By this time, James Black finally asked, "What happened later?"

While he spoke, James’s palm gently patted Jane Sampson on the back.

"Later..." Later he died.

But Jane Sampson couldn’t utter a word of this sentence that was caught in her mouth.

"Later I woke up," said Jane. "The dream felt so real. Real enough that I can remember everything that happened in those days in the dream. James, do you think it could be some kind of warning? Sometimes dreams are just inexplicable things."

"Dreams are just dreams," James’s voice was calm, "It’s only a dream. If you feel afraid, talk about it and then you can forget it."

James turned on the room’s electric light and looked down at Jane Sampson. Sure enough, her eyes were red.

"I’ll go make you a cup of milk," he sighed softly.

Jane sniffled and pulled James back, "No need, let’s sleep!" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

She knew James would not believe her. A few words, a dream, who would believe that?

Disheartened, Jane kicked at the quilt and once James lay back down, she tucked her entire self into his arms.

She still felt unhappy, so she lifted his pajama top and burrowed in, humming softly before closing her eyes to summon sleep. "Come out, you’ll suffocate in there," James lifted her out of his pajamas, "Behave yourself."

Then he gave Jane a smack on the bottom, which made her roll her eyes at him and kick him lightly.

James chuckled softly to himself.

If she’s acting up, it means she hasn’t been scared by her dream.

After making a fuss in James’s arms for a short while, Jane slowly quieted down in his embrace and after a little while, she fell deeply asleep.

Once asleep, she was the carefree Jane Sampson she always was, hugging him loosely, even drooling in her sleep.

James smiled silently, adjusted her head gently, kissed her on the lips, and then closed his eyes to sleep as well.

Worried that the nightmare would disturb her rest, he hadn’t anticipated that, just like before, she would sleep so soundly.

The wind in early winter in Capital Province was chilly, howling against the glass outside, making the night seem anything but peaceful.

Only after Jane had fallen asleep did James close his eyes comfortably to sleep. He didn’t know at what time he awoke, startled by a strong smell of blood.

As a defender, he was very sensitive to that kind of odor.

James opened his eyes alertly, but what hit him was an even stronger smell of blood and dust.

The voice of Jane, faint as a whisper, reached his ears. He listened carefully and recognized that she was calling him.

"James~ James~"

Each call trembling, each one edged with tears.

Only then did James realize that he was unable to move. He looked to his side and saw ruins.

He was pinned down by these ruins, and Jane lay beneath him.

Was this a dream?

It felt as real as if he were actually there.

"James, your head is still bleeding. Will you bleed to death from it? What if you die? Wouldn’t I then have a corpse lying on top of me? Or worse, a dried-up, bloodless mummy. Just thinking about it is terrifying."

With each word Jane Sampson spoke, she struggled to catch her breath. At this time, she should have been conserving her energy in silence, yet she kept talking, using all her strength to keep talking.

James wanted to speak, to comfort Jane, to tell her not to be afraid, that he was there.

But instead, the voice James heard told her, "Jane Sampson, just shut up."