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(𝐒𝟏) 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟒𝟔

May be a long chapter.

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𝟏ˢᵗ 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖.

𝐈 take a deep breath. "I-.." I trail off for a moment. "..I should've told you this yesterday.. or well- earlier today.." I tell them in a voice just slightly above a whisper, so it was enough for each of them to hear me. They all look at me confused.

"What do you mean?" Ashlyn asked with a raised eyebrow. I bite my lip for a moment as i then sigh.

"I can't sleep at all anymore." I state.

They look at me more puzzled. "What do you mean you can't sleep anymore? Do you have trouble sleeping?" Taylor asked both worried and concerned.

"No- Like-.." I sigh and rub my temple. "I can't sleep anymore, because.. when i fell asleep in the hospital.. i got sent back to the phantom dimension." I say as i run my hands through my hair, a nervous habit i picked up a while back.

All of them look at me with wide eyes.

"What do you mean? I thought we only are transported to the phantom dimension at midnight?" Tyler asked in shock.

"I know! I thought so too. I guess we were wrong." I say as i sigh.

"Wait, so did the time also stop when you went back into the phantom dimension when you slept?" Aiden asked with curiosity in his voice.

I shake my head. "No, it didn't. It was just like if i was asleep. That's not it either.." Logan looked at me more concerned. "What do you mean, 'that's not it either'..?"

I take a moment and release a heavy breath. "I couldn't wake up on my own. Someone had to wake me up."

There was a long pause. "..You couldn't wake up by yourself?.." Aiden asked me with wide eyes. I nod in conformation. Everyone's eyes widen in horror.

"..This.. this can be really bad.." Logan states. Everyone nods in agreement.

"Wait, (Your name) who woke you up?" Ashlyn asked me curiously. "Oh, one of the nurses. She was coming in to check on me and saw that my heart rate was irregular and shook me to wake me up." I tell her. She nods in understanding.

"Well, we should relax for now. I know it feels uneasy knowing this. But, if we can wake (Your name) up by just shaking her we should be okay." Taylor says as she sighs in relief.

The tension in the air slowly disappears. Tyler then grabs his guitar and hands it to Ben. "Here." He tells him.

Ben takes the guitar from Tyler's hands. "You still remember the cords, right? Do i need to go over them one more time?" Tyler asks him as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Ashlyn, how also had her arms crossed over her chest stares at him. Tyler stares at her as he sweatdrops. "..What?" He asked her.

"..You've become less of a jerk lately." Ashlyn states. "Was that supposed to be a compliment?" Tyler asked as he furrows his eyebrows slightly.

"I guess." Ashlyn tells him as she shrugs. "It was nice of you to show him how to play happy birthday since he couldn't sing it. You didn't seem like the type to play guitar." Ashlyn adds on. I nod in agreement.

"..I'm not, but i do know a few songs our dad taught us. Happy birthday just happened to be one of 'em." Tyler tells her. I give him a small smile.

"Then maybe next time we can hear you play something for us?" I suggest. His expression slightly softens and he shrugs. "Maybe."

He then turned to Logan. "Anyway, how much time is left?"

"Um.. About two minutes." Logan tells him. Aiden looks at Ashlyn. "We're still going out of town tonight, right?" He asked.

Ashlyn nods. "Yeah, since that's what Logan suggested we do."

Tyler and Taylor go to the left side of the bus and sleep in the first seats. Logan barely in front of them in his tire. I was beside his tire as i bring my knees up to my chest.

On the right side of the bus, Ashlyn was sitting in the first seat. Ben and Aiden were on the couch that was on the side.

The clock then beeps and our surrounding shift.

𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐏.

All of us then gather around the jeep as we review everything we had and were going to do.

"Was that the rest of the backup supplies?" Ashlyn asked Aiden. "Yup!" He replied happily. "Then we're good to go." She says.

She then looks at me then at the twins. "Twins, is it okay for (Your name) to sit in between y'all? It would've been better if the new backseat of the jeep had been here but it's not and her shoulder isn't healed yet." She explains to them.

Both of them nod. "Yeah! We'll take care of (Your name)! Right Tyler?" Taylor asks her brother as she smile and puts a hand on my arm for comfort.

Tyler nods in conformation.

Ashlyn nods and tells us to get into the car minus Aiden. Once we get in Ashlyn looks back at us. "Everyone has their flashlights ready?" She asks.

We all nod. "Y-yeah." Taylor says in a nervous voice. Ashlyn nods and looks at Aiden who was standing besides the car.

"Alright, you know what to do, right? Close the gate after we're out and then run to-" She gets cut off by Aiden. "-To the other door. Wait for you to honk, and then bolt to the jeep. I got it don't worry." Aiden reassures her with a smile as he spins his dagger in his hand.

"..Okay, be careful.." Ashlyn tells him as she sighs. "Yep!" Aiden tells her as he smiles.

Ashlyn then steps on the gas peddle and drives off to the side of the graveyard. Ashlyn then honks. Aiden then bolts from the door and runs to the jeep. He jumps in and slams the door.

Ashlyn proceeds to drive off. "Are they following?" Ashlyn asks Logan.

"Y-yeah, but they aren't keeping up." Logan tells her.

"Okay, Logan, we're driving about two hours right? To the next town?" Ashlyn asked to confirm. Logan nods.

"Yes. Me and my grandparents go there often to the antique shops, so i'm familiar with the location and how to get there. I'm not sure if it'll be far enough away, but i think it's a good place for us to start off." Logan tells her.

Ashlyn nods and continues to drive. It passed thirty minutes and Aiden began to talk.

"Ashlyn, it's been thirty minutes of silence. Can i 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 play some music if something?" Aiden asks as he slightly whines.

"No, Aiden. We need to stay focused." Ashlyn tells him sternly.

"Once you pass the school, you'll take a right." Logan tells Ashlyn. "Okay." Ashlyn replies with a nod and looks at the road. I could see from the rear mirror she seemed puzzled about something as she knits her eyebrows together.

'I'm guessing she's also feeling uneasy about how smoothly things have been thus far.' I think to myself.

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Word count; 1185
May 13ᵗʰ, 2025
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EDIT;
Word count; 1210
June 19ᵗʰ, 2024

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