Free Web NovelChapter 342: Chapter 340: You Are the One Who Can Save Me
"Honestly, I can’t remember many of the dreams anymore... But certain parts kept repeating, getting clearer each time, so I still have some memory of them."
"I couldn’t be sure if those earlier dreams were real, but I wanted to believe they were."
Like how Yates killed the drunk man outside my rented apartment.
Or how Felix Sinclair secretly kept an eye on my life, slipping me study materials.
And that someone was always sponsoring me, giving me a generous scholarship.
Because they were all involved in those memories, I was willing to believe they were real.
But...
"Those dreams never really had a major impact on me. Not until I was unconscious this time. I had a dream that felt incredibly ’real’."
"And by ’real,’ I don’t mean the kind of real I *wanted* to believe in before."
"It’s because even if I don’t want to believe it, the images, the sensations... they all felt like they had actually happened."
Yates gazed into her eyes, his grip on her hand tightening. He couldn’t afford to miss a single, minute reaction.
’I can’t help it. I’m starting to get PTSD myself. I’m so terrified she’ll have another episode... Wait!’
’Post-traumatic stress disorder.’
He gave Mia a long, hard look.
’I don’t know much about the disorder, but she said she keeps having recurring dreams. Could that be a symptom?’
Mia continued her story calmly. Her tone, her expression, and even her physical posture all seemed perfectly normal.
Yates was listening intently when she suddenly paused. She blinked once, then said, "Someone... murdered me."
She didn’t say someone had murdered her *in a dream*.
Her tone was firm and direct, as if she had replayed it over and over to be sure, or as if she were recalling an actual, vivid memory.
"W-who was it?"
"Unfortunately, I didn’t see his face clearly."
As soon as she said it, she gave a sudden nod and added, contradicting herself, "Or maybe I really didn’t see him."
But from that one line, Yates knew. She had seen him.
She just couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
She had a resilience far beyond her years.
Her tolerance for pain surpassed that of most weathered, middle-aged adults.
She wouldn’t fall apart like this over a truth that was vague and uncertain.
Which meant this person had to be someone she knew. Someone she was familiar with. Someone she had been intimate with, someone she had given her heart to...
Realizing this, Yates finally understood. Why she wouldn’t drink the water. Why the sight of duck blood made her gag. Why she’d suddenly lost control and broken down when their eyes met in the mirror...
’She really isn’t the type to act out for no reason. Every single reaction, no matter how small, has a cause.’
But he would rather she be a little more spoiled and willful. He wouldn’t even mind if she threw fits or got physical with him; he’d take a slap to the face if it meant she wasn’t suffering like this.
Anything would be better than this.
Silas Grant always said she was such a good kid.
But what he didn’t say was that the quietest kids never get any candy.
Yates’s voice was heavy. "So, you think it was me?"
"I don’t know how to answer that."
"It’s okay." He forced a laugh, his tone casual, as if he didn’t care at all. "Don’t worry, I’m not that fragile. I’m not going to get hurt over a dream."
Mia turned her head to look at him.
Yates was caught completely off guard as their eyes met.
The smile on his lips froze.
’Alright, I must look awful right now.’
’A hideous smile, a stiff expression, and pathetic, pleading eyes.’
"My rational mind is telling me it wasn’t you. It’s just... I wasn’t very rational at the time."
"I’m being rational now. Yates, if I really thought it was you, I wouldn’t be telling you any of this."
"Quite the opposite. You aren’t the danger; you’re the one who can save me."
"By telling you this, I’m putting my life in your hands. I’m hoping that if all of this really is going to happen, if there’s a chance to change the outcome, I hope..."
Her lips trembled as if she was struggling with the words. "...after you’ve made sure you’re safe..."
Before she could finish, he crushed his lips to hers. "I’ll protect you!"
Mia smiled and pushed him away. "You don’t have to. Protect yourself first. If you still can after that, it won’t be too late to save me."
"I could be selfish. I could use your feelings for me to make you willingly sacrifice everything, even your life."
"But, if I really did that, I’d probably start having nightmares every night from now on."
"You always say I’m heartless. Sometimes, I really wish I were."
"Because then, I wouldn’t have to hesitate so much over things like this."
"It wouldn’t be so mentally draining."
"You wouldn’t..." Yates started to say.
"Let me finish first."
"I hate having to bet everything on someone else. I’m sure you do, too."
He was right. Yates was the same.
It was just like when he’d asked Hayes Hughes to persuade Mia to see a doctor.
He wasn’t the kind of person who liked to stake his hopes on others.
But he’d had no other choice...
"I have no other choice," Mia said. "But thankfully, betting on you doesn’t feel like a losing gamble."
"To be honest, I’ll admit I wavered. I wasn’t that sure. I’m sorry. It’s because deep down, the person I trust most is myself, so I was hesitant."
"But I figure if what just happened wasn’t enough to drive you away, then I don’t mind betting everything I have on you."
He really couldn’t be driven away.
He’d say he wouldn’t get close, that he wouldn’t talk, that he’d leave right away and stay out of her sight...
But his eyes told a different story.
He wouldn’t leave.
Mia was sure of it.
"You don’t need to be so tense. Maybe it was just because my thoughts were a mess, and seeing that drunk man’s knife made me dream up some things that weren’t real."
"So, you don’t have to take what I said too seriously."
"Maybe, it’s just a dream."
There it was again.
"’It’s just a dream.’" Yates repeated with a smile. "You’ve said that to me many times."
"So, that dream you told me about last time, was it real?"
He was already sure, but he asked her anyway.
"I don’t want to admit it, but if that’s what you think, then I guess it is."
"You don’t want to admit it because you know it can’t be explained. That’s why you kept avoiding me. You figured that with my personality, I’d insist on investigating it to the very end."
Mia replied, "And as it turns out, you did exactly that."
"I did..." He laughed. "But I meant no harm."
"I know. I also knew you wouldn’t find anything. I just didn’t want you to know about it."
"But you’re forgetting one thing." Yates gazed at her. "I love you."
"!" The sudden confession made Mia’s breath catch in her throat. She could only stare at him, the undisguised shock plain in her eyes.
"What that means is, even if things don’t make sense, even if they come out of nowhere, I will still believe you."
"..."
"Yes, I lied. I wasn’t investigating just because I wanted to help you find your parents."
"I didn’t want to dig up a past you weren’t ready to face. I just..."
"...my heart ached for the girl you used to be."
