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Sophie's dream...

I was standing on something soft and powdery, and it gave me a familiar feeling, like I have already been here. But the problem is that I am surrounded with darkness and can't see a single thing, however, my other senses are on duty. I can hear the waves of the sea. The cold breeze kept touching my skin and tingling it. The salty water in the air entered the shelter of my mouth and forced my tongue to taste it. The silence around me stated that there was no human sign around me, except me.

I couldn't see anything, yet it felt like I was having an intense moment right now. But I don't know if I should be glad or sad that there was no one to stand with me here right now and experience this amazing feeling. There was hunter who I thought would never leave me alone but now that he betrayed me, not everyone is trustworthy for me.

I really wish life was simple and we would know things about our lives in seconds. I wish God would tell us who we belonged to in our dreams so that our lives would be simple. If we already knew the person who was our other half, our soulmate, we wouldn't have to go through so much pain of experiencing heartbreaks. But unfortunately that's not how lives work. The quota of life is to lose something to gain something. Similarly, to gain the right life partner, we have to lose many tears and pieces of our hearts. At least I am lucky that I am not one of those who lose their lives to gain peace, and whatever the hell happens, I will never be one of those who accept defeat and think that death is the only way to earn peace and freedom. Never!

God please help me find my path...

"You really think a lot, even when your eyes are closed", I suddenly heard the same voice which I had heard in my last dream. The darkness around me disappeared as I opened my eyes to look at the same guy which I had seen a few months ago. He was still dressed like last time along with his face which was still covered with a cloth. But this time, the moon didn't let his eyes hide from me because this time the full moon was glowing upon us. He was standing tall with his hands folded and looking ahead at the stars, which were amazingly pretty tonight and shimmering in the dark beautifully.

"What are you doing here again?", I asked to break the silence as he turned to me, his eyes on full display and they looked familiar. It had a shade of light brown as his eyes glistened in the light of the moon. They kind of looked like Chace's eyes but that can't be possible because Chace's eyes had a darker shade of brown.

"I am here to show you who you really belong with", he clarified my thoughts as I processed what he meant. Does he mean to say that he is going to show me who is the right guy for me? That's impossible!

"Everything is possible. Now come on", he said as I stared at him in shock. How did he read my mind? Or am I that obvious? As I was thinking about what he just said, he took a step back but he kept facing me. He went around me and stood behind me, causing me to turn and see that his hand was extended towards me, asking me to take it. I was hesitant and confused on what to do but I finally raised my shaky hand and placed it on his, his fingers immediately wrapping and trapping my hand in his.

He then started walking and pulling me along with him towards the other direction of the sea. Right now, I felt like I didn't want to follow him but I couldn't stop myself from doing so. It felt like he had some kind of effect on me which caused me to obey his every command without any arguments or questions.

As I stared in front of us, I noticed a light which seemed to shine in the beaming of the moon. As we neared the light, I noticed a luxurious dinner set ahead of us with fancy decorations on it. There was a small round table with a white table cloth in the middle with a pair of chairs on the sides that were neatly covered with a white cloth and a purple ribbon tied around the upper layer of the chairs. Now that I look at it, I realised that it looked amazing glittering with lights in the darkness of this night. I can't believe I didn't notice it before. The area within the reach of the table was set inside a small gazebo type of area. The whole area was covered with lanterns which were already lightened with fire, I guess they were kept to keep the area glowing. In the middle of the table, two glasses were neatly placed in front of each of the chairs, and it looked like they were filled with ice cream. The whole area was polished and it felt like each and every small detail was taken into consideration to make this place look like astonishing and stunning.

I was so busy appreciating the set up that I actually forgot to appreciate the person who took the pain to set all this up,"Like it?", I heard him ask from beside me and I turned to him immediately, meeting his expectant eyes which seemed to be curious to know my answer. I glanced back at the front and opened my mouth to reply, but no words came out so I just simply nodded my head in approval. This has seriously taken my breath away and I have no idea what should I say about such a perfect place.

Without another word, I quickly stepped forward and ran to the table, a smile attached to my face.
I heard a low chuckle from him due to my over-excited behaviour but I couldn't control myself from acting this way, it was just so mesmerizing that anyone would behave the same way like me right now.

I heard footsteps coming closer as the mystery man came to stand behind the chair on my right, pulling it back and asking me to sit. I stepped to the right and sat down as he went across the table to sit on his chair opposite to me. I looked down at the table and saw that my prediction was true, the large glass was indeed filled with ice cream and the way it was presented was something I have never ever seen before. Silently, I raised my hands and pulled the glass closer to me, grabbing the spoon and digging into it. As it touched my tongue, I moaned in delight at the heavenly taste
of the chocolate ice cream and savoured it to the maximum. Once I was done eating the whole glass, I grabbed a tissue from the table and wiped my face. But that's when I realised something.

