” She emphasized on the last sentence, crawling back to bed. “Goodnight dad.”

Liam hesitate for sometime but left the room afterwards.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Karma opened her eyes and stared at the closed door, lot of thoughts were going through her head now.

If her dad didn't leave the table in front of her door this afternoon then who did?

She stared down at her shaky palms then slowly her gaze shifted to the window but there was no tree, no shadow.

Was her imagination playing mind games with her?

Are there really things about her she's yet to figure out?

^_^^_^^_^^_^^_^^_^^_^^_^^_^

THE NEXT MORNING**

“Hey dad!” She leaned over the counter table to get to her father and pecked him on his cheek. “How was your night?” She grinned.

“Not bad.” Liam replied, giving her a very suspicious look. “You look very excited this morning.”

“I am.” She grabbed a jug of orange juice and poured herself some. “Will you be coming home late today?”

“Maybe. It depends.” He toss a plate of pancake and hot sauce to her. “Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “Just curious.” She took a large bite of pancake and moaned loudly. “This is heaven.”

Liam laughed. “Aww, I'm flattered.”

“Don't be. You are the world's best chef dad.” She gave him a thumbs up.

“Why does it feel like you are teasing me?”

Karma laughed. “I'm not dad. I've always told you about your wonderful kitchen skills, haven't I?”

He nods. “Indeed.”

She finished the pancake within a short period and went to do the dishes but her father stopped her.

“Dad_” She tried to protest but he cut her off.

“Don't worry about the dishes, okay? I will do it.” He reassured. “Now go to school or you will be late.”

“Hmm.”

“And oh, Karma?” She raised a questioning brow at him, wondering the reason for his serious tone and facial expression now. “Have you not decided yet?”

She furrowed her brows in confusion. “Decided what?”

“Uh...you know what I'm talking about. DarkLight Academy?”

She roll her eyes. “Dad I'm not going to that stupid school. How sure are you it even exist? Besides how did you know about that school? I might have moved here two years ago but dad I know there are no such school as DarkLight around Las Vegas.”

Liam remained mute, lowering his gaze to the floor _If only she knew_ He thought to himself.

“Make the right choice, sweetheart.” He said calmly, ignoring her earlier question.

“I already did. See you by tonight.” She waved and walked away.

^_^^_^^_^^_^^_^^_^^_^

Karma sat down at the roadside bench, waiting patiently for a bus going to her school direction.

She dug out the letter sent to her by the unknown 'magical school' and re-read it over and over again.

Magical powers?

How does she possess such?

Does it even exist?

Fantasy are just fairy-tale that don't exist. They are only entertainment and shouldn't be taken seriously so who the hell are these people trying to prank her? And why was her father helping them out in it?

She stared at the amulet beside the letter and sighed shaking her head.

She doesn't believe in shit like this. And she won't start now because of a mere letter.

She folded back the letter and toss it in a trash bin beside the bench she was sitting on along with the amulet.

She let out a deep breath shutting her eyes close when suddenly she saw something...

¶A little boy ran into the road and got hit by a moving trailer. Minutes later blood was everywhere, causing bad traffic. Screams filled the environment. The mother of the boy ran towards her lifeless son...¶

Karma snapped her eyes open, breathing heavily at what she just saw.

It almost felt like she ran 100kilometers just now.

“What was that?” She asked herself, looking around.

She wasn't asleep so what exactly was that dream all about?

She ran her fingers through her hair, dishevelling it in the process.

The bus going towards her school direction finally arrived.

Karma was grateful for the distraction and quickly rushed into the bus, still looking around as if scared about something.

She took a seat beside the window and let out a deep breath again, leaning her head against the window.

It's probably just a mere imagination and there's no need to get so worked up about it. She thought to herself.

But why will she imagine something like that?

FORTY MINUTES LATER**

The bus suddenly came to a stop and everyone started murmuring.

Karma opened her eyes to see what's going on and why the bus had come to a stop,,,there was a heavy traffic, preventing cars and buses from moving.

“Oh my God. I can't believe this”

“Is he dead?”

“Yes. It's all over the news. What will become of his poor mother now?”

“How could she be so careless to let him run into the road like that?”

”Now is not the time to pass blame.”

Karma heard the voices around her. She quickly dug out her phone to search for the trending news. Her hands were shivering as she scroll through it.

On scrolling through she saw a live news and quickly clicked on it on seeing the headlines; FIVE YEARS OLD BOY RUN INTO THE BUSY ROAD AND GOT HIT BY A MOVING TRAILER.

Karma mouth dropped open as she watched the video of the incident.

The same face...

The same road....

The same trailer...

Everything were exactly what she saw in her dreams forty minutes ago.

What's going on?

How can this be possible?

How was she able to see this incident before it actually happened?

Was it a coincidence?

Or...

Karma stared down at her sweaty shaking hands, she felt so restless and scared.

Does she truly have magical powers???

She quickly shook her head, pushing the thought from her head.

No, there was no such thing as magic. It was definitely a coincidence... Definitely.

*****

AT SCHOOL**

“Ah, you've finally arrived.” Tiana, one of Karma's close friends in Las Vegas pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

Karma groaned. “Yeah. I can't breathe T.”

“Oh.” Tiana pulled away, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry. I miss you that's all.”

“We saw each other yesterday, T.” Karma reminded as they both walked inside the school hall.

“And?”

Karma roll her eyes. “You are just being dramatic, girl.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” Tiana grinned. “I saw the accident that took place at the same route you always take every morning to school in the internet and I got so worried.”

“I'm fine.” Karma said. “Uhm...” She clears her throat. “Tiana,”

“Yeah?”

“Do you believe in magic?” She questioned, grabbing a textbook from her locker.

Tiana nods. “I love magic! You know how crazy I get with supernatural powers. I literally call myself black widow.”

“Black widow doesn't possess any magic.”

“She doesn't but,” She shrugged. “She possess weapon proficiency and she's one badass of a woman.” She sighed. “And when it comes to real magic...witches are the best.”

“You believe in those fairy-tale?”

“Why do you sound surprise? You know me, girl. I still don't get why you don't like supernatural movies and get stuck watching kdrama.”

“Kdrama are literally the best and are obviously real.”

“You think?”

“I know.”

“Well supernatural beings truly exist in my opinion. You never can tell someone who possesses such power and gift might be around us. Closer than we can ever imagine.” Tiana whispered.

*There are some things you are yet to know about yourself, child.* Her dad's words played in her head.

What if he was right?

She is still baffled about what happened an hour ago,,,yes obviously the one where she saw something that haven't taken place in her dream but happened forty minutes later.

Crazy, right?

She gulped. “Tiana?”

“Yes?”

She hesitate for a while before asking, “Have you ever heard of any school called DarkLight Academy?”

Tiana thought for a while before shaking her head. “Absolutely not. But we can check it out on the internet, you know.”

Exactly!

Why didn't she (Karma) thought of that before?

She should have checked out the school on the internet,,,and if it doesn't exist then she will definitely be able to confront her dad and warn him never to play such stupid games with her ever again.

She engulfed Tiana into a bone crushing hug, grinning.

“Thank you so much, T. You are a lifesaver.”

“O..Kay. But can you stop the revenge now.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Karma quickly pulled away, grinning sheepishly.

Finally there's a way out to end this shit once and for all, because it seems like her mind were already joining forces with her father to manipulate her head.