Chapter 1-Two years later

I jerked awake at the sound of my alarm blaring from the bedside table. Groaning, I turned over and pulled my pillow over my head, trying to drown out the loud ringing. After a few seconds of no success, I sighed and reached over to turn it off.

Slowly, I dragged myself out of bed and headed to my closet to pick out something to wear for school. Today marked the first day of my senior year, and even though I wasn’t too enthusiastic about it, I knew my best friend, Jane, wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I didn’t at least try to look decent for this ‘once in a lifetime’ day.

I decided on black skinny jeans paired with a cropped olive-green oversized sweater, finishing the look with simple white sneakers—comfortable but still Jane-approved.

As I left my room and headed toward the bathroom, I noticed it was occupied. I knocked on the door, and an uptight, "What?" came in response.

It was my sister. It didn’t surprise me that she was using my bathroom. She probably wanted to start my day off unpleasant just for the satisfaction of seeing me bitter. She never stopped blaming me for our parents' deaths. In her mind, our aunt and uncle were just as guilty for helping plan the trip. Over time, she had become a rebel, making it her mission to make my life miserable at every opportunity.

Not today. I turned around and headed to the guest bathroom to finish getting ready.

Thirty minutes later, I was done and made my way down the old oak staircase for breakfast. The staircase curved elegantly toward the entryway of the house. Anyone entering through the large wooden swing door would immediately be struck by the antique beauty of the staircase. To the right was the kitchen, and to the left, the showcase living room.

I walked into the kitchen and saw my uncle sitting at the small breakfast table, reading his newspaper—his usual morning ritual.

"Morning," I greeted politely.

"Morning, Nadia. How did you sleep last night?" He folded his newspaper and set it down beside his plate.

"Like every other night, just like a baby... with a few nightmares here and there," I replied, catching the mouth-watering aroma of breakfast. "What's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes," he said, sounding like a child receiving his favourite treat. "Big day for you and your sister—first day of senior year for you and—"

Before he could finish, my sister cut him off from the kitchen's archway. "And the first day of sophomore year for me," she rolled her eyes, adding sarcastically, "Yeah, right. So special."

She walked to the table and sat down next to Uncle Brendan.

"Well, I’m up for pancakes any day of the week," I said excitedly and took my seat across from Nicole.

"Morning, you two," my aunt greeted as she walked in with a bright smile. "Big day today, and I see Nicole started it off the same as usual." She pursed her lips and cocked her head in Nicole's direction. "Anyway, blueberry and chocolate pancakes coming up."

My aunt brought the pancakes over, and they looked absolutely delicious. I dove in, finishing my plate in record time, but soon regretted my enthusiasm.

"Urg!" I moaned. "Now I have a food baby." I rubbed my belly the way a pregnant woman would. Everyone laughed, except for Nicole, and my aunt couldn’t resist offering advice a little too late.

"Maybe you shouldn’t have eaten so many pancakes," she teased, laughing again.

Nicole suddenly stood up. "How can you all be so cheerful when the two most important people who should be here... aren't?" Grabbing her things, she stormed out the front door.

"I guess she wants to take the bus then?" my uncle remarked. My aunt just shook her head and began cleaning up the table.

"Right then, are you ready to go, young lady?" my uncle asked, standing up.

"I am ready." I grabbed my bags and followed him to the car.

It took us an hour to get to school every day since the house was practically in the middle of the forest.

Standing at my locker, trying to focus on what books to pack first, I heard a familiar voice behind me. "You can be glad you made an effort."

I turned around to find Jane.

"I thought about coming in sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt..."

"You wouldn't dare." She scowled at me, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh, I would. But this was the next best thing." I smiled and turned back to finish packing my books.

"How did it go this morning with your sister?" Jane asked, knowing all too well about Nicole's dramatic tendencies.

"The same as always, with a dramatic exit this time." As I shut my locker, the bell rang, signalling the start of our senior year.

First up was math. It was always scheduled in the mornings when our minds were fresh. This year, we had the privilege of bigger, more comfortable classrooms—a perk of being seniors at our private school.

