Ava groggily opened her eyes to the sound of her mother's voice calling her name, the tone slightly impatient but loving.
"Ava! Get up, or you're going to be late for school!" her mom urged from the doorway.
Ava blinked against the bright morning light, still disoriented. School? She sat up abruptly, her heart pounding as her brain tried to catch up. School? Her mom was standing there; the normalcy of it didn't make sense.
"Come on, Ava, today's the last day of school before summer break. You can sleep in all you want after today, but now, get moving!" her mom said with a gentle smile, tapping the doorframe before turning to leave.
Ava just sat there, staring.
**Ava's POV**
Wait, what? Last day of school? Was it all a dream? The fire, the house... No, that can't be right. My friends... I saw them die. Didn't I? How... what is going on?
...
She shook her head, trying to clear the lingering confusion, but fragments of the horrific scenes were still fresh in her mind. Had it all been a nightmare?
Her mom's voice jolted her back to reality. "Ava! Did you hear me?"
"Oh, uh, yeah," Ava stammered, still dazed.
She jumped out of bed, her body moved automatically but her mind was filled with questions and doubts. As she reached for the doorknob, her mother appeared again, arms crossed.
"Uh, you're going to school in your pajamas?" she said with a teasing smirk. "Brush your teeth, get dressed, and at least look alive, Ava."
"Oh, right. Sorry," Ava mumbled, barely registering the scolding.
She rushed into the bathroom, her reflection staring back at her in the mirror like she was looking at a stranger. As she quickly brushed her teeth and splashed water on her face, fragments of what had happened started slipping away. Like sand through her fingers, the images became blurry.
10 seconds later...
'What had happened exactly? Why couldn't I remember it clearly?'
After what felt like forever, she hurriedly pulled on her uniform and dashed downstairs, skipping breakfast entirely.
"Ava!" her mom called after her as she ran out the door. "At least grab a snack!"
But Ava didn't stop, her feet carrying her to school, even though her brain was still stuck somewhere between the nightmare and reality.
When she arrived at school, everything looked so... normal. The sun was shining, students were milling about, chatting and laughing. It was a sharp contrast to the dark, haunting feeling in her chest. Her heart hammered in her ribcage, anxiety clawing at her. She rushed to her classroom, ignoring the casual greetings from her friends.
**Ava's POV**
Why does everything feel so... off? Was it just a dream?
She shook her head, trying to focus on the present. But then, it hit her—where were her friends? The ones she saw in that... dream, if it was even a dream? Her stomach churned as fear crept in again.
Wait...what WAS the dream?
...
The hallways of high school were strangely quiet that morning. The usual buzz of students gossiping, laughter echoing off the lockers, and the dull thud of shoes on tiled floors had all faded into something… distant.
Ava walked briskly past familiar classrooms, scanning every face she passed, hoping—desperately hoping—to find even one of them.
"Hey," she asked a boy near the staircase, panting slightly, her eyes frantic, "have you seen Ethan? Ethan Miller?"
The boy looked at her with a confused frown, then gave a slow shake of his head. "Ethan who?"
She blinked. "Ethan Miller. Tall guy, brown hair, plays basketball?" Her voice wavered a little. "He was in our class."
The boy raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Sorry, doesn't ring a bell."
She stared at him for a second, mouth slightly open, before turning away and rushing towards the next group of students loitering by the lockers.
"What about Jake? Jake Thompson? Or Natalie Carter?" she asked a girl with dyed blue hair.
The girl frowned. "Are those people even real?" She looked at her friend and snorted. "Is this some prank?"
Ava's heart raced. She ignored the stares, the whispers that followed her now. She found herself repeating the same questions over and over again.
"Chloe Martin?"
"Nope."
"Noah White?"
"Never heard of him."
"Lily?"
"Who?"
Her voice grew more desperate with each name she spoke. It was like yelling into a void—no one recognized them. It wasn't just that they didn't know her friends… it was as if her friends had never existed at all.
She moved from one class to another, hoping someone, anyone, would just nod. Just one person confirming that she wasn't losing her mind. But there was nothing.
