Chantel

The sweet smell of the flowers is usually therapeutic as the doors block out the noisy world for a calm bubble. A place that's supposed to be stress-relieving for her, but its strong effect has been lowered significantly today. Many customers have seen through her plastered smile, the complete opposite of her effervescent personality. I could've just closed the shop, but... She would prefer to have a distraction from this mess, no matter how tired she is. It's not like the woman would get any sleep if she were to have skipped out on work anyway.

Chantel says goodbye to another customer as someone else enters, which causes her jaw to drop. The very person she has been thinking about all day long, and she breaks her neck to welcome her with a wide grin.

"Pravati, it's good to see you!"

The older woman's pale blue eyes narrow at her greeting. "Good afternoon. You're awfully chipper—more than usual. Has business been that slow?"

"What? I mean, the shop's empty now, but it gets real busy towards the end of the year with the holiday coming and all."

It's quite true Christmas is the season that has her schedule the most full. Something that's going to be a handful to deal with, and there's so much already on her plate. So much for having a joyous spirit this year...

"I see. Your talents deserve to be appreciated, and you take such good care of the flowers."

With that, Pravati maneuvers around the shop owner to browse the selection as her usual routine. Chantel goes back behind the counter to give the returning customer some space instead of bombarding her the minute she strolls in. I need to think of how to broach the topic given she rejected Dionte's offer last night.

Chantel studies the woman's face, trying to read how much the nightmares have been affecting her. Although, Pravati seems unfazed—or rather—the dark circles make her look just as tired as she does daily. After picking a flower of her liking, the shorter female rejoins her at the front, reaching for her purse.

"That's an excellent choice. Though I'd say that about any one of my babies you'd choose to purchase."

The money is exchanged, and with her window slowly closing, she must speak up now.

"Hey, uh, I know you're experiencing the dreams too. The one where we're stuck in our neighborhood with these beasts chasing us."

Pravati's hand tightly grips the given change, but she doesn't say a word while dropping it in her wallet.

"You met two people during it, the taller named Dionte and the other little guy is Jun-Seo. Well, we're aiming to seek out everyone under this nightmare so we can put our heads together on how to stop it. My address is 561 Wilsong Avenue and is our meetup for this operation. We really could use someone as smart as you to be an addition to our team," she pleads, not trying to hide the desperation in her voice. "Dionte shouldn't stay the only one with brains in our group."

Even her poor attempt at a joke doesn't surface, a mouth twitch, and she sighs deeply, running fingers through her dark hair.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told your friend yesterday. I'm not going to run away. The outer appearance I bear might be different from that beast, but our ugly insides are the same..." Pravati tugs on her sleeve with her nose pointed in the air like she's trying to cover up her flawless skin. "Therefore, I won't hide from what I am, but that shouldn't discourage you from fighting for freedom. Just don't expect me to be a part of it. Good day."

She picks up her single flower and makes her way out the door. It's quiet in the flower shop, beside her long sigh of defeat at the recruiting going south. Honestly, a flower's condition is easier to read than whatever answer she just gave me. Now she'll have to be forced to inform Dionte of the bad news of her failed task after work.

...

Chantel unlocks her front door, stepping inside the home and neatly placing her boots aside. She starts to greet the guest sitting on her couch until noticing he's talking to someone on his laptop. Ah, he must be in the middle of a therapy session right now. Dionte did mention he's a recently certified psychiatrist, and she decides to give him some space, detouring for the kitchen.

Tiara, chopping up vegetables at the table, glances up from her task. "Hey, welcome home. How was work?"

"A productive day as per usual. I see you've gotten an early start on dinner."

"And I see your swarty hasn't gone anywhere."

"This again." Chantel can't help but roll her eyes as she fetches a water bottle from the fridge. "Didn't you get in your teasing yesterday?"

"That's because you won't just be straight with me."

She's not going to let this go, is she? Unless she provides some kind of reasonable excuse, nagging from her nosy sibling will be an everyday occurrence. I hate to lie to her, but...

"He's just a friend who needs a place to crash while having some renovations done at his home. Dionte should only be here a few weeks."

That's the best cover story she can think of off the top of her head. I wonder if this will really all be resolved within that time frame. Regardless, he won't be able to live there for life, and her sister's shoulders shrug.

"Fine, whatever you say. Dinner will be ready soon, so you can relax for a while."

A promised meal of Tiara's scrumptious cooking is enough to temporarily lift her spirits. The older girl heads to the bathroom to wash up before dinner is served.

