Teenage high school graduate, Ethan Brown, has struggled through his senior year, after his ex-girlfriend, Olivia Connell, committed suicide. When an eagerly anticipated holiday to celebrate the end of exams with his new girlfriend goes disastrously...
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I tear into the ensuite.
"Natalie!" I don't attempt to hide the raw fear from my voice as it rips through me with crippling intensity.
I begin to tear apart the place, searching for her. Sweat beads across my forehead as I run from room to room, screaming her name. The only sounds I can hear are my feet pummelling on the wooden floor and the loud thump of my heartbeat drumming in my ears.
"OLIVIA!" I roar an ear-splitting scream, my anger, fear, love and complete terror pouring out of me and blending into one, giant emotion that I have no control over. "Bring her back to me!"
"Ethan."
I whirl around, my chest heaving.
"Where are you?" I bellow, my bone-white hand reaching for the door frame as I secure my feet.
"I'm here," she murmurs so quietly, that I hardly heard her voice, over my own heartbeat. "I've always been here."
I close my eyes and sag on the wall, feeling stressed, exhausted and disorientated all at the same time. I roughly rub my hands over my face, before I peek through the gaps of my fingers.
Strikingly blue eyes peer back at me.
I yelp, tearing my hands from my face as my eyes take in my supposedly dead ex-girlfriend.
Her long, blonde hair cascades down her shoulders in natural waves. She's wearing a white dress – the very dress I bought her when we visited here, last year. Her red bow is planted on the right side of her head. Her usually pale cheeks are flushed red, her long eye lashes framing her vivid eyes.
"Oh my God," I whisper, my fingers tightening on the door frame as I peer at the girl who I once loved. "You're really here."
"I never left you," she replies calmly, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.
"You faked your own death?"
"It was only meant to scare you, Ethan." She purrs, smiling as if she just made a joke. "You were meant to fall to pieces over my death. You were meant to prove your love to me... But you didn't. Did you really not love me?"
"Of course I did," I bit out angrily. "You know that we just didn't work. We were bad for each other."
"That's where you're wrong. We were perfect for each other. We still are."
I shake my head violently. I lean onto the wall, my fingers painfully twisting through my hair as I screw my eyes closed.
"This isn't real. This isn't real." I kept repeating.
"It is very much real."
"Where is she?" I breathe raggedly, feeling my stomach clench uncomfortably in my stomach.
She lets out a hysterical-sounding laugh. "Natalie?" Her name sounds like a curse on Olivia's tongue. "She won't be a problem anymore."
"A problem?" I splutter, unable to comprehend that this is happening. "This is a dream... A really bad dream."
"Ethan," she murmurs, walking towards me tantalisingly slow. "If this was a dream, it would be a nightmare."
My chest is rapidly rising as she nears me. She doesn't stop, until her cool breath is fanning over my lips. Her piercing gaze biting into mine.
"Do you still love me, Ethan?" she questions.
"Not after this," I swallow, shaking my head, a lump forming uncomfortably in my throat. "How could I?"
A look of fury passes over her face. "Wrong answer."
She steps back from me, her eyes glowering. My body is stiff as she moves back. She reaches for something, before the room is thrown into darkness. A startled gasp leaves my lips as I whirl around, trying to let my eyes adjust to the sudden darkness.
"Olivia!" I call out, my voice sounding desperate and hoarse.
I begin to stumble through the room, my fingers skimming the walls.
I get to the hallway, when a blood-curling scream rips through the house, making my knees buckle. My kneecaps slam into the harsh wood below me as I sob, trying desperately to claw myself back into standing position.
Another scream fills the almost-silent surroundings, effectively causing a cold shiver to roll down my spine.
"It's only going to get worse," I hear Olivia's cruel voice taunt.
I finally get to my feet. I fumble for the light switch. As I flick it on, nothing changes. I let out a growl of anger and strike the wall with my foot. I hardly feel the pain as I blindly try to find the kitchen. I begin searching for my phone.
I left it on the bench. I desperately scan for it, feeling myself grow more and more helpless.
"Looking for this?"
I spin around. A bright light shoots from my phone. Olivia twists her arm, so that the light shines onto her.
Her simple, white dress is now covered in dark, red blood.
My throat closes in as a strangled cry erupts from me. I fall onto the bench, unable to inhale. She lets out an eerie laugh.
"Stay with me, Ethan," she drawls, her red-lips stretching into a wicked grin. "The fun is only just beginning."
