We’re on our way back to school after the cross-country meet. On the girls bus we all are discussing our places and I’m congratulated by many people on my eighth place overall. This was the hardest course and it’s my best meet yet. All the girls in the back just started singing so I figured I’d just rest and listen to music. I’m about to put in my earbuds when I heard a rattling metal sound. I turned to Eve next to me and asked “Do you hear that or is it just 2me?”

“You woke me up just for that?” she said still half-asleep. “It’s probably nothing anyways”.

The bus is still moving and it seems fine so I just listened to music and forgot about it. Suddenly I’m woken up by a loud screeching sound. I hold my hands to my ears and see the bus is vering for the edge and the driver is trying to stop it but it’s no use. Next thing I know, we are flying off the edge of a bridge. Everything is floating in the air around us when I fly out of my seat and slam the ceiling. We keep flipping and I catch a glimpse of the bridge and the smashed portion of the barrier. Everyone is screaming and I’m thinking to myself that we’re all going to die. We flip back over and I hit the seat. The rocks below are going to be the end of my life. Then everything is gone.

I wake up grabbing my head from the sharp pain. When I pull my hand back all I can see is dark red blood running down my hand. I can feel the warm liquid dripping down my back. I look around for help just to see I’m completely alone. No bus, no people, just the me in the woods. I check my phone and see it’s 1:43 but I don’t have reception. I look around more and find out i’ve got no idea where I am. I thought this was the woods around our town, but looking around it’s slightly different somehow but I can’t decide how.

I get up after a while and walk around. I hear something crashing through the trees heading in my direction and I’m about to turn and run but then I can see it’s Eve. “Eve! Thank god you’re alive!” I yell running in her direction but she doesn’t say anything. When she reaches me, she collapses to the ground and starts coughing up blood. “What happened!”. She won’t respond to me. “We need to get you help”. I

look around and see a hill not too far away. “I’m gonna climb that hill and see if I can call for help” I say pointing in the direction of it. “Stay here, don’t try to stand up either”.

I sprint off into the direction of the hill and start climbing it. It takes a while because the hill is more like a miniature mountain with muddy paths and sharp rocks everywhere. There’s a dark and empty street crossing it so I walk over to the rail tracking mud stand up on it. I hold my phone up as high as I can. I look at it and see it still says 1:43 but before I have time to think about it, I hear a voice behind me.

“That’s not gonna help you”. I spin around almost falling of the rail but they held onto my arm to steady me. I jumped down and was able to see it was a boy around my age, but not from our school. I’ve never seen him which is odd because the town is so small.

“Yeah well, who are you?” I ask him.

“Didn’t mean to scare you” he said “I’m Ryan though, I was wondering if you could help me but you seem to be having trouble too”. He went on to explain how he and his parents were driving home after dinner and a car hit them head-on. When he regained consciousness, he couldn’t find his car or parents. I told him about what happened to us. When I finish I realize something.

“Oh my god, I forgot about Eve”. We run back to where I left her but when we get there, there’s no sign of her and there’s a rancid smell. Then I hear it, something like a slurping sound. I walk between two bushes and I’m filled with absolute horror. There is a tall, human-like creature standing over her motionless body. It has long tentacles and a dark grey suit on. I try to step back silently but step on a twig and it snaps. The creature looks up at me and I can see it has a pale white, faceless head. It starts to stand up and I stare into where it’s eyes should’ve been completely frozen with fear. Ryan’s hand yanks my arm and pulls me away just as the creature was about to grab me. I take one last look at Eve’s body and see that her eyes are gone.

I hear a scream and I’m pretty sure it’s mine and I bolt the other way. I keep running until we collapse out of exhaustion. Then I have a thought. “Give me your phone”.

“I told you that that won’t be any use” he said as he handed his phone over cautiously.

I ignore him and turn it on and compare it to mine. His says 8:56. “Hey, that’s around the time we got in the accident” he says with a confused expression. I silently count to sixty but they don’t change. I count another twenty seconds in case I counted fast but they still don’t change. He takes his phone back and lets out a sigh.. I guess he was doing the same thing.

I stand up but suddenly can’t move and just fall backwards. Ryan looks over me and says “What……?” I’m paralyzed and can’t move a thing. But then I see a shadow fall over him. What’s causing it moves closer and I see long tentacles reaching over his head. I yell but my mouth doesn’t move and no sound comes out so I’m just sitting there watching the creature get closer. Ryan finally realizes but it’s too late and I hear him scream just before I black out.

I wake up gasping for air and realize I’m in a bed with IVs in my arm. I blink a couple of times to clear my vision and can see I’m in a hospital room. I look next to me and see I’m not alone. Eve is lying down on a cot next to me and I let out a sigh of relief. But then I get a chill down my spine. Her heart monitor isn’t on like mine is. I get a sickening feeling in my stomach but before I can complete the thought two doctors rush into the room. They check the IVs before telling me anything. The news completely crushes me. The wreck did happen but Eve and I were the only initial survivors and had been in comas when they found us. I try to ask them about Ryan and tell them about his wreck but they say that no more crashes have been reported. Then I think about what could happen if he’s still stuck in that twisted paradox running from that monster forever.