i know the signs

Darkness. Thalia was surrounded by complete and utter darkness, an eerie dripping sound coming from somewhere she couldn't specify. Her senses were on guard, her mind running rampant as she felt her breathing grow heavier and heavier.

Finally, her eyes seemed to adjust. She looked around, seeing she was in what looked to be a run-down warehouse. It was hot - extremely hot - and she felt sweat dampening her clothing. She took a step forward, hesitating, as she was unsure of where she was.

Then, Thalia walked forward. She was Thalia Campbell-Rollins - she wasn't afraid of anything (or so she liked to say). Her subconscious seemed to become aware that she was in a dream, and so this diminished any lingering fear within her body.

She grabbed the railing as she descended the creaky steps, immediately regretting the action. The metal was hot - too hot - and it burned the moment her skin came in contact with it. She cried out as she grabbed her hand, seeing it was already a deep red color. "Well, fuck." She whispered to herself, continuing to walk.

Holding her injured hand with her good one, she kept her eyes out as she walked through the abandoned building. Her breathing was heavy, but instead of blaming it on the slight fear creeping back up into her throat, she blamed it on how hot the building was.

Her face was in a stoic expression, her entire body on guard. She was ready to book it at any sign of danger. Despite seemingly aware she was lost in a dream, that didn't stop her from feeling uneasy. Usually, she didn't dream much - if at all. When she did dream, it was nothing like this. This felt real. Too real.

Then, an ear-piercing scream filled her ears. She jumped, her eyes widening as she looked around in shock. She immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction of where the scream came from, but her movements halted as she entered an occupied room.

Thalia froze in the doorway, her hand on the doorframe as she watched a horrifying scene. There, in the middle of the room, a man in a red and green sweater stood. His clothes were dirty - from the brown hat he wore to the brown-black boots on his feet. He had a glove on his right hand, one with razor-sharp knives. 

His skin was badly burned, ugly pink burn scars covering his face to the point you wouldn't even know what he originally looked like. A sadistic smile rested on his face as he stared down, an eerie laugh leaving his chapped lips.

Thalia gripped the doorframe tighter. Usually, when her instincts kicked in - she ran. She booked it and left, not caring who was with her or who she left behind. But for some reason she was stuck where she stood, watching as this man taunted someone.

It was like something straight out of a horror movie. She couldn't tear her eyes away, seemingly mesmerized by something so horrific.

Then, she noticed blood dripping from the blades. A metallic smell filled her nostrils, and she turned her head slightly to see what looked to be someone around her age crouching on the ground. Blood seeped from what looked to be numerous stab wounds, ones matching the horrific-looking man's glove.

She looked further at the person. It was very obviously a teenager but looked to be more of a sophomore instead of a senior. They had short black hair and thick-rimmed glasses, the glasses dirty and broken. Sobs escaped their lips as they attempted to hold the wounds, stopping the blood from oozing.

But they couldn't. One stab and it was more than enough to cause a fatal wound, the small boy collapsing on the floor with a loud thud. Thalia jumped at the thud that echoed through the warehouse, blinking as she seemed to realize what was happening.

Her eyes then traveled back to the man - the horrible, horrible man - who had done this. Tears gathered in her eyes, and she opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Thalia!" 

Thalia gasped as she shot up in bed. Pant after pant left her lips, her fists clutching the bedsheets as she glanced around the room. She swallowed, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of her bedroom. Sweat covered her skin and lingered in her hair, dampening her bedsheets.

After calming her breathing down, she threw the bedding off of her lap and slid off of the bed. She ran a hand through her sweaty hair before opening the bedroom door and taking a look around. Nobody was awake, nobody had heard her nightmare.

Good.

She shut her bedroom door, slumping against it. She looked down, but the sight of her hand caught her attention. Her brows furrowed as she noticed a small red mark - a burn mark. It was the same hand she'd burned in her dream when she'd touched the metal railing. How is this even possible? How did it manage to burn her in real life, not just her nightmare?

Thalia pressed her lips together, pulling herself up off of the door. Her bedroom was hot - or maybe it was just her - but she felt as if she were going to suffocate. She walked to her bedroom window, shoving the curtain aside. She pulled the window up, leaning her body out of it partially so she could feel a gust of the night air.

She looked at the burn again. It wasn't the worst, but it was still uncomfortable. She looked at it with furrowed eyebrows, running her fingers along the red puffy skin.

"Can't sleep?" A voice asked.

Thalia jumped slightly before looking down. Sean stood in front of her window, looking up at her. His curly hair was a mess, and he wore sweats and a hoodie - as if he'd just woken up.

"None of your business," Thalia couldn't help but respond.

"I know," The boy smiled a goofy smile. "What's got you up at this hour?"

"What's got you up?" Thalia retorted, raising an eyebrow. She leaned against the windowsill, ignoring the slight pain from her burned hand.

"Insomnia," Sean murmured. He had what looked to be a wince on his face, but Thalia didn't care to question it. "You uh..." He hesitated, looking around the deserted streets before back up at her. "You want some company?"

Thalia immediately began to say no. That she didn't need any company nor did she want it. She went to tell him off, saying something that would hurt his ego a little bit. But then she realized, that by inviting him in - it'd be breaking one of her parents' many rules. And Thalia loved to break her parents' rules.

"Don't break your leg climbing up," Thalia finally spoke, moving back away from the window.

Sean smiled, his dimple peeking out as he stepped forward. He climbed the siding with ease until he approached her window, pulling himself in and into her bedroom. 

The boy entered her bedroom, immediately taking in every detail he could manage. It was as if he wanted to memorize it - knowing that this was probably a once-in-a-lifetime chance, getting invited into her room like this.