"How did you know I like chocolate ice cream?", I asked in confusion as he sat leaning back in his chair, staring at me rather creepily. He didn't answer for a few seconds but then he leaned on the table, placing his elbows on the table, looking at me right into the eye. He still hasn't moved the cloth off his face and it's starting to bugging me now, but I can't seem to raise the courage to ask him to remove it...maybe because I am scared to know his identity cause as far as I know, he may turn out to be my ex-abusive father, Joseph, who probably is playing with me right now by treating me like this. Although his eyes and voice don't match to this man.

"That's for me to know and you to find out", he said as I groaned at his mysterious behavior. I can't believe I am spending my time with a total stranger right now. And how can I be so naive to eat an ice cream prepared by him because he may have poisoned it or something. I think it's high time he tells me who he is before I have a panic attach because of this freak.

As I was lost in my thoughts of what to do right now to know his identity, I heard another low chuckle from him as he shook his head. I really couldn't see if he was still smiling but his eyes said otherwise. They looked like they were happy and amused at me.

"Why don't you tell me who you are?", I whined as he suddenly raised his hand towards my face, causing me to close my eyes in fear thinking that like always, I was also going to be beaten and tortured in this dream as well. I was waiting for the impact of a slap on my face but instead a soft thumb was pressed against my lower lip and it was ran against it. I was shocked at what just happened and opened my eyes to look at the man still running his finger on my lower lip to the side of my mouth as he looked straight into my eyes. I couldn't deny the fact that while he is touching me, I feel weird and my whole body feels electrical.

In that very moment, my heart must have jumped thousand times and my breath disappears out of my lungs, making it hard for me to breath. His touch gave me many more weird feelings I can never ever explain to anyone because I can't explain them to myself. What did just happen?

As I realized what is happening, I quickly jerked back into my chair so that my face was away from his finger while his hands were left hanging in the air in front of me. As we lost the only skin contact we had right now, I don't know why but I felt an irritating disappointment.

He slowly leaned back as well and pulled his hand back, placing it on the table with his other one. I am just shocked at myself that how can I feel so good and tingly from just a simple touch from this guy who unfortunately is a stranger to me right now because he hasn't told me yet his actual identity.

"Why don't you want to tell me who you are?", I asked again as he shook his head at me,"It's your dream so you have to figure out a way to know me", he said and I couldn't be anymore annoyed with this guy.

I got up from my seat and banged my hands on the table as I glared at him,"What's up with you being all mysterious? And for you kind information, this may be my dream but you are occupying it without my permission so get out of it or tell me who the hell you are?", I said in one breath and I tried to keep myself angry and stern at him. To my dismay, he didn't even flinch at my sudden outburst.

"You need me more than I need you sweet heart, think about it", he said casually and I tried to understand what he just meant.

"What is that supposed to mean? I don't need you and I don't remember calling you here", I said as I pointed at our surroundings. The truth is I was enjoying my time alone at the sea side but he interrupted me and brought me here. I thought I could finally have some peace but now here I am, fighting and yelling at a guy I don't know.

"Think one last time, if I get out, your nightmare would be back. And I don't think you want Joseph and Mary to return", he said as I gasped and stared at him in total shock. He really does know a lot about me. But he is right, when he occupies my dreams, I don't see the murderous faces of Joseph and Mary.

"Are you threatening me?", I raised a eyebrow as I asked, sitting back on my chair to calm down and relax. I folded my arms around my chest and rubbed my sides, trying to keep myself warm because it was getting cooler right now. He didn't answer my question but he noticed me shivering because he took a lighter of his jacket's front pocket and lighted a fancy candle which I now noticed was placed at the centre of the table. We sat in silence as I leaned on the table so that I was near to the candle. The warm air was really less but it would do for the time being. We sat in silence for some time with the only sound of the sea waves hitting the ground was filling the air.

"I think it's time for you to wake up", he unexpectedly blurted out and broke the ice of silence. I stared at him as I was taken aback by his sudden words, "Excuse me?",I asked bewilderedly but before my doubt could be cleared, a gleaming light attacked my eyes which led me to close them and raise a hand in front of my eyes to cover them from this radiant sparks.

