Victim of The Dark

1 - Start

I open my eyes to see a familiar sight: an empty void. When I first saw it several months ago, I had an overwhelming sense of apprehension, grief, fear, and impending doom. Now, there's nothing. There's no grief or fear, there's no joy, there's no anger. My mind is as empty as the vast expanse of nothingness in front of me. I turn around like I always have and standing there is another familiar sight: a simple wooden chair. As always, my body moves on its own and despite my best attempts, I'm powerless to stop. I slowly walk towards the chair and when I reach it, I let out a slow breath. I know what's coming so instead of fighting it like I always have, I lean into my uncontrolled movements and step up onto the chairs decaying surface. I look up to see a rope swinging above my head. The loop slowly lowers down towards me and I grab hold of it when it's close enough. I slip my head through the center and brace myself for what's next. The chair falls away from my feet and my hands fly up to my neck, scratching and clawing at the noose. I struggle a moment longer before I let my arms fall to my side again as I submit to my fate. I close my eyes as the peaceful feeling of death overtakes my body. The relaxing sensation is interrupted by a quiet hum. That hum soon grows into a distant ringing that only gets closer and louder by the second until it's no longer possible to ignore.

My eyes fly open to see my familiar room in my familiar house, on my familiar street. I clutch my chest as I sit up and head over to my closet to get dressed. I look over at my alarm clock to see that Max should be here any minute to take me to the college dorms. It's my second year moving from my home in Northern Wisconsin to The University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

"Y/n, let's go! Breakfast is ready and Max will be here any minute now." My dad calls up the stairs. The thought of breakfast makes the memory of the nightmare dissipate as I rush down to the kitchen. I sit at the table. Dad plants a light kiss on top of my head and I snicker quietly. No matter how old I get, he'll always see me as a little kid. "Stop your chuckling and get to gettin'." He lightly hits the back of my head and I scarf down the breakfast of waffles and orange juice.

When we hear Max honk the horn of his Taxi outside, dad helps me get all of my bags into the back seats before I climb into the passenger side.

"Promise you'll call?" My dad says with a glassy look in his eyes.

"Dad, we've been over this last year. I'll call you every chance I get." I respond to his dramatics with a quiet laugh before closing the car door. We went through the same show last year and the summer after I graduated high school. Old habits die hard I guess.

"Heya kid," the eighty something year old man sitting next to me greets me with a warm smile. This is Max, I've known him since kindergarten as he's always been driving me to and from school.

"Heya Maximilian," I reply in turn. His eyes crinkle more than usual at the old nickname as he starts the car and pulls out into the open road ahead of us. Despite his old age, he's so full of life and I love him for it. He's been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember. I told him everything, stuff like my first crush, if I was having trouble at school, even the small stuff like if I found a pretty rock on the sidewalk.i haven't done that since I was twelve but he still knew about it.

"Tell ya what, kid? You get some sleep and I'll wake ya up when we stop for lunch. Sound good?" He says with his eyes glued to the road in front of him. I can't help but hesitate, worried I might have the same nightmare again. It doesn't take long for Max to pick up on it. He spares me a quick glance as his voice is suddenly filled with concern. "What's wrong, kid? Something bothering you?"

Interaction
Make a choice then go to the corresponding chapter:

2 - Tell the truth
3 - Lie