Chapter 19
1092 Words
SARAH’S POV:
The night before the trip, Sarah had leaned against the kitchen counter, fork halfway into a slice of cheesecake, watching Lilly scroll through her phone.
“So… this museum thing,” she’d said casually, like it didn’t matter. “You think I could just meet you guys there?”
Lilly had glanced up, already smiling. “Yeah, of course. No one’s gonna care.”
Sarah knew something was wrong before anyone said it.
At first, it was just a feeling.
The kind that crawled up your spine for no reason.
The group had just started moving into the next room, the guide talking as they walked, his voice echoing lightly off the stone walls.
“…and this gallery contains artifacts recovered from the final conflict—”
Sarah wasn’t listening.
Her eyes were on Mia.
She’d fallen behind.
Not unusual—Mia got distracted sometimes—but this was different. She wasn’t looking at anything in particular. She was just… standing there.
Still.
Too still.
“Mia?” Lilly called softly, pausing mid-step.
No response.
Sarah frowned slightly, shifting her weight. “Is she messing with us?”
Lilly didn’t laugh.
That’s when Sarah felt it—that quiet unease tightening in her chest.
“Mia,” Lilly tried again, a little louder this time.
Nothing.
Mia turned slowly, but not toward them.
Toward the back wall.
Sarah followed her gaze.
There was nothing there. Just marble. Old, worn, darkened from age.
“Okay… that’s creepy,” Sarah muttered under her breath.
Mia started walking.
Slow. Deliberate.
Like she wasn’t really aware of anything else.
Lilly hesitated, then moved after her. “Hey—Mia, wait.”
Sarah followed, though something in her gut told her not to.
The rest of the group kept moving forward, the guide’s voice fading as they passed into the next room.
Mia didn’t stop until she reached the wall.
For a second, she just stood there.
Then she lifted her hand.
And touched it.
The moment her fingers brushed the surface—
Mia froze.
Completely.
Sarah’s breath caught.
“Okay… nope,” she whispered. “I don’t like this.”
“Mia?” Lilly said again, closer now.
Still nothing.
Mia’s hand moved slightly, dragging along the wall like she was tracing something.
But there was nothing there.
Nothing Sarah could see, anyway.
The air felt… wrong.
Heavy.
Like the room had closed in without anyone noticing.
“Mia, you’re freaking me out,” Sarah said, trying to keep her tone light. It didn’t work.
Mia’s breathing changed.
Sharper.
Uneven.
“Lilly…” Sarah’s voice dropped. “Something’s not right.”
“I know,” Lilly whispered.
They both stepped closer.
“Mia, hey—look at me,” Lilly said, reaching for her shoulder.
The second she touched her—
Mia gasped.
Sharp.
Like she’d just come up from underwater.
Then—
She screamed.
The sound tore through the room, loud enough to make several students in the next gallery turn.
“What the hell—?!” Sarah jumped back.
Mia’s body jerked violently, her hand ripping away from the wall as she staggered.
“Mia!” Lilly grabbed her, trying to steady her.
But Mia’s knees buckled.
She collapsed.
Hard.
Sarah dropped beside her instantly. “Mia! Hey—hey, stay with us!”
Mia wasn’t responding.
Her eyes were open—but unfocused.
Her chest—
Sarah’s stomach dropped.
“She’s not breathing,” Lilly said, panic creeping into her voice.
“What? No—no, she is—” Sarah leaned closer.
Nothing.
No movement.
“Oh my God—MIA!” Sarah shouted, her hands hovering uselessly. “Somebody get help!”
The room exploded into motion.
Students rushed forward, voices rising, overlapping—
“What happened?”
“Is she okay?!”
“Move—give her space!”
The teacher pushed through the crowd, kneeling beside them. “Everyone back up!”
Sarah scrambled back just enough to give room, her heart pounding in her ears.
“She just—she screamed and then—she just dropped!” Lilly said, her voice shaking.
The teacher leaned down, checking Mia’s pulse, her breathing—
Or lack of it.
“Call emergency services,” she snapped to the guide.
Already happening.
Sarah couldn’t tear her eyes away.
“Mia… come on,” she whispered under her breath.
Then—
Mia’s body arched.
A strangled sound escaped her throat.
“What’s happening?!” Sarah panicked.
And then she saw it.
“Lilly…” her voice broke.
Mia’s skin—
It was splitting.
Not like a cut.
Not like anything Sarah had ever seen.
Fine cracks spread across her arms, her neck—thin at first, then deeper, as if something inside her was pushing outward.
Blood surfaced along the lines.
Bright.
Too bright.
“Oh my God—oh my God—” Sarah scrambled back further, her hands shaking.
Lilly didn’t move.
She stayed right there, gripping Mia’s hand even as her face went pale.
“Mia, stay with me—please—”
The cracks deepened—
Then—
They stopped.
Just… stopped.
Everyone froze.
Even Mia’s body went still.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then—
The blood… pulled back.
Not dripping.
Not drying.
Receding.
The skin sealed.
Smooth.
Whole.
Like it had never happened.
Sarah stared, her mind refusing to process what she was seeing.
“That’s… not…” she whispered.
The teacher pulled her hand back slowly, eyes wide.
“She’s breathing,” she said, stunned.
And she was.
Slow.
Shallow.
But there.
Sirens echoed faintly in the distance now.
“Everyone clear a path,” the teacher ordered, her voice tight.
Paramedics rushed in moments later, moving quickly, efficiently.
“What do we have?”
“Female, teenager,” the teacher said. “Collapsed suddenly. Stopped breathing briefly. There was—” she hesitated, glancing at Mia’s now flawless skin. “—some kind of… episode.”
The paramedic didn’t question it.
Didn’t have time.
They lifted Mia onto a stretcher, securing her carefully.
Sarah stood frozen as they carried her past.
“Mia…” Lilly whispered, following a step before being stopped.
“Family will meet her at the hospital,” one of the paramedics said firmly.
And just like that—
She was gone.
The room felt too quiet now.
Too empty.
Sarah looked at Lilly.
Lilly looked back.
Neither of them spoke.
Because whatever they had just seen—
Wasn’t normal.
And deep down—
They both knew it.
- Writer
