THE SEEKING LADY I

"Wasn't I sleeping?"asked Ethan as he found himself standing in the hallway of his building.

His block was on a busy street full of folks who loved to stay up late. Although it wasn't a peaceful spot, Ethan enjoyed it because he didn't see any problems with it. He was a fast sleeper after all. The building he was residing in had seven levels, each with four flats. All four units were on opposing sides of each other. He didn't know much about the renters, though; he wasn't the kind to meddle with people for no reason.

He was still thinking about how he got to the hallway when he noticed a tiny girl standing in front of him with her back to him. He was certain of one thing: there were no children in this building, at least not on the third level. Just as he was about to ask the little girl who she was and what she was doing out this late, he noticed another little girl emerging from behind the water cooler in the hallway. He was about to ask the kids whether they were lost when he noticed the other girl approaching him.

What surprised him was that the little girl didn't look at him as if he wasn't even there but at the other girl that was standing in front of him. He kind of realized that he was dreaming at this point. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious about what might happen next because he rarely experienced dreams.

Ethan didn't pay much attention to why he couldn't hear what the two girls were saying because he was aware that strange things sometimes happen in dreams. He noticed the other girl sprinting towards the room at the end of the hallway and entered it, leaving the door ajar, just as he was thinking about these things. He wanted to find out where the girl had gone. The girl in front of him didn't keep him waiting long, as she hesitated for a few moments with her hands over her eyes before heading into that room as well. Ethan deduced from the way these youngsters moved that they were probably playing hide and seek.

The little girl in front of him stopped covering her eyes and went towards that same room which assured him about his guess. He also followed behind the little girl to see around as it was his dream as per him and exploring it wouldn't be so bad.

The small girl entered the room while the door was already open, as did Ethan. The apartment wasn't really an apartment because it just had one room with a wide window, or so he believed because of the huge white curtain covering the wall. He spotted a bulge over the curtain, which indicated that someone was standing behind it. The girl didn't give him much time to think as she approached the curtain to see what was behind it. There was no one behind the curtain when she peeked behind it. Ethan was wondering where the other girl had gone when he heard a faint chuckle from outside the room. He turned back to see the girl standing in the corridor, but this time she wasn't alone.

A lady in a flowing white gown, her cheeks rosy as if she had just finished a marathon, black hair, and a gorgeous smile that would make any guy turn towards her for a second glance, was standing behind that little girl.

She was breathtaking to be exact. Even Ethan couldn't help but keep staring at her. But suddenly he realized that she wasn't even looking at him as if he was air. First two times could be coincidence but the third time, he wasn't a fool to not notice this. He was pretty; he hadn't seen any of these people before. Nor the kids nor this pretty lady. People often dream about unknown people but Ethan knew things were not that simple as he noticed that lady smiling at the little girl that was in front of him. Both girls again started talking about something but this time Ethan's attention was on the white lady standing behind that little girl.

Her smile was somehow wrong. The more ethan looked at her smile, the more uneasy he became. Even though she was pretty and way too pretty, he couldn't ditch this feeling of unrest and uneasiness.

Suddenly that lady moved and stretched her hand towards the little girl in front of him. Her hand was as pretty as her. Saying pretty would be an injustice as her hand was completely otherworldly. But somehow Ethan started sweating. He didn't know why but he knew if she touched the girl, something horrible would happen.

For the first time during the whole dream, he tried interacting with the girl in front of him and tried to shake her away. But the girl didn't even flinch to his touch. It was his hunch that something bad will happen but still he trusted his hunch. Even though he knew it was all a dream, he couldn't see the little girl getting hurt.

Suddenly his sixth sense screamed. Just as he was thinking what went wrong, he looked towards the lady and she was still smiling but Ethan almost thought his world was crumbling. The innate human senses were crying, asking him to get away from that lady as now she was looking at him while smiling. It wasn't any scary smile but he knew he's done for if he stayed there any longer. He knew he did something that he shouldn't have and just as his breathing stopped, he woke up.

Ethan sat up in bed, sweat pouring down his forehead. His heart raced, and he tried to catch his breath, desperately trying to shake off the vivid nightmare that had just plagued his mind. He glanced at the clock beside his bed, its dim red numbers reading 3:00 a.m. The room was eerily quiet, save for the distant sound of crickets outside.

As Ethan calmed himself, he couldn't help but recall the haunting image that had terrorized his dream. The lady's eyes bore into Ethan's soul. He felt as if he was still looking at him but now that feeling was a lot less than in the dream.

“It wasn't just a dream, to scare me this badly. How is it even possible!”Ethan mumbled to himself as well he wasn't a scaredy cat and yet to feel this kind of despair and dread, he knew he needed fresh air.

Ethan got up from bed and without wearing a shirt, went outside in the hallway to look around. He knew it was all a dream and yet he couldn't shake off the feeling of this fear that all of it could be real. As he opened the door and looked outside, it was the same old hallway he had seen countless times and just like in the dream as well.

As ethan was about to sigh a relief, a sudden realization hit him;

“Why is it so quiet?”, as if someone was waiting for him to have this thought, the door at the end of the hallway, that should have been shut, looked open now.

Ethan was sure that the door was closed just now when he looked in the hallway. To make things worse, he felt as if that apartment was calling him. He was pretty sure he was feeling like this because of the nightmare he just had. Just as he wanted to go back inside because let's be honest, no sane person would go around checking apartments right after having such a vivid and realistic nightmare but someone had different plans.

The call he was imagining suddenly got stronger and he felt drawn towards that apartment. He almost felt as if he wanted to go to that apartment. His legs defied all the logic he had and started walking towards that apartment. Ethan wanted to scream but out of fear or something unknown, he couldn't scream.

“It's all just a dream. It's all just a dream. I'm dreaming. It will be all over in a bit.”, ethan tried his best to make himself believe or to make himself feel better. But the legs continued their job for which he wished that for once in his life, to be disabled.

Just as he was about to enter the apartment, he felt a pull at his arm. He turned around in hope that someone is finally here to help him but the moment he turned around, he saw the same little girl that was standing in front of him in the dream.

“You weren't supposed to be here.”

Just as Ethan was trying to make sense of what the little girl meant, the girl spoke again.

“But now i'm free at least.”, just as she finished, she pushed ethan lightly inside the apartment.