I take the stairs two at a time, my bare feet slapping against the wood, the air slicing against my skin like cold glass. I don't even pause to breathe as I swing open Dad's bedroom door.
Empty.
The bed is still made. The curtains flutter slightly as if mocking me with their calmness.
My heart stutters, then starts pounding so loud I can hear it in my ears. My head spins with a dizzying panic.
"Where is he?
Where the hell did go?"
I stumble back upstairs, nearly tripping over myself, grab my phone, and punch in his number with shaking fingers.
"Zane, I'm working. Got a job but only night shift. I'll tell you later."
His voice is low. Strained. And before I can even respond_ click, the call ends.
A cold chill runs down my spine. My grip tightens around the phone.
I pace the room, chest heaving, breathing like I've just run miles. My hand trembles as I redial another number.
"Jade..." I whisper.
It rings once.
Twice.
Three times.
Nothing.
My legs give out. The floor meets my knees hard, but I hardly feel it. I bow my head, whispering a prayer so desperate it scrapes against my throat.
Please, let this be a dream. Let me wake up in my bed. Let everything go back to normal.
But morning comes anyway.
By the time the sun really rises, I'm already walking the school's empty halls. My body feels fevered, like I'm burning from the inside out. There's something moving just under my skin. Something alive.
My heart hasn't stopped racing since last night. My fingers twitch with a strange restlessness, a pressure building in my chest that won't let up.
I head to my class, opening the door, I remember pain on my fingers and the claw marks I left on my palm.
But there's Nothing.
My palm is smooth. Not a single trace. Not even a scar. It healed like it never happened.
I sink into my chair, my limbs heavy, my head cloudy. I feel empty. Hollow. And yet, somewhere inside, there's this unbearable strength, like I could lift a car with my bare hands, or tear something apart.
I know what this means.
I just can't bring myself to say it out loud.
I won't.
Because if I do, it means the mountain actually heard me.
Students start filtering in, one by one, faces sleepy and unsuspecting. I go up to each person who was on the trip. I ask what they wished for and if it happened.
But all I get are jokes. Confused stares. Empty answers.
Then Jade walks in.
I don't even hesitate. I cross the room in seconds, grab her wrist, and pull her outside.
She stares at me like I'm losing it. "You look terrible. And why are you still in yesterday's clothes?"
"What did you wish for?" I ask. My voice is rough, my throat dry.
"Oh please, spare me the Disney magic," she scoffs, mocking the way I'd said it yesterday.
"I'm serious." My voice rises slightly. "What did you wish for?"
She shrugs. "After talking to my dad, I realized how stupid it was to whisper wishes to nothing."
I don't register it happening.
My hand slams her against the wall, forearm pressed to her shoulder, breath ragged in her face.
"I asked what you fucking wished for!"
My voice echoes off the corridor walls.
Suddenly I'm being yanked back, arms dragging me away, voices yelling. Jade stares, wide-eyed, as I stumble back.
I look down at my hands. They're shaking.
"I... I'm sorry," I whisper, my voice barely a breath.
I turn and flee, sprinting to the bathroom, heart hammering.
What is happening to me?
I don't even know when I'm doing things anymore.
Maybe professor Wilbur will help.
I head straight to his office, knocking harder than I need to.
He looks up, raising an eyebrow. "Oh? If it's not the school's notorious student... What is it this time?"
"Yesterday," I begin, voice hoarse. "Did you... wish for something?"
He lets out a short laugh. Then a louder one. His shoulders shake, and it echoes in the room like nails on glass.
Why is he even laughing?!
I feel the heat rise in my body. My vision pulses.
But something in my expression stops him. He sobers up slightly.
"Zane... there's no such thing as wishes coming true. That tour guide was just trying to make the hike less boring."
My palm slams against his desk, a loud thud that shakes his coffee mug.
"Yes there was a thing like wishes come true! Because It did happen," I snap. "I said something stupid, something I didn't even mean, and now I need to undo it."
He stares. "And what exactly did you wish for?"
"A supernatural being, it was just a joke, but now I've actually become one!" I say, almost too fast.
This time, he bursts into full-blown laughter. "And you became one? What are you now? A vampire? A demon? A mermaid?"
His laughter cuts through me like a blade.
"Thank you for the comedy show, Sanderson," he says. "Now go to class, or it's more detention."
I don't speak.
Because if I do, I might lose control again. I feel it, it's on the edge.
So I walk out.
Back in class, I stand beside Jade's chair. My voice low...
"Can I talk to you?"
She recoils slightly. "You almost killed me, what the hell is your problem?"
"I'm sorry. Please. Just listen to me. I swear there's a reason I asked... because the stupid wish... actually happened."
She studies me for a long moment. Her voice is wary. "What did you wish for?"
"To be a supernatural being. I didn't mean it, it was just a joke!"
She almost laughs, but doesn't. "Zane... either this is a sick prank, or you're overthinking. There's no way something like that could actually happen."
She pulls me down into the chair beside her. The teacher walks in.
I try to forget. To ignore it.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe I'm just losing it.
But no, I hear it.
Whispers.
Zane...
Every whisper. Every footstep. Every breath. The sound of pen scratching paper. The faint thrum of a heartbeat in the next row. Even the muffled conversations from the hallway outside. It has never happened to me like this.
It's all so loud in my ears. So vivid. Like my brain is wired to every sound.
The whispers grow louder. Closer.
I look around. Everyone is focused, heads down in their books. Calm.
I stand up.
No.
I'm not overthinking this.
And there's only one place to end all these.
Back to that mountain.
Back to where it all started.
Back to undo whatever the hell I've become.
If no one is going to take me seriously, then I'm going back by myself and end this. I walk out without even excusing myself.