Page 18 of Midnight Between Us

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Her fingers tangled in my hair.

Her voice, breathless.“Don’t leave me.Take me with you ...”

Then—nothing.

Silence, again.

Then I’m back on the stairs.

I don’t know what’s worse—what shit I can’t remember or listening to the voice begging me not to go.

Now I’m in a hallway.Fluorescent lights buzz overhead, flickering in a rhythm that evokes a sense of panic.The floor has black-and-white tiles, endless and warping at the edges like it’s collapsing in on itself.

There’s a girl up ahead.

Not a child.Just a petite barefoot woman.Hair damp, tangled.She walks slowly, as if she has already given up on being found.

“Wait,” I call out.

My voice cracks.

She doesn’t stop.

I move forward—legs dragging, heavy, as if I’m sinking in tar.The hallway stretches.She grows smaller.

Still walking.

Still leaving.

“Please,” I shout.

She pauses.

I run.Push harder.Everything in me screams for this to end.My breath catches in my throat.

I reach her.

She turns.

It’s not her anymore.Now it’s me.

At least, I think it’s me until the face begins to bleed.

I stumble back, breath catching—mud in my mouth.I’m on the ground now, choking and gagging on dirt.I claw up, nails tearing.The earth shifts just enough to trick me into thinking I can escape—but then swallows me deeper.

I shout.

No one hears.

Hands reach down.

Feminine.They feel familiar.

Her voice again.“You have to stay.You can’t fucking die, you hear me?”

She’s trying to pull me out, fingertips wrapped around my wrist.I want to trust her.I want to believe she can save me.

And I almost do—until she disappears.

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