tw: blood, mentions of death
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtG87Sv1es
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wXFetiP0h
I think I am no longer in a dream.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAEUnLXuCb
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..."
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQAhyUKzo9t
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.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMgZizcfql
The little boy watches me. He doesn't blink.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWqDJQGd1l
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.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgcJSRGs8z
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.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR65R39LWHj
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.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dXwgFDY3T
"Excuse me?"
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLcdcW3u6L
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.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjo6c3X6PTE
"I don't know her," I manage.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRY7KiVKEr
He squints at me. "I recognize that dress somewhere." Tap tap tap.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImVAT7w3iR
I look down, confused. "No, I think you're mistaken..." I begin, but that's when it struck me.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XG3I1lqEA
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEFDJaFyhw
"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."
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18827CvvCi
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfWaoBkhfn
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."
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUp332zSw2
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.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe78FMYWt3C
"I'm sorry," I choke out. "I didn't mean to ruin it."
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfRjbCG3UF
He leaves. The young boy clutches his doll to his chest and looks away from me.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIE4J4Pul2
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvX1FV7y6TO
"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.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsKjQ3ZgCb
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqwSxGy2Bt
"It's your fault."
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmRUAye4Xc
My head jerks. The boy's eyes stare intently at mine. "What did you say?"
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fkHVbefDJ
"It's all your fault," James repeats, squeezing the doll's neck. "It was your idea to go to that party."
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlKXPSEZy0
I blink. How could he have known that?
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcflsrl1RBX
"Amy..." The voice of the old woman echoes.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9pc0iu5yu
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.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHyHS8Dez1
"Madison..."
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2PimIcPcUn
I start to cry.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZwNf1fmWN
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?"
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TBeaVnPyk
"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?"
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTiYnhZzx5
I want to face him and speak. But I collapse onto the floor.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgeyF0zj0d
"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?"
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dTzV961QY
"I'm not a murderer." I'm barely able to whisper.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9OPxZxwxq
"But who was driving that night?"
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZV26dijDIN
Air draws out of me as I close my eyes. Wake up. Just wake up. Please.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQZVxip2N3
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9342PLLe2Y
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCVdEJoWZd
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcqWoZCQv6
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.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2PlELpE7mN
"How was your sleep last night?" my mother would ask with genuine concern.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46LQpsLhRy
"A lot better," I would reply. I imagine myself straining an assuring smile, clutching my bag.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBt8mOi4oxN
"Maddy, you don't have to go to school today if you don't want to."
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOux5SXXZE
"I'm fine."
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0Hbz0ycd1
Only a few more hours until the day replays.
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05g3FhgwiV
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0nSQCcYt9
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyFz9q8BZh
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxw1jy8YROo
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMiAqoxVm1T
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIBYmDEvCU
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9SyIjEyhj
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVrXKvXjMD
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi97P1P0Uke
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuy4cNAuz7X
280Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Sg3mgpBGc
