Cracks In Reality
1907 Words
The applause followed me for the rest of the day.
Literally.
Every hallway I walked through suddenly felt different.
People stared longer.
Whispered louder.
Smiled at me like they suddenly knew my name.
Which they probably did now.
Apparently one dramatic performance was enough to turn me into Blackthorn Academy’s newest obsession.
I honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or disappear.
“Girl, you’re trending on the school page.”
I nearly choked on my drink.
“What?”
My friend shoved her phone into my face excitedly while we sat in the cafeteria surrounded by noise and rich-kid chaos.
My performance video filled the screen.
Over thirty thousand views already.
I stared at it in horror.
“Oh my God.”
“You’re famous now,” my other friend squealed dramatically.
“I rebuke it.”
“You literally had the entire rehearsal hall crying.”
“I wasn’t even crying.”
“That’s the scary part.”
I grabbed the phone from her hands carefully.
Watching myself on screen felt… strange.
Wrong somehow.
The girl in the video looked like me.
Sounded like me.
But something about her eyes unsettled me.
They looked older.
Too intense.
Too alive.
I paused the video quickly.
“Okay, no. Delete this.”
Both my friends gasped.
“Delete greatness?”
“Yes.”
“Never.”
I groaned and dropped my forehead against the table.
Around us, students continued glancing in my direction.
Some smiled.
Some whispered.
Some openly stared.
It made my skin itch.
Blackthorn Academy was the kind of school where attention spread like wildfire.
Especially if you suddenly became interesting.
And apparently, I had become very interesting overnight.
A group of girls passed our table.
One of them slowed down just enough to smile at me.
“You were amazing today.”
“Oh—thanks.”
“You should seriously audition professionally.”
I laughed awkwardly.
“Trust me, that’s not happening.”
She smiled again before walking away.
The second she disappeared, my friends screamed.
“OH MY GOD.”
“Please calm down before security removes us.”
“You’re literally becoming popular.”
“I don’t want popularity.”
“That’s because you’re weird.”
“Thank you.”
Normally, I would’ve enjoyed the attention at least a little.
Who wouldn’t?
Blackthorn Academy students practically worshipped social status.
Being noticed there meant everything.
But something about today felt off.
The performance kept replaying in my head.
That feeling.
That terrifying moment where I stopped feeling like myself.
I stirred my drink quietly.
“You know what’s strange?” I finally muttered.
Both girls looked at me.
“What?”
I hesitated.
“It felt like…” I frowned slightly. “Like I disappeared for a minute.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know.” I rubbed my arm slowly. “It’s hard to explain.”
The cafeteria suddenly felt louder.
Too loud.
“I remember walking onto the stage,” I continued softly. “But after that everything became blurry. It felt like somebody else was speaking through me.”
Both my friends stared at me for two seconds.
Then one burst out laughing.
“That’s called talent.”
“I’m serious.”
“No, you’re dramatic.”
“I’m literally concerned.”
“Because you’ve never gotten attention before,” the other teased. “Your body is in shock.”
“Exactly,” the first added. “Miss Famous Actress.”
I rolled my eyes but forced a laugh anyway.
Maybe they were right.
Maybe I was overthinking it.
Still…
That feeling hadn’t felt normal.
It felt ancient.
Like I had opened a door somewhere inside myself by accident.
And now something was standing on the other side waiting patiently for me to notice it.
I immediately shoved the thought away.
Absolutely not.
I already had enough problems.
The final bell rang hours later.
Students flooded through the hallways excitedly while conversations echoed across campus.
Graduation season had officially turned everyone insane.
My friends and I walked slowly through the school gates together while warm evening sunlight spilled across the city.
“You’re definitely sitting with us at the after party.”
“I don’t even know if I’m going.”
“You’re going.”
“I hate parties.”
“You hate people. Different thing.”
“That’s fair.”
They laughed.
For a moment, everything felt normal again.
Just us walking home together like always.
Talking nonsense.
Complaining about school.
Pretending adulthood wasn’t coming for us violently.
But then—
Something strange happened.
We were halfway down the street when I suddenly stopped walking.
A dog stood near the corner beside a parked car.
Ordinary at first glance.
Brown fur.
Thin body.
Nothing unusual.
Then it lifted its head.
And my blood turned cold.
Its face—
Oh God.
Its face looked wrong.
Horribly wrong.
The eyes looked black and hollow like burned-out pits.
Its mouth stretched too wide.
The skin around its jaw looked twisted and rotten.
Not like an injured animal.
Like something wearing a dog’s body incorrectly.
Something pretending.
My breathing stopped instantly.
The creature stared directly at me.
And for one terrifying second—
I felt it recognize me.
“Lyra?”
My friend’s voice sounded far away.
The thing tilted its head slowly.
Its mouth opened unnaturally wide.
Then suddenly—
Everything snapped back.
The dog blinked.
Normal eyes.
Normal face.
Normal dog.
It barked once and casually trotted away down the street.
I stood frozen.
“What happened?” one of my friends asked.
I blinked rapidly.
“What?”
“You stopped walking.”
I looked toward the dog again.
Gone.
