Chapter 99 - Nightmare!

Day 1.

The next day.

Caroline spent the whole day taking good care of her daughter and bonding with her. They watch nursery rhymes together on the television.

As usual, Mike sent her romantic messages several times the whole day, more like, one text message every thirty minutes. She's not complaining though, his cute messages made her smile.

Nighttime finally arrives.

On this particular night, Caroline had a hard time sleeping. She was thinking about Greg. Until now she still can't decide if she will see him or not.

Part of her wanted to see Greg.

Another part of her dismissed that idea.

Her mind was ravaged by those tormenting thoughts creating havoc in her mind.

It was already past midnight when Caroline finally succ.u.mb to a troubled sleep.

One hour into her sleep.

She dreamed that she was walking in a jungle and got lost, she can't find her way home. She traveled for miles to find a house to ask for help but she can't find any along the way. She realized that the farther she walked, she went deeper into the jungle with no way out.

She walked and walked until she can no longer take a single step due to exhaustion and feeling of extreme thirst attacked her throat. She was feeling thirsty with all the walking and she can't find any water, river or swam nearby to get water. Everywhere she looked around her was trees, shrubs, and wild plants.

She rested for a little while under the shade of a big tree.

After regaining her strength back, she continues walking slowly, until she reached a clearing, in the center of the clearing she saw a coffin without a cover. She slowly walked towards the coffin and see what's inside, to his horror, she saw Greg lying in there, dead.

She stared at his pitiful dead body for a long time.

Then all of a sudden, Greg's eyes opened up and looked at her. "Why you did not visit me when I'm still alive?" he asked her, tears were falling from his eyes.

Caroline was rooted on the spot, unable to move, her heart gripped with fear and guilt.

Greg slowly rose from the coffin and grabbed her waist and pulled her into the coffin with him.

"Let's die, together, Caroline. You promised me before that you would love me forever. That we will be together through life and death. But why you don't want to see me anymore? Why you betray me and instead love another man? Why you did not wait for my comeback? Why?"

"Let me go! You're already dead. I no longer love you!" Caroline whimpered in fear and struggled to free herself from Greg's vase-like grip.

Caroline has no intention to get buried together with him so she kicked and punched him wildly until his grip on her loosen up. That was the opportunity she was looking for, with all her might she runs away from him as far as her legs can carry her. Unfortunately, she stumbled and fall into the ground hitting her head hard in a stone.

She winced in pain and suddenly saw stars floating in her eyes, passed out in the middle of the jungle.

Caroline lay down unconscious on the ground.

A few minutes later, she woke up and was horrified to found herself in the embrace of Greg inside the coffin as freshly dug earth was being tossed in the surface of the coffin.

"NOOOOOOOOO! I'm not dead yet! Let me out of here! Please help me, anyone! Please help me!" she kept shouting until her voice grew hoarse and she only saw darkness around her, strength and life slowly began to fade away and absolute darkness takes over her senses.

It's done!

They successfully buried her alive with the smiling Greg wrapping his arms around her. She was beginning to feel suffocated, slowly her vision was fading away and darkness engulfed her.

She died in Greg's arms.

That was her tragic end.

Then a faint sound comes out of nowhere.

She wakes up suddenly, gasping for breath, horrified with her dream... so real!

She grabbed the bottle of water in the bedside table and sipped from it.

As she was laying down in the bed, she realized that if she won't visit Greg, she might keep having that horrific dream every night.

The dream was like telling her a message that if she won't see him when he was still alive, he will hunt her sleeping hour and filled her nights with nightmares.

She stared at the ceiling wide-eyed, she was afraid to close her eyes again, terrified that she will dream of Greg again.

But as the clock is ticking, her eyelids start dropping and she can't fight sleepiness from taking control of her body.

A few minutes later, contrary to Caroline's fear, she dreamed of Greg again. But this time she dreamed of sweet old times, their romantic moments together in the province were being played like a movie in her consciousness. The dream was filled with their memorable moments, their laughter, and their l.u.s.t passion-filled night. Everything in her dreams reminded her of their happy times together when they were still a couple. Those were the times when love is pure and beautiful, and two hearts beat as one.

Because of that beautiful dream, Caroline was able to enjoy uninterrupted sleep that lasted in the morning.

...

Day 2.

The next day.

She woke up late at 9:00 in the morning to the repetitive sounds of knocking on her bedroom door.

"Ma'am Caroline, breakfast is ready!" announced Merle the housemaid.

"Okay, I'm coming down in a while," shouted Caroline.

The knocking finally stopped.

She looked at baby Cathy in her crib, her daughter was already awake trying to reach the toys placed above her crib.

Whoaaa....she wake up late!

She went to the bathroom and perform her morning routine, then splashes water on her face. She gurgled water inside her mouth and tied her hair in a ponytail.

Done, she exited the bathroom.

She carries her daughter in her arms and left the room heading downstairs to the dining area for breakfast.

She prepared her daughter's formula milk first and gave it to Merle in the living room so that the maid can feed baby Cathy while she's going to eat breakfast.

When she sat on the table, her siblings were already done eating and left the table.

While munching on food, Thelma notices her daughter's appearance. "You wake up late, Caroline. Did you have a bad dream?" she asked.

"Yes, Mother. I have a very bad dream..." she answered, her eyes shimmered with fear.

"What is it—? What kind of dream? Did you dream of ghosts, goblins, or zombies?" Thelma inquired.

Caroline shook her head. "I did not dream of those monsters. Instead, I dreamed of Greg. I was in the dense jungle, I lose my way and can't find my way back home. After walking and running, I come to this clearing and saw a coffin. When I take a look at what's inside the coffin it turns out to be Greg, he was already dead. But suddenly, he opened his eyes and grabbed me, pulling me into the coffin, I fought him with all my might, then— "

Thelma was engrossed listening to her daughter narrating her dreams. "Then what happens next—?"

"I was able to flee but I stumbled into the ground while I'm running away from the coffin, I hit my head hard with the stone and lose consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I was already inside the coffin and Greg was hugging me not wanting to let me go. Then the coffin was lowered to the ground and earth was pouring from all directions until darkness claimed me. I died buried alive with Greg inside that coffin. I tried to shout for help but nobody heard my pleas," Caroline nearly choked on her food.

Thelma made a sign of the cross immediately. "Jesus, child, what a horrible dream you had! Come on, bite the edge of the table, right away!"

"Huh? Why?" Caroline was puzzled.

"It will counter the bad omens! Hurry up!" Thelma ordered in a serious tone.

Caroline obeyed her mother's command and bit the wooden table, but not enough force or else she might break her teeth. "Done, Mother!"

She looked at her mother for an explanation. "What is it for?"

Thelma shrugged her shoulders. "Just a superstitious belief in the old days passed by our forefathers from generation to generation. If you had a bad dream, the first thing you do in the morning when you wake up is to bite a wood to counter the bad omen, so that the bad dreams will never come true in real life," she explained.

Caroline smiled a little. "Oh, I see. So... that's what is all about." She finally understood now.

She left the dining area and went back to her room to prepare baby Cathy's bath.

Later in the afternoon, the entire family will go to the mall to do grocery shopping and some sightseeing.