You have been trapped in the inescapable net of ruin by your own want of sense - Aeschylus
Jake slowly opened his eyes and saw Claire asleep, but he didn't see South anywhere.
"South?"
I didn't hear a response. I got up and looked around. She wasn't anywhere. I hoped she might've left a note, but not even that was in sight.
"Claire!"
"I'm not sleeping! Jake?"
"South's gone."
"What do you mean gone?"
"She's not here."
"Ok, she probably just left a note saying she went out and she'll be back."
"She didn't. There's no note and she's not here!"
"Calm down. I'm sure she's somewhere and fine."
"With what's been going on?"
"Call her dad then."
Jake rushed to his phone and called Michael.
"Jake?"
"Michael, is South with you?"
"Yeah, but we have a problem."
"What happened?"
"Well, South was able to find the next victim and we warned her in time. It was Heather."
"Heather? Heather Waters?"
"AKA your ex-girlfriend. Apparently she's unfinished business. Don't worry, I called her and warned her. She's coming here to stay safe."
"But?"
"Um, South. She's...the machine broke."
"The machine broke?"
"Yeah. And without it we...we can't bring South back. Laura said not even music can bring her back."
"So South, she's..."
"She's stuck in her dream."
I looked over at Claire who had a confused expression on her face.
"Send Heather to South's dorm room. I have an idea on how to wake South up."
I hung up the phone and looked at Claire.
"Stay here. A girl named Heather will show up here. You need to stay with her and make sure she stays here. I'm going to the hospital."
"Is South ok?"
"No. But I'm gonna save her."
Something felt off. I didn't feel like this was just a dream. Everything felt real. I moved around the room maybe to find a way to snap out of this. I then tripped and fell, scraping my knee. I saw blood. That shouldn't happen, right? Being able to feel pain and see blood. Ok, now I know something is wrong. I kept moving until I found a locked door. I was surprisingly able to bust the lock off and open the door. I walked in and I saw a woman lying on the floor with her back turned to me. Her ankle was chained and I even heard her crying.
"Excuse me? Are you ok?"
The woman turned to face me and I was surprised.
"Mom?"
"Hi, honey."
"How- What- Is this real?"
"It's real."
"But you're dead."
"I am."
"Does that mean I'm dead?"
YOU ARE READING
17 Dreams
Genç KurguSouth Diamond is now at college in a new city. She thinks she's finally able to start a new life, thinking she finally escaped her past. But when she starts to have dreams about people and they turn up dead, South now knows that she didn't get the...
