For the past two weeks, everything had seemed normal again.
No strange dreams. No terrifying visions. Life slowly returned to what it used to be—except for the awkward tension between Dave and me.
I had been doing my best to avoid him at school. With exams approaching, I spent most of my time studying in the library with Jane. It gave me the perfect excuse to stay out of his way.
My eyes still hadn't returned to normal, but the glasses did a good job of hiding them. Some strands of my hair had turned white, yet aside from those changes, everything else looked normal.
My parents had returned, and daily life continued as usual.
Still, I felt guilty for avoiding Dave. Jane kept telling me to stop running away and talk to him,that I should confess my feelings to him and at least hear his opinion.
But how could a guy like Dave ever consider someone like me as his girlfriend?
That alone made me not to feel confident in my self, not to talk about my weird look.
Today, like every other day, I walked to school. After the test, I headed down the walkway toward the athletic building near the swimming pool.
I was hoping to see Dylan.
It had become part of my daily routine for the past two weeks, to always go look for him, but each time I always go back without getting to meet him.
I don't know if I should say that he is avoiding me or have he also vanished into thin air just like Old Mr Gareth and his library.
Even though the dreams had stopped, the uneasy feeling in my stomach never disappeared.
As I walked quietly along the path, I suddenly heard my name.
Clover!" the voice called.
I turned around and my heart skipped. Dave was standing a few steps behind me.
For a moment I froze, my mind going blank. Embarrassment flooded my chest and instinctively I turned around to run, but he quickly caught up with me, blocking my path.
"Why are you ignoring me?" he asked, grabbing my arm before I could escape.
"I… I'm not ignoring you," I muttered, avoiding his gaze.
"If you're not, then what are you doing?" he pressed. "You don't pick my calls, you don't reply to my messages, and now you can't even look me in the eye."
Guilt tightened around my chest.
"It's not like that, I just—"
"You just what?" Dave urged.
Before I could answer, a hand suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.
I gasped as my back collided with someone's chest.
"She'll be coming with me."
I turned and blinked in shock.
"Dylan?"
What is he doing here I wondered.
His grip on my wrist tightened as he pulled me along. His steps were quick and urgent, as if he was in a hurry to leave.
Dave quickly caught up with us and yanked me back.
"We're not done talking," he said coldly, glaring at Dylan.
"The discussion can wait until I'm done with her," Dylan replied without even looking at him.
"And what if I refuse?" Dave challenged.
For the first time Dylan lifted his eyes toward the sky. His expression darkened.
Something was wrong.
"I really don't have time for this," Dylan muttered under his breath.
"Aren't you that weird guy from the park the other night?" Dave said mockingly.
Dylan didn't answer.
Dave suddenly threw a punch.
His fist landed on Dylan's lips, splitting the skin slightly as blood stained the corner of his mouth.
"You asked for this," Dylan said quietly, about to strike back—
But suddenly the sky changed.
The clouds above darkened unnaturally, as if something massive was swallowing the sunlight.
Darker and darker until it felt like night had swallowed the entire sky.
Dylan looked up and cursed under his breath.
"Shit… they found her already."
Dark smoke spread across the sky like a living thing before descending toward the ground.
The smoke twisted and transformed into horrifying ghost-like figures.
Screams erupted across the school.
Students began running in panic.
Something was terribly wrong.
Ghost-like creatures floating everywhere.
And when we turned around—
Two demons were standing behind us.
They stared directly at us.
Then they attacked.
They lunged forward with terrifying speed, knocking all of us to the ground.
My glasses fell off.
My eyes meet Dave's.
I could see shock written all over his face.
Before I could even process what was happening, Dylan grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
"Run!"
We ran.
Leaving Dave behind.
"What about Dave?!" I shouted in panic.
"Save yourself first before worrying about your boyfriend," Dylan snapped while dragging me into the school building.
The demon chasing us showed no sign of stopping.
We ran through the halls until—
We reached a dead end.
My heart sank.
The demons stood before us.
"There is nowhere left to run," one of them said coldly. "Hand over the book, or face your doom."
"You're awfully serious for a demon," Dylan replied casually.
He stepped slightly in front of me, shielding me from them.
"Just stay close to me," he whispered. "I'll protect you."
For a brief moment, my heart calmed.
I stared at him in disbelief.
The narcissistic Dylan… actually sounded sincere.
But my thoughts were interrupted by the demons' laughter.
"Don't say we didn't warn you," the demon said.
"Call it a bet," Dylan replied.
The demons attacked.
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the worst.
Maybe I really had lived a terrible life for heaven to punish me like this.
What about my parents?
I couldn't die like this.
I was still so young.
I hadn't even dated anyone yet.
Why did it feel like the entire world was against me?
But the pain never came.
Instead—
Everything went silent.
At first, I thought I had died.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
But what I saw made my breath stop.
This wasn't the school.
This wasn't my house.
This wasn't anywhere I had ever seen before.
I was standing in an entirely different dimension.