Dawn's POV:

I managed to get through yet another night without the bloody angel haunting my dreams. Ever since the unexpected incident on the plane, my fear of sleep slowly began to return as I grew more anxious that he would appear again at some point. He disappeared from my dreams on almost an eight month long hiatus and suddenly he was back to torment me once again, only his motive didn't seem driven by the joy of making me suffer. I've seen this entity every now and then since I was very young and he scared the hell out of me yet somehow, he was the victim. He was the one who was suffering and he wanted me to acknowledge his pain. To lift that pain. I could tell from the look in his eyes and the way he bled before me that he was cursed by some sort of fate. That frail look of abandonment, desolation and yearning had stayed with me for years. Yet I had no idea who he was or if he was even real for that matter nor did I know how to help him. It was the most awful feeling that I just couldn't shake and my dad wasn't making it any better when he dropped me off at my new school the next morning.

"Did you have any more nightmares?" I sat in the passenger seat, my forehead pressed against the cool glass as I peered out the window at the gloomy gray day. "No." I hoped that my one word responses would stop his intrusive questioning, but he continued to wring more information from me.
"What about any of your other symptoms? Nosebleeds? Seizures? Migraines? Blackouts? Because I really think we need to take you to a doctor if any of that starts up aga-"
"I said I'm fine!" I snapped. He exchanged my hard look with a sincere expression of concern and I sighed deeply. "I'm fine," I repeated in a softer tone. "I just had one nightmare, that's all." "We're just worried about you, Dawnie. This has taken such a toll on you for years and you seemed to finally be doing better and all of a sudden, we're back to this again."

"I know, I know. It's not as bad as before though. I'm just stressed over the move is all. I'll be okay, Dad." He nodded but his expression remained grave and unsure. We pulled up in front of the tall yellow school building and I immediately opened the door before the car came to a complete halt. "Need me to walk with you to the administration office?" He called after me. "No thanks," I replied over my shoulder. "See you later!"

After receiving my schedule, I selected a random locker, threw some stuff in and secured it with a combination lock before continuing down the hall to my first class. Once I had located the room, I slowly pulled open the door. A balding middle aged man who I assumed was Mr. Garrison(according to the teacher name on my schedule) paused his lecture as he turned his attention towards me. The rest of the class stared with him, which didn't help me feel any less awkward than I was already feeling.
This was definitely one of the things I detested most about transferring schools.

I reluctantly handed him my note from the office and he immediately introduced me. "Children," he began in a slight Southern accent which seemed appropriate for someone who lived in a sleepy little mountain town. "We have a new student joining us today. Her name is Dawn Fawcett. Before we go about our lesson plan, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself Dawn?" Oh god, here we go.
I drew in a deep breath in hopes it would calm my nerves. The sooner I got this over with, the sooner I could sit down. "Well, my name is Dawn. I just moved here with my family from San Jose, California and uh..." I paused as my eyes darted around the classroom at the other students. I could tell they were all silently judging me based on my dark hair, makeup and clothes. I then recognized the three boys from the funeral who were the friends of that Kenny guy.

I was about to continue until I noticed something was wrong. Another familiar face sat directly behind the three boys. A face that belonged to someone who had supposedly died. A face that was concealed by the fur trimmed hood of an orange parka. My heart suddenly became lodged in my throat as I found myself gaping in horror at the face of Kenny McCormick. "Dawn?" asked Mr. Garrison. "Is everything alright?" I could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on my brow and I started to feel sick. "Dawn? What's wrong?" "Him!" I blurted, pointing a trembling finger at Kenny. Mr. Garrison glanced from me to Kenny then back to me, utterly confused. "Yeah? What about Kenny?" "He was...He was...DEAD!"
Kenny looked shocked while the rest of the class just looked at me like I was losing my mind.
Mr. Garrison hesitated as he studied me momentarily before turning to the class again. "Well children this is a perfectly good example why you shouldn't drop acid right before class. Now let's continue with our lesson shall we?"

I couldn't believe he was ridiculing me nor could I bring myself to just sit down and act like everything was okay when there was a dead boy sitting in the room with me. The nausea was beginning to overcome me at the thought of it. "Excuse me," I bolted from the classroom before Garrison could protest me leaving school grounds. I ran down the halls and burst through the double door entrance. Stomach acid burned my throat as I fell to my hands and knees and retched all over the front lawn.
I took a moment to regain my strength before I climbed to my feet again and wiped the vomit from my mouth. I couldn't bring myself to go back to class though. Right now, all that mattered was to determine whether or not I was going crazy. I immediately dashed to the cemetery.

Tombstones and mausoleums seemed to stretch on for miles. I nearly pissed myself at every angel statue that suddenly loomed before me, afraid that I was reliving my nightmare again.
Finally I managed to locate the rose bushes where Kenny's grave had been, only when I got closer it was nowhere to be found. I fell to my knees in desperate search of any sort of evidence, but found nothing. There had been no tombstone, nor remains in that spot. It looked as though a grave had never even been dug there. It was as if I imagined the whole thing. I sat there, staring in disbelief at what I was seeing or rather, not seeing. There was nothing there. Just empty undisturbed earth. I suddenly found myself overcome with the feeling that I was being watched. Seconds later, the distant snapping of a twig sounded somewhere behind me and at that moment, I knew I wasn't alone.

My breath caught in my throat as a pair of footsteps crunching over dead autumn leaves sounded shortly after. I unwillingly turned to face the intruder who had followed me here.
Kenny came forward, his brown mittened hand outstretched towards me as if I were a wounded bird. "Dawn, please. I can explain." Kenny's voice was muffled by his hood yet somehow I could understand what he said. Instinctively, I climbed to my feet in my defense and turned to run but tripped over an uprooted tree in the process. I felt a searing pain as my knee hit the ground and a sharp protruding rock cut into it. "Oh my god!" He cried. "Are you okay? You're bleeding! Just hold still. Let me help." He proceeded to examine my wound but I was too freaked out to let him touch me. I shook him off so violently, he lost his balance and toppled backwards. "Just stay away from me!" I warned fearfully. "I don't know what the hell you are!" Once again, I regained my footing and limped my way out of the cemetery as quickly as I could. This time, Kenny didn't pursue me.