Darasimi Daniels and her parents sat at the dining table, enjoying a delicious meal of plain white rice, fish stew and fried plantains.
Darasimi Daniels: Okay, this is really good! (Darasimi complimented her mother's cooking, smiling with every bite)
Shade Daniels: You can take a woman out of Nigeria, but you can never take Nigeria out of a woman. Once I found all the right ingredients, preparing this dish was easy! (Darasimi's mother said proudly)
Femi Daniels: This is truly amazing, my love. Things like this never cease to amaze me, you never disappoint... Mrs. Shade Daniels, The Super Cook! (Femi praises her with a big smile)
Darasimi Daniels: Super Cook! Super Cook! Super Cook! (Darasimi happily joins in, playfully feeding her mother's ego)
Shade Daniels: Thank you, thank you. It's not easy being the best, but I want to thank my loving husband, Mr. Femi Daniels, and my beautiful daughter, Miss Darasimi Daniels, for their continual support in all my endeavors. But my success would not have been possible if not for one personm... Who Is me! Mrs. Shade Daniels! The super cook, the super mother, the super lady! (Shade praises herself even more, grinning as she soaks in all the attention)
Darasimi Daniels: Yes, mum! Preach! (Darasimi tells her happily)
Its considered bad manners to talk while eating, but what kind of happy family eats their meals in silence? They share a few more jokes and chatter for a bit before finally finishing their dinner.
After washing all the dirty dishes, Darasimi decides to head to bed. She has school in the morning and doesn't want to stay up too late.
Darasimi Daniels: Goodnight, Mom! Goodnight, Dad! (Darasimi tells her mom and dad, who were now watching a movie together)
Femi Daniels: Goodnight! (Femi tells her, sitting comfortably on the couch)
Shade Daniels: Goodnight, my dear. Sweet dreams. (Shade tells her, resting comfortably in her husband's arms)
Darasimi Daniels: To you too. (Darasimi tells them with a smile, before heading off to her room)
Jumping on her incredibly soft bed, Darasimi thinks back on what her mother just told her. The thought making her smile a bit more.
Darasimi Daniels: Sweet dreams, huh? (The teenager mutters to herself, remembering her mother's words)... If only she knew my dreams. (Darasimi tells herself before gently closing her eyes, and slowly falling asleep)
Darasimi wakes up in a black space, and there is a door standing before her, a regular looking dark brown door. With a sigh she calmly opens this door, walking into the swirling blue portal within, as she had done so many times before.
A blue portal appears next to a race track, and stepping out of this portal, Darasimi's appearance has changed quite a bit. Her body is now completely blue energy based, and she is hovering a few feet off the ground.
Darasimi's Dreamwalker form has no mouth, yet that doesn't hinder her ability to speak. But if she can be heard, is anyone's guess.
Darasimi floats through the air, watching several people run on the race track. Her radiant eyes focused on the man ahead of everyone else, the only person wearing a suit and tie in this foot race.
The man in the suit runs fast, sweat pouring down his sunburned face, yet he doesn't slow his stride.
Darasimi Daniels: Guess this dream is about him. (Darasimi comments, now watching the man more closely)
As the man continues to run, several shops and people suddenly manifest up ahead, looking to get the man's attention.
"Come get your donuts here! Freshly baked donuts here! You sir, want a free donut?! (The vendor offered)
"No thanks!" (The running man said, quickly running past the store)
"Hey buddy, I'm working on a new business plan, and I could really use a partner. You interested? (The nicely dressed fellow offered)
"Not interested." (The running man replied, running past this individual as well)
"David, all you ever do is work, we barely spend anytime together anymore. If you don't stop this, It's over between us!" (The beautiful woman tells him, her eyes holding back tears as she said those words)
"I hope you find happiness, Karen!" (The man tells her without hesitation, eventually crossing the finish line and therefore winning the race)
David celebrates his victory alone, happily sacrificing human connection to achieve his goals. While this is happening, small pieces of the dreamscape break away, becoming particles of dream energy which floats into Darasimi's body, becoming one with her.
The Dreamwalker's eyes widen, and visions of David's future is promptly revealed to her. She sees a lot of hardwork, back breaking dedication, intense loneliness, and a well deserved job promotion, finally achieving his goals.
Darasimi Daniels: Guess hardwork really does pay off. It's a lonely road though. (Darasimi commented before floating away, heading towards the new door that has appeared)
Entering the new door, Darasimi quickly finds herself at a new location. It is a church, and she's in the middle of a wedding ceremony.
Darasimi Daniels: Wow, pretty. (Darasimi said as she floated around, admiring all the pretty decorations)
The doors of the church suddenly swing open, and in steps the bride, happily accompanied by her father. She wore a beautiful white floral wedding dress, which almost brought tears to the dreamwalker's glowing eyes.