“I…” My voice came out shaky. “Nothing.”
Both girls exchanged confused looks.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” I forced a laugh quickly. “Thought I saw something weird.”
“Like what?”
I hesitated.
There was absolutely no way I could explain what I just saw without sounding insane.
“Nothing important.”
But my heart refused to calm down.
Because I knew what I saw.
And worse—
It felt like I wasn’t supposed to see it.
Like reality had slipped for a second.
Like something hidden underneath the world had accidentally revealed itself to me.
The rest of the walk home felt strange after that.
Every shadow looked too dark.
Every passing stranger made me uneasy.
By the time I reached my house, my nerves were completely destroyed.
Mom noticed immediately.
“You look pale.”
“I’m fine.”
“That answer usually means the opposite.”
“I’m just tired.”
Which was technically true.
Emotionally.
Spiritually.
Mentally.
Physically.
All of the above.
Dinner passed quietly.
I barely touched my food.
Even the house felt different tonight.
The air heavier somehow.
Like a storm waiting to happen.
Eventually I escaped upstairs to my room.
The second I entered—
My eyes landed on the portrait again.
The room instantly felt colder.
I swallowed hard.
The girl inside the painting stared back at me silently.
Watching.
Waiting.
For the first time in my life—
I couldn’t look away.
Something about her expression felt different tonight.
Sadder.
Almost warning me.
I stepped closer slowly.
The bell didn’t ring this time.
That somehow terrified me more.
My eyes drifted carefully across the portrait again.
The women looked elegant.
Powerful.
Not weak.
Not soft.
There was authority in the way they stood.
Especially the girl.
And suddenly—
A strange thought entered my mind.
What if they weren’t ordinary people?
The idea appeared so suddenly it made me uncomfortable.
I laughed nervously to myself.
“Okay, now you’re officially losing it.”
Still…
I couldn’t shake the feeling.
The portrait no longer felt like art.
It felt like memory.
I quickly turned away and climbed into bed before my thoughts could spiral further.
Sleep didn’t come easily.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw flashes of the stage again.
Silver lights.
Ancient walls.
Green silk.
And those eyes.
Eyes that looked exactly like mine.
Sometime after midnight, exhaustion finally dragged me under.
And then—
The dreams began.
At first, everything was blurry.
Colors.
Voices.
Movement.
Then slowly—
The world sharpened.
I stood inside a massive home unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Tall marble walls stretched endlessly upward while silver chandeliers glowed overhead like captured stars.
People moved through the halls dressed in elegant ancient clothing.
The air smelled like roses and smoke.
And somehow—
I knew this place.
Not like déjà vu.
Deeper than that.
Like memory buried underneath another life.
My heart pounded violently.
A mirror stood nearby.
I looked into it.
And froze.
The girl staring back at me was me.
But not me.
Older somehow.
Sharper.
More graceful.
Dark green silk wrapped around her body elegantly while silver jewelry rested against her skin.
Power radiated from her without effort.
The room suddenly echoed with laughter.
I turned quickly.
A man entered.
Tall.
Warm smile.
Strong eyes.
The second I saw him—
Something inside my chest cracked painfully.
Dad.
Not my real dad.
But somehow—
Mine.
He walked toward me smiling while servants bowed respectfully around him.
“My little star,” he said warmly.
His voice hit me like heartbreak.
Emotion flooded through me so intensely I nearly collapsed.
I knew this man.
I loved this man.
And somehow—
I missed him.
“Father,” I heard myself say.
But the voice wasn’t mine.
Not completely.
The dream shifted suddenly.
Voices echoed through another room.
Angry voices.
Men arguing.
“They are witches.”
“They cannot rule.”
“The people trust her.”
“That is exactly the problem.”
I moved through shadows unseen while the conversation continued.
A group of powerful men stood around a long table.
Fear twisted across their faces.
Not fear of war.
Fear of women.
Fear of losing control.
One man slammed his fist down angrily.
“If the President continues this madness, women will eventually stand above us.”
Another nodded coldly.
“He plans to give his wife more authority.”
“She already influences half his decisions.”
“She is dangerous.”
The room fell silent.
Then one voice whispered quietly—
“Then the President must die.”
My stomach twisted violently.
“No,” I whispered instinctively.
But nobody heard me.
The dream shifted again.
Dinner tables.
Meetings.
Poison.
Then—
Pain.
Agonizing pain.
A man collapsing onto the floor screaming.
The President.
My father.
His body shaking violently while terrified servants rushed toward him.
A woman screamed.
My mother.
I ran toward him desperately—
But the dream pulled away before I could reach him.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then suddenly—
A bell rang loudly.
Ding.
My eyes snapped open.
I sat upright in bed gasping for breath.
Cold sweat covered my skin.
The room was dark.
Silent.
My heart slammed painfully against my ribs.
For several seconds, I couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe properly.
The dream still clung to me like smoke.
It hadn’t felt like imagination.
It felt real.
Too real.
My hands trembled violently as I looked toward the portrait across the room.
Moonlight spilled across the painting softly.
And the girl inside it stared directly back at me.
This time—
I was almost certain she looked afraid.
- Writer
