Elizabeth opens her eyes to the most terrifying sensation and sight before her: pitch darkness around her and a strange crying sound filling the air, screaming, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'
"Where am I!! Help!" All her limbs tremble as her eyes witness the same long black shadow she saw hanging in the forest, standing in front of her just a few steps away in the middle of the darkness, with eyes crying crimson blood, looking directly at her.
"What is this thing?! Oh my God!"
The frozen young girl begins to try to run, only to find all her limbs locked with padlocks as hot as molten lava, tearing at and melting her skin.
"AAAAaaah!" her screams rose as her cheeks filled with salty tears. "Nooo, please!" But no matter how much she screamed, her body began to slowly burn, melting her skin from her bones... A giant arm suddenly embraced her; it was the weeping shadow that held her close. "Don't forget about me," it whispered bitterly...
His weeping blood paints its darkest shadow, falling upon Elizabeth's burning corpse above his arm.
Elizabeth didn't know how or when, but she felt a strange warmth wash over her, and the scene before her changed to a white ceiling...
"What!!" the young girl screams, looking around frantically, only to find herself on a comfortable bed mattress, sweat dripping from her like a cold waterfall.
Now that she is conscious, her brain cells begin to process what is around her... Yes, now she remembers that it is her aunt Isabella's house.
Elizabeth jolts out of bed and slams hard onto the wooden floor. With gasps, the words begin to escape her throat: "It was all a nightmare!"
"ELIZABETH!! DID SOMETHING HAPPEN??" It's her aunt calling from downstairs in a worried voice; she must have heard the crash...
"Y-yes, yes, I'm fine," Elizabeth replies, still trying to catch her breath and calm down... 'Calm down, Elizabeth! It's just a stupid nightmare!'
"I've prepared the breakfast!! Come downstairs," Isabella continues, her voice echoing throughout the small house before she returns to what she was doing, muttering happily to herself inside the kitchen, clutching the frying pan with her hand, 'I'll make her taste the best food she could ever eat....'
It seems she hasn't yet noticed Elizabeth at the dining table, sitting like a body without a soul, as if her body is present while her thoughts have already gone elsewhere... surprising her poor aunt for the third time in a row...
"OH MY !! When did you even get here?!"
Her aunt screams, throwing the plate of fried eggs from her hand, that it falls to the floor broken into a thousand scattered pieces, like the thoughts of the young girl who did not even blink.
The young girl didn't respond quickly; she seemed to be examining her surroundings: simple furniture, a nice house with a wooden floor, and some pictures of her aunt and mother hanging on the wall...
"Elizabeth! Can you hear me?!"
Her aunt repeated her sentence louder, and finally Elizabeth's attention returned. "Yes, yes, I'm sorry! Let me help you."
She immediately rushed to her aunt's side to collect the broken glass... the sound of the glass rattling as it was thrown into the garbage bag was clear, yet the young girl's mind was elsewhere.
"You don't look well, you know? Are you sick?"
Isabella tells her in a worried voice, gently placing her hand on Elizabeth's forehead as she suddenly stands up, "Yes, I'm fine. I'm going to school. I don't want to be late."
"Wait!! What about breakfast? You haven't eaten anything yet!!"
Her aunt stands up to stop her, but Elizabeth doesn't seem to really hear her now.
Picking up her bag from the dining table, she says, "It's okay, I'll buy a some food later," as she heads out with worries on her shoulders that she doesn't even want to tell her aunt about.
The sound of the door closing quickly behind her, without giving Isabella a chance to speak, left her standing in the middle of the living room with expressions of surprise and confusion on her beautiful face.
"What's wrong with her tonight? Did she have a nightmare?" she muttered to herself, with a hint of truth, though unconsciously.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth is speeding along on her bicycle, unconcerned by the merciless frost freezing her lungs...
There are her school students in their uniforms appearing on both sides of the road... She has finally arrived.
"ELIZABETH ..Elizabeth!!"
A voice calling from afar approaches her at full speed, and before she even steps inside the school gate, she finds herself in strong arms. It is her dearest friend... (Emma).
Without thinking further, she hugged her tightly in return, "Oh girl, how I missed you! You won't believe what I'm going through!"
And so Elizabeth told almost everything that had happened yesterday as they both walked to class, while Emma seemed unable to lift her jaw from the shock of what she was hearing.
"Wow! Wait! So, to put it simply, you met a strange man named Frederick, and now your mother is in the hospital, and there was also a stupid detective questioning you, and also..." It seems Emma isn't going to stop talking for the time being.
Elizabeth sighed. "I know, it sounds too strange to believe," she said, pulling her chair back to sit down. The class was unusually crowded today, probably because it was the students' final year of high school..
Emma clings to her in the opposite seat and whispers nervously, "But I don't understand why someone like that would break into your house. Thank God you're okay!"
"Yes, I think he came to threaten my father, otherwise he wouldn't have let me go after I poked one of his men in the eye with my pen."
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
Her friend screams with her jaw completely dropped this time, and this seems to cause the students around them to look at them with a mixture of extreme confusion and shock...
"Shhh"
Elizabeth immediately tries to cover her friend's mouth, but her attempt seems to have failed now, as even the teacher is looking at her with annoyed looks.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll be quiet," Emma mumbled, her face completely red, which she tried unsuccessfully to hide.
She tried to ignore the students' stares that darted between them and the growing whispers.
The whispers were interrupted by the ringing of a phone... Elizabeth's phone... It was an unknown number.
The young girl answers the phone with a calm expression, perhaps thinking it's her aunt calling from work or something. "Hello?" Her expression quickly changes upon hearing a familiar voice—it's her father
While Emma watched her curiously at her sudden silence, she asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen?" trying to eavesdrop.
Her father's voice is calm over the phone. 'Your mother, Elizabeth, has woken up.' The young girl barely hears these words before she jumps up from her seat with wide eyes. 'I'm coming!'
Everyone around her, including the teacher, is looking at her now, who tells her, "Why did you stand up so suddenly? Go back to your seat!" His face shows disbelief.
As if he hadn't said anything, Elizabeth ran out in complete joy, ignoring the teacher's shouts....
"Where to?! I'm coming with you!" Emma calls out, and without thinking, she follows her with quick steps, leaving the teacher standing there completely shocked.
"To the hospital, of course."