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

"Ugh, Stupid alarm!", I woke up grumpily as I sat up on my bed, leaning on the side and switching the alarm clock off on my bedside table. I sat back and rubbed my eyes while trying to shade them from the glazing sun. I forgot to close the curtains last night and this is my punishment for my irresponsibility, that now my eyes are burning from the brightness of the sun. Maybe this is the light that had had jumped into my dream out of nowhere. Speaking of which, I already had haunting nightmares but instead of them, I now have a creepy and mysterious guy who is not telling me his identity.

I threw the thought of my dream at the back of my mind as I rubbed my eyes again. I stretched my body and hands in the air as I let out a loud yawn, throwing the comforter on the side and crawling to the corner of the bed. But I guess as usual, I was too clumsy that I lost my balance as I reached the corner and fell off the bed on my stomach.

"Ouch, that must have hurt", I heard someone comment on my downfall as I got into the cat position and stood up,"I fell on cotton candy so why would it hurt", I replied sarcastically but heard a chuckle in return. I looked up to see chace standing leaning against the doorframe with his hands folded around his chest, looking at me in amusement.

I realized that a guy was in my room in the morning when I most probably looked as messy as a pig with my hairs dancing, my cloths not suitable and my breath was stinky. Well, who cares unless he doesn't come near me and it's not like he hasn't been close to me in the morning. He has kissed me while my mouth was stinking so this shouldn't be a problem.

"What are you doing here in the morning?", I asked in confusion as I walked over to my bed and started making my bed. As I picked my comforter and started folding it, chace came to stand beside me to stare at me. He kept staring and I tried my best to avoid his actions but I lost control and threw the comforter back on the bed as it is because I couldn't fold it due to him looking at me like that.

I turned to him but he still didn't bulge his eyes off me,"Why are you staring at me like an old creep?", I asked in irritation and placed a hand on my hip. He didn't answer for a few minutes and kept staring at me before scrunching his face and shaking his head,"You look like a mess", he commented as my mouth fell open in shock.

"That's a nice way to talk to a girl", I said sarcastically and he raised his eyebrow in question,"But when did you become a girl?", he asked and I groaned at him, punching his arm as hard as possible with all my strength. He made a painful face and started rubbing the area where I had just hit him.

"See! You hit like a man", he teased me further and I rolled my eyes as I decided to ignore this guy. He is made to trouble me so there's no use in fighting him. I need to learn accepting defeat but I would hate myself for that so I won't. I picked the comforter back up to fold it and since I had decided to ignore him, I didn't talk to him neither react to anything he said or did next, which this dumb guy seemed to notice after a few minutes of just blabbering some boring stuff which I didn't listen to. When he realized I wasn't reacting or listening to anything he just said, he leaned in front of my face and stared at me continuously once again, but this time, I don't care.

"Are you ignoring me?", he finally asked as he broke the silence between us. I thought internally if I should reply or continue with the silent treatment, but I decided to speak,"Yes", I said without any regret and he pouted at me.

"That's mean. No one ignores this hottie", he said as he pointed at himself and I rolled my eyes at his over confident behavior.

"Ignorance is bliss, arrogance is the root of all evil", I tauntingly commented and he stared at me for a minute before scratching his head, giving me a confused look. He backed away while muttering 'whatever' and stood beside me silently for the rest of the whole time I made my bed. Once I was done, I walked to my closet and I thought he was still standing near my bed but I was wrong, because the idiot followed me.

I stopped midway to the closet and turned quickly, but that was a wrong decision because chace bumped into me hard, due to which I lost my balance and fell on the ground on my back. The back pain was already too much and on top of that, chace fell on me and his whole weight was on me, just like the day he had sneaked into my room through the window, although this was less painful than last time.

As I was finding it hard to breath, chace just payed on top of me casually, like his weight was as light as a feather. He was staring at me and after a while, he stretched his hands on my sides and balanced himself on them, leading his weight to thankfully lighten off me. As I caught my breath back, I brought my hands and tried to push him off me but he didn't bulge at all.

"Get off me you elephant!", I said as I groaned and continued trying to push him off. I used all strength in me right now to throw him to the side but since it's the morning, I don't have much power, nor will I have it until I have a hot shower to awake my body, sense and nerves. I know that's weird but that's just how I am.

"Request it and I am gone", he announced his decision as my head fell on the ground in defeat. I thought for a minute if I should just request it or continue being crushed by him. I feel like I should give up but my mind won't let me do so. My eyes wandered around me, trying to find something silently that would cause him to get off me and that's when my eyes landed on his part where the sun doesn't shine, although the last time I tried to do this, I failed miserably. When I looked up at his face, he wasn't looking at my face which meant he didn't notice me see that, so I decided to go for it.

