First off, this fanfic will not last too much longer. However, it will be longer than I originally thought it would be. Originally, this story was only going to last 5 chapters but as I started writing it, the story became a little longer. Right now, the story will probably be between 6-7 chapters long. Anyways, this is the fourth chapter and things are about to get really weird. I hope whoever is reading this will enjoy it. Although I do not require people to review my work, it's still nice to know what people think about it.

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or its characters.

Nightmares and Phenomenon

Part 4: Paranoia

"Please stay home today, Cloud. You're in no condition to go with me to work with me today. In fact, if I didn't have to go to the bar today, I'd stay here with you," said Tifa as she was about to leave for work. I knew she meant what she said. If we didn't need the money to make house payments, she'd probably take a couple of months off to take care of me. Sometimes, I wondered if it was because we were best friends or if she really was in love with me. If she really did love me, could I return her feelings? Did I love her too? At this point, I just wasn't sure.

I noticed that Tifa was hesitating about leaving, so I forced a smile on my face and said, "Don't worry, Tifa. I'll be fine." Tifa managed to force a smile too, but I could still see the worry in her eyes. "Ok, Cloud. Do you think you can change the bandages by yourself?" asked Tifa. I gave her a reassuring nod and she opened the door to leave. Before she left she added, "Remember to change your bandages every few hours to keep your wound from getting infected. Also, try not to fall asleep." After saying those words, she left to go to the bar.

I didn't want to tell Tifa about my dreams and that I thought they were connected to my wounds, but she kept making me feel guilty until I told her. At first, she didn't seem to believe that my dreams could be the cause. Heck, even I didn't totally believe it. After all, getting hurt in your dream and suddenly being hurt in the exact same spot in the real word sounded far fetched. Yet, there wasn't any other explanation that either of us could think of. Of course, she still doesn't know about everything thing that has happened. The nightmares and strange wounds have her worried enough already. There was no way that I was going to tell her about the lamp or the books.

The hours passed by slowly. I tried reading a book, but I couldn't concentrate. No matter how hard I tried to read, I kept looking back at the bookshelf as if I was expecting the books the fall off again. After a while, I gave up and putted the book back on top of the shelf. Then I tried to watch television, but there wasn't anything on that really interested me. All that seemed to be on was the news and soap operas. Every time I forced myself to watch television my eyes would begin to close. Since I didn't want any more weird dreams, I made myself a cup of coffee. About 10 coffee's later, I decided I needed to get out of the house for while. Of course, if Tifa found out I left the house she would probably worry and give me a lecture when I got home. Still, I nothing better to do and the fresh air might do me some good.

Costa del Sol was a popular tourist spot and the beaches were usually packed. However, after living here for some time, Tifa and I found a hidden part of the beach that not many other people knew about. Because so few people know of this place, it is somewhere peaceful that we can get away from life's problems. Since no one else was around, I sat down on the sand and listened to the waves crashing onto the shore. For the first time in a long while, I felt truly relaxed. I guess it's a calming effect that the waves have. In fact, I had to keep pinching myself every so often to keep myself from falling asleep.

However, despite the serene place I was in, I couldn't help but feel that someone or something was watching me. I didn't know why I was feeling this way since I was the only one on this hidden patch of beach. Maybe I was being paranoid. Still, something seems a little off. As a look around, I noticed a trail of footprints that I could swore that I haven't seen before. I know they aren't mine because they were bigger than my feet. Who could have made them? After all, there isn't anyone here but myself. Maybe I'm just paranoid again. Maybe those footprints were there all along and I just didn't notice them. Yet, I could've sworn they weren't there a few minutes ago. After getting the felling of being watched again, I decided that I probably should leave. Besides, if Tifa came home to check on me and noticed that I wasn't there, I would be in big trouble.

When I came home, I was glad that were wasn't any signs that Tifa had come home on a break to check on me. If she did, either she would've left a note or she would've stayed at the house until I got home and give me a lecture. Fortunately, there wasn't any sign of Tifa or a note. After taking a big sigh of relief, I sat onto the couch. I grabbed the remote and decided to watch TV again. Sure, there usually isn't anything really interesting on, but at least it keeps me occupied.