When the sun goes down, Chantel sits with Dionte in the living room, explaining the run-in with Pravati. The male frowns at this but doesn't seem too surprised, and he sits back with folded arms.

"She was speaking the same cryptic way when I met her. Is she always like that?"

"Pretty much. Pravati has always been a bit of an oddball. Still, since she won't join us, I guess we have to shoot for that blonde girl now."

The teenager she ran across yesterday is another victim of the nightmares. Maybe they'll have better luck with someone younger and probably more afraid of their situation.

"Searching for her is one of the goals for this dream, including us carrying a weapon. Do you have any sharp kitchen knives we can take?"

"Yeah, my sister has her own collection she uses for all sorts of things," she responds, and wielding that to face off against a terrifying monster isn't in its list of purposes. "So we're going to attempt to fight one of them?"

"Well, we have to see if we're able to injure it at all. In the case that it does work, we can exchange this for a more effective choice like a gun. That will at least have range so we don't need to get so close."

"That's true. We won't know unless we try."

It might be another disappointment just like when attempting to go without sleep. Nonetheless, they must go through trial and error to learn as much about how these nightmares function as possible. Chantel checks the clock, and with it getting late, she takes a stand.

"I oughta get your bed set up so you can hit the sack whenever you're tired. Follow me."

The owner of the home leads her guest upstairs to the room in the far right corner. Opening the door, the area remains tidy, as she comes inside to clean it frequently. She can recall the halcyon childhood days when crawling in her parents' embrace on stormy nights.

"You can sleep in here from today onward."

Contrary to the relief she hoped this gesture would bring, Dionte's eyebrows furrow at his surroundings. "Are you sure that's okay?"

Chantel did tell him her parents passed away because of a plane accident four years ago. She's grown accustomed to navigating through life with their permanent absence. Though he may feel a bit weird about getting comfortable there, of all places.

"This room has been unoccupied for a long time, and there's no need for you to wake up with a worse crook in your neck. Besides..." Her face darkens at the outcome that him sleeping on the sofa might create. "I don't want my sister to have a heart attack if she goes downstairs and catches you cuddled up with a butcher knife."

"You...have a point," Dionte agrees with a chuckle, and his original hesitance vanishes. "I appreciate your hospitality."

Flicking through channels in bed, nothing is on but the news, which only brings depression mixed with a bunch of advertisements or reruns. I guess that's my cue to get some sleep. She shuts off the television; though the usual comfort that envelops her is absent when her head hits the pillow. A sickening feeling swirls inside her nervous belly, and she tightens her grasp on the blade so as not to drop it in her slumber. It's hard to drift away counting sheep when knowing the dangers that await at five A.M.

...

Chantel's head snaps upward as she rolls to her knees on the soft floor. It's nothing remotely similar to the usual concrete as she checks to see that she is lying on the spotless carpet. The furniture set quickly has her register her location, but she doesn't recall falling asleep in the living room. No, I know for a fact I was in my own bed.

She takes a stand to at least verify this change of location to find only one person across from her. Dionte is the sole male still gathering his bearings, with Jun-Seo nowhere to be seen. It's not just him missing... Even Pravati and that girl with the blonde hair aren't there, and this would be the first dream they didn't all fall into.

"I don't understand what's going on... Why are we in my home and where is everybody else?"

"I'm just as confused as you are," he mumbles, glancing at his pocket watch, and luckily the kitchen knives are still on him. "It's three A.M., not five."

Her violet eyes grow wide at this, peering over his shoulder to confirm it herself. Indeed the short hand indicates it's two hours earlier than when the nightmare usually begins. With the wild turn this dream is taking, they're lucky to have their weapons on them.

"So now we're trapped in this nightmare even longer? Who knows what to expect this time around..."

Chantel shields her eyes from the powerful glare to note yet another contrast from their typical dreams.

"It's daytime."

The brilliant setting sun shines brightly through the cracked window; a sight that's somehow more unsettling than the eerie red moon. It's three A.M. in the morning, yet she would've mistaken it for six in the evening.

She tries to free them by exiting the front door, but naturally, it won't budge even when unlocked. This is a similarity between the normal dreams and this one. I suppose we're stuck here until the nightmare ends. Though she uses such a term, it makes her curious if any monsters will appear at all tonight.

"Anyone hungry? I got some grub!"

The chillingly familiar voice causes her blood to run cold, yet her lips haven't uttered a single syllable. Spinning toward the source, she's faced with no one other than herself. It's like she's staring into a reflection as a person with her face carries snacks into the room. The doppelganger joins a group of three, with one of them being her sister and the pair-- the twins...

