There were about 20 people attending the funeral, including my family. The service didn't take long; there was just a long line of people paying their respects to the body in the coffin and all that. Fortunately, the corpse wasn't on display, so I didn't have to throw up at all.

After the indoor service, all the guests went outside where the coffin was to be buried. Dad was assigned to be one of the pallbearers. I had no interest with prayers and that stuff, so I zoned out for the rest of the funeral after the body was buried. Geez, I hope they cremated the corpse before. I can't even begin to imagine what Gally would look like if they didn't. Oh gosh, the thought of it makes me want to vomit.

Everybody went inside to eat the refreshment foods that had been served while the burial was in process. I stayed out a little longer though. I didn't feel like eating anything.

As I sat in the grass, I saw a small flicker at the edge of my vision. I whipped around to face a tombstone that was engraved with the words, "Gally Poulter." Nothing special there. It was just Gally's grave. Confused, I blinked rapidly a couple of times to make sure my eyes were seeing straight.

I decided to go out to the woods that were near the graveyard to clear my head. As I got up, a sudden chill swept over me. I had to grind my teeth together to stop them from chattering. The cold was gone in a matter of seconds, leaving me vulnerable to a gloomy sky again.

I jogged into the woods, happiness flooding me as soon as I got shaded from the leaves above me. I absolutely love the woods. Of course, it's always better to explore on a sunny day, but cloudy days give the trees this mysterious vibe that I love.

I traveled alongside a small creek that was running quietly, its water lapping over rocks. I abruptly stopped my process when I caught a glimpse of something behind an oak tree. Suspicious, I cautiously tiptoed closer to the great oak.

I jerked back in shock when I saw something come out from behind the tree. It was a hand. The hand didn't look normal. Its fingers were trembling, and it had a ghastly pale skin tone. I stared, mesmerized, as the hand started to reach out, fingers stretching desperately. It was then that I realized that the hand was not just trying to reach as far as possible; it was trying to grab my face.

A scream erupted from me. I stumbled backwards before regaining my balance and bolting away from the oak tree. I had trouble running in a dress, but I managed. After about 5 minutes of sprinting, I stopped to catch my breath. I forced myself to think logically.

Listen; maybe that hand was just your imagination. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Not real. Not real. Not real.

Shivers ran down my spine. My head snapped up to see a pale figure standing right in front of me. I felt my heart rate speed up when I saw the person staring down at me. My legs were shaking from pure terror. I couldn't bring myself to move away from the stranger.

My eyes widened after a close inspection of the stranger's face. Ferociously high eyebrows, blunt square nose…it was Gally. I felt my heart plunge to my stomach in cold fear. No…not possible. Gally's dead. I saw his body…what was he doing here?

I screamed at myself to run, but my body felt frozen in place. Gally was still staring down at me with maniacal eyes. His mouth was moving, but my ears couldn't process what he was saying.

I felt my knees buckle underneath me. This wasn't real. No, I wasn't seeing a dead person right now. No, it's a delusion. Just purely a delusion. The clouds in the sky started to darken ominously.

This triggered something inside my memory.

A sudden thought hit me so hard, I felt a little dizzy. Dread filled me to the rim. What if… No, I couldn't think about that possibility. Dad said it was impossible.

The only thing that was running through my head was my dad's words when he came in during class.

"The beginning symptoms of the Flare are slightly subtle. Your personality starts changing little by little, and you usually start to show more irritation. Some people get delusions in the first stage, making them paranoid."

My mind was concentrating on one phrase though. "Some people get delusions in the first stage."

A rumble of thunder cut my thoughts off. Raindrops started to fall from the sky, one sliding down my nose. Gally was still planted in front of me. His hand reached for my face. I was defenseless. I wanted to run away from him, but I just couldn't. My senses were paralyzed with fear.

I watched, hypnotized, as his hand kept on getting closer and closer to my face. I braced myself for something painful as his hand finally came to rest on my face…I felt nothing. Frozen, I glanced up. And almost had a panic attack.

Gally's hand had went though my head. It couldn't touch my skin; it just went through my face as if his hand had no solid substance. I had to be imagining this. It was not possible.

I dully sensed that I was drenched from the rain as I sat there, frozen. Gally withdrew his hand and kept on saying something I couldn't hear. All of a sudden, every noise in the background seemed to fade away, leaving only Gally's words to be heard.

"You killed me," he whispered before vanishing from sight with no trace that he was there at all.

I stared at the empty space. "W-w-what?" I asked to no one in particular, my lips trembling.

My dress was torn and filthy, and I was soaked from head to toe with rainwater. I couldn't care less. Exhaustion was flooding my insides, forcing energy to seep out. I felt a cold pit in my stomach, turning my blood to ice. Consciousness was slipping away from me fast. I could only manage one thought before the darkness swallowed me.

"I'm going insane."