Your Life, Starts Here

On the cold floor and drenched in sweat, the sound of the alarm stung my ears.

My stomach doesn't feel right, I need to catch my breath but my throat feels numb and tight.

I tossed and turned, my arms reached out into the empty space, desperately trying to grab hold of something, anything. I rushed to the bathroom and downed what seemed like gallons of water but vomited just as much. I sat there on the bathroom floor feeling drained already.

"What... the hell's... wrong with me?"

I tried to get it together and looked in the mirror. I saw a tired 20 year old dude who still wasn't used to living a freshman life away from home.

I didn't even have time to get out of my work clothes yesterday. Then again, a university student doing part-time jobs needs all the sleep he can get.

I noticed my hair was starting to get longer, it could almost reach the tip of my nose.

"Seems like I'm due for a haircut. Maybe have it dyed too? I had black hair all my life, maybe a change would do me some good."

I remembered all my other block mates that had varying hair colors. The whole lecture hall looked like a rainbow from afar.

"Yeah, haircut is a yes but ain't gonna go rainbow with everyone else. Then again..."

I trail off as I notice the strands of white in my hair.

"Maybe white or gray? Ashen hair is kind of in style these days."

I took a closer look into the mirror and saw that my eyes were bright red.

"Was I crying in my sleep?"

I contemplated more and decided that this wouldn't get me anywhere. I washed my face and suddenly remembered.

That dream I just had.

I saw glimpses of the dream I just had. I didn't recognize the place itself, but it was familiar before it slowly turned into a nightmarish hell.

"No, no it was just a dream. Couldn't have been real." I continued to wash my face.

Time seemed to slow with every splash of water. So slow in fact that I could almost hear this faint voice, a woman.

"Blyth."

I felt a sudden pressure on my shoulders, scared of what I would see when I took my hands off my face.

"Is someone there?"

A presence, someone was nearby. I braced myself to face the danger head-on, but after all that's happened this morning, I shudder to think of what this presence meant. I lowered my hands and quickly turned around, there was nothing. No one was there, I let out a sigh of relief.

I DEFINITELY need more sleep.

I turned back to the sink and washed my hands. Then I noticed something as I looked up, the mirror reflected something in the background. It was brief but I could've sworn a child just passed by. I splash my face with water and look at the mirror again.

WHAT?!

I saw a little girl who was crouching with her back facing me. She was just there, right outside the door, humming a certain tune. My hand stopped from washing as the sink continued to draw water, my eyes were wide and fixated on the reflection of the mysterious girl.

Did I leave the door open? This tune… why does it feel so familiar to me?

I concluded that this girl might've entered the wrong unit, so I closed the faucet and turned around to ask her. The moment I turn, she's gone. I look back into the mirror and she isn't there either. Suddenly I could hear her humming again, but she wasn't anywhere I could see. The humming became louder and louder, I had to cover my ears but the sound just seemed to resonate inside my head. I felt my mind was about to explode. I screamed but nothing came out..

"Lyth, Lyth, LYTH!"

A banging sound thrusts me back into reality.

"LYTH, I've been knocking FOREVER! If you're not gonna let me in, at least hurry up, we're gonna be late!"

I dropped to the floor once again, completely dumbfounded.

"What the hell is going on? I'm... just tired right? Yeah, that's got to be it."

I gathered myself once again in preparation for the next challenge I must face on the other side of that door. I opened the door and just what I expected, it was her.

"WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG?! I'VE BEEN STANDING HERE FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?! WELL?! SAY SOMETHING?!"

Before I could answer her, the door opposite my unit slightly opened and there was the sound of a man letting out an annoyed growl which made her jump.

The name of the girl in front of me was Kiara. We've been friends ever since freshman year, and Kiara had always attracted attention wherever she went. With her being a foreigner who had light skin, emerald eyes, and orange hair, everyone had their sights set on her from day one. Really though, under that princess-like look is a fiery demon who could roundhouse kick any guy back to puberty.

"You wanna yell at me inside? You're kinda bothering the neighbors," I said with a cheeky smile to which she responded with a yes and a sharp kick to my knee.

I ask her to wait by the sitting area while I tidy up, get dressed, and fix my newly

broken knee.

"Way to kick a guy when he's down Kiara. Had a hell of a morning so far and with you suddenly coming here...

Before I could finish that sentence she looked at me with fire in her eyes, cautioning me to choose my next words carefully.

...just uh, brightened everything up." This seemed to defuse the situation so I continued cleaning and getting ready.

"You look awful Lyth, did you go out drinking last night? Finally decided to hook up with someone? Oh how wonderful the life of an independent university student is."

She always teased me like that. Never knew why she gave me that nickname too.

My name isn't that hard to say. Maybe it's because of people thinking Blyth is a girl's name.

I smirk and reply, "The drinking part seems plausible but me getting together with someone? Can't say I can see that happening."

A sudden silence as Kiara smiled almost unnoticeably.

