x
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlekvcmnQvM
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSEj42AVuf
Elira Winters hadn’t slept in three nights.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgVhlvdaAH
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.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWtyvut4Qh
But Elira didn’t blink.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfR3ghvHW9
Not yet.
Not again.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPT0PqzCfc
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.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoKFsOu4fR
She had dreamed it—every broken bone, every scream, every shadow behind the eyes of the people she loved.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrj2qTVel4
And now, every time she closed her eyes, something bled.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAv5A4zOFI
---
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFVq3ykZuI
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.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMFiAgp0Yi
Her phone buzzed beside her.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZfYlOMyHv
[Maya]: You okay? Heard about the accident at school. Call me. Please.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FW7qV47NZ
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.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqowfHI3dD
Just like all the others.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXAS2XzPPP
---
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwT3x0NG3t
A sudden cold breeze brushed the back of her neck.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCQqsYl9Ow
She turned.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDt8JRZ7Jr
The window was closed.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5e3ZBLZZT9
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.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSfj5NYyQE
Then, she heard it.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfVaeaA7pS
A voice. Whispering. Soft. Right behind her.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCo1xlOxYs
“Elira…”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14dp4iT2OC
She stood up so fast the blanket fell to the floor. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. “Who’s there?” she whispered.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzBSUocBbt
No answer.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxn12oYp75
But the shadows in the room shifted, just slightly, like something moving beneath the surface of water.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVwJ7poUj1
---
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmyWTiSaCM
Her vision blurred.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJpHg83uxW
No—not blurred. The room was melting.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWZOvtHPao
The walls bled into smoke. The candlelight stretched unnaturally long, twisting like fingers. The floor beneath her gave a sudden lurch, and Elira fell—
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8cn293nz4
—but not onto her floor. Onto cold stone.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBchBuiv8p
---
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbt91B1Ec5
She was no longer in her room.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIRt6Yc8Cn
She was standing in a hallway of mirrors.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhviTKgYVpT
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.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0GMuRRGLh
She tried to turn back, but there was no door. Just endless mirrors and the faint echo of footsteps in the distance.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WBhW5bTO5
And then he appeared.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2OcTIo88L
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.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkDvzaH6ya
“You shouldn’t be here yet.”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrQJ3e5QHE
---
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhAHCU96q6
“What is this place?” Elira asked, her voice trembling.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZE7ThB2I7T
“The edge,” he said. “Between waking and bleeding.”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GtjLHvAij
Her heart pounded. “Who are you?”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWLEGRrU6t
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.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9KBUaeu41
Then he said quietly, “You’re dreaming. But not safely. You’re a Seer, Elira. Your dreams can… alter things.”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXKLtq5CZZ
Her stomach dropped. “So I’m not crazy.”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKsV7oaZ9L
“No,” he replied. “You’re in danger.”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpp0oTBJA1B
---
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJj6MaDStjm
Before she could speak again, the mirrors began to hum. One by one, they shattered—exploding outward in flashes of crimson light.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkhhJt7IFu
The boy grabbed her wrist. “Wake up!”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvoAOeoP7s
“I— I don’t know how!”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvh6PYAK49b
“You have to bleed.”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMIGWIPwlZ
“What?!”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrzI3OXZQh
A flash of pain.
Her wrist, pricked by something sharp.
Blood dripped down her palm. The red thread unspooled from her skin.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoUcPnR5vS
And then—
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAiJNXPxbg
She woke.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dBCwAsiV0
Gasping. Sweating. Crying.
Back in her bed.
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqBpGc4FhJ
But the cut on her wrist was real.
And across the wall of her room, in faint red letters, a message had been written:
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECTWlVenf5
“You saw him. Now they’ll come.”
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2CY6Rnbe9
---
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKFUDa61G2
20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMeeNb61ZL
