x
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVl8b0FnQR
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJNp7JUItW
Elira Winters hadn’t slept in three nights.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcNWzM2pDq
She sat curled up in the corner of her bedroom, blanket tangled around her legs, eyes fixed on the flickering candle beside her window. The rest of the house was asleep. Her mother’s quiet breathing filtered through the thin walls. The hum of the streetlight outside pulsed like a distant heartbeat.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBKrfKjerd
But Elira didn’t blink.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Chh5jJs7X
Not yet.
Not again.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZ8KSTtYnp
The last time she fell asleep, her best friend Maya broke her leg falling down the stairs. The time before that, her neighbor’s cat went missing—only to be found in the park, drowned. Coincidences, the doctors said. Stress. Trauma.
But Elira knew the truth.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezZ88IsZWA
She had dreamed it—every broken bone, every scream, every shadow behind the eyes of the people she loved.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAuACqQ6lI
And now, every time she closed her eyes, something bled.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtwEpSnxUP
---
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlCzMikbGb
She rubbed her hands over her arms, tracing the faint marks that seemed to appear after each nightmare—thin red lines, like cuts from invisible thorns. They didn't hurt. Not really. But they burned in a way she couldn’t explain.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gsBxgWlQ1
Her phone buzzed beside her.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeUYTkWVAt
[Maya]: You okay? Heard about the accident at school. Call me. Please.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAJWKaPcje
Elira stared at the message for a long time. She didn’t answer.
She didn’t know how to explain that the boy who fell from the third-floor railing—the one who hit his head and stopped moving—was someone she had seen the night before. In her dream. Falling. Screaming. Eyes wide with silent terror.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwm2e1J9uE
Just like all the others.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtx8vZIcXF
---
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5iWjamZ5q
A sudden cold breeze brushed the back of her neck.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwy3TSsFfaQ
She turned.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwq9F2q6hI
The window was closed.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RXre38neL
Her candle flickered violently, its flame pulling sideways—as if drawn by an unseen breath. The air in the room changed. It became heavier. Sharper. A shiver ran down her spine.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2vSy2xiG9
Then, she heard it.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9CR9Iibe3
A voice. Whispering. Soft. Right behind her.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXgrgtDU2L
“Elira…”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3UOTNPW9s
She stood up so fast the blanket fell to the floor. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. “Who’s there?” she whispered.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02qW8LYb7F
No answer.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKRHaAJvDC
But the shadows in the room shifted, just slightly, like something moving beneath the surface of water.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqPpQA8Zuo
---
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Yff1VRRKM
Her vision blurred.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBprOFRykr
No—not blurred. The room was melting.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIyYGxPzQn
The walls bled into smoke. The candlelight stretched unnaturally long, twisting like fingers. The floor beneath her gave a sudden lurch, and Elira fell—
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDvH96HRek
—but not onto her floor. Onto cold stone.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qH42uNnoN
---
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1Piywzv3L
She was no longer in her room.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBvlZdS98d
She was standing in a hallway of mirrors.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEvEwHuB3T
Each mirror was cracked. Some shattered entirely. Others reflected versions of herself she didn’t recognize—some crying, some laughing, some with blood dripping from their eyes.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjH1pBKFDf
She tried to turn back, but there was no door. Just endless mirrors and the faint echo of footsteps in the distance.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYTvp8L8Ys
And then he appeared.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzpur8Lyek
A boy, tall and shadow-cloaked, stepped out from one of the reflections. His eyes were silver—glowing faintly, like moonlight trapped in storm clouds. His voice was calm, but it carried weight.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVM49EXsdCF
“You shouldn’t be here yet.”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHTZigO6BL
---
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6Gla1S1WS
“What is this place?” Elira asked, her voice trembling.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFedutlqis
“The edge,” he said. “Between waking and bleeding.”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTftf8Agann
Her heart pounded. “Who are you?”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0o5w3Ppeqi
He didn’t answer right away. He stepped closer, and something about the way he moved—fluid, careful, watchful—made her both trust and fear him.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAtKMDO13J
Then he said quietly, “You’re dreaming. But not safely. You’re a Seer, Elira. Your dreams can… alter things.”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MjuIjC4Yg
Her stomach dropped. “So I’m not crazy.”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUognT4ZoBW
“No,” he replied. “You’re in danger.”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vRfSxvWb9
---
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb67zb8A1Rl
Before she could speak again, the mirrors began to hum. One by one, they shattered—exploding outward in flashes of crimson light.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXyKgrql0P
The boy grabbed her wrist. “Wake up!”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBXKan64Gu
“I— I don’t know how!”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡth8p0TTqEz
“You have to bleed.”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMMKD4XeA6
“What?!”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0itwEoNVh
A flash of pain.
Her wrist, pricked by something sharp.
Blood dripped down her palm. The red thread unspooled from her skin.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdOc13yDYE
And then—
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2c3UUnBZM
She woke.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpclovJ2xNH
Gasping. Sweating. Crying.
Back in her bed.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmvPvrPcHr
But the cut on her wrist was real.
And across the wall of her room, in faint red letters, a message had been written:
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqI8Odiv44L
“You saw him. Now they’ll come.”
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRc5Iy3SaXT
---
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXtPT9tI5e
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeU9hTr6mtX
