The Recurring Nightmare
Long before the Oakhaven case, when he lived in Sonoma, Rey had a dream. He was walking through the ruins of his hometown when suddenly he saw his mom. With her was a girl of about 15 years old. Her face was in tears, and for some reason she was wearing a jacket that looked like it didn’t belong to her. Mom introduced the girl to him and pleaded with him to protect her. Rey felt something was off. He looked around. Mom wasn’t there anymore. It was only the girl looking at him with a mix of fear and hope. There was an explosion. Right in front of him. As the smoke cleared, he saw the girl lying on the ground motionless, her body covered in blood.
In a few years he saw the nightmare again. This time, he realized that it was his jacket that the girl was wearing. It left him confused, and he couldn’t think of a meaning to this dream.
Time went on. Rey was now 17. His mom died a few years ago. So did his little sister. He was paired with a detective named Janell to work on the Oakhaven Haze release case.
One day he met Evelina. A 14-year-old girl.
She just ran away from the orphanage, and, exhausted, she sat on the steps by a river, her eyes closed. Rey woke her up. She was scared. It was late and dark, and his appearance seemed intimidating: a black jacket with black gloves, multiple piercings , hair covering one of his eyes, and a knife scar on his face. “Hey, you’re coming with me,” he said, his tone leaving no place for arguing. Rey wasn’t good at comforting people. Evelina was confused. “You ran away,” he continued. “And now you have nowhere to go. Am I right?” A creepy smile played on his face. Evelina asked how he knew. Instead of an answer, he reached for her hand and pointed out the rope burns on her wrist. “It’s pretty obvious,“ he said. To his surprise, she agreed to go with him.
She seemed very familiar. He even felt like he knew her name before she could introduce herself. But he couldn’t remember where he could have seen her before. Together they worked on the case, fighting for survival. The feeling of familiarity didn’t go away, but there was no solution to it until one day. Rey, Evelina, and Janell had to go to Sonoma. The town was mostly empty; the bombings didn’t stop. It was cold. Evelina was shivering. Rey gave her his jacket. Janell stayed at the motel to work with case files, while Rey and Evelina went to explore the environment. Suddenly, there was an explosion. A building nearby collapsed. Opening his eyes, Rey found himself lying in the ruins with blood dripping from his face. He got up despite the dizziness and walked through the destroyed square. He saw Evelina. She was standing at a little distance, still in his jacket, her tear-streaked face looking at him. At this moment it struck him. He already saw this scene: the ruins, the jacket, Evelina’s face. Dread filled his heart. He knew what should happen next. The nightmare was coming true. His body was paralyzed with horror. He called out to Evelina. She looked around but didn’t move. Desperate, Rey gathered his strength and ran towards her, tripping over the debris. Just in time he managed to grab her by the sleeve and drag her to the side. The explosion struck. Rey felt something sharp hitting his head. Everything went dark. When he opened his eyes, Evelina was there.
She was alive.
The town is quiet, not a single person seen on the streets. Rey goes to his old apartment, where he used to live with his little sister before she died. He opens the door (he still keeps the key) and walks in. Everything is left untouched, just like they left it that day: Nina’s cup on the table, a few books she threw around the floor while playing. It seems to him like he traveled back in time. And he catches himself that he is unconsciously waiting for Nina to walk into the room. But the room is still. He is the only human being here.