"What's with that creepy smile? Did hearing my hopeless love life give you hope for yours?" Those words were like firewood that fueled the burning flames in her eyes as she stared at me with wicked intent.

"JUST GET DRESSED AND EAT ALREADY WE'RE GONNA BE LATE AND I DON'T WANNA MISS THE FIRST LECTURE!"

I never sprinted so fast in my entire life, my morning routine that took 1 hour was somehow shortened into 5 minutes. Perhaps it was because of this feeling of imminent death coming from Kiara. As I tore through my breakfast, Kiara made herself at home and started looking around every inch of my apartment.

It wasn't all that big, it wasn't small either, just enough for a single person living alone with modest pay to be content with. It was an open space, I could see everything even from the kitchen. I peeked at her while preparing food to make sure she wasn't doing anything suspicious.

"Hey my room is off limits, remember?" With a devious smile she darted into my room and I heard crashes upon crashes, as if a car accident happened inside my room.

"Not like you'll find anything in there." Kiara took her tIme and finally came out, defeated.

"Woah so you ARE as boring as you look. Don't worry though, I'll still be with you whatever you may be." she said with an assuring smile.

"C'mon, we're gonna be late right? Also, I just noticed you tied your hair differently again today." I pointed at her twintails as we exited the apartment and I locked the door.

"Oh yeah, I may make this hairstyle a permanent thing."

Her voice suddenly became faint as she was fiddling around with her hair.

"Anyways, I gotta apologize to the neighbors later. Thanks to one annoyingly noisy visitor."

"I said I was sorry didn't I?"

She didn't.

"Also, I think the door was unlocked so you could've just gone inside."

"That's strange, I remember trying the doorknob a few times, but it did seem to be locked"

Then how did the little girl get in?

"Kiara, you were in the hall the whole time, right? Did you happen to see anyone come in or out of my unit? Or even anyone outside the hall?"

"Not really, I was there for quite some time and no one else besides me was in the hall." Kiara replied, looking a bit concerned.

I felt a cold sweat go down my back.

"Hey, are you sure you're doing fine? Maybe skip work today after classes and call in sick?"

"I'm fine, it's just… are you sure no one else was there?" I asked again, just to make sure I'm not going completely crazy.

"Lyth, you're starting to creep me out. I'm telling you no one came in or out of your place and I was all alone in the hallway at the time. Don't tell me I was right about the hookup thing and I just missed the girl's escape?" Kiara says, looking disappointed.

She doesn't seem to be lying. So what DID I see in my room earlier?

"Listen, something's obviously bothering you, and we can talk about it later after class. So if you're done acting weird, c'mon! The bus will leave any minute now." Kiara then sprinted across the road as the light turned red.

Maybe, I'm just tired. I really must be if I'm imagining these things.

"ALRIGHT! Wake up Blyth! Get your shit together!" I gave her a faint smile from across the street. She DID manage to lift my spirits just a little bit.

"Hey Kiara, wait up." I shouted at her but she was already far away across the street.

"Oh red light." I cross the street and tell myself. "Think positive, Blyth, everything is gonna be okay."

I crossed the street alongside a group of people. I was ready to put this strange morning behind me and focus up. At the middle of the road, I let out a confident smile as I was sure nothing would go wrong from here on out.

"You told me that too..."

I freeze as I heard a familiar voice.

Where? Where is it coming from? I can't see, there are too many people.

Where? Where? Where?

"Did you forget about us, Blyth?"

Two dark figures show up beside me. I'm completely frozen. I recognize this feeling, everything. The dream, it's as if I'm back that nightmare

"How is it fair? That you get to live, have fun, smile, and forget about us. Forget the sin you committed oh so long ago."

Then I start to remember, it was like my brain was forcing me to remember. My arms clasped my head from the pain.

"Are these... names? Urgh... of... who?"

"Kieran."

"Alex."

…

"Yuna… Yuna?"

A silhouette of a little girl shows up on the other side of the street. Her lips were moving, as if she was saying something. It was impossible for me to hear what she was saying, but for some reason I could.

"Don't worry, you'll remember everything in time. The moment you do..."

I felt a breeze go by as she appeared behind me and drew closer to whisper into my ear.

"...is the moment you die."

In a split second I'm back. The figures disappeared and I could make out the environment again. I saw people, the road, the truck about to ram into me.

"WHAT?! CRAP I CAN'T MOVE!"

I may have been in shock of everything that just happened but my body refused to move. My life flashed before my eyes, and then I saw memories. Memories I never knew I had. Of people I swear I never met. I forced my body to move but by then it was too late. It was the sound of the truck's honking and the tires screeching as the driver stomps on the break, then I felt a tremendous force hit me but all I could see was a bright light.

I regained consciousness for a moment. I'm in the middle of the road. I smelled blood, my blood. Kiara's here, she's crying. The paramedics took me into the ambulance and right before I completely lost consciousness I hear her again.

"It starts here Blyth, now it's your turn to suffer."