"1…2…3…4…5…"
The voice echoed again....disembodied, hollow, and far too familiar. Your first nightmare in ages pressed down on you like a weight. You lay submerged in cold water, drifting in a void where everything was silent… pitch black… empty. You weren't moving. You were simply there, suspended in a darkness that felt endless, waiting for nothing and expecting nothing.
"You think you escaped, don't you? Save yourself, girl…"
The voice slithered through the silence, and before you could react, a blinding white light burst through the darkness. It swallowed everything...your fear, the water, the void...and snapped you violently back into reality.
You woke up gasping.
It was just your mom.
She had barged in with her usual dramatic flair, yanking your curtains wide open and flooding your room with harsh morning sunlight.
"Mom…" you groaned, rubbing your eyes aggressively as your vision tried to adjust. But then a thought struck you....hard.
Daniel.
Your cousin. Wasn't he sleeping beside you?
Your breath caught. You slid your hand across the left side of your bed, fingers searching the sheets.
Nothing.
He wasn't there.
You exhaled in relief. Thank goodness. He must've slipped out before your mom's surprise entrance. The last thing you needed was to explain why a male cousin you barely knew had been lying in your bed. And frankly, if not for Daniel's ridiculously early morning workouts, this would've been a disaster.
"Wake up, honey," your mom chirped, her thin voice floating through the room as she whisked your blanket away. She grabbed your left arm and tugged—not enough to actually move you, but enough to annoy you.
You smiled, a real one this time. For all her unpredictability, her disappearances, her emotional whiplash, she was still your mom....the one person who stayed by your side when you were at your lowest. Your father… well, he had always solved every family problem by throwing money at it. That was his language. That was his love, if you could even call it that.
"Mummm… give me three more hours…" you whined, pretending her weak tugs were pulling you across the bed. She rolled her eyes, grabbed a pillow, and thumped it lightly against your face.
You grabbed it and threw it across the room.
"It's 10:00 a.m., honey. I want you to meet someone," she said, already drifting toward the door. She paused, pulled her phone from her pocket, tapped it twice in quick succession, and nodded. "It's 10:01. Thirty minutes, boo. Don't be late. And put on your best clothes."
With that, she vanished, closing the door behind her.
You sighed.
Classic Mom....never acknowledging her absences, never apologizing, but somehow always trying in her own chaotic way. Better than your narcissistic workaholic father, who only cared about two things: his job… and himself.
"Who's the mystery person?"
You froze.
The voice came from below....your bed.
You snapped your head down, and there he was. Daniel. Slowly rolling into view like this was his grand entrance. He'd been hiding the whole time. Eavesdropping. Of course he was.
"Daniel… how did you....?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets," he cut in smoothly.
You shrugged. It was typical Daniel behavior. Nothing about him surprised you anymore.
"Get out, I need to dress," you said as you slid out of bed and grabbed your towel from the rack.
He scoffed, stood, and then walked straight to you, wrapping his arms around you from behind.
"Oh, come on. You really want to chase me out after I've already seen everything?" he growled teasingly into your ear.
You shoved him off instantly.
"That was with consent, boo. Now I'm not consenting. Move along, peaches." You laughed and opened the door, lifting your eyebrows in a silent demand.
He pouted dramatically but walked out.
"Hurry up before Mom sees you," you whispered loudly, and he immediately sped up.
You smacked his butt as he passed, making him stumble out the door. You shut it behind him—leaving him outside, trying to deal with the very obvious problem in his pants.
You turned to the mirror, tied your towel tighter, and breathed out.
"Now let's get ready," you told yourself, bolting toward the bathroom.