The skeletal figures danced at the edge of my vision, their emerald and crimson orbs leaving trails of light in the darkness.

I blinked hard, my hands tightening on the steering wheel as I tried to focus on the road ahead. These weren't hallucinations—I was sure of that now. They'd been haunting my dreams for weeks, and now they were bleeding into reality.

Just what I needed.

As if getting kicked out of college and kicking Phillip to the curb in one evening weren't enough of a clusterfuck.

The speedometer of the rusty minivan my parents left behind crept past ninety, the engine protesting with a whine that matched the panic clawing at my chest. Chicago's outskirts blurred past, streetlights creating a disorienting strobe effect that made the shadows seem alive.

My phone buzzed. Kat's face lit up the screen, her smile a stark contrast to the turmoil churning inside me. I hesitated, then answered.

"Khalida? Where the hell are you?" Kat's voice was tense, a mix of worry and exasperation that only an older sister could perfect.

"Just out for a drive," I replied, aiming for nonchalance and missing by a mile. "Needed some air."

"At 2 AM?" Kat wasn't buying it. "Phillip called. He told me about the letter from the university."

My grip tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles turning white. Leave it to Phillip to play the concerned boyfriend while conveniently forgetting to mention the slap that sent me running out the door.

"Yeah, well, Phillip can go fuck himself," I muttered, wanting to tell Kat the truth of what was really going on in my life, but embarrassment kept it inside. “He needs to stay out of it.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. When Kat spoke again, her voice was softer. "Kal, what's really going on? This isn't like you. You were valedictorian, for Christ's sake. What happened?"

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I laughed; a hollow sound that surprised even me. "Life happened, Kat. Turns out being good at high school doesn't mean jack shit in the real world."

"Don't say that. You're brilliant, you just need—"

"What?" I cut her off, anger flaring hot and bright. "Another tutor? Another chance? More disappointment?" The car swerved slightly, and I fought to keep it steady.

"Kallie," Kat's voice trembled, "you're scaring me. These mood swings, the nightmares you mentioned... Please, just come over. We can figure this out together."

I blinked hard, trying to focus as the road curved sharply. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the skeletal figures reach out, its bony fingers leaving trails of emerald light in the air. I jerked the wheel, overcorrecting.

"I don't know if we can fix this one, Kat," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course we can," she insisted. "Remember when Mom and Dad left for Mexico? We got through that together. We can get through anything."

The mention of our parents sent a fresh wave of pain through me. I glanced at the speedometer—ninety-five now. "That was different. I was different."

"Kal, please. Just tell me where you are. I'll come get you."

I opened my mouth to respond, but the words died in my throat. One of the skeletal figures had materialized in the hood of my car, its empty eye sockets fixed on me.

"What the fu—" I started to say, but then the figure's hand plunged through the window, straight into my chest. An icy coldness spread through me, and suddenly, I couldn't feel my hands on the wheel anymore.

The car hit a bump, and the wheel jerked. The tires screeched as we swerved across the road. Panic shot through me, but it was quickly replaced by a cold sense of acceptance. This was it.

It’s what I wanted all along, wasn’t it?

"Kal? What's that noise? What's happening?" Kat was yelling into the phone.

The car spun, the world outside turning into a blur of lights and shadows. Time seemed to slow down, and I watched with a detached fascination as the guardrail came rushing towards us. The skeletal figure turned its head to look at me, and I swore I saw a glimmer of... something in those empty sockets.

"I love you, Sis," I whispered, my voice barely audible over the screeching tires. I dropped the phone as the car slammed into the guardrail.

Metal crunched and glass shattered. As the world spun and darkness closed in, I felt bony fingers intertwine with mine. The last thing I saw before consciousness slipped away was a sea of emerald and crimson orbs, pulsing with an otherworldly light.

And then, nothing.