Talia's phone dropped to the floor, the screen shattering on impact. But the broken phone was the least of her worries. It felt like the floor had opened beneath her feet, as if someone had yanked the carpet from under her. All she could think about was the devastating news that had just been delivered. Her parents had died in a car crash. A drunk driver had rammed into them, and they died on impact.

The world seemed to blur around her as she crumbled to the floor. I screamed and screamed, not understanding how this could happen. My parents... gone. The thought of it was unbearable. Now I was all alone. I didn't know how long I screamed, but my throat grew sore and raw. When I finally stopped, I looked around my bedroom and saw the chaos. Everything was destroyed. Furniture overturned, belongings scattered everywhere. I didn't remember doing any of this. Maybe I had blacked out in my grief.

Shakily, I stood up and stumbled out of my bedroom, still in a daze. I wandered into my parents' room and lay down on my mother's lounge chair, which still carried her familiar Roseberry perfume. The scent brought a fleeting sense of comfort. I didn't know how long I lay there, but eventually, exhaustion took over, and I fell asleep.

My dream soon turned into a nightmare. It was confusing and terrifying. I didn't know if these were memories or my mind creating disturbing images. I dreamed of my parents driving down an empty road. Suddenly, a car came out of nowhere and slammed into them. The scene replayed over and over, the impact echoing in my mind.

I saw my parents whispering to each other about something before hiding an object behind a locked door. This door was always kept locked with a key, and no matter how hard I tried, I could never see what was inside. The last image in my dream was of a man walking away while my parents looked worried and concerned. I couldn't shake the feeling that my life was filled with secrets, and the thought scared me.

When I woke up, the nightmare lingered in my mind. These images felt too real to be just a dream. The only question that echoed in my thoughts was: am I willing to open the door?