The Girl Who Lived Among Us
Not a Dream but a Memory
by Anila
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The night was silent—too silent.
Maya woke up gasping for breath, her heart racing as if she’d been running for miles. Her skin was
cold, her mind blurred. She saw flashes—blood, faces she couldn’t recognize, voices screaming in
the distance.
She rubbed her eyes and tried to remember. What was that? A dream? Or something she had once
lived through?
Dragging herself out of bed, she looked in the mirror. Something was different. Her eyes—her blue
eyes—seemed to hold a shadow she couldn’t name. It felt as if the reflection was trying to hide
something from her.
She lived alone, tucked away in a quiet apartment, avoiding friends, avoiding questions. But
loneliness wasn’t what haunted her. It was the feeling—a whisper at the back of her mind—that she
had forgotten something crucial.
Then one evening, as the rain poured outside, she met a stranger.
An older man, his eyes sharp and unsettling, approached her outside the café. He spoke softly, but
every word felt like a secret unfolding.
“Do you remember me, Maya?” he asked.
She froze. Her lips parted, but no words came out.
“I... I don’t think so,” she stammered, her voice trembling.
He smiled faintly. “You will.”
Something inside her cracked open—like a locked door forced ajar. Visions flooded her
mind—flashes of fire, screams, and that same blood she saw in her dreams.
Her knees weakened. She reached out for support, but the man was gone.
She looked around, the street empty, rain hitting the pavement like whispers of truth she wasn’t
ready to hear.
Was it really a dream?
Or... a memory she wasn’t supposed to have?
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And as lightning tore through the sky, Maya whispered to herself,
“Who am I... really?”
The question echoed through her apartment—unanswered, unstoppable.
To be continued...