As I was causally flipping channels, the screen suddenly turned to static. I kept flipping through the channels, but every station showed nothing but static. Maybe something was wrong with the antenna or maybe the TV was broken. I checked the antenna but it seemed to be okay. The TV seemed to be working as well, but I don't know much about TVs. I decided to call a repair man and picked phone. The phone was dead. Maybe a phone line was down. Still, I had a feeling that something wasn't right. I picked up the remote again to turn the TV off. Nothing happened and the screen was still filled with static. I tried again and it still didn't respond. Maybe the batteries had run down in the remote. Yet, that doesn't make any sense because I just changed the batteries last week.

Suddenly, an image appeared on the screen. As I took a closer look, I saw what looked like Aeris praying. But it couldn't be! Yet, the image looked exactly like her. What the hell was going on! I look at the image again. It looked like Aeris right before she was stabbed by the massamune. Then I gasp in horror at the sight of Aeris being murdered in front of me again. Only this time it was all happening on TV. I place my hands on the TV screen hoping that I could somehow jump into the TV and rescue her from Sephiroth, but I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, I could never save her. Maybe I fell asleep and didn't realize it. Maybe this is all a bad dream. I pinched myself and realized that this is not a dream. It's happening again. But how and why?

Suddenly, I'm pulled out of my thoughts when the screen zooms in on Sephiroth's face. He has an evil smirk on his face, and his glowing eyes are starring at me. It's almost as if he is looking into my soul. Without warning, the screen turns to static again. I just stood in front of the TV with my mouth gapping open. I hit the "off" button on the remote and the TV successfully turns off. Now only one thought ran through my mind: what the hell had just happened?

A few hours later, Tifa came home. When she asked if I was feeling better, I told her that I was fine. However, a look that a caught in her eye suggested that she didn't really believe me. I guess she could somehow sense that something was wrong. I think it was what everyone called 'women's intuition'. Still, I reassured her that everything was okay and that there was nothing to worry about. I guess part of her believed me because she didn't mention anything more about nightmares or strange occurrences. It was for the best at least. I didn't want to be talked into telling her about the TV incident. After all, how could I explain something that even I didn't completely understand myself?

After I changed my bandages, Tifa and I decided to eat out at a restaurant. After eating a good meal, we went back home and decided to go to bed early. At first, Tifa didn't want to go to sleep. I guess she was afraid that I would have another dream and wake up with an even worse wound than the one on my back. It took me a while to convince her that I would be okay. "Are you sure that nothing's going to happen? I could stay up to wake you if you start to have nightmares again," offered Tifa. I shook my head and replied as reassuringly as possible, "You don't have to worry, Tifa. Nothing's going to happen. Now, why don't we get some shut eye?" Tifa, who was also pretty tired, agreed and we both went to our beds. I lay on my bed waiting for the darkness of sleep to take me. I knew it might be dangerous if had another one of those nightmares, but I also knew it was no use trying to run from it either. In the end, I would eventually have to face my nightmares so I might as well fall asleep. Within minutes after ceasing to resist the tiredness and fatigue, my eyes began to close and I fell into a deep slumber.

It was still dark when I awoke. I looked at the clock which said the time was 3:00 am. At least, I think that was the time, but I'm not sure since my head was hurting so much that I could barely concentrate. It was a terrible headache, not a strange nightmare, which woke me up. In fact, for the first time in a while, I had a dreamless sleep. One would think that I should be jumping for joy, but somehow the lack of dreams seems somewhat unsettling. Although I'm glad that I that didn't have another weird nightmare, why didn't I have one? Why did the dreams suddenly stop? At least, I would have thought about those questions if I didn't have a side-splitting headache. After sitting up for a few minutes, I wandered into the bathroom. I took a few pills of pain medication and began to wash my face in the sink. As I looked into the bathroom mirror after washing my face, I noticed that something was a little off. I took a closer look at myself in the mirror and it appeared as if I was crying tears of blood. In fact, my entire face was covered in blood. I suddenly looked down at my hands and realized that they were also covered in blood. What the hell! Did my wound reopen and leaked through the bandages? I turned around and struggled to see my back's reflection in the mirror. No, the bandages weren't red, so the blood didn't come from my wound. I then looked down at the sink and stared in shock. The liquid coming out of the faucet wasn't water; it was blood! I stared at the strange sight for several minutes and was too stunned to realize that the sink was overflowing.

Without warning, I heard a very familiar voice say, "There is no where you can run, Cloud." I looked up and gasped at what I saw in the mirror. I no longer saw my reflection; instead, I saw Sephiroth!