Despite everything, I didn’t mind math. Numbers had always made sense to me. But halfway through the lesson on trigonometry, I felt something unsettling—like someone was watching me. The sensation sent chills down my spine, and the longer it persisted, the more drained I felt. I glanced around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

By lunch, the eerie feeling still lingered, and my fatigue worsened.

"N, are you okay? You look a little pale," Jane asked, concerned.

"I'm fine... it's just... I feel like someone’s watching me." I scanned the cafeteria again, but as usual, saw nothing.

"N, you should see the nurse. You're as pale as a ghost." I nodded, but as I stood up, the world tilted, and everything went black.

________________________________________

I woke up in the nurse's office and felt so much better. My mood had improved, and the eerie sensation of being watched had disappeared. I looked around and saw Jane sitting in a chair, engrossed in a book—typical of her.

"Have you been here the whole time?" I asked.

She put her book down and looked at me with a relieved smile. "No, not quite. I had a few things to take care of around the school, but I've been here for most of it." She picked up the book and continued reading.

"Just lie down a little longer. You still look a little pale," she advised.

I closed my eyes for a bit and drifted off to sleep.

In my dream, a black, smoky figure appeared before me. It cocked its head and stared at me with piercing orange-red eyes. A shiver ran down my spine.

"What do you want? Who are you?" I asked, trying to keep my fear in check.

"You will get to know me soon. In good time," the figure replied in a chillingly calm voice. This time, the fear coursing through me was enough to jolt me awake.

Later that evening, Jane and I were relaxing in my room when she suddenly sat up, eyes wide with excitement. "There's a new guy coming to school tomorrow, and apparently, he's a total looker."

"Oh, J. Why can't you and I be more alike? You don't need boys," I teased, shaking my head as I continued with the math homework assigned to us.

"Come on, Nadia. You have to let someone in sometime."

"I will when the time is right. For now, let's just finish our homework."

After about two hours, we finally finished. "Oh, by the way, I'm sleeping over tonight," Jane mentioned casually over a bowl of ice cream—our usual reward for finishing homework.

"Oh, okay then. What do you have planned? Because I know you have something planned." I raised an eyebrow at her.

"You know me too well. We're going to have a movie night and pamper ourselves a little," she said with an excited squeal.

"Okay, you pick the movie tonight."

Another squeal. "Then we're definitely watching *Romeo & Juliet*." She clapped her hands like a delighted child.

"But we've watched that so many times already."

"Yes, but it never gets old." The look on her face told me her decision was final.

My aunt helped us set up snacks while Jane gathered everything we needed for our pampering session. We had popcorn, chips, liquorice, chocolate, and fruit—everything you could think of for the perfect movie night.

"First, let’s do facials, and then Mani's and Pedi's," Jane suggested. "Do you want a charcoal mask or a mint mask?"

"I’ll go with charcoal tonight," I decided.

"Good choice, because I wanted the mint one," she grinned, handing me the charcoal mask.

As the masks worked their magic, we gave each other pedicures. Jane chose a nude colour for her toenails, while I went with white.

"I love this part in the movie," Jane said dreamily as Romeo climbed up the balcony after Juliet called out to him.

"You are such a hopeless romantic, J," I teased, giggling.

"Well, I'd rather be romantic than have nothing or no one at all," she quipped, lifting her nose playfully. We both burst into laughter and finished our manicures, swapping colours—Jane went with white nails, and I chose nude.

We wrapped things up with a neck and back massage, and I couldn't have been more thankful for Jane's idea. I felt relaxed and completely ready for a good night's sleep.

After tidying up, which was my aunt's only requirement for staying up late, we made our way to my room and flopped onto my bed like sacks of potatoes.

Despite our exhaustion, we chatted for another hour. When the clock struck midnight, we finally decided to sleep.

Falling asleep was easy, but what came next was terrifying.

The same black, smoky figure appeared in my dream, but this time, its intentions were far from friendly. It brought my deepest, darkest fears to life in the most vivid nightmare I had ever experienced.

I must have screamed in my sleep because I woke up to Jane shaking me awake. Relief flooded through me when I realized it was just a dream, and I was grateful to have her by my side.

It took us a while to fall back asleep, but when I did, I was glad to find nothing but blackness awaiting me.