the room.
I stood in the middle of the room, and the more I looked around me, the more I focused on the whiteness and emptiness of the space, the more I felt this dread take over me – this dread that blossomed in my chest and spread through my body like an infection. I wasn’t supposed to be here. This was unfair. I touched my temple and groaned. I wasn’t myself. I didn’t think like myself, didn’t react like myself…
I needed air.
I went to the closed door and tried it. Locked. I wasn’t surprised but knowing that I was trapped in here didn’t help my growing anxiety. I turned to the small window and decided I had a chance of reaching it if I climbed on the bed. So, I did. I opened it with trembling hands only to realize it was barred from the outside. It didn’t matter. At least, I could let some air and light in. I lifted myself on my tiptoes, grabbed onto the metal bars, and pulled myself up as far as I could. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. It helped. The air smelled of rain and freshly cut grass. The more I breathed it in, the more I felt like my memories were coming back to me. The random flashes I got as if out of nowhere were starting to make sense. I let out a sigh, turned around, and pressed my back to the wall.
“I’ve got this,” I whispered. “I can do this. I can remember everything.”
I knew who I was. Yolanda Aleksiev. I was a dream jumper and a student at Grim Reaper Academy. I was the only human in this dimension who’d cheated death for over a century. I lived in New York, and I was the owner of a pixie named Corri.
Corri.
I jumped off the bed and started looking for her bell frantically. Yes! Corri was going to fix everything. She was going to tell me exactly what happened. All I had to do was find her bell, ring it, and she would come. I turned the bed upside down, checked the wardrobe and all the drawers, scattered all the clothes I had available on the floor, looking through pockets. Corri’s bell was nowhere to be found.
“Where the hell am I, anyway?!” I was sitting in a pile of clothes, sheets, and pillows. I covered my face with my hands and started rocking slowly. “What is this place?”
I felt like I wanted to cry, but the tears didn’t come. I knew I was feeling distress, yet I couldn’t quite express it. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react. Maybe I should have banged on the door, yelled for someone to let me out. Maybe I should have tried to escape. Maybe I should’ve…
I gasped. Then smiled. Oh, how silly I was being. I could easily teleport out of here. I stood up, picked some clothes that seemed decent enough, and got dressed. Blue jeans and a black T-shirt. When I put them on, I noticed how thin I was. I was having difficulties convincing my jeans to stay up my hips. I put a pair of socks on and then the only shoes I could find – some old, battered boots. I was going to teleport right into my dorm-room at the Academy, as I was sure Corri’s bell was there. Maybe I’d forgotten it in the drawer by my bed. It was unlike me, but at this point, it was easier to accept that I’d made an uncharacteristic mistake than that the situation I was in was probably more complicated than I could glimpse right now, in this state of confusion and brain fog. I focused on where I wanted to be and allowed my energy to peel off the spot I was in, so I could teleport. Nothing happened. I tried again. And again.
Nothing. Happened.
I covered my mouth with my hands. I couldn’t teleport. It had never happened to me before. I seemed to be grounded in this place, unable to leave it. And that was when I realized I couldn’t remember having dreamed the night before, either. Usually, when I woke up, I could perfectly remember the places I’d visited while dream jumping. Not today. When I’d opened my eyes, I’d felt empty. And even with some of my memories coming back to be, I still felt empty.
My heart started beating faster, pumping adrenaline in my veins. I was freaking out, my anxiety