Darasimi Daniels: So beautiful! (Darasimi said joyfully, awestruck by the bride's lovely wedding dress)
Though still an inexperienced Dreamwalker, Darasimi can effortlessly journey through the dreams of others. Unaware of the full extent of these powers, she keeps her distance, only acting as an observer.
The wedding was going smoothly, but Darasimi notices something odd about the groom. The man has a smug look on his face, making the dreamwalker wonder if he's really a good guy, or just a jerk.
Pieces of the dreamscape begins to break apart, merging with Darasimi's form and showing her the future of this union.
The Dreamwalker sees visions of an unhappy marriage, a long and messy divorce, and an even longer stretch of depression. But at the end of it all, she witnesses the discovery of new love and attainment of true happiness.
Darasimi Daniels: So he is just a jerk, I suspected as much. I'm glad she's going to find someone better someday, it's sad to see a relationship doomed for failure. (Darasimi frowns before gently floating away, opening and entering another dream door)
Darasimi now finds herself in a restaurant, hovering above a family of three, the husband, wife and son enjoying a nice meal together.
The father happily talks with his wife and son, but for some strange reason, his words carry no sound. Even the responses of the mother and child, cannot be heard as well.
One more thing seems strange about this family, although they were all smiling and laughing together, those smiles look fake, almost like they were trying to deceive each other, just pretending to enjoy each other's company.
Darasimi Daniels: What is this? (Darasimi wonders, unable to shake the feeling that something is very wrong with this dream)
This unsettling feeling isn't just fear, it's a warning. A precognitive alert that something bad is about to happen, or something bad is already here.
The shadows of the family rise up from the ground, taking the form of three dark creatures, all having crimson red eyes, razor sharp teeth, and a humanoid shape.
The shadow creatures lean closer to the family, their jagged teeth dangerously close to their necks. But all these monsters do is whisper into their ears, the Dreamwalker hearing every unsettling word they spoke.
"Look at you, you're pathetic, Mark! You've lost your job, your status, your dignity, and now you can't even provide for your own family! When are you going to tell them? How are you going to tell them how much of a failure you truly are?! Confess, Mark! Hahahaha!!!." (The monster taunts the husband, but he is completely unfazed by its menacing presence, still smiling and talking to his family)
"Mark has always been good to you, he's loving, he's caring, he's supportive. So tell me why you're cheating on him, Barbara?! Have you no shame, have you no decency, Woman?! How can you look your son in the face, knowing you're nothing but trash!." (The monster tells her, but the wife is completely unfazed as well, still eating dinner, and laughing with her family)
"You want to tell mommy and daddy you're getting bullied at school? (Scoffs) How stupid can you be, that is only going to make things worse! Can't you be a man, can't you solve your problems without them holding your hand?! Hahahaha! You're a loser, Freddy! No wonder you don't have any friends." (The monster tells the boy, but his happy expression remains on his face)
Seeing and hearing all of this really freaks out Darasimi, she has never encountered anything like these creatures, monsters capable of corrupting the dreams of others.
Darasimi Daniels: What are these things? (Darasimi asks in fear, now wanting to leave this dream)
Pieces of the dreamscape breaks apart as usual, but instead of having the usual blue colour of dream energy, these energy particles were glowing red.
Once these red particles of energy come into contact with her body, the Dreamwalker quickly experiences a sharp burning sensation, the corrupting energy making her feel pain.
Darasimi Daniels: Ow! (Darasimi yells as she immediately floats back, managing to avoid the rest of the particles before they could merge with her form)
The burning sensation lingers for only a few seconds, but some of the corruption has already been absorbed, therefore triggering another vision of the future.
Darasimi's glowing eyes widen as she begins to see the future, but these visions are different, very different. She sees violence, destruction, devastation and torment, all perpetrated by this very family.
These horrifying visions absolutely terrify the young Dreamwalker, snapping her back to her senses. But to her horror she looks down to see that the monsters are no longer focusing on the family, their attention is now completely on her.
"What are you doing here?!" (One growls, glaring at Darasimi with murderous intent)
"You don't belong here!" (Another hisses, also glaring at the floating Dreamwalker)
"Get out!!!" (The final creature roars, the sheer power of its voice launching Darasimi across the restaurant, making her smash into a wall and lose consciousness immediately)
Back at the Conscious World, Darasimi suddenly wakes up from her sleep, stumbling off her bed in fear. The young Dreamwalker has a terrified expression plastered on her face, unable to comprehend what she just witnessed.
Darasimi Daniels: What the hell was that?! (Darasimi asks herself, the thought making her body shiver)
Next: Sibling Bonding