"You're going to die a slow and painful death today."

"No I'm not. No I'm not."

"Ye-"

"You're not real, you're not real, you're not real."

"I a-"

"We killed you, we killed you, we killed you."

"No, yo-"

"Mum!"

I sprang up in bed, breaking out in a sweat. Mum, Dad and my younger brother Joe were sitting on the end of my bed, waiting anxiously for me to wake up.

"Emma? Oh goodness, we thought you were having a fit or something, you were shaking so much in the bed. Was it a bad dream?"

Gasping for breath, I managed to squeak out, "yes, a very bad dream."

"Wanna tell us about it?" Dad asked gently.

"Mm... Joe might get a bit scared..."

"Oh yes. Joe, distract yourself for five minutes. We need to talk to Emma," Mum said, signalling to the door. Joe said a quiet "fine" and hurried out the door, shutting it behind him.

"It was a short dream. Really, really short. I can't remember what everything looked like, but I was talking to..." I swallow the lump in my throat, sniffing to hold back tears. "To Leather Face. Atleast I think it was him. All I heard was a voice, and it sounded like him. He said I was going to die." And that's when I couldn't hold back my emotions, that's when seeing the looks on my parents faces was all too much, that's when it all burst out.

They patted my shoulder sympathetically as I let out a croaky sob, but I wanted more affection - I threw my arms around them and pulled them closer towards me and almost screamed into their chests.

I remember reading something in a book about fear:

If you don't learn how to be scared, you'll never really learn how to be brave.

I thought it was inspirational, that whenever I was scared I was just learning how to be brave, but now I've realised I haven't been learning to be brave. I was learning how to cope with fear, I was preparing myself for a load of more anxiety and worries. When have I ever been brave these past months?

You have, a positive voice in the deepest spot of my mind reassured me. You killed Leather Face. You untied all those girls on the school trip who would've been killed by Leather Face. You've been braver than you've ever been in your life.

But those girls were still killed, every single one of them. I failed trying to save them. I should've run off the first chance I got, atleast I wouldn't have had to see everything I did. I can't take that back.

The thing is, you put your life at risk to save others. Even if they aren't here today and you still are, that doesn't mean you didn't try. You're a good person.

Strangely, I seemed to recognise the voice. It was oddly familiar, as if I heard it everyday.

Stop convincing yourself you don't deserve to be alive. You do. You tried to save them, you could've been killed trying to be a heroine.

Heroine? They're still dead! It was my fault! I killed Vicki, I killed my best friend! Her parents must hate me, all their parents must hate me. I just... Let their children die.

Emma Thompson, you didn't kill them. Leather Face did, and he was too strong to be stopped.

I knew that voice. It was... Mine?

I'm not a good person...

The voice didn't reply this time. Like I was the one making it speak. As if I knew it wasn't my fault deep inside, yet it was only coming out now.

I stopped feeling awful. Wiping away my tears which had almost dried to my cheeks, I looked up at Mum and Dad - and smiled. They looked taken aback, as if it was the very last thing they expected me to do. I didn't expect it either, not fully. It felt like something was controlling me, something optimistic. Something positive. I hadn't felt like this properly for too long, and now it felt refreshing. My face could've even been glowing.

"Emma? Are you-"

"Yes, Dad, I'm fine. It was a dream, it was made up. Can we... Get some breakfast now?"

They stared at me, then each other and began to laugh. I smiled brightly too, climbing out of bed and giving them another quick hug. It wasn't my fault, it was impossible to stop him, and I couldn't change anything now. Dwelling on the past wouldn't make anything better, it would only make me worse. I need to stop beating myself up about it.

We're in a different country, a new house, and I have a new way of thinking. I can make my life happier, if only I choose to.

And I do choose to.

*******

THE END.

Sorry you weren't really expecting it, but I was actually planning to make her commit suicide, so... Very big difference!

I really, really hope you enjoyed reading this book and it managed to scare you, make you feel sorry for Emma, and also be happy for her in the end. I'm really glad she's happy actually, it's a change to my other stories where they mostly die in the end... Oops, spoiler!

Please vote, comment and definitely SHARE this book with all your friends! Thank you so much everyone, I will probably be back again soon with another horror book, but it won't be until I've thought of a good idea. Until then, check out my rant book if you want to relate to anything.. Um..

THANK YOU! GOODBYE FOR NOW!

Jadey❤