The fraternal set sits side-by-side on the sofa, and her hand shakily reaches out, but she retracts it. Kayleigh's fair skin and ginger hair color match the littlest detail, as does Kaylen's dark skin and curly hair texture. Their sparking eyes stare up at her with admiration--something that's been absent for over a year now.

She can tell by the perplexed expression on his face that Dionte is witnessing the same thing. This isn't some fabricated scene the dream is using to taunt her, but an exact fragment of time. It's a flashback.

The dream shows Chantel watching as the girls flocked around the table the minute she brought snacks in.

"Your sister always provides the best goodies!" Kaleigh exclaimed, and each of the three picked their desired treat.

The oldest of the bunch's attention moved to the television screen with a toothy grin at the display. "Are the girls playing a karaoke game? Lemme get a turn!"

Tiara tossed over the microphone as they lined up on the couch, and the preteens munched on their snacks while she scrolled through the song selection. Once her favorite was picked, Chantel quite loudly sang the lyrics that she knew by heart, but her poor pitch was another matter entirely.

"Ugh, did you have to choose a song so long, and are you tone deaf?" Tiara grumbled as she shielded herself from the embarrassing performance. "This is torture! Do you have no shame?"

"Maybe not, but I love to sing, and just because you aren't good at something shouldn't discourage you from doing it!"

Chantel continued--even with increased volume, much to her sibling's displeasure, though the twin guests only pulled their ears playfully.

"I think it's cool you're so bold. I wish I could match that level of confidence," Kaylen commented with a giggle, and the singer gave a bow after she hoarsely finished her final high note.

"We always had so much fun visiting your home."

Kaylen's voice rings in her brain, yet in the dream, she is still giggling on the couch. Then where is this coming from? Dionte's concern for her is drowned out by her head pounding to the point she drops to her knees.

"It was neat to have a best friend that her older sister put in a lot to keep us entertained."

"We even looked up to you as a role model ourselves," Kayleigh's voice adds with a hint of disdain that makes Chantel's stomach quiver. "Though that all shattered after an incident that happened a year and a half ago, which showed us your real colors."

In the blink of an eye, the previous setting around them disappears, being teleported to a fairground. The afternoon sun beams down with crowds of people surrounding the two, which only furthers the growing gap. She tries to push past the strangers to reach him, but one man and a child walk straight through her as if their bodies are mere holograms.

The cheerful atmosphere should be contagious with family and friends groups enjoying the wild rides, food stalls, and game booths of the annual carnival. Though spotting her past self surrounded by the trio has her fragile heart instantly sink. This is a date she so desperately yearned to forget. I-I don't want to relive this! Despite squeezing shut her eyes, the images still play vividly like a movie that can't be paused--one she can't turn off.

"You aren't allowed to avert your eyes from the nightmare we lived over and over again."

The twins' cold voices won't get out of her head, regardless of how desperately she yanks her hair.

"It's time to see the damage your cowardice reaped that was the beginning of the downfall to everything."

She can't peel her torn gaze from the sight playing a few feet away. It was an unspoken promise she'd never set foot in these fairgrounds again. Yet, the dream has other ideas to distort the truth it took so much effort to believe.

The four girls' smiles were as bright as the sun, and their laughter reached the skies. What started off as a fun-filled day turned into a nightmare far worse than the one she is currently undergoing.

"Oh, let's go check out a few of the songs that are about to start!" Chantel suggested, and before any of them could protest, she waved a single finger. "May I remind you that I'm the one who drove you here--and am your drive back, bought all of your tickets, and let you pick all of the rides? Should I list more?"

This seemed to stop whatever refusal they were about to give.

"Okay, you rested your case," Kayleigh replied with waving hands. "I just hope the music keeps me nodding along and not nodding off."

"Great! No concert is complete without some treats." The shorter female shot her younger sister a look, who let out a huffing breath. "You know, I could use a hand carrying them..."

"Fine, force me to do manual labor like I did around the flower shop. You owe me two cotton candies for the trouble."

"A small price to pay. We shouldn't be too long, so why don't you girls find us a good spot near the stage?"

The twins nodded to this assignment, and with that, the group split.

Little did she realize the unintentional danger she just placed them in by one innocent suggestion. Though the betrayal it would bring is what led her down a path of deceit.

A/N Part one of Chantel's POV. What do you think she did that was so terrible? Part two will be up soon.