"Ms. Grey, although I forgive you, I just want to make it clear that don't spread rumours in the office. There is nothing goin-..."

"Ms. Winters,since you've forgiven her, you may go to your office now. I need the worksheet right away."

Lana bowed and left. Hailey and Ethan who witnessed everything, returned back with Lana, both murmuring under their breath.

_______________________

Lana and Hailey returned home, tired of the hectic day. Lana slumped down on the couch. Hailey texted Ethan and smiled once in a while looking at her phone. David was still at his shift at Coffee Junction so they decided to eat instant noodles from the fridge. Lana left and went to her room while Hailey watched TV shows.

____________________

The darkness of the city dimmed the waking hours of the human world. A car light appeared on a dark forest road as a faint music came up on the radio. The girl giggled as her parents smiled at her.
A sudden movement and the car stopped with a sudden brake.
A woman's scream.

The man got off his car. Lana stood there watching the incident all over again. She spread out her hand and tried to run  towards them. She couldn't get any closer to them as if she has been bound by an invisible rope. She screamed as loud as she could to stop him from entering the forest, but nothing came out.

The woman followed after a few minutes. The little girl played with her doll in the car. A woman's scream repeated as the wolf dragged a body on the middle of the road. A warm tear slipped down Lana's cheeks as she cried out. The wolf looked up with its golden eyes and then it knocked the car off the cliff.

Lana cried and screamed, sobbing over and over again.

She opened her eyes to find Hailey and Alex by her side as they looked at her, worried.
Hailey helped Lana wipe the cold sweat as Lana tried to calm her heart.

Lana looked at Alex.
Golden bright eyes.
'How does it make sense? Is it coincidence? ' she whispered to herself.

"Have some sleep. I'll stay until you fall back asleep" Alex insisted.
"Yeah..sleep" Hailey left.
The clock struck 4 A.M. as she snuggled back in the blankets.

____________________

"Nightmare?" Alex repeated.
"Yeah. She seldom gets them nowadays but when she gets them...." Hailey shivered at the thought.

"Why did you both shift here? Wouldn't it be better to stay with parents?" Alex questioned.

"Kind of, yes. We both grew up together. Mom and Dad were usually out for work and we stayed at home. When they returned around 9 p.m. , we would sit together to have dinner, gossiping of funny stuffs. Mom would get angry at her as she made them funnier by mimicking which made me choke on my food. Then she used to smile innocently and dad would smile and be like 'what will I do with these kids!'" Hailey laughed with her hand resembling fake annoyance.

" I still remember a day. We were small. I was four and Lana has just turned six. Our babysitter was on the couch and was talking to someone on her phone. Instead of giving us food she continued eating chips and coke. Lana, the greatest foodie ever, sneaked behind her to get hold of the packet of chips. Seeing the bubbles in the bottle of coke, she grabbed it and tried to open it. She somehow couldn't and kept it back where it was. The blonde woman opened the cap and she was drenched in coke. Her hair was a mess with sticky edges. She was so angry that she never came back again." Hailey cluched onto her stomach and tried to control her laughter which she failed.

Alex laughed too.
Lana came out of her room. She stared at them awkwardly and eyed them. She looked at Alex who laughed like a crazy person.

He took a few deep breaths to control his laughter.
"Keep up! I'll remember not to bring soda when you're around.."  He put up his thumb and bursted out laughing again. Lana looked at Hailey and spoke in a deadly accent, as she ran towards her in her pyjamas.
"Hailey! You're so done today."

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