Behind the Gate

Chapter 7

Once we got the message that I was good to go, I hopped off the hospital bed, feeling a little queasy. Eventually I got my balance and felt a little energetic. We all headed out to the car and headed to Tia's house. For the whole trip, we were talking about what I saw in the vision and I kept on thinking about the dream and what it meant.

"Celine, what's wrong?" Synthia asked me, noticing my facial expressions.

"I'll tell you once we get to the house,"

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Right when we got settled in Tia's room, I plopped onto her bed and sighed.

"I had this dream when I 'passed away' and it was really weird,"

"Continue," Celina spoke up.

I sat up, "Apparently, I went out to my car to get something and the monster came up to me but didn't try to attack me. He stood there and I asked him what he wanted and he raised his hand and pointed to the floor. I looked in that area and in blood was written the words 'YOUR FRIENDS, THEN YOU.'"

"Wait, so you're saying that the beast wants us now? Why?" Synthia stated. We all sat there and thought about it for a while.

"I know why he said that," Tia piped up, "You know how the beast got annoyed of us shining the flashlight on it?"

"Yea, why?" Celina questioned.

"Well, all of Celine's backup is her friends, which is us. Without us, she's defenseless and it would be easier to attack her,"

"Oh, great. The last thing I need is all my friends gone. It's all my fault," I admitted.

"It's ok, Celine. It's not your fault that the beast wants to kill us. We'll be by your side no matter what," Celina stated.

"Besides, did you do anything to hurt it?" Tia stated.

"I don't even know at this point."

"Well, no matter what you did, like Celina said, we're staying on your side the whole time," Synthia insisted.

"Ok, but what if, God forbid, something happens during the night?" I asked them.

"We'll...," Tia thought.

"...try our best to stay awake and we'll wake each other up if we try to fall asleep," Celina finished.

"Alright then, what are we gonna do know?" Synthia asked.

"I guess we're just gonna stay awake and hope for the best," I sighed

So we told Tia's mom the plan and she agreed with us. It was 11 at night and we went out to the corner store to get some snacks to keep us awake. We got a few of those Five Hour Energy shots and some bags of spicy chips, like Takis.

Once we made it back in the house, we set up a tent made of blankets and chairs in Tia's room. We took all our snacks and pillows (for comfort) inside with us. Tia brought in string lights so we can see because of how dark it was. She managed to coil it around the chairs  and between the blankets inside the makeshift tent. Her mom was up too, but in her room, in case something happens.

"So what are we gonna do in the morning?" I asked in a low tone.

"I guess we're just gonna live normal lives but try not to die early," Tia replied.

So for the rest of the night, we just sat there eating Takis and making TikTok videos. We also played Truth or Dare, but nothing involving summoning a demon or something like that. But the whole time I was thinking if I should even be alive.

" Celine is everything good?" Tia asked

"I don't know what to do with life anymore. I think I should just pack my bags and say goodbye."

"Wait do you mean that physically like leaving the house or like metaphorically like towards death?" Tia asked me.

"No, metaphorically."

"Don't say that about yourself! I promise we will get through this together," Synthia exclaimed.

"I don't think so, Synthia. It's either you guys or me. And I'm taking that sacrifice," I told her.