By the time she reached the school gate, her breath was shallow, her face pale and clammy. Her legs moved on their own now, dragging her out of that place as if it had become something monstrous. The world around her felt distorted and wrong, like a dream she couldn't wake up from.
She waved down a taxi, barely registering the driver's face as she gave him directions. "Take me to Ash Grove," she muttered, her voice flat. "The old farmhouse. Near the woods."
The driver hesitated. "That far out?"
"I'll pay extra," she said quickly, reaching into her pocket.
He grunted and nodded, and the car pulled away from the school gates, leaving the strange silence behind.
The sun dipped slowly in the sky as they drove, casting long shadows over the highway. Trees blurred past, and Ava's eyelids grew heavy. Exhaustion pressed down on her like a weight, and eventually, her head rested against the window.
And that's when the dreams began.
—
She saw Jake. He was laughing, his voice echoing through the woods. But then the ground opened beneath him, swallowing him whole. She reached out to him, screaming, but he disappeared into the earth, his laughter turning into choked gasps as soil buried him alive.
She jolted slightly in her seat, but sleep pulled her back in.
—
It was Natalie. She was trapped in a burning room, her palms banging against the glass of a window that wouldn't shatter. Ava screamed her name, but Natalie was already coughing, the flames curling around her like hungry snakes. Her eyes locked with Ava's before the fire consumed her completely.
—
Ethan stood on a frozen lake, calling out for help, his breath fogging in the cold air. The ice cracked beneath his feet. Ava tried to run to him, but her legs wouldn't move. She could only watch as the ice shattered, and he plunged into the freezing water. His hand reached up, just for a moment, before vanishing below the surface.
—
Lily....Sweet, soft-spoken Lily. She stood in a room filled with mirrors, her reflection multiplying in all directions. But each reflection began to warp—eyes hollowing out, faces twisting into expressions of agony. The real Lily cried out, covering her ears as the mirrors shattered one by one, shards slicing through her.
—
Ava awoke with a start, sweat sticking to her forehead. The sky had darkened, and the car rolled to a stop at the side of a deserted path.
"End of the road," the driver said, not turning to look at her. "You'll have to walk from here."
She paid him in silence and stepped out into the cool evening air. The wind whistled through the trees, and somewhere far off, an owl called.
She knew this path all too well. Each step she took sent soft crunches through the silence as her shoes pressed down on the brittle leaves and loose gravel scattered across the forest floor. The trees whispered around her as she moved deeper into the woods, heading straight toward that dreaded place—the place where it had all begun. At least, that's how she remembered it.
But something didn't add up.
Why was it still the last day of school?
Had she somehow gone back in time?
And if she had… where were her friends? Why couldn't anyone remember them?
Her thoughts spiraled with questions, none of them making sense. She had no answers—just a heavy feeling in her chest and a quiet voice in her head telling her that whatever the truth was, she would find it here.
So, without turning back, she kept walking. One slow step at a time, toward the house looming in the distance.
---
The farmhouse stood at the edge of the clearing, its silhouette jagged and eerie against the fading light. But something was different this time. Something that hadn't been there before.
Graves.
There were graves lined up in a crooked row, freshly dug and marked with rough Wooden Grave crosses. Her stomach twisted as she stepped closer, each breath coming out faster than the last.
Her legs trembled as she read the names.
Ethan Miller.
Jake Thompson.
Natalie Carter.
Chloe Martin.
Noah White.
Lily Dawson.
Her throat closed up. Her knees nearly gave out.
She stumbled forward, her hand reaching for the last grave. It wasn't complete. The earth was still unsettled, but the grave cross was still there...
She stepped around it, her heart hammering in her chest.
And then she saw it.
Ava Reid.
Her own name.
Etched on the wood. Cold. Final.
Her blood turned to ice. Her mind screamed that this wasn't real, that she had to wake up. But this was no dream.
A sudden gust of wind roared through the clearing. Before she could react, something—or someone—shoved her hard from behind.
She screamed as she fell, her body crashing into the open grave. Dirt and dust rose around her as she hit the bottom. She tried to scramble up, but her limbs felt like lead.
Above her, the sky darkened completely. Shadows swirled, and a voice—low, mocking, cruel—whispered through the trees.
"Did you enjoy the game… my dear?"
And then everything went black.