So... sleepovers are supposed to be fun, right?
Wrong. At least not when you're me.
Maria and Yara were over at my place. My parents had finally gone off on their long-overdue vacation, leaving me behind because—surprise—I'm "still not doing well." As if being stuck with nightmares and a head full of screaming shadows isn't enough, now I'm also their "medical excuse" to skip a holiday with their own daughter.
Anyway, Maria brought popcorn. Yara brought horror movies, because of course she did. We stayed up talking about dumb school drama, crushes we'd never admit to, and how weird my ceiling looked in the dark. It was nice. Comforting, even. For five whole minutes, I thought maybe—just maybe—I could feel normal.
Then it happened again.
I don't remember falling asleep. One second I was lying between my two best friends, warm and safe. The next—I was cold. Alone. And strapped to a chair.
Yeah. Literally strapped. I couldn't move, couldn't wiggle a toe. My arms felt like stone. The place was... wrong. Like it didn't exist in the real world. Like my brain had stitched it together from fear and fog and every scary story I'd ever heard in my life.
Then she walked in.
A woman. Strange, quiet, terrifying without even trying to be. She wasn't old, but she wasn't young either—ageless, maybe. Like someone frozen in time. Her eyes felt like they could rip me open without touching me.
"Where did you see the Bag of Doom?" she asked me, like we were having coffee.
I blinked at her. "What?"
She didn't repeat herself. Just stared.
"Who are you?" I asked. "Where am I? How do you know about the shadows?"
No answers. Not even a blink.
"Why are you asking me these things? Who sent you? What is the Bag of Doom?"
She tilted her head. "You've seen the note. The one that followed you."
My mouth dried up. "How do you—?"
She stepped closer. "Answer my questions. I can help you. I know about the shadows. I know how to make them go away."
I hesitated. Every inch of me wanted to scream, to deny her, to run—even if I was paralyzed.
But the word help echoed too loud in my head.
I'm fifteen. I'm not supposed to be hunted by things I can't see, losing sleep every night, pretending I'm okay in front of people who think I've lost it. I just want to go back to being a regular girl with best friends, bad grades, and a phone addiction.
Is that too much to ask?
So I gave in. I answered her questions—what I remembered about the dream, the note, the weapon, the feeling, the shadows.
She didn't thank me. Didn't nod. She just turned around like she was done.
"Wait!" I shouted. "You said you'd help! You promised!"
She looked over her shoulder. "I said I could. I never said I would."
I froze. "You can't do that. I need answers. You can't just—"
"You're going back now."
"No! Please—please! Just tell me what this is! I'm not crazy! I know what I saw! I don't want to live like this anymore, pretending, lying, being scared of closing my eyes! Please just—" My voice broke. "Just tell me what I did wrong..."
My throat closed. Tears burned my face. I couldn't stop crying, shaking, begging.
She paused.
Turned back to me with something like... sympathy?
Her lips moved just once. "Bye, Piper."
And then—
Gone.
Just like that. The cold, the fog, the chair, her—gone. I was back in my room. In my bed. Between Maria and Yara.
I couldn't stop crying.
Not loud sobs, but the kind of crying that makes your chest hurt, that comes from deep inside where even words can't reach. I curled up, trying to breathe, trying to forget her face, trying to feel human again.
Maria and Yara jolted awake like they'd felt something shift.
"Piper? Hey—hey, it's okay—what happened?" Maria said, panic creeping into her voice.
Yara leaned over, wide-eyed. "Pipes, breathe. Talk to us. Please."
I didn't have words. Just tears. Just shaking. Just that feeling like the whole world was crashing in on me and no one knew but me.
After what felt like hours, my body finally gave up and I stopped crying.
And that's when it happened.
Maria and Yara weren't buying the silence anymore.
"Okay, enough," Yara said sharply. "We've been patient. We've seen you break down. You have to tell us what's going on."
Maria nodded. "Whatever it is—you're not alone. But we can't help you if you won't let us in."
I looked up at them. At the two people I trusted more than anyone.
And for the first time in a long time...
I almost believed maybe I didn't have to carry this alone anymore.
Almost.