“Lucía, I need to tell you something.”

Last night I went to the beach. I don’t even know why. I just ended up there. I walked down to the sand with a bottle of whisky, took off my sandals, and went straight into the water. Drank the whole thing while I walked deeper in.

I wasn’t planning on coming back.

Eventually, everything just went black.

And then... I opened my eyes. I was back on the shore. Dry. The bottle was empty. But something was wrong. The air was heavy. The sea was completely still. It felt like there was nothing beyond a fifty-meter circle around me. No horizon, no sound. Just stillness.

Then I saw these shadows behind me. I thought they were people at first, but they weren’t. They were pulling me, and I was ready to follow them. I felt theyr hands burning through my flesh and I didn’t resist.

But something stopped me. I froze. And then I screamed — I mean, really screamed. The shadows vanished. And this huge wave hit. Not a normal wave — more like a shockwave. The whole place shook.

And then I was back in the water. Floating. I swam to the shore, still holding the bottle. But when I stepped onto the sand, it shattered in my hand.

I don’t know what that place was. I don’t know where I was. But I know it wasn’t a dream.

Lucía looks at you for a long second, then asks, quietly:

“…Are you sure?”
“How do you know it wasn’t just a dream?”

I show her my wrist.

“These marks. Dreams don’t leave this kind of mark.”