10. Warning

Sonic - March 23, 2036, 11:36 P.M.

Oh god… what's going to happen to me?

She's just looking at me… as if she's taking pleasure in me dying.

I don't feel any pain. Even though my body's been pierced through, I am completely numb. Am I closer to death than I think?

She crouches down and looks at me dead straight at me with her dead, white eyes. She remains silent, until she finally whispers, "No… not enough…"

Huh? Not enough? Is she going to inflict more pain on me?

"Everyone shall die… then will your pain match my own." She continues. "You shall be last to die."

She stands up and begins fading away.

"What? No… you can't hurt others!" I croaked. "You c-can't take your anger out on a-anyone else but me!"

She turns and ignores me. I plead weakly, "D-don't go! It's m-me y-you want!"

She vanishes into thin air, leaving me for dead.

"A-AMY! COME BACK!"

I hear one last laugh from Amy before blacking out.

...

Plink!

A water droplet fell and hit my face, making me regain my consciousness. After my vision cleared up, I looked around and saw that I was not in my home. It seemed like I was in some kind of tunnel lit only by hanging lanterns trailing down, like a mine shaft without rails. I struggle to stand up, still wounded in the abdomen. It's a miracle that I survived that attack, but I was far from relieved. Questions ran through my head. I wondered, Where am I? How did I get here? How long have I been out for?

Furthermore, am I dreaming?

That last question was the most prominent one on my mind. This place looks like a setting you'd see in some nightmare or a bad horror game, yet I don't feel like I'm dreaming. To make sure, I touched my aching body, the walls of the tunnel, and the lantern above me. Everything was tangible; I felt the pain in my body, the coldness of the walls, and the heat from the lantern.

However, I still wasn't sure. I tried to call out to see if anyone was nearby, but I couldn't. I was too weak from my stinging wound that I could barely make a sound. Not knowing what else to do, I decided to walk down the passage, hoping to find an exit or an opening to a new area.

It must have taken me almost an hour to get to the other side. The tunnel appeared endless! The repetitive layout made it seemed like I was going through a loop or cycle, and my injury was a huge drawback for movement. If I wasn't in such a condition, I probably would've gotten to the end in less than a minute or two.

But I did eventually get to a doorway. I was so exhausted from the sore, monotonous walk, I felt thrilled to see something different. What got me excited was that I could hear some pleasant noises coming from the opposite side of the door: birds chirping, wind blowing, and water running. It was leading me to the outside world! I don't care where I end up, because I'm going to be free from this hellhole!

Or so I thought. I was completely wrong.

Using the last of my energy, I burst out through the door - only to enter an empty room with a ceiling that couldn't be seen from down here.

The noises I heard moments ago disappeared the second I went in. Realizing that I was only being delusional, I fell to the ground feeling defeated.

Why is this happening to me?

While I lay down, something large dropped from above and made a large "thud" sound. Alarmed, I sat up and quickly backed away from whatever fell down. It was followed up by another object falling to the floor. The second one was smaller than the first, and both of them were wrapped in gray cloth.

I just stared at the wrapped entities, not knowing what they were or what to do with them. But I knew that sitting around wasn't going to change anything, so I approached the larger one with caution. I unwrapped the cloth to see what was inside - and became shocked at the discovery.

"No… it can't be…"

Inside was Sally. She was decomposing badly, as her skin as cold and pale. Her left eye was missing, and her face was frozen in a silent scream.

Wait, if this was Sally, then that must mean… oh god no.

I put Sally's corpse down and went up to the second body.

No no no.

I picked it up, but hesitated to unwrap it.

Please, don't let it be…

Barely breathing, I slowly removed the cloth from the body.

Please, don't let it be…!

But it was - it was none other than Manik. He was in no better condition than his mother.

I began to shed tears. Why was this happening? What did I do to deserve this? Why?

Just then, I heard Amy giggle and whisper into my ear with a demonic voice, "You're going to be the last one to die… once I'm done everyone else."

I rose up with my bed, shaking and sweating. Sunlight filled my bedroom, which was serene and quiet. Confused, I look around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Everything appeared normal. Nothing seemed strange.

I stood up from my bed and checked myself. Upon examination, I saw that my body was in good condition. There was no wound or blood on my stomach area. It was as if I was never attacked.

Was I dreaming the entire time? Was all of that in my head?

I checked the time on my alarm clock. 2:00 P.M. I can't believe it's past noon. I should get something to eat for now.

I walk downstairs to the kitchen. As I made brunch (or whatever people call it these days) I concluded that what I saw last night was nothing more than a terrible nightmare. I was safe and unharmed, and I know better than to think that a dead person could come back to life. Also, I can retain hope that Sally and Manik are still alive somewhere.

Yet, everything felt so real - the strangling, the stabbing, the feeling of dying, and the whole experience in the tunnel. And the fact that it was Amy's ghost that was trying to kill me is super creepy.

Maybe I'm just stressed out. I've been working hard nonstop to find my wife and son this week. Perhaps I need a break from that. I desperately want to find them, but I can't search if my mind feels like it's going to blow up all the time. Yeah, that's definitely why my nightmare was so frightening and almost life-like. I need to rest for a while and do something else to clear up my mind.

I went outside the main entrance to fetch myself the mail, hoping that some reading material will ease my mind. Going back inside to the kitchen, I read the front page of today's newspaper - Reporter Daily, March 27, 2036. "Federation to Give Humanitarian Aid to Spagonia". Man, I can't believe how bad that country suffered from that earthquake. Given the damage it took, it'll probably take several years to get everything back together and-

Wait, March 27th? Did I miss several entire days of my life?! How is that even possible?!

Dazed and confused, I took a deep breath, put the paper down.

"This is crazy." I thought to myself. "I need to get out and have some fresh air. Relieve some of this stress.

Just when I thought about going outside, the telephone went off. I got up to go answer it, praying that it wasn't another call from that creepy girl. Right now, even a telemarketer would be nice to hear.

I picked the phone, crossed my fingers, and greeted, "Hello?"

"Sonic?" I heard my sister's voice from the other side. Thank goodness.

"Sonia? What's up? Anything I can help you with?" I asked.

"Yeah - can you do me a big favor?" I need you to look after Molly when she gets home."

"Sure. Where are heading out to?"

"I have to visit her school. The principal gave me a call about half an hour ago saying she got into a fight with a classmate."

"Oh no… was it that serious?"

Sonia sighed. "I don't know. I didn't receive a lot of detail about the situation over the phone."

"Okay. When should I come?"

"Around 2:55 would be best. That's usually when she arrives home."

"Alright, I got it. See you then."

I hung up wondering what Molly could have done. She's a very sweet girl, and I can't imagine her getting into any trouble.