Merge

prologue

It was a rainy night.

She stood in the middle of the street, drenched from head to toe, looking far into what may have been the end of the never-ending road. It was dark and the only lights were from the tall scattered lampposts; spotlights that illuminated various parts of the scene. A few cars were parked on the sides of the one way, cobbled street that was lined with small houses making the place look as if it had been plucked from a movie set.

She felt rooted to her spot, not minding the way her white dress stuck to her figure as the rain continued to assault the night. She knew she was waiting for something or someone in the distance, but she didn't know what or who this might be.

She waited for a long time until at last, she saw two figures, a man and a little girl, huddled together under the comfort of a small black umbrella as they crossed the street. The man was hugging the girl to his side as if to protect her from the harsh droplets of rain before them.

Time slowed and a number of events happened in seconds. The man suddenly looked straight at her and she furrowed her brows, questioning if he was looking at her or not. But as she stared on, she realized that he wasn't looking at her, but looking through her. So she turned around and saw two speeding cars crash at the intersection behind her.

She didn't know why she didn't hear the cars engines and the sound of the crash as they collided into one. She knew this was odd because she could hear how the rain went pitter patter, and how the leaves of the trees rustled against the howling winds. But she completely forgot about this oddity when she heard the piercing scream of the little girl as one of the cars came tumbling towards them.

She braced herself and closed her eyes as the car went through her figure, just like how you would imagine a ghost going through walls. She knew this would not be the case for the two lives behind her, dreading the moment this car would hit them as it had done with the now flipped over SUV. So she didn't turn back around. She stayed rooted in her spot, eyes closed, dress clinging to her sides, waiting for this nightmare to end.

She heard the sickening crack of bones and the gush of blood as it all happened behind her in the rainy, dark evening. As she expected, the man and the little girl who were crossing the street so mundanely were hit by the tumbling car. This moment was what she had been expecting.

Then she woke up.