Full Moon ☾ Derek Hale

Chapter Thirty-Five: Puzzle Pieces (S2 Bonus Chapter!)

Chapter Thirty-Five: Puzzle Pieces (S2 Bonus Chapter!)

Chapter Song: Dancing in the Dark by Imagine Dragons 

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Summer 2011

May 14, 2011 

Darkness surrounded me as I walked through the empty void, an uneasy feeling sitting on my chest. 

"Hello?" I called out, my voice echoing off the nothingness. There was no reply. I sighed, looking around for a sign of anything. Except there was nothing, not a single sign of life. Had I been here before? Although there had been no signs of familiarity, there was something that triggered a sense of deja vu as I stood in the void. 

A flash of red caught my attention in the dark room. I turned towards it, my eyes squinting as I tried to make sense of the faded scarlet object. The sense of familiarity crept up my spine and hit me like a truck as I recognized the object to be a door. I had been here before. In a dream, over a month prior. 

I was dreaming. 

 I slowly walked towards the door, the uneasiness growing stronger. 

"What the hell?" I whispered to myself, wondering why my subconscious had taken me back to this empty room and, more importantly, this door. I took another step forward only for my body to immediately stop. This isn't safe, my brain pleaded. 

Frozen in place, I stared down the door. The brass handle taunted me as I swallowed hard, the noise in my throat echoing off the walls. 

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June 24, 2011 

It happened. Again. 

"Not again." I whispered, staring at the red door in front of me. "Wake up." I pleaded to myself. I squeezed my eyes shut, opening them only to find the red door still in front of me. The red door dream was a frequent visitor in my subconscious. I'd find myself back in the dark void at least three times a week now.  They were always the same-I'd find myself in an empty space with the door. Each time I'd attempt to go to the door, my body would stop out of fear. My hand would hover over the door handle, but something in my head would always tell me to go back and not open the door. The feeling of sheer terror grew more and more intense every time I had the dream. Whatever was behind that door, wasn't good. And the worst part about this entire situation was, I knew whatever the door was, was a warning. My brain had warned me three times prior of events that were going to happen before they happened. The door dream seemed to be no different. In fact, it was even more intense. And while I tried to chalk up everything prior to coincidences, I knew in the pit of my stomach this wasn't normal. Yet I couldn't admit it to myself. 

I stepped towards the door, my hand mere centimeters above the knob. Yet I couldn't find the strength to open it. 

"Come on. You can do this." I whispered to myself, my fingers beginning to tremble. The feeling that the void was going to cave in overwhelmed me. Just one push, I silently pleaded. And taking all the strength and courage in my body, my hand continued to reach down—

I gasped awake, my breathing haggard as my hands clawed at the sheets beneath me, the feeling of the soft cotton against my finger tips bringing me back to reality.  I pressed a hand against the clammy skin of chest as it heaved in and out. The bright light shining in through the window reminded me I was out of the void. You're safe, I reminded.