Thalia sat on her bed, leaning her back against the headboard. She studied Sean as he began to walk around her small room, looking at things without touching them. "I like what you've done with the place." He commented, looking at her. He walked over and sat at her desk chair, facing her. "You look tired."

"You look tired," She retorted, copying his words again.

"I am," He admitted. 

Thalia, however, wouldn't admit something like that. Even if it's something as small as admitting she's tired - she wouldn't. It was a sign of weakness, and Thalia was anything but weak. "Well, I'm not."

Sean smiled a brief smile, "Okay." He said. He didn't argue with her, despite knowing by the obvious dark bags under her eyes and the fact that she was up past midnight on a school night she was tired. He let her think he believed her words, even if he knew better. 

He might not know Thalia, but he'd had enough interactions with the girl to know some things. And this blatant lie? Well, this was one of them.

Thalia felt she should say something - anything - but couldn't think of anything to say. She wasn't used to company, or having boys in her bedroom. Usually, in previous events, she would go to the boy's house. But there was more kissing than talking, and she never stayed. She never invited them into her room, and never just sat in each other's presence.

"So, you a natural blonde?" Sean asked, breaking the awkward tension between them.

Thalia's eyes narrowed, "What? No."

"Huh. Interesting," He awkwardly said, rubbing the palms of his hands on his thighs. "I knew that."

"Sure, yeah." She tilted her head, "No. I dyed it and the color's taking too fucking long to fade."

"It looks good," He said. "I mean- in a... in a bad way."

"Thanks... I guess." Thalia said, looking away. This was odd. It was new, and it was odd and she didn't like it. But at the same time, she didn't hate it, and that made her uncomfortable.

"Don't mention it," Sean said, running his fingers through his curly hair. "So what did you think of drama club?"

"It's alright," Thalia softly said. Her tone was softer than it had ever been. She had no energy to be snippy and rude, minus the few snaps she'd already made toward him. Her mind was still reeling from her nightmare, images of the horribly burned man flickering through her mind.

"It's not as bad as I thought it'd be," Sean said, beginning to ramble. "I thought it'd be like- full of dorks and shit but it was actually kind of fun and we haven't even gotten started, you know? The people there - Riley, Angelica, all of them - they kind of made me feel like I belong. Not saying I do, because I don't - I belong with my cool friends or whatever, but-"

Sean's ramble was cut off by the sound of sirens. Thalia's eyes widened as red and blue flashing lights passed by her window, and she shot up from her bed. She looked out of the window to see them stop at a house further down the street.

"What the fuck?" Sean asked, standing behind her.

Thalia's eyes widened and she didn't hesitate to throw on some shoes and a hoodie. Sean looked at her, his eyes wide. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"To figure out what the fuck is going on." Thalia shot him a look, one that said 'Duh?'. She threw open her door, pausing in the doorway. "You coming or not?"

Sean didn't hesitate to follow her. They descended the stairs, where both Lori and Will were in the living room. They were looking out of the window, but the sound of Thalia coming down the stairs caught their attention. Before they could ask her what she was doing their eyes landed on Sean, following behind her like a little puppy dog.

"Who the hell is that?" Lori asked, glancing between Will, Thalia, and Sean.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Thalia's parents," Sean said, smiling a charming smile their way. Thalia didn't respond and instead threw open the front door, making her way down the porch.

Her parents watched in shock as Sean followed behind their daughter, confused looks on their faces. "Was- was that the neighbor boy?" Will asked, looking at Lori.

Thalia ran down the street, her cheeks red from the night wind. Sean followed behind her, almost unable to keep up as they approached the house the ambulance stopped at. Police cars were lingering outside of the house, along with neighbors standing nearby to see what was going on.

She stopped as close as she could, watching with furrowed eyebrows as an older woman sobbed in an older man's chest. Sean stood behind her, watching as well, as the cop solemnly told the woman something.

"They're saying it's suicide." A voice spoke.

Thalia looked over to see a girl she'd never met before. Sean looked at her as well, "What are you talking about Celestia?"

"My mom heard them talking. They're saying he committed suicide." Celestia explained.

Other people gathered around, including Thalia's parents. She let her eyes travel to the house again, watching as a gurney was being led out of the house.

At that moment, Thalia's heart stopped. Despite the white sheet being placed over the body, she could very well see the four bloody prints that seeped through the white fabric. Tears gathered in her eyes as her hand covered her mouth, unable to say something.

It was rare to see such an emotion from the girl. But she couldn't help it. Although the blood was blending together, it almost looked like the four similar wounds she'd witnessed in her dream.

Sean, seeing this, inhaled a sharp breath. He stepped in front of Thalia, preventing her from seeing further. "Hey, let's go, okay? We- we don't need to see this."

Thalia attempted to look around him, but his towering frame prevented her from seeing anything. He gently pushed her away, the girl stumbling over her feet as she tried to stay planted to the ground.

"Come on, Lia, let's go." He softly said. He'd given her a nickname, but she didn't even comment on it like she usually would. She just continued to try and see the crime scene, until it got to a point where his arms were wrapped around her and she was almost climbing over him to look at the horrifying sight.

Thalia wasn't a firm believer in the supernatural or anything. She wasn't someone who believed in coincidence. But she did know one thing - those puncture wounds looked awfully similar to the guy in her dreams.

++

HI YES I KNOW ITS BEEN MONTHSSSS BUT LET ME EXPLAIN;

I GOT A PROMOTION AT MY JOB (WHICH IF U READ MY ANNOUNCEMENTS U KNEW OF THIS) SO IVE BEEN WORKING SO MUCH SO WHEN I DO HAVE TIME TO WRITE IM TOO EXHAUSTED SO PLEASEEEE BARE WITH MEEE