12/06/2026
Chapter 4: The Boy From Her Dreams
Leilani spent the rest of lunch trying not to look at him.
It didn’t work.
Every few seconds her eyes drifted back to the rugby field.
To Isaiah.
Laughing with his teammates.
Running drills.
Completely unaware that he was becoming a problem.
Not because she liked him.
At least, that’s what she told herself.
The problem was the way she felt when he was near.
Normal.
For weeks, she had felt like she was carrying a storm beneath her skin.
A pressure she couldn’t explain.
A feeling that something was changing inside her.
Yet around Isaiah, everything became quiet.
And that terrified her.
Because normal wasn’t supposed to depend on another person.
⸻
That night, rain tapped softly against her bedroom window.
Leilani lay awake staring at the ceiling.
Sleep refused to come.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her bubu.
The women.
The moonlit circle.
The veiqia markings glowing beneath their skin.
She rolled onto her side.
“Just tell me what’s happening,” she whispered into the darkness.
The wind outside rattled the leaves.
No answer came.
Eventually, exhaustion pulled her under.
⸻
The dream began differently this time.
There was no moon.
No circle of women.
No silver light.
Only the ocean.
Endless and dark beneath a sky filled with stars.
Leilani stood ankle-deep in water.
The waves were strangely calm.
As if they were waiting.
Then she heard footsteps.
Slow.
Steady.
Coming from behind her.
She turned.
And froze.
A young warrior stood a few metres away.
His broad shoulders were wrapped in traditional masi cloth.
His skin glowed softly beneath the starlight.
Ancient markings stretched across his arms.
His face was familiar.
Painfully familiar.
Leilani’s breath caught.
“No…”
The warrior lifted his head.
And suddenly she knew why.
He had Isaiah’s face.
Not exactly.
But close enough to make her heart race.
The same eyes.
The same smile.
The same presence.
Impossible.
Yet there he stood.
Watching her.
As though he had been waiting.
⸻
“Who are you?” she whispered.
The warrior looked toward the ocean.
“The question is not who I am.”
His voice was calm.
Deep.
Ancient.
“It’s who you are becoming.”
A chill spread through her body.
The water around her feet rippled.
The ocean suddenly began to glow.
Beneath the surface, shadows moved.
Hundreds of them.
Men.
Women.
Children.
All looking upward.
All trapped beneath the water.
Leilani stepped back.
Fear twisting inside her chest.
“What is this?”
The warrior’s expression darkened.
“Our people forgot.”
The sea trembled.
“The land remembers.”
Another tremor.
“The ancestors remember.”
The water surged around them.
“And soon…”
The warrior’s gaze locked onto hers.
“So will you.”
⸻
A scream echoed across the ocean.
Not human.
Something deeper.
Older.
Angrier.
The sea exploded upward.
A massive shadow rose from beneath the water.
Leilani couldn’t make out its shape.
Only its eyes.
Burning.
Watching.
Waiting.
The entire ocean seemed to recoil from its presence.
The warrior stepped in front of her immediately.
Protective.
As though this thing should never see her.
Not yet.
The shadow growled.
The sound shook the stars.
And then- Leilani woke.
⸻
She sat upright in bed, gasping.
Thunder rumbled outside.
Rain lashed against the windows.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
The dream felt too real.
More real than any dream should.
She pressed a hand against her chest.
Trying to steady herself.
Then lightning flashed across her room.
For a split second, the moon broke through the storm clouds.
Its light spilled across her skin.
Leilani looked down.
And froze.
Silver veiqia markings shimmered across her arm.
Not just her wrist anymore.
Her entire forearm.
Glowing beneath her skin like living moonlight.
She stared in horror.
The markings pulsed once.
Then vanished.
Leaving only smooth skin behind.
As though nothing had happened.
Leilani’s hands trembled.
Because this time she knew.
She hadn’t imagined it.
And whatever was awakening inside her…
Was growing stronger.
Comment chapter 5 if you’re interested to read more.
