Dire {h.s.}

23

Ava Manakova

The little girl stands from afar in the middle of the dark hall, staring back at me. She looks familiar, but not enough for me to recognize her at all.

"Who are you?" I ask,

She sNiall, but when I expect it to be haunting, it's more comforting. A dimple carves in each of her cheeks and her smile is rather wide and so familiar––Harry's smile, she has it. Who is this little girl?

"Your daughter, of course." she answers in a small voice, tilting her head. A peek of dim light shines over her, highlighting her dark curls. There's no way this is my daughter, if anything, it's Harry's. They look identical.

"She's right." a voice I know all too well says from behind me, and I nearly burst out in tears before turning around to meet Jade face to face again.

I can't help myself when I run over to her in a hurry and hug her, feeling her warmth once again as she hugs me back––

Her body begins to grow cold, and rather quickly. I stand away from the hug to look at her,

"Jade?" I ask, but she stares at me with big eyes filled with horror, and before I can question it, the trail of blood escapes from her eyes. I scream in terror, taking a step back as I watch streams of dark blood escape her body, before watching her fall to the floor unconscious.

"Jade!"

I turn around to see if the little girl saw anything, but I'm shocked to see that she's gone––

BANG

I whip my body around at the loud gunshot, dropping to the floor in safety as I cover my head. The dark hall only grows darer, so much so that when I open my eyes, I can't tell if I have or not. The room is pitch black, and not a single thing can be seen from around me.

"Av! Av!" I hear Jade scream, and I look up from the floor to find her standing above me, blood traveling down her neck and covering her face. She looks straight from a horror movie.

"Jade?"

"Remember, the only escape is to end up like us..." she says hauntingly, "There's no way to outlive your destiny, Ava."

"What are you talking about?" I ask,

She laughs maliciously, "You mean you don't know?"

"What do I not know?"

She takes a beat of silence to recollect her thoughts. "What do you think they are gonna do to you when they're done with you, huh?"

"Jade, why are you being like this? You're scaring me––"

She clicks her tongue, "Oh Av, poor little Av. You'll find out that they're just using you, and you'll end up dead just like the rest of us!"

"Stop!" I scream, covering my ears to avoid her words as I crash my back against the wall and slide down to my knees.

"Dead!" she repeats, "dead, dead, dead."

"Stop it!" I yell, crying harder at the torture.

"Ava," a voice echoes, invading my mind with its call.

"Ava!"

"Ava––"

I spring my eyes open and inhale deeply, so sharp it's loud enough for everyone in the house to hear. Harry's face hovers over mine, and daylight breaks across the ceiling above him as he drills his big green eyes into mine.

"Finally, for fucks sakes." He says under his breath, sitting back down next to me.

I almost forgot that I came to Harry's room last night.