I slowly raised my legs and thankfully they weren't trapped, at least not until now. I kept my left leg on the ground and decided to hit him with the right one. I pulled my right leg on the ground and raised it suddenly with as much pressure as I could but an all too familiar voice spoiled my concentration, leading my aim to go somewhere else,"GET OFF MY BEST FRIEND YOU HIPPO!", Savannah screamed and when I real died I didn't hit him where I was going to, I looked down to find where I had actually hit my leg. I didn't find anything so I looked up to be met by chace's hurtful expression as his eyes started watering. I thought he was scared of Savannah because of which he was reacting this way but when he rolled on the side and held his crouch with both of his hands, I finally realized that I indeed hit him where I actually had intended.

"Oww! THAT HURT!", chace screamed in pain as me and savannah looked at each other in silence before busting out in laughters. I was still lying on the ground so I rolled over it as I kept laughing at chace, although that was mean but he deserved it. I shifted from side to side as I caught my paining stomach because of all this laughter.

"WHAT'S WRONG?", I heard the voice of my aunt yell from the corridor outside my room, causing for me and savannah to shut up immediately as chace sat up and tried to hide his pain, changing his expression to a smile which had pain hidden behind it. I got off the floor and chace followed behind as we both went to stand with Savannah near the door like good children, waiting for my aunt to come. Chace was changing foot to foot but then he finally folded his palms together and kept them hanging down, covering his friend and making me let out an unwanted giggle.

"Who was hurt?", my aunt asked as she came to stand in front of us and we three looked at each other in silence before we all said in sync 'no one'. Aunt nodded her head as she turned her attention to me, suddenly leaning forward and trapping me into a sudden hug as she rubbed her hands on my back as if she was comforting. I have spend enough time to know that this hug means that she is about to tell me something I won't like to hear or would not like to do.

I detached myself from the hug and studied aunt for a minute and I noticed the sadness in her eyes and on her face. She looked down instead of meeting my eyes, which made me feel more scared and worried of what was about to happen. All the laughter and happiness had disappeared from my body and all that was left was a frightened girl in place of the playful girl which had woken up this morning. I feel like I want to hear what she wants to say but I can't bear to listen to it.

"What's with the sudden mood change?", Savannah asked playfully as she came forward to stand beside my aunt. I didn't have any answer for her so I kept quiet. I didn't have the courage to ask what was wrong...

"I need to inform you something baby", she said as she ran her hand through the back of my head lovingly, giving me a small smile and so I nodded my head for her to continue. But then a question popped into my mind.

"Is it a bad news like last time?", I murmured the question as I remembered the day my aunt and uncle informed me that my parents were declared dead and will be having a funeral arranged for them. I don't want to feel like that again the way I felt on that day when I heard that the two people I loved the most are no longer going to be with me, even if they want to.

"The news can be bad or good, it's the way you decide to take it", she said but her words seemed to relax me a bit because it looked like it wasn't something like the last time, when she did this for my parents.

She took a deep breath before letting it out and starting,"As you know, your uncle and Mr Oliver are business partners and recently their business has suffered a massive loss. So in order to cover that up, they have found an investor in China who is ready to help our business", she explained and I nodded my head,"But the investor has called them to China to meet him. And for that, me and your uncle have to go to China along with Carol and Oliver. Carol and I didn't actually want to go but our husbands need our support at a time like this. So I am upset to say this but you four are going to be alone for 3 days. You and Daniel have to stay with Savannah and chace at their house so that you four children are together and we feel that you all are safe together", she finished and I sighed in relief. She had scared me to death for this news whereas it wasn't so bad also. I have already stayed alone in New York so why would I be scared now. But I can't tell her this.

"It's fine aunt, we are fine with whatever you said. You should definitely go with uncle because he will need you by his side in this difficult time", I consoled her with an assuring smile and she let out a relieved breath, like she felt pleased and she gave me a grateful smile. She then disappeared to her room to do packing because they all will be leaving in 4 hours to go to the airport.

After a lot of arguments, chace went to help Daniel with the packing while Savannah helped me to pack my stuff.

Honestly, I am not so worried because I will be able to stay with Savannah and we will be able to have fun. Although I don't know what will chace do to trouble me while I stay at his.

But at the end of the day, some decisions are made for the betterment...

Hi guys!

Sorry for the late and small update.

Actually my school has started and so I got busy. I think this chapter was a bit boring but I will try my best to make the next update as good as possible. And there will a twist which might shock everyone, but please bear with me😘❤️

Lastly, hope you guys like the new cover, took a long time for me to make it😓

Take and love you guys,
Please vote and comment🙏🏻