***

“Lucas, come here quickly!” Lucy's urgent voice pierced the quiet of the night, jolting Lucas from his slumber.

Lucas stirred in his bed, his mind struggling to shake off the remnants of sleep. “Huh? What's going on, Lucy?” he mumbled, still lost in the fog of dreams.

“Just come with me,” Lucy insisted, her tone tinged with a contagious excitement that sliced through the darkness like a beacon.

“All right, all right, hold on,” Lucas mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he slowly complied, his curiosity piqued. What could Lucy possibly want to show him at this hour?

He followed Lucy; the leaves crunching beneath his feet as they navigated the silent night. “Keep moving,” Lucy encouraged, a blend of exhilaration and anticipation dancing in her eyes, pulling him forward.

Lucas continued to trudge along, his drowsiness slowly giving way to mounting intrigue. “So, what's happening, Lucy?” he inquired, his voice still bearing traces of sleep, his steps measured and deliberate.

“Look over there,” Lucy whispered, her breath barely audible. She gently guided his head to face a particular direction.

“What am I supposed to see?” Lucas squinted into the darkness, trying to discern the shifting shadows as Lucy directed him.

“Isn't it beautiful?” Lucy's voice was filled with wonder, and Lucas's gaze finally locked onto what she was trying to reveal - a waterfall, its waters flowing gracefully down moss-covered rocks.

“A waterfall? How did this appear here?” Lucas questioned, his bewilderment deepening. They were in the city; when had there been a waterfall?

As if sensing that he had finally noticed it, Lucy grabbed his hand and led him toward it. He stumbled slightly as Lucy pulled him along, her face radiant with joy, while Lucas remained puzzled about what was happening. “Lucas, come with me.”

“Where are we going?” Lucas asked, his confusion giving way to curiosity.

“The waterfall, Lucas. Don't you feel the heat?” Lucy's tone shifted, and a mischievous smile played on her lips.

Lucas couldn't deny that it had been scorching lately, but he still couldn't grasp the significance of heading to a waterfall in the middle of the night. “What do you mean? I don't understand,” he admitted.

Lucy didn't provide a direct answer; instead, she continued to lead him on. As they reached the waterfall, Lucas could just make out a blurry figure in the mist. He peered over the edge, trying to discern what it was.

“Is that Meri?” Lucas pointed towards the distant figure of a woman; his voice filled with confusion.

“See? There's Aunt Meri and Cale; they're here too,” Lucy explained, her fingers trembling with excitement.

Lucas's concern began to outweigh his confusion. “Lucy, what's happening? Why are they here too? Wasn't it just the two of us?”

Lucy paid no attention to his questions; she continued to guide him further. As they approached the waterfall, Lucas could somewhat distinguish a figure in the mist. He dipped his fingers into the water, feeling its coolness.

“Lucy, I can walk. You don't need to pull me,” Lucas said, trying to free himself from her grasp.

But Lucy held on tightly, her urgency unwavering.

“Come closer. Don't you want to feel the coldness?” Lucy pleaded, her eyes gleaming with an inexplicable intensity, her grip still drawing him deeper into the water.

Lucas was perplexed, unsure of what had come over Lucy. He complied, taking a step forward, his feet now submerged in the water.

“It is cold,” Lucas admitted as he ventured deeper into the water.

“Wouldn't you like to go deeper?” Lucy whispered, her voice taking on an almost hypnotic quality, luring him further.

Lucas, though bewildered and cautious, found himself irresistibly drawn by the entrancing lilt of Lucy's voice. He took another step, the water now rising to his ankles as he cautiously ventured deeper into the enigmatic waters.

As he ventured further, Lucas began to feel an increasing weightiness pressing upon him. His bewilderment deepened, and comprehension of the situation became increasingly elusive. His mind, still clouded from just waking up, struggled to grasp the unfolding circumstances.

“Lucy, please, can you stop tugging on me? It's making it hard for me to move forward.”,” Lucas protested, sensing an invisible force tugging at him, wrestling against Lucy's relentless pull.

“Lucas, just follow me,” Lucy whispered, her words carrying an eerie resonance in the night.

Growing increasingly uneasy and slightly unnerved, Lucas attempted to break free from Lucy's grasp, yet she clung to him tenaciously, her expression still bearing that disconcerting smile.

“No, Lucy, I can't. I might drown,” Lucas's anxiety began to supersede his confusion, panic setting in, casting a suffocating veil of dread. Why did she persist in pulling him further? Everything was becoming inexplicably bizarre.

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“Lucas, don't resist; come down,” Lucy's tone turned urgent, and it felt as though the water itself was pulling him into an abyss of uncertainty.

“Hey, cut it out, Lucy; this is getting creepy,” Lucas managed to stammer amidst his struggle.

Within the murkiness, Lucas faintly discerned muffled voices beneath the relentless roar of the waterfall.

