Chapter V

Grace walked down a foggy road, assuming it was very late. The area felt all too familiar even though she had no idea of where she was. The moon had risen to the highest peak in the sky and beaming it's light into one area through the clouds and fog. She decided to follow it in hopes of figuring out where she was. The temperature felt null, but the forested area surrounding the road felt all too vivid. Her breath visibly escaped her lips, yet it didn't feel cold.

She continued to follow the road to meet with what the moon was shining down on. When she reached the edge of the road, a steep hill met her shoes. She felt a rise of heat against her skin and she turned her eyes to look at a burning vehicle at the bottom of the hill. Her eyes squinted, in shock of the sight. She searched for her cellphone in her pockets to dial 911 but it wasn't in any of them. "Shit.." she murmured as she heard something gasping for air. They were struggling to breath like their lungs had collapsed. Her eyes drifted around the area to see someone on fire trying to crawl up the hill, extending their burning arms up to her.

"Oh my god!" Grace hurried down the hill to help the person to immediately freeze in her tracks. The person burning alive looked so familiar. She stepped closer then began to quiver, "G-Gray..?!" She quickly ran to his side, still gasping for air, he looked at her with his blue eyes.

"You...left...me.." He sounded angry and cold before grasping her two forearms. He squeezed so tight that she could feel the fire radiate to burn her skin. "Gray I'm sorry!" She screamed with tears welling in her eyes, "I'm so sorry!" The fire began to engulf her arms as he wouldn't let go, he whispered "Get..out.." he slowly stopped breathing.

"No no no, please don't go." She screamed as loud as she could. Her head whipped around, hoping someone would be there. "Help! Somebody please help me!" She fell to her knees, "Please don't go."

With a large gasp, Grace sat straight up in her bed. Clutching her chest, she began to cry uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry.." She whispered. She had the same dream each night, and each one felt as if she didn't remember the last.

Her eyes searched the room for where she had last placed her diary. Spotting it on the daybed, she retrieved it quickly and retracted back into her bed. Her hands wrote shakily but she was able to form the words visibly on the paper. Her diary most consisted of a written redo of her dream but when she compared them, something was always different. The weather or the way Gray touched her was always different in each dream.

The entire summer, she spent most of her days on the couch of a therapy office only to be silent the entire session. Her parents decided to send her to a psychiatrist they knew well to help her cope with the increasing feeling of guilt she felt.

Ever since the day of the funeral she has suffered from multiple hallucinations that were sometimes each day. The days that she didn't hallucinate Gray were peaceful and quiet, almost as if she missed the brother haunting her.

She hasn't really breathed a word since the funeral, not even to her parents. After the horrid show she put on for everyone, her mother kind of shut her out. Almost as if she was disappointed with her actions of grieving. Grace felt disappointed in herself too. She was sure someone was in that casket but Jackson opened it for her after everyone left to reveal nothing there.

It was a long and slow three months with her sanity slipping away a little each day. She hadn't spoke to her friends from school all summer and ignored their texts and calls. She had no intentions of reaching out to anyone, not even Jackson. The boy who really cared for her feelings because Gray cared. They grew up together and she just cut him out of her life after the funeral.

She wiped her eyes and glanced over at the alarm clock that stamped 6:00 a.m. With a sigh, she stood up from the bed to go to the bathroom.

As she turned on the light, she noticed her body drenched in sweat like she had been standing under the sun for too long. She turned on the faucet and splashed cool water over her face and grabbed a towel to dry.

When she put the towel back, she noticed discoloration on her forearms. She blinked several times, turning her arms from side to side. There were bruise like markings on her forearms that looked like grasped hands and fingers. Remembering her dream, she stumbled backwards feeling queasy. What was this, she thought.

She didn't break her gaze with the markings, thinking that she was hallucinating and that they would go away. But they didn't. She shut her eyes tightly, hoping it would go away.

When she opened her eyes, they were gone. Feeling relieved, she put her arms at her sides and looked back up to the mirror to see Gray standing behind her and on fire.

"Gray?" She furrowed her brows.

His jaw dropped open to an abnormal size and began screaming like a siren would. Suddenly, the bathroom began to fill with smoke and fire.

Grace screamed, stumbling out of the bathroom and slamming the door shut before falling to the carpeted floor.

"It's not real." Her breathing started to heave as if she was suffocating from the smoke and she clinged her fingers to her throat trying to gasp for air.

Her heart raced with fear as the bathroom door knob shook back and forth as if something was trying to get out of there.

"Gracie.." it was Gray's voice. He sounded so sweet and so normal but there was an echoed ring to it that didn't seem like him. "Grace." He whimpered again, turning the door knob.

Trying to reach for air, her eyes widened and she quickly scrambled herself against the door. She hadn't felt a hallucination this real since the funeral and it only scared her more.

"Gray?" She coughed out, regaining her lungs ability. She placed her hands on the wooden door, listening intently.

"Why.." He softly spoke, dragging his nails down the door that made her cringe. She panicked and quickly grabbed the door knob to get to her brother.

"Gray!" She yelled as she swung the door open to find nothing and no one there.

There was no fire, no smoke and no brother on the other side of that door. It was a normal bathroom.