Chapter Eight - Crash

June 10th, 2016


                 The next morning, Carla woke up with a stuffed nose and a sore throat. It was barely a surprise to her that she had somehow managed to catch a cold; she had stood in the pouring rain for half an hour the previous day, and had made no effort to dry herself off after she had arrived home. 

"So no school for you today, huh?" Her dad asked when she had dragged herself downstairs to let him know. He had been sitting in the kitchen, lazily reading over the newspaper with a mug of coffee sitting on the table. In the living room, Carla could hear the television playing some sort of commercial for a cleaning product.

"No," She mumbled in response, sniffling. Outside the window, the sky was still gray and raining. Lovely summer weather. 

"Okay, then I'll call the school," he replied, placing the newspaper down and reaching for the phone. "Get back to bed, sicko."

She stuck her tongue out at him, then silently crept back upstairs. As she curled back into bed, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as she remembered the promise she had made with Mallory. Carla was the one who forced her to make the promise, and now it was Carla herself who was breaking it. "What a mess." She grumbled into her pillow, her voice sore and crackling. She pulled out her phone to text Mallory; knowing her, she was probably still waiting at the old park for Carla so that they could walk together. 

-sorry, can't come to school today...i think i got a cold-

She didn't wait for a response, and with a sigh, she placed her phone on her night table as soon as the message was delivered. And almost immediately after her head hit her pillow, she drifted back to sleep.


And she dreamed.


In the dream, she was standing on the beach, the sky the same bright orange as the day she had met Mallory. But the blonde was nowhere to be seen. Carla lied down on the warm sand and stared at the sky, seagulls circling above. She stared up at the sunset streaked sky until it faded into the night sky, but just as the stars started to fade into her vision, a face popped into her line of vision.

"Mallory!" Carla gasped, but her friend looked different. She looked the same as when they had first met; her hair was a little wilder, tamed only by the messy braid that hung over her shoulder. Mallory was wearing her favorite dress at that time, white and flowing with teal trims, and that straw sunhat. She was bending over Carla, her expression unreadable.

Carla scrambled to her feet to face her friend, realizing that she too appeared younger. She was wearing her favorite shirt when she was twelve, and her hair was brushing her shoulders, instead of sitting at her usual chin length. Instinctively, she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Mallory, where have you been?" Carla laughed nervously. Mallory's expression was still unreadable, a little sad if Carla looked closely. Suddenly, the world around them began to darken, as though time was going faster for the night to come. Mallory didn't answer Carla's question, and instead walked right past Carla, their shoulders brushing slightly. "Mallory?" She asked, confused. It was almost like she hadn't even seen Carla. 

Her friend walked towards the water like a zombie, her eyes vacant. Carla could only watch as she approached the waves, then stopped. It was almost as if she physically couldn't dip her feet in the water.

"Mallory, what's wrong?" 

"Carla, do you believe in ghosts?" Mallory asked quietly. Carla suddenly remembered Jesse asking the same question. Those were Jesse's words. As she recalled that conversation all those years ago, Mallory repeated the words that Jesse had said. "Did you know that some people call Sunflower Shores the town of ghosts?" 

Carla hesitated. Mallory turned to face her, but Carla's eyes were still adjusting to the dark. She couldn't make out her friends face.

"Carla," Mallory said again, her voice soft. The sound of the crashing waves started to become louder, drowning out any other sound. But her voice still rang clearly. "Do you believe in ghosts?" The waves became louder. Louder. They sounded like explosions, gunfire.

"Carla."

She closed her eyes tightly, covering her ears to block the dizzying sound. But she could still hear Mallory's voice.

"Carla."

She tried to open her eyes again, but they wouldn't open. She felt like her head was going to burst.

"Carla."

She could hear the screaming of gulls.

"Carla, wake up." 

A different voice calling her name startled her, enough for her to sit up abruptly. But she wasn't on the beach anymore. She was in her bedroom, her curtains drawn, a pile of blankets falling around her. The sound of the ocean once again became distant and quiet. It was a dream. A small amount of light flooded into her room from where her door was open. Her father stood in her doorway.

"Carla." He repeated. She glanced over at him. He had a strange expression on his face, like he was about to say something that he didn't want to say. Strangely enough, his eyes were damp. Carla couldn't remember the last time she had seen her father cry; probably her mother's funeral. She didn't like seeing that expression.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice rough from the sore throat. The dream had left her with an uneasy feeling, and the strange look on her father's face only made that feeling grow.

"Carla, something..." He trailed off, biting his lip. "Something horrible has happened."

Carla was silent, waiting for him to continue. The feeling of dread kept growing.

"Carla, something horrible has happened to Mallory."

The world seemed to freeze, taking on a strange, distorted feeling. Her father was speaking words, but her brain just couldn't process them, it felt like he was speaking gibberish. The sounds coming out of his mouth held no meaning, and she couldn't understand them. They didn't feel real.

"She was walking to school."

This wasn't real.

"And there was...there was a driver."

This couldn't be real.

"He wasn't paying attention while he was driving, and she was crossing the street."

This had to be a dream. There was no way, no way Mallory could have-

"They tried to rush her to the hospital, but by the time they got there, she had already-"

Died.

Author's Note

oh dear.