“Lucy, I can't go any deeper,” he gasped, his voice barely audible amidst the torrential cascade.

“Lucas, just follow,” Lucy insisted, her voice now distant and distorted by the crashing deluge.

“Lucas?”

“Lucas?”

“Wake up!”

“Lucas?”

“Lucas!”

“Wake!”

“Lucas?”

“Lucas?”

With a sudden gasp, Lucas jerked awake, his heart racing in his chest. The voices that had called to him earlier now seemed to emanate from a faraway, echoing realm.

“Wake up,” a voice entreated, growing more distinct and urgent.

“Wake!”

“Lucas?”

“Lucas!”

Blinking in disorientation, Lucas found himself reclining on a soft, mossy patch within a tranquil forest. The resonant symphony of the waterfall had subsided, replaced by the gentle rustling of leaves, the distant chorus of birdsong, and the rhythmic chirping of crickets.

Lucas squinted against the bright sun that hung high in the azure sky. “Ah, it's so bright,” he muttered to himself.

“Lucas, are you okay?” a familiar voice inquired with genuine concern. It was Lucy, kneeling beside him, her gaze brimming with apprehension.

Lucas blinked several times, endeavoring to reconstruct his fragmented recollections. “Lucy... What... what just happened?”

“You were sleepwalking, Lucas. You wandered deep into the forest, and I trailed after you,” Lucy replied.

Lucas sat up, his mind still throbbing with perplexity. “Sleepwalking? I can't remember any of that.”

“You were saying strange things, Lucas. I became really concerned. You kept mentioning the waterfall, and then you suddenly collapsed here,” Lucy recounted, her anxiety echoing in her voice.

Lucas rubbed his temples, attempting to decipher the foggy memories. “I thought... I thought we were at the waterfall, and you were... pulling me in,” Lucas confessed, still perturbed by the vividness of his dream.

“It was merely a dream, Lucas. An odd one, but we're perfectly safe here in the forest,” Lucy reassured him, her hand gently resting on his shoulder.

Lucas slowly nodded, relief flooding over him like a sudden downpour. “Thank you for waking me up, Lucy. That was... really strange,” Lucas sighed, expressing his gratitude for her presence.

“Well, you're the one who suggested I was acting oddly back there. It seems we've both had our moments,” Lucy teased, attempting to lighten the atmosphere.

Lucas couldn't help but shake his head. “I never said that,” he mumbled, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“What do you mean, Lucas?” Lucy's tone grew more puzzled.

He had never uttered those words, even if he had. It had been in a dream, and now, he was very much awake in reality.

“I never said that,” Lucas repeated, his voice carrying a hint of unease.

Once more, bewilderment crept in, and Lucas began to sense that something was amiss.

“You're not Lucy,” he finally blurted out, his eyes widening with realization.

“No, she's not,” Lucas looked at her with wide-open eyes. Her mannerisms might mimic Lucy's, but her way of speaking was different, distinctly not Lucy's.

“What are you talking about, Lucas?” Lucy's concern deepened as she began to feel that something was awry.

Ignoring her question, Lucas asked one of his own, his voice quivering.

“Where am I?”

“What are you saying, Lucas? Look over there, that's our home,” Lucy's voice trembled with uncertainty.

Lucas turned his gaze toward where Lucy had pointed, and he saw it; a two-story house, a place he had always dreamed of. He heard the birdsong, felt the lush grass beneath him, and saw the garden in front of the house. It was everything he could have wished for.

“No, no, this can't be my home,” Lucas mumbled, voicing his doubts.

“Are you joking, Lucas? This is our home,” Lucy said, her worry intensifying.

Lucas examined the scene again, still unable to comprehend how this could be his home. His real home was by a lake, a place his parents had left for him, their final gift. What he saw now was entirely different.

“Look over there, Meri and Cale are here too,” Lucy pointed towards a swing.

“No, they're at the university,” Lucas protested, his confusion mounting.

Lucy's words only added to his confusion, making it clear that something was seriously amiss.

“Are you still dreaming, Lucas? I guess you forgot to take your medicine today.” Lucy's anxiety grew as she struggled to comprehend his words.

“Sick? Am I? When did I ever need medicine?” Lucas questioned, perplexed by the mention of being ill. When had he ever been sick?

“If you're not sick, then why are you saying these strange things, Lucas?”

“But this isn't my home,” Lucas insisted, absolutely certain that the house before him was not where he belonged.

Lucas grew increasingly anxious, and then suddenly his eye caught a fleeting shadow darting around in the distant part of the forest.

“Lucy, did you see that?”

“See what?”

“Over there!”

“Lucas, what are you talking about? You really should take your medicine,” Lucy urged, her patience wearing thin.

Once more, the shadow darted towards the back of the alleged house, deepening Lucas's unease. Fear and worry were taking hold of him. Lucas cried out; his voice filled with desperation.

“Lucy, please, just look!” Lucas's desperation was palpable.