Yara had her arms crossed, her expression tight, like she was holding something back. Maria was just... worried. Like she was scared of losing me.
But I was already lost.
"I need to tell you something," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "But you have to understand—this... this isn't something you can just forget."
Yara frowned. "What do you mean? What's going on, Piper? We're not going to leave you hanging. We need to know."
I looked at them—my two best friends, the ones I had been pushing away, keeping secrets from. They deserved the truth, even if it destroyed everything.
I could still feel the weight of everything I had just unloaded on Maria and Yara pressing down on me. The Bag of Doom. The nightmares. The strange woman who demanded answers but never gave any. It all felt so damn unreal, like something I had invented in my sleep. But I couldn't keep it bottled up anymore. They had to know. They had to understand. Even if I knew they wouldn't.
I sat on the edge of my bed, numb. Maria and Yara sat on the floor, eyes wide and blank, struggling to process what I had just thrown at them.
"So, you're saying... there's this thing... this 'Bag of Doom,' and you've been having nightmares where a woman—who, by the way, sounds like she's straight out of a horror movie—wants you to tell her everything about it?" Yara asked slowly, like she was testing the words to see if they'd make any more sense out loud.
I heard the doubt in her voice. And honestly, I couldn't blame her. Hell, I didn't even fully believe it most of the time, but if I didn't believe in it now, I was going to lose my mind.
"Yeah," I said, trying to make it sound convincing, even though I felt like I was choking on the words. "I know it sounds insane, but the shadows... they're real. They follow me, and if they find—"
"Wait." Maria cut me off, raising her hand like I was asking her to solve an equation she couldn't figure out. "What are you even talking about? The Bag of Doom? What's that? Are you... I don't know, losing it?"
My stomach twisted into knots. This wasn't how I imagined it going. I wanted them to understand, to believe me, but it felt like I was talking to a brick wall.
"I'm not losing it" I snapped, trying to keep my voice from breaking. "This isn't some fantasy. This is real. I swear."
Maria shifted uncomfortably, looking between Yara and me. "Pipes, I don't know, this all sounds... so far-fetched. You've been through a lot lately. Maybe it's just a breakdown or... stress. You know your mom's been on you about the whole 'not doing well' thing, right?"
I felt the anger boil up in me, a surge of frustration and helplessness. I wasn't spiraling. This was real.
"I'm not crazy," I said, my voice tight, a little desperate. "Please, just trust me. I need you to."
But they didn't trust me. Not yet. Yara was staring at me like I was speaking in another language. Maria, though, she looked like she was trying to solve a mystery she wasn't equipped for.
"You're not crazy," Yara said carefully, though I could hear the hesitation in her voice. "But... it doesn't make sense. A Bag of Doom? Shadows?"
The words felt heavier now, like they were slipping away from me. They just couldn't understand. They didn't know what I was seeing, what I was feeling—the cold, the fear, the way those damn shadows felt like they were always right behind me.
"Listen." I leaned forward, my voice dropping to a near whisper. "Just watch. Things are going to happen. Things I can't explain. You'll see it too. And when you do... you'll understand. I swear."
The silence that followed was thick. So thick I could almost taste it. They didn't say anything, and for a second, I thought they were going to laugh at me, tell me I was crazy.
But then, something happened.
A soft whisper, barely a breath, like a shadow speaking right into my ear. It froze me, made my heart stop.
Yara's eyes flicked to mine. "What's wrong?"
Maria was already standing up, looking around, panic starting to color her face. "Pipes? What's happening?"
I couldn't answer. I was frozen. I couldn't make sense of it myself. That whisper—it was for me. Not for them.
I glanced at the corner of the room. There. A shadow. Quick, flickering, barely there—but enough for me to catch it.
And then, it was gone.
"That... that wasn't just me," I whispered, voice barely audible. "You heard it, right?"
Yara looked at me, pale. "Piper... I don't know what's happening."
They didn't see it. Of course, they didn't. Why would they? The shadows were only watching me.
I didn't have it in me to push them anymore. Instead, I forced a shaky breath and said, "Just... go freshen up. We'll talk more at breakfast."
They nodded, their faces still etched with concern, but they didn't ask any more questions. They left, still unsure, still unsure of me. The door clicked shut behind them, and I sat there, heart hammering in my chest.
Breakfast was awkward. I could feel the tension in the air, thick and heavy, even before anyone said a word. I sat at the table, picking at my food, my eyes scanning the room, half-expecting something to happen. Something to prove I wasn't just losing it.
And then—there it was.
A flicker.
It wasn't much, just a shadow, a shifting shape that shouldn't have been there. My stomach dropped, and I froze. Nobody else seemed to notice. I looked at Maria, who was busy with her phone, and Yara, who was staring blankly at her plate.
I saw it again.
This time, behind Maria. The wall behind her seemed to darken, stretch, just for a second, before snapping back to normal.
My breath hitched. I wanted to scream, wanted to tell them, but I couldn't. Because I knew—no one else could see it.
"Okay." I finally spoke, my voice shaking. "You might not believe me, but they're here. Right now."
Yara looked up from her plate, confusion clouding her face. "What are you talking about?"
But I couldn't explain it. I couldn't make them see what I saw. All I could do was sit there, waiting for it to happen. And then it did.
The lights flickered, violently, so suddenly that Maria's waffle rattled on her plate. She jumped back, her eyes wide in shock.
"What the hell—?" Maria's voice cracked.
Yara's voice came out in a near whisper. "Did you feel that?"
I nodded slowly, fear tightening in my chest. "Yeah. That's what I've been telling you."
The air felt thicker now, charged with something I couldn't name, something dangerous.
For the first time, they looked scared. Not just confused. Scared.
But it didn't make me feel better. Not at all. Because I knew—I knew—this was only the beginning.
The shadows were just getting started.