Dreamcatcher

2

I wake up, swallowing back a scream. People say dreams are messages from the gods. Or are they hallucinations, a sign that you're turning toward insanity?

I turn toward my dreamcatcher. It's intricate, beautiful. Handmade, seemingly with magic. It's supposed to help contain my dreams, but I think it only enhances them further. It twinkles slightly, reflecting the tiny line of light breaking through the silken curtains.

Emerging from my duvet, I open my curtains in one swift move, only to be blinded by the golden sunlight. A squint, trying to open the window and let some air in. I am immediately greeted by the scent of lavender, freshly cut grass, and fir. Satisfied with my morning experience of the moors beyond my bedroom, I pull out my phone.

A message from my eldest brother:

Ben: Breakfast is downstairs. Just heading out to walk the dogs. Mum and Dad are still away. Didn't want to wake you, but the time is 10:57. Want to talk later about your nightmares?

10:57? I check when the message was sent. 3 minutes ago. It's 11:00! Thank God it's Sunday. Slipping my black opal bracelet over my hand and onto my wrist, I head downstairs, but a thought races to me. Didn't the boy in my dream flash a black opal bracelet?

Everyone receives a bracelet when they turn 15, which has a gemstone in the centre. No-one knows who delivered it, or how it got there. All we know is that someone else in the world, anyone, anywhere, has the same gemstone on their bracelet. They are your soulmate.

Your fates are bound.

If you die, so does your soulmate. If your soulmate dies, so do you.

'Bind your fate to mine.'

That's what the boy said.

But it's the only time he's said it.

I don't know what it is, but I've always been having dreams over and over again. Only my eldest brother Ben knows. But these dreams keep on happening. Sometimes they're exactly the same. Other times they're different versions of the same thing. But either way, they all come true at some point. So, my nightmares, which started when I received my bracelet a week ago, are going to come true. It's bothering me. I've seen nothing like this. Nothing like the end of the world.

I'll be living the dream soon. Quite literally.

Or living the nightmare.

Living through the end of the world.

But either way, it's going to happen.