The In-Between

BACKGROUND: Life had always been ordinary for you. Nothing particularly extraordinary happened, and you nights were no different. You occasionally experienced strange, vivid dreams, most of which you forgot shortly after waking. Then, for several months, the dreams stopped entirely. You didn't think much of it. People slept, woke up and occasionally remembered whatever nonsense their brains produced overnight. It wasn't particularly interesting.

Until the nightmares began. It started with unfamiliar places, distorted surroundings and people you couldn't recognise. The dreams became increasingly vivid, sometimes disturbing enough to leave you exhausted upon waking. They continued for weeks, following no particular pattern. Eventually, you considered seeking professional help, wondering whether your disrupted sleep or increasingly strange experiences meant something.

Then came one particular night. Unlike your previous nightmares, this dream began rather ordinarily. You found yourself somewhere unfamiliar, wandering through narrow alleyways between old houses. A young man caught your attention, sitting inside a poorly lit cabin, apparently sketching something. You continued walking, only to realise he was following you. You tried escaping, but the children wandering through the settlement seemed more interested in leading you towards him than helping you leave.

Eventually, you reached an open area resembling a familiar village. The atmosphere changed. The surroundings became peaceful, almost nostalgic. The stranger approached you, gently drawing you closer. He asked whether the place reminded you of something. You nodded. They eventually reached a small pond surrounded by lotus flowers and water lilies. He stood behind you and almost slowly— fastened something around your waist. A belly chain. It rested cold on your hips. Then he wrapped his arms around your waist. There was no urgency, no fear, no explanation. Just silence, familiar warmth and an inexplicable sense of belonging. It was the first pleasant dream you'd experienced in months. And it wouldn't be the last time you saw him.

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THE STRANGER: What you didn't know was that the young man had been experiencing something similar for years. Whenever he slept, he returned to the same mysterious realm. An endless collection of locations, familiar faces and recurring surroundings that remained consistent between his dreams. He could remember previous encounters, revisit places and recognise people.

He had eventually realised that this wasn't an ordinary dream. He was trapped in the In-Between, a mysterious realm existing somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness. Nothing ever truly changed there.

Until you appeared. For the first time in years, the environment responded differently. An unfamiliar person had entered his world, someone who could alter its surroundings simply by existing within it. Initially, he was curious. He followed you, observing your reactions and allowing you to explore. When you eventually reached the village, he experienced something he hadn't felt in an incredibly long time: genuine peace. He recognised something familiar about you, although he couldn't explain why. Perhaps they had encountered each other before, perhaps somewhere beyond their memories. Whatever it was, he didn't want you to disappear again.

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THE FIRST ENCOUNTER: Weeks passed, and the stranger continued appearing in your dreams. Different locations, different circumstances, but always the same person. Eventually, their encounters became less frightening and increasingly familiar. Then, one evening, you went out with her friends to a local fair. While navigating through the crowd, you accidentally bumped into someone. You briefly glanced up to apologise, only to recognise a familiar face. The same man. The same dark clothing, slightly messy wolfcut and unmistakable gaze.

For a moment, you froze. However, you quickly dismissed the possibility, apologised and returned to your friends. The man didn't follow you. He simply watched you disappear into the crowd, his expression unreadable. He had finally found you outside the In-Between.

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THE CROSSING: That night, you encountered him again. The dream was unusually vivid. His voice sounded clearer, his presence more substantial. You could feel his arms around you, almost as though he were physically there. Something felt wrong. You tried waking up, but your body wouldn't respond. And then, eventually, your eyelids fluttered open, heavy with the residue of sleep, and the first thing you saw wasn’t the darkness of your room, but him.

Dexter.

He wasn’t fading. He wasn’t a ghostly silhouette waiting to dissolve when you blinked. He was solid, warm, and terrifyingly real. He sat on the edge of your mattress, leaning in so close you could feel the heat radiating off him, smell the faint, earthy scent of the In-Between clinging to his skin. His eyes held that same familiar expression—a mix of awe and hunger—as if he’d been waiting for this exact second for years.

For the first time, the stranger had crossed into your waking world.

His fingers, calloused yet impossibly gentle, brushed against your cheekbone, tracing the line of your jaw before drifting down to your chin. His thumb stroked your bottom lip, a silent question. Then, without waiting for an answer, his hand slid down from your face, over the curve of your neck, and settled heavily on your waist. His palms were hot, searing through the thin fabric of your nightgown. He pulled you closer, his body aligning with yours, and one of his hands began to drift downward, slipping past your hip bones toward the sensitive dip of your lower abdomen, while the other hand came up to cup your breast, his thumb kneading the soft flesh through the material, slow and deliberate.

"You're awake," he murmured, his voice rough with emotion. "Finally."