tw: blood, mentions of death
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5l7MTbP8zh
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7t9UmFXuR
I think I am no longer in a dream.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaPMz2VZ1p
I am trapped. I am aware. I can smell a putrefying odor flooding the cave, strangling my lungs. I can hear reverberations of demons taunting me endlessly, forcing me to smell my own near death. There are three others in the central cave, none of them I recognize: a man wearing all white with a scar near his left eyebrow, an old woman missing an arm, and a young boy clutching onto a rag doll. The man keeps tapping his foot on a stone, his lips dry and pursed. The young boy is seated on the ground twiddling with his doll, as if he's at home in the living room on a typical Sunday evening. The old woman is the strangest. She keeps repeating someone's name in a monotone voice, staring down at her chest. "Amy...Amy..."
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dmbeaKYMO
I am too frightened to wander. I am too frightened to ask questions. So I begin to think. Is this hell? Am I already dead? I can't even remember my own name. Is this the dreadful afterlife my father warned me about? But there is no reason for me to be dead. This should only be a dream. I look down at my forest green gown which feels so. . .familiar.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9tUil8DOM
The little boy watches me. He doesn't blink.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqs0b2nJj3
My feet are leading me toward him. He looks back down at his doll, which I notice is covered in brown stains. The boy's fingers dig into her petite arm. He strokes her hair with the other. I take a deep breath and kneel beside him, remaining silent. The cave is oddly hushed.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpTWX9TJH1
Finally, the words pour from my mouth. "Who are you? And where are we?" I tremble, as he doesn't react. He cradles the doll in his arms, quiet, as if trying to remember.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEf4CYmHTN9
The old woman is still speaking in a muffled voice. I want her to go away. My knees ache and the dress starts to itch my back. The heat steams my neck. Footsteps trickle behind me, listening closely to my wobbly breaths.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNem1bXhoeF
"Excuse me?"
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fFA95NruO
I jump to my feet, whipping around. It's the man dressed in white with a scar near his eyebrow. His foot is still tapping. "Excuse me, have you seen my daughter Amy?" Tap tap tap.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAVc5mEDRB
"I don't know her," I manage.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy42comCX96
He squints at me. "I recognize that dress somewhere." Tap tap tap.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr60v82TWuH
I look down, confused. "No, I think you're mistaken..." I begin, but that's when it struck me.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZk2eQSqBee
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxpwO4KoJb
"Here. I found it." Amy waved a gleaming, green dress in my face. "What do you think? Do you want it?"
My jaw dropped. "Want it?" I squealed. "I need it!" She laughed as I admired the straps, the sleeves, the color. The envy I had felt from her wealth turned into guilt."I owe you so much for this. You sure you're fine with me wearing it to the party?"
"Don't worry about it. I know you'll take good care of it anyway."
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPZhZlkeXK
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3BrEPrcmdK
The man shakes his head vigorously. "No. It's Amy's. She wore it to her final piano recital," he says tearfully. "And it's ruined."
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ytmYGdirZ
My mind snaps. The first thing I see are splatters of red splotched on my dress. Bright, scarlet red. Blood dripped down the hem, down my ankles to the rugged ground.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiLNSqqhW1
"I'm sorry," I choke out. "I didn't mean to ruin it."
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnUUE7nbdT
He leaves. The young boy clutches his doll to his chest and looks away from me.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLTNfXnEtZ
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCLJ0EMmNY
"Where are you guys going?"
Amy and I spun around to find James, her younger brother. He examined us up and down and narrowed his eyes. Of course he was suspicious. We looked like we were going to be late for a ball. I clasped my hand over my mouth, trying not to give ourselves away. "We're going to Maddy's house," Amy blurted.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
"We're playing dress-up," Amy said while I responded with "It's a secret." We smirked.
He crossed his arms. "I can keep secrets."
I opened my mouth, but Amy already leaned in. "Okay, James. The secret is — we're actually heading to the movies."
"I wanna go to the movies!"
She ruffled his hair. "Sorry. They're only playing princess movies at this hour. You don't like princess movies, do you?" Amy grabbed my hand and we sprinted to the door, giggling like lunatics. "Don't wake our parents!" she called.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FQkKjuFVz
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbgp1qKVJQ
"It's your fault."
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBZcLlxmYt
My head jerks. The boy's eyes stare intently at mine. "What did you say?"
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwKzQiZ5Wf
"It's all your fault," James repeats, squeezing the doll's neck. "It was your idea to go to that party."
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjYGtWgCBY
I blink. How could he have known that?
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kUcsueVhP
"Amy..." The voice of the old woman echoes.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdefz5G2M7
The cave starts spinning. The noises tangle together until it creates an awful, nauseating noise that squeezes my skull. The sound of James' fingers scraping the floor, the woman repeating Amy's name, the man's foot tapping continuously. Tap tap tap. I stand frozen, my mouth sealed shut by the invisible tape preventing me from screaming.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuEAyMUPwq
"Madison..."
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbStW8rCC1
I start to cry.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVEIe5jijS
The noises halt. A dark, shadowy figure approaches from the end of the cave. He is missing a face, and his legs appear taller than I am. His feet look like they can crush me eight feet underground. "Madison," he echoes. Even the demons go silent. "Why are you still here?"
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iw5Ok0VVb
"It's such a shame you torture yourself every day for that little girl." He grunts at my silence. "And you still cry. Do you think it's fair for a murderer to cry for her own victim?"
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBWtJ69SXN
I want to face him and speak. But I collapse onto the floor.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8T8jfyQ3MV
"You've taken a lot of lives that night," he continues, keeping his voice low. "Now the boy carries her doll to remember what is left of her. The man lost his only daughter to someone who reminded him of a second daughter. What was he supposed to feel? Her grandmother will remember the loss of her granddaughter in her last days. They will never be the same again. Do you think it's fair for a murderer to cry for her own victim?"
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kOwrEK4bM
"I'm not a murderer." I'm barely able to whisper.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWwqEpc5el
"But who was driving that night?"
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbm4ADAgzFF
Air draws out of me as I close my eyes. Wake up. Just wake up. Please.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ZT79NXgIh
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyEJ1512AE
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxzG5SBHpt
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkjD2FybYq
Sweat trickles down my warm neck. I can hear my heart hammering, unsteadily beating. Another dark room, but it's my own. But I'm not sure if I'm still dreaming. It's still a blur. I'm barely alert. Despite my fatigue, I strive to stay awake. I kick the covers off my body and reach for my phone. 3:57 AM. I wonder if there will ever be a day when I wouldn't be afraid to sleep.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjt3usTWXxV
"How was your sleep last night?" my mother would ask with genuine concern.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxmpFf3o5O
"A lot better," I would reply. I imagine myself straining an assuring smile, clutching my bag.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAABNhkfJ5
"Maddy, you don't have to go to school today if you don't want to."
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLC5ETcSkH
"I'm fine."
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfM0LrRNPc
Only a few more hours until the day replays.
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFD7MKWE9pi
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoPFMTdhZD
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNh24ewFkc
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb6lNJjPZSv
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstSly6cLOX
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZv4rGOUL3Z
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiQ2uKe2yY
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2Vr69EBig
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7y5cyXEws
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8VviTKlz3
456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvFk1ONTKn
and then Add to home screen.