Dead or Alive

Chapter 24

I was walking down my street with my backpack weighing heavily on my shoulders. The neighborhood dogs barking as I passed their house. The sun's warmth gave comfort from the crisp air around me. I walked to my front door. The smell of the new red painted door filled my nose. I turned the brass handle and stepped inside of my quaint house. The house was neat and clean. The smell of candle that was lit the night before, enveloped my senses. I set my bag down beside the front door, and when I looked back up at my house, I saw a gruesome sight. Bodies littered the floor. Blood was splattered all over the walls and the floor. The room turned eerily dark. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand. I slowly walked forward to see if I could see who they were. As I got closer, I could see the faces of every single body that was laying on my floor. Clementine, my parents, my brother, Scarlett, Kristie and Theo, Lyndsey, and lastly, Aaron.

I choked back a sob as my eyes overflowed with tears. Suddenly, all of the bodies stood up perfectly straight. The smell of rotting flesh burned my nose and sickened me to my core. Aaron's body began walking toward me.

"Why didn't you save us, Amala? We all trusted you, and you got us killed! Why did you do that, Amala?" Aaron's body said eerily.

"I'm sorry! I never wanted any of you to die! There was nothing I could do!" I cried.

"You KILLED US!" Clementine's body screamed, "We thought you cared for us!"

"I do care about you! I don't know what's going on!" I screamed, crying even more with each word.

"Now you have no one. No one who cares about you. But don't worry, you'll see us again soon," Aaron's body teased.

All of the bodies began walking toward me. I started backing up to the wall, screaming and crying in fear. When I felt my back hit the wall, they all closed in around me. When Aaron's hand was mere centimeters from my face.....

I woke up.

I snapped my eyes open and looked around. I was still in my room at the lab. I felt something touch my hand, and I instantly flinched. I looked at the cause of it and saw Aaron staring at me with a look of concern etched on his face.

"You were having a nightmare. You kept talking and crying in your sleep. It took me forever to wake you up," Aaron said softly, trying not to startle me.

I couldn't respond. I kept seeing flashes of my nightmare. I felt Aaron gently putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Relax, Darling. It was just a nightmare. None of it was real. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere," Aaron said, rubbing my back softly.

I slowly relaxed and turned to look at Aaron. He smiled at me and I moved closer and leaned my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and whispered things to help calm me down.

"Aaron?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"I love you," I muttered.

"I love you too, Darling. I'm always going to be here for you," he replied.

I felt him kiss the top of my head and I smiled. I closed my eyes and fully relaxed. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Aaron called.

"I'm here to take you to one of the lab rooms," The person called back.

I sighed and Aaron let go of me. We both got out of our extremely comfortable bed and walked to the door. I opened it and a woman was on the other side in a lab coat smiling at us.

"Are you ready to get started?" She asked.

"Yep, let's go!" I said happily.

We walked down the hall and as we walked, Aaron grabbed my hand and held it. I smiled up at him and he returned it. We went down various hallways until we entered one of the lab rooms. Inside, everyone from our group was there waiting.