WITCH - ARA

Twenty

I wake up on the cold floor, my body aching. My vision's a blur, the world around me spinning as I blink, trying to make sense of where I am. The last thing I remember... Ava.The porch. The bottle falling.

And that thing-that woman crawling on the ceiling.

I rub my eyes hard, willing the fog in my head to clear. I sit up, my breath shaky, trying to process everything, but it's like trying to piece together a shattered mirror. Where's Ava? What happened to her?

My heart lurches. "Ava..." I whisper into the silence. There's no answer. I stand on unsteady legs, forcing myself to move despite the fear twisting in my gut. I stumble to the door and look outside. Nothing. No sign of her. No sign of the thing that attacked me. It's like she vanished into thin air.

I'm panicking now, my mind racing. Where could she be? That creature-what even was that? I feel sick to my stomach, every shadow in the room stretching, creeping, making me jump.

Without knowing what else to do, I fumble for my phone, my hands trembling so badly it nearly slips from my grasp. There's only one person I can think of who might understand what's going on. Someone who knows more about these things.

Keith.

I hit his number and press the phone to my ear, pacing in short, desperate circles. Each ring feels like an eternity, my heart pounding harder with every second. Come on, pick up.

Finally, his voice crackles through the line. "Blaze?"

I'm already choking on my words, my chest tight and my breath shallow. "Keith... I-I don't know what to do. Ava... she's gone. She-she disappeared, and there was this thing, this... woman on the ceiling, and now Ava's just-" My voice breaks, and I collapse against the wall, sliding down until I'm sitting on the floor, clutching the phone like it's the only thing keeping me grounded.

"Blaze, slow down." Keith's voice is calm, steady. Too calm for what I'm telling him. "Take a breath. What happened?"

I try to pull myself together, but everything is crumbling around me. "We were outside, and I went inside to get water, but when I came back, Ava was gone. I heard this scream, and when I went back inside, there was this thing crawling on the ceiling, and it-it attacked me. And now she's gone, Keith. I don't know where she is. I don't know what to do." My words are a frantic mess, spilling out faster than I can catch them.

He's silent for a moment, processing everything I just said. "Blaze, listen to me. It sounds like something dark is at work here. I need you to stay calm. I'm on my way, okay? Stay where you are."

But I can't. I can't calm down. My hands are shaking uncontrollably, and tears blur my vision as the weight of everything presses down on me. Ava's gone. Silas is dead. And it's all my fault. I'm stuck here, crying, useless.

I press my back harder against the wall, curling into myself, wishing I could disappear. My mind races back to that night with Silas, the way I couldn't save her either. I failed her, and now I've failed Ava too. The guilt is like a poison, sinking deep into my bones.

"It's my fault," I whisper, more to myself than to Keith. "It's all my fault."

"Blaze, don't do that," Keith says sharply through the phone. "Don't start blaming yourself. You couldn't have known this would happen."

But his words barely register. I'm too far gone, lost in my own panic, my body trembling, my breath coming in shallow gasps. Tears fall freely now, and I feel like I'm drowning in everything I couldn't control. Silas. Ava. Everything.

I stay pressed against the wall, trapped in my own spiraling thoughts, waiting for Keith to come-praying that somehow, he'll have the answers I desperately need.