The gentle chirping of birds stirred her from sleep. The dull strain in her neck reminded her she had slept in the wrong position. She recalled sleeping off while watching a channel. She looked towards the television, yet the screen was dark. She tried to remember if she had turned it off herself, but that deepened the headache she was having. Not to dwell much on that, she rose to tidy the house. She hasn't heard from Alex since that day. She paused and called his number, but he wasn't picking.
"Well, he might still be busy." she said softly as she dropped her phone on the bed. After her chores, she went into the bathroom to take her bath. She went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for herself. She eats on the dining table while she scrolls through the news feed on her phone. Music in the background was her only companion. Mira was once a cheerful lady but after the accident, her spirit was shattered, leaving her existence hollow. Her friends deserted her since she couldn't afford the basic needs. The only person that stood by her was Alex, and she can't afford to lose him.
"It's been a while since I heard from Alex. He couldn't even drop a message," she muttered as she carried the dishes to the kitchen sink. After washing them, she headed towards the attic.
Her eyes fell on the laptop. It was opened.
"Wait…. didn't I close this yesterday?" she whispered, frowning. She pressed the power button, but the screen stayed dark. The battery was low.
"That is strange. I charged it yesterday. What is going on?" she wondered aloud.
Scanning the room, she spotted the charger lying on the floor beside the shelf. She bent down, picked it up, and plugged it into the socket.
The laptop boosted for some minutes before it came up. She scrolled through the files and clicked on her work. As she started writing, the system went blank.
"What is happening to this system, and I didn't even save what I typed." she exclaimed, frustration tightening her voice. She stood up angrily and went down the stairs. She went into the bedroom and laid on her bed. Sleep engulfed her in few minutes. In her dream, she was running away from a human-like creature. Its shadow stretched impossibly long across the ground, chasing her through the same woods she called home. Branches clawed at her arms as she stumbled forward, breath ragged, heart pounding louder. As she kept running, she found herself circling endlessly, her feet pounding the same path again and again. Her house was ahead, close yet unreachable, its windows glinting like watchful eyes. It seemed to stare straight at her, mocking her desperation, laughing at her misery with every turn she took. She looked back; the creature was closer to her. Her feet struck a rock and fell down. As the human-like creature bent toward her, ready to carry her, she suddenly woke up.
"What is the meaning of this?" she said shakily as beads of sweat dropped from her face. She pressed a trembling hand to her chest, trying to steady her breadth, but the silence around her deepened the dread. She looked outside and saw that it was already dark. No sooner had she sat down than the lights began to flicker. Her heart leapt to her throat, as if it wanted to escape. Recalling what happened in the dream, she couldn't help but shiver. She sat huddled by the side of her bed in the darkness, whispering prayers that the lights would return. As the lights came up, she looked everywhere for her phone. Her memory struck, she had left it upstairs, abandoned on the attic desk. The fear of what just occurred clouded her mind. She remained huddled and closed her eyes. Around 10pm, the sound of her phone pierced the building. She stayed frozen, refusing to calm the ringing phone. The noise became unbearable, yet she clung to her spot, as though answering would invite something she wasn't ready to face.
The chirping of the birds and the gentle rustling of leaves by the gentle morning breeze woke her up. She stood up and looked around the bedroom before moving to the sitting room. Everywhere was silent, as though the previous night left no trace. She climbed up the stairs to the attic; she found her phone resting on the table beside her laptop. She pressed the power button, uncertain if it will respond. To her surprise, the laptop came up, it was fully charged. She scrolled through her work and discovered it exactly as she had left it, every word intact, even those she hadn't remembered to save. She closed the laptop gently and snatched her phone from the table, she closed the door as she stepped out. She sat on the couch in the sitting room and dialed Alex number. The screen flashed 'line busy' but that doesn't stop her from trying multiple times. On the fourth attempt, the call finally connected.
"Hello Alex, there is something wrong with this place." she said as soon as the call connected.
"What do you mean? Have you used your drugs?" he asked referring to the incident that caused her to be on medication.
She said angrily, "What do you mean?" she hated being reminded of it. The truth was, she had stopped taking the drugs after noticing improvement. They were meant to end the hallucinations. She doesn't want Alex to see through her, so she ended the call abruptly.
"Am I really hallucinating? She asked herself. "No, I am not. I know what I saw."
Her phone rang, knowing it was Alex calling back, she didn't pick the calls. He doesn't believe her.