tw: blood, mentions of death
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BuYKQRViP
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzf5ez7zpmg
I think I am no longer in a dream.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGY2Oy32dE
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..."
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL19nHjNKq8
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.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50f3BVgjIr
The little boy watches me. He doesn't blink.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1dhtIksfq
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.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPZrG5UKzh
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.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9rO9KNtwI
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.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoS1vHoGGYh
"Excuse me?"
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gfZ7Pmigf
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.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAJBEAJPtM
"I don't know her," I manage.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeoPo1uC8H
He squints at me. "I recognize that dress somewhere." Tap tap tap.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBFXnTz391
I look down, confused. "No, I think you're mistaken..." I begin, but that's when it struck me.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGgbmPnevJ
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEzrOIzXU3
"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."
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPf0dPpXHSF
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKNIfgQ8uY
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."
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkhgDCeGgZ
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.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JXdz7wH4g
"I'm sorry," I choke out. "I didn't mean to ruin it."
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaeDSc7yrw
He leaves. The young boy clutches his doll to his chest and looks away from me.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwdNZATqcS
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsZgebvmum
"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.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjkeOCNIlq
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRemhTTO8V
"It's your fault."
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoRDpImZs2
My head jerks. The boy's eyes stare intently at mine. "What did you say?"
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWQtAXhnaa
"It's all your fault," James repeats, squeezing the doll's neck. "It was your idea to go to that party."
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoz8vVdHhX
I blink. How could he have known that?
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqOYoAknqV
"Amy..." The voice of the old woman echoes.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCKnh1QoPx
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.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0A2F7ORI5x
"Madison..."
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTnVEkl9JY
I start to cry.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxV389kiNl
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?"
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPtalc8beC
"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?"
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWMs1OHd5A
I want to face him and speak. But I collapse onto the floor.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRg9wYquqJv
"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?"
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6SHGGk2UB
"I'm not a murderer." I'm barely able to whisper.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiZ2BfERQX
"But who was driving that night?"
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnZihfv7GT
Air draws out of me as I close my eyes. Wake up. Just wake up. Please.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9PCNBCQoeu
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7N3gbkCsh7
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGO0dI1scA
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJq4TRqnti
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.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6cUtbrGlx
"How was your sleep last night?" my mother would ask with genuine concern.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrCw8c8kp7
"A lot better," I would reply. I imagine myself straining an assuring smile, clutching my bag.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59mzdSKQaR
"Maddy, you don't have to go to school today if you don't want to."
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwQBVIKUAC
"I'm fine."
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCilw3orhOm
Only a few more hours until the day replays.
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4iwklDg07f
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQmVNOw8Jn
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKkPHruhgA
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6inZmC5b8C
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIA7PhJtZxu
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfBdkSmGzz
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2U1uTNxlb
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduQ36wQflZ
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4fqZp6r1x
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1vwCo7GjC
228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJBOAFPCbq
